The Future of Sales Technology

The Future of Sales Technology

Salespeople are always the early adopters. Here's where they (and you) are heading.

For the past two decades, salespeople have been the early adopters of technology that's later permeated the rest of the business world. Salespeople, for example, were the first to embrace smartphones and CRM was the first viable "cloud-based" application.

Therefore, if you want to know how the general business public will be using computers in the future, you'd best understand the trends that are already taking place within forward-looking sales teams.

1. Cold calling will become impossible.

Today, all companies use some form of voice mail, which provides an automatic and relentless gatekeeper. While sales technology firms have come up with technologies (like autodialers) to overcome these barriers, many decision-makers (especially young ones) no longer use voice mail and only take calls from recognized numbers.

At the same time, there's been an increase in government regulation of cold calling. Member states of the European Union, for instance, are now required to have laws that prohibit general cold calling. While cold calling remains legal in the United States, the FTC's "Do Not Call List" has greatly curbed unsolicited telemarketing.

The combination of these two factors is already making cold calling less effective at lead generation. Because of this, we see salespeople already migrating to other lead generation methods, such as developing customer relationships using a combination social media and other "known-person to known-person" communication.

2. Tablets will replace laptops (and maybe desktops).

When the iPad was originally released, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal called it a "pretty close" laptop killer. There are now growing signs that that "pretty close" was an understatement. For example, a recent study revealed that 89% of iPad owners bring their iPad when traveling and more than one of three leave their laptop at home.

Within 90 days of its introduction in early 2010, the iPad managed to penetrate 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies and by 2011, iPad sales were eating into PC sales. Microsoft recent announcements identifying its Surface product as key to the company's future indicates the Microsoft takes the tablet threat seriously indeed.

While it is currently too soon to tell for certain, we remain deeply skeptical of the ability of Microsoft's Surface tablet to establish itself as a third alternative in the tablet market. While there's no question that Windows machines will remain a fixture in the business world for many years to come, we feel the days of the dominance of the desktop and laptop inside sales teams is drawing to a close. (...Cont...)