It’s nearly impossible to do sales and marketing in this day and age without any form of technology. Of course, you could, but it would waste a lot of time, resources, and take you ages to see any results. Technology has become a big part of the daily sales and management grind. 

Technology is an important tool in your sales toolbox. That is not to say those other elements such as your face-to-face relationships are less important. They are still fundamental to your sales and marketing strategies. 

Every year, businesses update their sales and marketing plans. So, whether your company is focused on growing or simply just wants to maintain your current market share, let’s look at five different ways technology drives sales and marketing.

Reviews and customer advocacy

We truly live in the age of customer engagement. This means that marketing approaches have shifted to include the involvement of enthusiastic customers to help generate more business. If you don’t have a decent amount of Google reviews and at least a 4.5 star and above rating, your business isn’t looking so well to your target market. Make sure that your customer service team knows that this is a priority for the company and a reward for them for every review they’ll be able to solicit. If you need help in gaining more reviews, there are many outbound companies that you can partner with.

AI is your new best friend

Artificial Intelligence has started to play a big role in marketing, and its popularity is sure to grow in the years to come. This technology has taken great strides of advancement that even small businesses can better benefit from using it. A key benefit of using AI is the ability to quickly process data and turn it into actionable information. 

There are a plethora of different AIs out there and most of them you can customize according to your specific marketing needs. So, if you have been considering adding AI to your business, now’s the perfect time to do so!

Cloud-based CRM technology

Management systems are powerful tools that are designed to give organizations a holistic view of the customer relationship by integrating marketing, sales, and customer support. 

Cloud technology takes CRM to a whole new level by making it possible to free up employees from onsite computers and servers. When CRM is stored on the cloud, it can easily be accessed directly from anywhere and at any time.  

When you deploy your CRM correctly, it presents a big advantage for sales employees because it allows them to acquire fast and accurate insights on what customers are doing, what they’re drawn to, and when they’re mostly to buy.

Sales force automation

Everyone that works in sales can attest to the fact that selling requires a lot of tedious, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks such as appointment setting, sending out follow-up emails, and updating your sales opportunities. So, having SFA technology solutions are responsible for automating your tasks, freeing up your sales employees in order to focus their attention on activities that generate more sales and revenues.

Big data

Nowadays, a competitive advantage in sales depends largely on the ability to successfully capture, manage, and analyze massive volumes of customer data that contains insights into customer behaviors and their buying habits. However, the usual average company only analyzes roughly 12% of the data that they have available and that is where “big data” technology comes into play. 

By using big data analytics tools, you can now manage your prospecting which is a critical step in the sales process. By using analytics and customer data models, organizations can identify potential customers as well as more accurately predict which leads from B2C or B2B lead generation efforts are more likely to become clients.

Wrapping Up

As we go deeper into the world of technology, it’s important to realize that it has an almost universal effect on our businesses regardless of size and kind. If we fail to embrace new technology, we will end up getting left behind. Remember that the integration of new technology always goes hand in hand with being willing to constantly improve your strategies as well.