Despite the changing world around them, one thing remains the same for sales leaders: pressure to exceed goals. Driving topline sales revenue, increasing sales velocity, and improving close rates are top priorities for sales professionals everywhere. So, which emerging tools and technologies will help sales teams close deals faster? Or is something else needed first?

Here, we’ve rounded up the some of the key insights* from global senior sales officers – perfect for the sales leader on the move.

*Insights taken from the GDS Group North American RevGen Summit held earlier this month.

People First – Laurent Castaillic, VP of Enterprise Sales, Sendoso

In this era of digital transformation, a plethora of tools exist to accelerate sales, and innovation expands every day. From CRMs (customer relationship management software) to prospecting and customer engagement tools, to sales enablement tools, to the newest varieties of automation tools, when sales leaders are making decisions on which technologies to implement and when, the people using the tools always have to be considered first.

· “You have to be able to get everybody on board and paint the vision of what you’re solving for.”

· Teams need to understand, with specificity, what the desired impact is. More accurate forecasts? More qualified leads? Greater customer loyalty?

· Without organizational alignment, management runs the risk of being misunderstood by sales teams who may start asking, “why are you making me do this? Are you trying to track me? And why are you making me do more work?”

· And there must be buy-in at all levels. The top-down approach to rolling out new tools doesn’t end well: “it’s going to get done sloppy and you’re risking the failure of that project.”

Powerful Tools Run on Powerful Data – Steve De Marco, Chief Revenue Officer at LeanData

There’s no doubt tools and technology have the power to accelerate pipeline, helping teams close deals faster, especially tools that make use of customer data points in ways never before harnessed, getting all revenue-generators (Marketing, Sales, Customer, Partner) on the same go-to-market page.

· “Interpreting that data is not easy, but if you can take those buying signals and that data and create insights for your sellers – very, very powerful.”

· Marketing teams, for instance, can support demand generation by providing Sales with value-based information, gleaning data that picks up on customer buying signals to prompt action at the right time, on the right platform.

· Sales can then turn that data into content, bringing it to customers to help them make their buying decisions.

We’re All in This Together – Laurent Castaillic, VP of Enterprise Sales, Sendoso

Across industry, across business size, across the globe – leaders everywhere are facing some of the same challenges trying to grow while keeping up with the pace of change. The sales executives attending the Summit found great comfort in that.

· “You’re not just trying to be this pioneer and trying to trailblaze through your own challenges.”

· “As businesses are flourishing and growing and trying to scale and build out groups and sales teams, we’re definitely finding there are similar situations and challenges that everybody has.”

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