From no tools to too many tools, sales teams are making a conscious decision to consolidate, streamline, and simplify - putting the seller at the center of their decision.
'Evolution by simplification" is a term initially caught my attention during an interesting panel discussion at the Sales Enablement PRO Soirée a few weeks back. I've been noodling on it, asking myself what is driving this shift in mentality and why are revenue leaders making this their priority.
So let's break it down:
Yesterday: The evolution
20 years ago, when we didn't have many tools to work with, the innovation was focused on generating & gathering data. This was supported by the growth of customer relationship management (CRM) software: Salesforce and Hubspot. These tools started as systems of records - complex relational databases to store your data
It was a huge breakthrough for go-to-market organizations because it finally gave them the necessary information to gain visibility and manage their team.
In the last 10 years, now that they have the data, people asked themselves: "What can I do with that data?". As a result, we've witnessed the effervescence of point solutions - software solutions - software solutions that each focus on a very specific use case Nothing wrong with any of these point solutions. They all drive value in one way or another. Analytics, intent data, data enrichment, forecasting, performance management, etc.
Today: Realization
When taking a step back, leaders are now realizing that they just kept adding new tools to their stack - feeding a monster. I like to call it the Frankenstein stack. They are spending insane amounts of money on technology WITHOUT knowing whether it creates value for the team: improving productivity, performance management, or quota attainment.
As a result, sellers are overwhelmed with the sea of tools being thrown their way. It impacts their ability to focus on selling as they have to spend more time on admin work. Ultimately, it impacts their performance. I even spoke to one account executive who showed me his SSO page: he had north of 75 tools available and only leveraged a handful of them.
In the sales tech world, churn is one of the biggest challenges, because many companies will buy a software tool, realize after a year that no one is using it, and not renew their contract.
Tomorrow: Simplification
At this point, revenue leaders recognize the impact of their technology choices on their ability to generate predictable, sustainable growth at scale.
They are taking a closer look into how the technology they implement supports sellers' workflows (rather than the other way around). The main guiding principles: few tools and a more integrated approach.
The tools that will ultimately win are the ones that
Seamlessly connect with the rest of the stack
Streamline their workflows.
Allow for flexibility of the users
At Pod, we've always focused on sellers. We are giving them an intuitive productivity tool build for them - a centralized workspace that connects with their existing systems and streamlines their workflows.
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