By now, you know what a sales stack is. You’ve heard about it in conversation, at a conference or in an article. Maybe all three.
But have you actually taken the time to build up or evaluate the number of technologies that your sales organization uses to drive efficiency and productivity?
If you’re not sold on the concept of a sales stack just yet, here’s some stats that show why you should be (or if you are, use these to reinforce the importance of your sales stack):
6 Sales Stack Stats You Should Know
1. High-performing sales teams use nearly 3x more sales tech than underperforming teams. (Salesforce)
These sales teams are keeping up with the modern buyer, who is more than likely also equipped with innovative technology. This report shows that high performers are already currently using technology for things like sales analytics, customer insights, competitive intelligence and offer management.
Building a sales stack and using sales technology frees your sales reps from doing trivial tasks. This ultimately gives them more time to focus on selling, which is what these high-performing sales teams have already figured out.
2. Organizations with more than 90% CRM adoption see selling time for sales reps increase almost 10%. (Microsoft and CSO Insights)
Overall, sales reps at those companies with high CRM adoption have the ability to spend 63.2 percent of their time prospecting and selling, while the average sales rep spends only about one-third of their time selling.
Those sales teams with more than 90% CRM adoption also spend less time on post-sales, admin and other tasks. Incorporating a CRM and other technologies in your sales stack increases overall selling time, which gives your company the potential to generate more revenue.
3. On average, high-growth sales development teams have 5 applications in their technology stack. (TOPO)
But having just a CRM system or dashboards isn’t enough. According to this research from TOPO, sales reps are already using “a record number of technologies,” with that number expected to grow.
Whether it’s software for prospecting data or pre-call research, almost two-thirds of companies interviewed for the study had plans to make a sales development tech purchase this year. You might want to consider doing the same if you don’t want to fall behind competitors.
4. High-performing sales teams are 3.5 times more likely to use sales analytics. (Salesforce)
Analytics help reps make more information and data-driven decisions. High-performing sales teams are investing not only in basic sales analytics, but in gathering customer insights across lifecycles, customizing dashboards with defined KPIs and using predictive analytics.
Sales organizations that aren’t using analytics will soon be in the minority. Almost 75% of sales leaders surveyed said they are using, piloting or planning to use sales analytics in the next 12-18 months. (Learn why modern sales leaders drive performance with KPIs here.)
5. 46% of B2B sales organizations report that productivity and performance is a top challenge. (The Bridge Group)
In previous studies by The Bridge Group, respondents have said that mastering tools and technology was a top challenge. But this tells us that almost half of B2B companies are now having difficulty with productivity and performance.
What’s more, 24% of B2B companies are struggling with forecasting accuracy; 16% have trouble with metrics and reporting; and only 10% named technology and enablement tools as a primary challenge.
Adding the right technologies to your sales stack — and training your team properly on them — can increase productivity and efficiency, as well as assisting with forecasting, metrics and reporting.
6. More than half of high-performing sales teams already use, or are planning to use, a mobile sales app. (Salesforce)
The modern sales team is able to make deals on the go. Sixty percent of high-performing sales teams either already use, or plan to use, a mobile sales app within the next two years. Use of mobile apps among all levels of sales teams is expected to increase 125% over the next couple of years.
Become a high-performing, technology-adopting sales team now, because underperformers are expected to increase their sales tech use by more than 180% over the next year and a half.
Don’t fall behind when it comes to sales technology. These stats show how quickly others are embracing their sales stacks.
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