Request Demo
Back

The Future of Sales Enablement: Emerging Technologies and Trends to Watch

Sales Enablement April 18, 2023




The Future of Sales Enablement: Emerging Technologies and Trends to Watch
Kishor Venkatesh R

Content Developer

Share

New technologies have transformed sales teams' operations, from customer engagement to prospecting and closing deals.

  • By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.
  • AI and ML-powered sales enablement tools, help sales teams to gather and analyze customer data, identify potential leads, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Sales engagement platforms automate and streamline sales activities, including outreach, follow-ups, and scheduling.

  • Companies that use sales engagement platforms saw a 38% increase in conversion rates.
  • Emerging technologies in sales enablement have led to improved sales performance and increased revenue for companies.
  • Sales teams leveraging emerging technologies will have a significant competitive advantage over those not.

    Sales enablement aims to increase productivity, shorten sales cycles, and stimulate revenue growth. It involves various activities, including sales training, content creation, analytics, and technology enablement. 

    Frequently, sales teams struggle with information overload, poor data quality, and a lack of buyer journey visibility leading to missed opportunities, lost deals, and a lack of trust in the sales process. 

    Sales professionals must connect with buyers on a personal level and establish trusting relationships. They must also use sophisticated technological tools for data collection and analysis, outreach personalization, and performance optimization. 

    Sales Teams Must Amend their Sales Enablement 

    In today’s competitive business environment, sales teams must continuously modify and enhance their sales enablement strategies. Here’s why: 

    1. Changing buyer behavior – How buyers conduct research and purchase has changed significantly. They frequently conduct their research before engaging sales teams. Therefore, sales teams must modify their sales enablement strategies to provide buyers with the necessary information at each stage of the buying journey. 
    2. Evolving technology – Sales teams must stay abreast of technological advances to remain competitive. By utilizing the most up-to-date sales enablement platforms and tools, sales teams can streamline processes, increase efficiency, and close more deals. 
    3. Increasing competition – As competition intensifies, sales teams must continuously adapt their sales enablement strategies. This includes improving the quality of their sales materials and training programs and adopting new sales techniques and strategies to differentiate themselves. 
    4. Shifting priorities – As a company grows and evolves, its priorities and objectives may shift. To drive revenue growth and meet the company’s overall objectives, sales teams must modify their sales enablement strategies to align with these new priorities. 

    Emerging Technologies and Trends in Sales Enablement 

    Let’s look at emerging technologies and trends shaping sales enablement: 

    1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: AI/ML can assist sales teams in automating lead scoring, prospecting, and content creation. They can also give sales professionals valuable insights into buyer behavior and preferences, allowing them to tailor their messaging and approach. 
    2. Augmented and Virtual Reality: AR/VR can assist sales teams in creating immersive, interactive experiences for buyers, including virtual product demonstrations and interactive sales pitches, strengthening buyer engagement and relationships. 
    3. Chatbots and Conversational Interfaces: They can assist sales teams in engaging with buyers in real time, answer their questions and offer personalized recommendations. This can streamline the sales process and enhance the customer experience. 
    4. Sales Analytics and Business Intelligence: Using advanced analytics tools, sales teams can better understand their performance and identify where to improve. This can help optimize sales processes, increase forecasting accuracy, and stimulate revenue growth. 
    5. Personalization and customization: Tools for personalization and customization enable sales teams to tailor their messaging and outreach to individual buyers based on their preferences, behaviors, and needs. This can increase buyer engagement and strengthen relationships with them. 
    6. Sales gamification: Gamification tools can help motivate sales teams, increase performance and participation, promote healthy competition, and enhance overall performance. 
    7. Mobile sales enablement: Mobile sales enablement tools can help sales teams work more efficiently by providing mobile access to vital information and resources. This can improve productivity and facilitate quicker and more effective decision-making. 
    8. Integration with other business tools: Sales enablement tools can be integrated with other business tools, including CRM, marketing automation, and customer service software, to streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and improve customer experience. 

    Impact of Emerging Technologies on Sales Enablement 

    The emergence of these new technologies and trends in sales enablement is already substantially affecting how sales teams function. By utilizing these technologies, sales teams can overcome information overload, poor data quality, and a lack of visibility into the buyer’s journey. 

    AI and ML, for instance, can assist sales teams in automating routine tasks and providing valuable insights into buyer behavior. 

    Chatbots and conversational interfaces can assist sales teams in interacting with buyers in real time by answering their questions and providing personalized recommendations. 

    Sales analytics and business intelligence can assist sales teams in gaining a deeper understanding of their performance and identifying improvement opportunities. 

    Best Practices of Sales Enablement 

    To successfully implement these emerging technologies in sales enablement, sales teams should adhere to several best practices. 

    1. Consider which technologies will be most effective for your organization and sales team. This requires conducting a needs analysis and comparing the capabilities of various tools. 
    2. The technologies must be user-friendly and simple to adopt. This includes providing adequate training and support to sales teams and ensuring that the technologies seamlessly integrate with existing sales processes and workflows. 
    3. It is essential to strike a balance between technology and human interaction, and remember that sales is about establishing relationships and trust with buyers. Instead of replacing these objectives, sales teams should use technology to support them. 

    Businesses that quickly adapt to and adopt emerging technologies and trends will gain a market advantage. 

    With the adoption of AI/ML and data analytics’ growing importance, sales enablement is becoming more data-driven and individualized than ever before. 

    In addition, talent intelligence can play a significant role in sales enablement. You can identify top performers and key skill gaps and competencies to develop targeted training programs and provide personalized coaching to aid sales teams in achieving greater success. 

    Draup for Sales is a powerful tool to help sales teams streamline their sales enablement process. By leveraging the platform’s advanced AI capabilities and data analytics, sales teams can 

    • identify high-value prospects, 
    • analyze their buying behaviors, and 
    • gain valuable insights into their pain points and buying preferences. 

    With this information, sales teams can craft targeted messaging and outreach strategies that resonate with potential customers, ultimately leading to more successful sales conversions. 

    In addition, Draup for Sales provides teams with a wealth of data-driven insights and performance metrics, enabling them to continuously refine their sales strategies and optimize sales performance.