Even as businesses evolve, two things remain the same: Sellers want to become more productive, and B2B buyers wish to make purchases that help them solve business challenges. Technology that accelerates sales helps sellers achieve both by driving efficiency and streamlining buyer engagement.
So, what is sales acceleration? This guide will cover the basics of sales acceleration, why it matters, and what sales acceleration technology your organization can use to increase revenue.
First, let’s start by defining “sales acceleration.”
What is sales acceleration?
Sales acceleration is the strategic use of content, analytics, and resources by go-to-market (GTM) teams to deliver meaningful buyer engagements that increase deal velocity. They implement certain content, analytics, and resources that are relevant to their target audience to form a meaningful connection and entice them to learn more.
The Sales Acceleration Formula
Surprisingly, the sales acceleration formula is a new standard for businesses. It was first introduced to most companies and widely popularized by the book called The Sales Acceleration Formula. Written by Mark Roberge and released in 2015, The Sales Acceleration Formula provides predictable sales acceleration strategies and new approaches to building a sales team to increase revenue. The book is worth a read, but here are the key points to know:
Hire the salespeople that are best for you
While some candidates may have objectively better resumes than others, that doesn’t mean they’ll be better for you. Every salesperson has their own unique skill set, and no two individuals will have the same approach to selling. It’s essential to hire salespeople with skills that complement each other and your company’s style.
Train sales reps to understand their audience
It’s common for businesses to have new hires study the methods of a sales manager, observing things like demos, walk-throughs, and assessments. However, this method doesn’t instill effective knowledge or skills across a team. Sellers need to complete a training program in order to be aware of your organization’s specific buyer journey, sales process, and personas.
Make agreements and hold teams accountable
“Service Level Agreements,” as Roberge referred to them, create a well-defined framework for both the sales and marketing teams to reference between the transferring of leads and other resources/information. Laying down these measurable expectations regarding what is owed between the two groups is essential to getting them aligned.
Improve efficiency with technology
Much of the tech sales teams use is geared toward the sales leaders rather than the salespeople. Sales teams accomplish more when technology is deployed with the sellers in mind. However, they would greatly benefit if you leveraged said technology for their needs. It allows them to better track engagement with different content and prospects. These tools also provide teams with greater data and insights that they can then use this data to optimize sales.
Did you know?
75%
of buyers prefer to continue digital interactions.
Why does sales acceleration matter?
As mentioned earlier, sales cycles have changed significantly as sellers and buyers adapted to digital-first selling motions. Sellers who were previously accustomed to in-person meetings, business travel, and client dinners suddenly found themselves at home, staring at a screen. Sellers need to build relationships with customers through highly relevant, personalized content experiences in digital-first sales cycles. Adopting sales acceleration technologies can support go-to-market teams navigating increasingly complex deal cycles.
Digital-first sales motions are the new normal. In fact, McKinsey found that 75% of buyers prefer to continue digital interactions. 97% of buyers are willing to spend up to $50,000 in virtual environments, and 15% are willing to spend $1 million without meeting face-to-face.
To capitalize on these opportunities, sellers need to be equipped with the right content for the right buyer at the right time. Empathy and trust also help accelerate deals. But, in order to build trust, sellers need to understand buyer needs and identify content that will address their business challenges.
Sales enablement solutions simplify these tasks, freeing up time for sellers to focus on building relationships and supporting the buyer.
How can businesses increase sales acceleration?
By now it’s hopefully clear that sales acceleration is quickly becoming a key component of an organization’s success. So when it comes to increasing sales acceleration in your organization, there are several best practices to consider. Investing in the right sales accelerator tools and using the following best practices can work wonders for your sales team.
Align go-to-market teams
Sales acceleration starts with GTM alignment. When sales and marketing are on the same page, it streamlines buyer engagement. By enabling them to better communicate and share necessary information and resources via a clearly defined framework, you can also improve alignment and efficiency.
Deliver ongoing sales training
Sales reps need to be equipped with knowledge and skills to do their jobs effectively. And while sales onboarding is crucial to delivering this information, organizations also need to ensure they provide sellers with continuous sales training that equips them with the tools and information they need to keep accelerating deals.
Provide personalized coaching
It’s not enough to just train sales reps during the onboarding process. The sales process constantly changes and evolves, so sellers need constant coaching to stay up-to-date with the best sales strategies.
Review sales insights and data
To optimize the sales and advertising processes, a company must invest in sales acceleration software that can help them obtain, track, and store relevant insights and data. With this information, they can optimize their processes based on what content garners more engagement with different audiences. Sales enablement solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI) give sellers intelligent, insights-driven content recommendations that boost sales acceleration.
Invest in the right sales enablement platforms
The last key component to effective deal acceleration is investing in the right sales acceleration and sales enablement platform. Software like Seismic, provides all of the tools and capabilities you need to optimize your sales enablement and make your team’s sales process as smooth and efficient as possible.
5 Reasons Teams Need Personalized Coaching
Types of sales acceleration solutions and tools
There are a variety of sales and marketing technologies that enable sales acceleration. Organizations with well-integrated GTM tech stacks generate vast amounts of data that allow them to make insights-driven content decisions. Some of the sales enablement technologies they use to support sales acceleration include:
Analytics
Content analytics enable GTM teams to track content from when it’s created to when it’s shared. Tracking content usage and performance gives marketers insights into the content sellers use and how it performs with buyers.
Sales content solutions
Sellers can’t use content they don’t know exists. Investing in a dedicated content management system allows marketers to upload, categorize, and tag content in a way that simplifies discovery for sellers.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software
Sellers are more likely to leverage sales enablement technology when it integrates with the tools they already use. Integrating CRM with sales enablement technology allows sellers to personalize content using context-rich insights.
Connecting with buyers by email is more important than ever. Sending personalized notes that include relevant, resonant content helps sellers remain top-of-mind while building relationships at scale.
Learning and coaching
Sales teams that want to create a consistent training program that’s scalable and efficient can do so with training and coaching software. This ensures everyone is onboarded, trained, and coached for improvement.
Marketing enablement
GTM alignment is the most impactful way to accelerate sales. When marketing and sales are on the same page, they can partner to produce the right content to address customer needs.
Predictive content
Sellers are more productive when intelligent content recommendations are at their fingertips. Sales enablement technology allows sellers to easily discover and personalize the most relevant content based on context-driven insights.
How does Seismic enable sales acceleration?
Seismic is the industry-leading sales enablement solution. Our software helps align and empower GTM teams to deliver engaging buyer experiences that drive growth. Our platform enables marketers to share content across all channels so that sellers can deliver personalized, meaningful content experiences to prospects at every stage of their buying journey. And by combining key features into a single, unified solution, organizations can comprehensively view, manage, and improve all of their go-to-market efforts.
By understanding what works, GTM teams can leverage their findings from the Seismic platform to scale best practices across the organization. Seismic also offers AI-guided selling solutions that further enable sales acceleration. Ready to see how we can help your organization accelerate deals and drive revenue growth? Click here to get a demo!
