What was your presentation about?
“I spoke about how companies can use data and analytics to improve sales results. There’s a lot of activity in the area of sales technology—all across the consumer decision journey, there are sales tech start-ups to help with marketing automation, enterprise feedback management, social CRM, Salesforce operations optimization, etc. Of course, the ‘art of the sale’ is still important, but companies need to understand that finding growth is much more fundamentally grounded in data and analytics. I described certain data-driven capabilities like micro-segmentation, self-serve tools for customer service, and automatic renewal processes as examples of the important ways that companies can use data more effectively to drive sales. One company, for example, was able to increase sales opportunities by 35 percent by using data to uncover much more detailed and granular prospect targets. Sales tech isn’t about simply being more efficient; it’s about new ways companies can drive above-market growth.”
What part of your presentation was most interesting to your audience?
“I was struck by all the questions about how to get started. We’ve largely passed through the ‘skeptics stage’—people understand Big Data is an important competitive advantage—but people are still fuzzy about what to actually do. Big Data can overwhelm any company, so people were very interested when I started to talk about how important it is for sales leaders to start with a basic question: ‘What problem are you trying to solve?’ Better lead qualification, sales conversion, churn reduction? When people are clear about the problem, it’s a much easier process to figure out what data and technology you need to solve it. Don’t start with a big ‘five-year Big Data plan’ or try to engineer the perfect solution. Successful companies are practical, start small, and are very focused on solving specific problems.”