Sure, but only when combined with human conversations.
I love technology … when it works. When it doesn’t, it feels like the end of the world. OK, not exactly, but it does slow us down. In sales, time is money, and the more of that time is spent interacting with customers and prospects, the more money comes in. Plain and simple.
Thus, sales enablement technology only works if it saves times on menial tasks and facilitates human conversations. However, when calendars lock, CRM apps don’t work properly, webinar links tell you your session has already started (when it hasn’t), your speakers or mic don’t work, contacts suddenly disappear from your phone, texts aren’t received, databases are hacked—those are major sales challenges.
Technology should enable us and make us more productive, and most of the time it does. But our total dependence on technology makes us susceptible to invasions of privacy and paralyzes our ability to do quality work. Simply put: Sometimes technology holds us hostage.
It’s time to turn back the clock. We’re missing out on the human, person-to-person connection. We’re missing out on talking to prospects and clients, having conversations that drive business, cementing relationships that matter, and using the phone how it was originally meant to be used—actually talking to people.
I’m not the only one who thinks so. In fact, even companies that provide sales enablement technology know that it only works in combination with—not in place of—human connections.
That’s why I loved the following post by Carla Lempera at SAVO:
Why Systems of Engagement are the Future of Sales
By Carla Lempera
It is all about the human connection. That may seem like a strange statement when speaking about technology. Specifically in an industry like sales where huge sums of money are spent trying to get the sales team to adhere to process, find efficiency wherever possible, document activity, and produce predictable and repeatable results. All of these things are important, critical even, but when perfectly implemented and executed there are still no guarantees. That is because it all comes down to people.
Buyers and decision makers are people. They see risk, they fear change, and they want to feel safe.
Facts, figures and data can pave the way, but the differentiator is trust. Trust comes from the confidence that the solution provider you choose will have skin in the game. That they are selecting a partner who has the experience and capability to make them successful.
Sellers are people too. They have volumes of data, content, and resources accessible, but understanding how and when to leverage it all is confusing and time-consuming. And in many cases, that information is also readily available to the buyer or may not be relevant depending upon the situation.
The differentiation lies in the human connection.
