The Ever Changing Sales Environment: Who Got Game?

Technology has transformed the way companies conduct business and it is only those companies that adapt to the changing technological environment that will survive in the long-run. In today’s turbulent and competitive business environment smaller organizations can also compete with larger organizations as a result of technological advances. These small businesses make use of computers, servers, websites and personal digital products to develop and maintain a competitive advantage.

So the question is who got game? Meaning who has the capacity, competencies and expertise to compete in the technological sales environment.

What is Sales Technology?

Sales technology (ST) is information technologies that can enable the performance of sales task. It is all the tasks that a company must perform in order to meet the needs of its customers and prospects. Sales tasks is the direct and indirect sales forces, these tasks include interest creation, pre-purchase information sharing, proposing solutions just to mention a few. Information technology can facilitate many of these tasks. Sales technology affects sales tasks in different ways which can result in a sustained competitive environment. What is the purpose of sales technology? The purpose of these innovations is to add organizational capability by focusing on ways to make salespeople more effective by enabling the performance of new tasks and not just to automate old tasks.

Sales Force Automation (SFA):

What is sales force automation (SFA)? What does it really mean to automate your salesforce? Basically sales force automation is a way of automating (mechanizing) some of the tasks which have to be carried out by salespeople. For those of you who don’t know it is a software program which automatically carriers out certain tasks such as inventory control, sales processing and tracking customer interactions it also analyses sales forecasts and performance. To me that just sounds like a computer program carrying out all the tasks that most people would consider as repetitive and mundane……you just have to love technology; surprisingly enough though some organizations have still not adapted to changes in technology, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???? ITS TIME TO WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

Technology Automates Tasks:

Automating/mechanizing existing tasks makes sale peoples slightly easier because the they do not have to carry out the task however using technology to complete an existing task (a) does not necessarily eliminate its difficulties (b) it may introduce new difficulties and (c) it may create a need for even greater technological resourcefulness to resolve newly created difficulties….. Huh?? It was supposed to make your job as a salesperson easier but it can also make it more difficult, I guess that’s just the world we live in “things are not always what they seem to be.”

Competitive Advantage Created by Salespeople

Through the use of sales technology a competitive advantage can be created and sustained if and only if salespeople are well trained and competent enough to apply these technologies efficiently and effectively. Companies that mix sales technology with sales processes and salespeople to chase their sales strategy, do not aim to replace sales people through the use of information technology certainly not, rather it supports them in their performance of assigned sales tasks. I’m sure that all businesses are aware that without their sales team they wouldn’t accomplish anything because they are only as good as their sales force. In a nutshell people when sales technologies are properly applied and used by competent salespeople it can lead to a competitive advantage.

Technology has enabled or facilitated the sales force to have a better understanding the environment in which they operate, to better manage their customer relationships, most importantly however technology has enabled the sales force to focus more on new tasks, to chase new leads as well as being more effective and efficient. The organizations who got game are those organizations that have integrated sales technologies within their work processes, they are those companies who have learned to adapt to the changing environment which is out of their control. ADAPT OR DIE YOU CHOOSE!!