Abstract
In the new VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world that we live in, there are new rules that will reshape many of the components of sales management, from prospecting, to lead qualification, to closing and relationship management. This chapter will explore the impact of technology, data proliferation, and omni-channel customer touch points on how organizations will manage their sales process and the sales teams in the integrated online and offline worlds (O2O sales). The digital-age consumer and the digital-age sales team will have different communication needs and tools that need to be addressed by sales leaders to ensure their organizations' success and competitiveness in this new landscape. Customer insights is the new name of the game and it needs to be developed using techniques such as content management, user experience management, performance analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Effectively and efficiently managing the sales process and the sales practices in the digital age will be the new challenge that organizations need to face as some types of sales jobs might disappear (order takers) and new jobs will need to be developed (sales analysts and data scientists). Todays sales managers need to put science into the art of selling.
Highlights
Most companies have heard about the VUCA world that we live in today, but few have developed actionable strategies to thrive in this business environment that is entangled in volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA)
This chapter will review the impact of data and advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning on sales decisions and the characteristics of the digital-age sales teams, consumers, and business buyers
Following are the major advantages that the sales enablement tools offer and the importance of analytics to each [14]: 1. Content management: Sales teams deal with different customer segments that need different types of content; offering dynamic, flexible ways to organize content that is enriched by performance data, and best practices are of great value to todays’ digital sales organization
Summary
Most companies have heard about the VUCA world that we live in today, but few have developed actionable strategies to thrive in this business environment that is entangled in volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). This chapter will review the impact of data and advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning on sales decisions and the characteristics of the digital-age sales teams, consumers, and business buyers It will discuss the future of the sales process (planning, coordinating, controlling, and motivating) and the sales management practices. Sales management teams need to use agility to manage volatility, information to manage uncertainty, restructuring to manage complexity, and experimentation to manage ambiguity as follows:. Information is the way to manage uncertainty; companies should learn to integrate and understand relationships and patterns to develop insights to support decision-making. Experimentation is the way to manage ambiguity; learning to put your ideas to the test and to leverage the lessons learnt is the best way to reduce the business ambiguity and to engage the teams and reduce anxiety about the changes Those are the new rules for effective sales management in the future.
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