How technology can empower your sales force, elevate customer experience, and supercharge your company’s growth.

As technology evolves, so does its role in sales and customer service—and it’s all happening at a whirlwind pace.

In our digitally driven market, current technology is crucial for an efficient, effective sales force and a satisfied, loyal customer—the key ingredients for growth and profitability.

A vast array of technological tools and capabilities are available to help companies improve sales and develop fruitful, enduring client relationships. The purpose and value of these technologies fall into two general categories: supporting sales teams and improving customer experience (CX). Ultimately, an integrated system should do both.

The swift and ceaseless pace of innovation—the constant evolution of what’s possible—has forever changed customer expectations. Now those expectations drive innovation forward, setting the CX bar ever higher. 

What do modern customers demand? Today’s always-connected consumer wants a straightforward, cohesive, engaging omnichannel experience; a high level of personalization and individual preference, a palpable human element; they want honesty and authenticity from your brand, and the ability to educate themselves about your product; they expect multiple options for interaction at their fingertips, immediate access, instant answers, speedy resolutions; they want to feel heard. With almost unlimited options available to them through the Internet, the buyer has the power and the success of any enterprise depends on elevating their experience. Not only your product, but your performance, including people and platforms, must be superior. 

On the sales side, then, you need the means to know your customer deeply and proactively build relationships; to create an engaging, unified, user-friendly, hassle-free experience across all touchpoints. You need streamlined processes to eliminate the time-consuming monotonous tasks that distract from directly courting and serving the customer; technology that provides instant access to current product information and customer data to help you hone your pitch and engage proactively; and tools that ensure you’re connecting with clients and leads at the right time, on their preferred platforms, with the most impactful message.

Here are 5 primary areas in which technology can improve your sales performance by empowering your sales force and making your customer happier.

The Cloud. Unlike traditional software, the cloud allows both customers and sales teams to operate (browse, buy, sell, engage, receive service, etc.) from anywhere and any device. Omnichannel retail is designed to provide seamless, cohesive branding and customer experience across all channels. Your organization can collect, centralize, integrate, analyze, and respond to the vast amount of data generated through these interactions. Further, cloud-based services offer greater flexibility and scalability, saving you money.

Automation. When sales reps and customer service agents have tools to automate repetitive manual tasks, they can concentrate on more meaningful work. Sales reps can automate data entry, and outreach/follow-up emails so they can focus on personal interactions. Tech tools for better customer service include automatic ticketing and canned response (confirmation emails, for ex.). Customers appreciate self-service options such as a searchable knowledge base (FAQ), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), and automatic credit card payment systems.

Data. Advanced data analytics, which draw insights from data of diverse types (structured, unstructured, engagement, behavioral, transactional, direct feedback, and much more) from a multitude of sources, can help you understand and better serve your customer; see what’s working and what isn’t. Leveraging data drives growth by boosting your sales performance, improving retention and reducing churn, and helping you identify and focus on your most profitable clients.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML). AI and ML are useful at every point of the sales journey, from analyzing, organizing, and pulling relevant data, to forecasting and predictions that help you identify opportunities and refine your goals based on past performance. AI-powered chatbots also simplify communication and enhance engagement, helping you serve your customer better and faster; chatbots start the conversation and direct the client to the right channels so reps can focus on more complex cases and high-impact sales tasks.

CRM State-of-the-art Customer Relationship Management software is what brings all of the above together, and it is vital to modern sales and customer service teams. CRM synthesizes all the information you have about your customer or lead. Consolidating the details of every interaction at every touchpoint, end-to-end on the browsing-to-buying journey, CRM automates the tracking, collection, storage, organization, and analysis of diverse and complex data sets. It provides increased visibility into opportunities, and a view of the entire pipeline. Real-time, trustworthy data is instantly accessible to your entire sales team, therefore any agent can deliver high-quality, highly personalized service based on up-to-the-minute information, (so that, for example, the customer doesn’t need to repeat themself)—making current clients happier and converting new leads into loyal customers.

Further, integrating CRM with your ERP facilitates communication, coordination, and a single source of accessible truth enterprise-wide.

The veteran business and technology experts at Lukasa understand the modern customer, as well as the opportunities and challenges companies face in a fast-paced and ever-evolving digital marketplace. We know it’s all too common for organizations to be drowning in under-utilized data and hindered by disjointed tools. We partner with your firm to create a cohesive digital strategy that deploys the most effective tools for your unique enterprise—to help you harness the power of your data, unify your sales processes, and elevate customer experience to supercharge growth and profitability.

About Lukasa - lukasa.com
Lukasa empowers small-to-medium-sized businesses by designing and implementing custom business and technology solutions that drive efficiency, productivity, and innovation, enabling them to stay ahead in today’s rapidly-changing competitive landscape.