The Key to a Successful Digital Sales Transformation

Four years ago, in the sales tech space, there were approximately one-third of the companies that exist today. The sales tech industry has exploded in the last few years and continues to show extreme growth potential. There is no doubt that the movement towards digitalization is happening, but why is it so imperative that companies keep up with the trend?

The sales industry is evolving as more technology becomes available. This shift is due to the fact that new tech can make the inside sales process more efficient. Sales automation solutions enable reps to reach out to more people at the right time, making the sales process easier for the sales reps and theoretically reducing the cost of quality leads. But these solutions are about more than just making it easier to do more.

To understand the situation better, we spoke with the AA-ISP Des Moines Chapter President Lisa Hubbard about her thoughts on the evolution of tech in the industry. According to Lisa, “With a new generation entering the workforce, company culture is more important than ever to keep employees motivated, happy, and engaged. Tech enables its users to have a positive experience and increase their success, both of which are motivators in keeping employees involved and driven.”

Take Bluewater Technologies for example, an established provider of highly-customized lighting and video services for large events and modern workplaces. Their sales team worked with new inbound leads and developed existing client relationships. When a new sales executive joined the team, the sales team was skeptical. The executive recognized the need to drive more pipeline and create a better, more modern work environment. He decided to digitally transform their sales approach to drive company growth. His first step was adopting Salesforce to track and manage selling and customer information. But a new CRM alone did not drive the results and culture changes he was looking for. He needed to get employees on board with the changes in order to help them perform better and keep them from disengaging.

LevelEleven’s Sales Performance Management software addressed the people side of the transformation for Bluewater, enabling them to engage their employees. Scorecards with metrics, contests, and bright leaderboards with encouraging messages kept the sales activity visible and the salespeople accountable. The culture shifted to one of performance, with more sales activity generating new leads and an increased pipeline.

This story is not uncommon. Although building a tech stack within an organization is often imperative for company growth, it does not come without complications. Every change in an organization’s technology has potential benefits and risks that the decision makers have to take into account. When sales teams must change the way they sell to successfully utilize new technology, disengagement is always a risk. 

We spoke with AA-ISP Southeast Michigan Chapter President Robert Beattie, who said, “Employees only use technology they believe is important to them. Otherwise, they tend to go back to the status quo.” The adoption of new technology is not always embraced by sales teams, but there are proven ways to re-engage those employees who have become disconnected. LevelEleven helps companies going through a sales transformation that needs their employees to be more motivated and engaged. After all, the state of the work environment can make or break a company’s success. To read more about Bluewater’s digital sales transformation with LevelEleven, take a look at our case study!