A few decades ago, pharmaceutical companies promoted their products almost entirely through personal contact by sales people with physicians.
In 2014, almost half of all physicians put significant restrictions on the time they would spend with sales people, and approximately two-thirds said they prefer to get information through digital methods.
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The convergence of mobile, analytics, context-rich systems, and the cloud, together with an explosion of information, is transforming sales, and enabling buyers and sales people to engage with each other in more effective and efficient ways.
Recently, information technology research and advisory company Gartner compiled a list of top 10 strategic technology trends. At least five of these trends have significant implications for sales forces, including:
1. Computing Everywhere
Through the proliferation of mobile devices, buyers and sales people can reach each other anywhere and anytime.
2. Advanced, Pervasive, Invisible Analytics
By layering analytics seamlessly on top of linked data on customers, sales activities and sales people, companies can deliver the right decision assistance to the right sales people and customers at the right time.
3. Context Rich Systems
Data and analytical insights can be tailored and targeted for the specific situations faced by customers and company personnel. The extreme customisation aligns perfectly with how sales people think and work.
4&5. Cloud Computing and Software Defined Infrastructure
These enable fast deployment and at-will scaling of systems to keep up with ever-changing business, customer, and sales force needs.
Consider three examples
A telecom company developed a collaborative filtering model, similar in concept to predictive algorithms used by companies such as Netflix and Amazon, to help key account sales people.
The model used advanced analytics to make specific recommendations about which products and services to offer to each customer based on analysis of past purchases within that account, as well as purchases in other accounts with a similar profile (i.e. ’data doubles’). The model also forecasted the size of the opportunity and the likelihood of purchase at each account.
This information improved marketing campaign targeting, as well as sales force targeting. Through a mobile app, sales people could get the information when and where they needed it.
Cloud computing and a software defined infrastructure enabled the system to seamlessly keep up with ever-changing sales force and customer needs. The data and technology enabled the sales force to better understand customer needs and target the right products for the right customers, driving stronger uptake of new product lines and improving the realisation of cross-selling and up-selling opportunities.
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In the pharmaceutical industry, technology is transforming the sales process. A few decades ago, pharmaceutical companies promoted their products almost entirely through personal contact by sales people with physicians. In 2014, almost half of all physicians put significant restrictions on the time they would spend with sales people, and approximately two-thirds said they prefer to get information through digital methods. Consequently, pharmaceutical companies now look beyond the sales force to reach physicians. Computing everywhere and context rich systems allow pharmaceutical companies to get the right product information to the right sales people and physicians at the right time, using communication channels that include email, social media, microsites, online video, and mobile apps.
In the financial services industry, a company had an outbound inside sales team that sold credit and lending products to small businesses. The company examined millions of phone records and listened to dozens of calls to identify ways to improve customer targeting and sales process execution. Using advanced, pervasive, and invisible analytics, the company performed tests, quickly producing simple, but breakthrough insights. First, by focusing on just seven of the 14 target industries, sales people could increase profits by 16%. Second, by shifting calls to the right time of day, sales people could triple the probability of a sale and increase profits by 20%. Third, by using specific consultative sales techniques employed by top performers, sales people could further enhance their effectiveness and performance.
Interestingly, the use of technology to improve sales processes is not new. The first ‘traveling salesmen’ used the railroad and then the automobile to broaden their geographic reach.
Subsequent generations of sales people have embraced innovations such as telephones, computers, and cell phones to build stronger customer connections. As today’s technology trends continue to have an impact, and as new trends emerge, sales forces must constantly and creatively adopt and adapt new technologies to improve sales processes and better serve customers.
© 2015 New York Times News Service.
