When deployed effectively, sales technology can


drive 5 to 10 percent revenue growth and a 20 to 30 percent increase in customer satisfaction by delivering predictive and actionable insights and making information easier to obtain. Nevertheless,


less than 30 percent of companies use state-of-the- art technologies in their sales processes,1 and of


everyone in the sales organization, strategic account managers (SAMs) are the least likely to say they feel


comfortable using technology while doing their jobs.2 While companies should avoid overloading SAMs (some have over 20 systems they are expected


to use), the truth is that technology and analytics exist that can radically improve how SAMs work and the value they can deliver to customers. This isn’t about just capturing more information in CRM,


account plans, etc., but about the smart application of tech and analytics to deliver better insights in return. The most common technologies we see


strategic account organizations adopting in addition to their core CRM systems are those underpinned with advanced analytics in order to deliver clear recommendations, e.g., adoption telemetry or


"propensity to buy" modeling, next-service-to-sell, or account-based marketing messages to prioritize.


– Marie Rowell Associate Partner McKinsey, San Francisco


1 McKinsey Sales Technology Survey and related article “Looking beyond technology to drive sales operations,” by Bertil Chappuis and Brian Selby, https://www. mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights


2 From McKinsey’s Sales DNA benchmark, an online diagnostic survey consisting of over 200 self-assessment questions for sales reps about traits in six core areas: intrinsics, skills, motivation, culture, time allocation and coaching https://www. periscope-solutions.com/solutions/sales-solutions/sales-dna/


approaching issues and making decisions. Same thing for relationship mapping, where these tools give you guidelines to assess your stakeholders. Without these guidelines, we have a tendency to make more emotional decisions.


LS: A tool can be instrumental in going


high, wide and deep at your customer. Harvey Dunham: And these customers tend


to be really large, and they often have multiple sites around the world. Keeping up is hard, but the customer expects you to know what’s going on even in the far reaches of their organization and YOUR OWN organization. So having a tool where that’s all gathered and visible not just to the SAM but to his or her whole team is huge. One of the more embarrassing things for a SAM is to walk into a big customer meet- ing with important people and have them ask you about something at your own company that you don’t even know about. When that happens, you’re playing defense.


LS: Another aspect I experience all the time


is that people just don’t like filling in forms, especially if they don’t see the personal benefit to themselves. It’s not that this intelligence can’t exist in Excel, it can. But you have to work 100x harder.


I also think that using a tool to manage


strategic accounts can serve to train yourself to become more strategic. If you’re using a value quantification tool, everything gets tied into measurable business results. It’s easier to see, easier to quantify. And it’s right there for all to see.


HD: Another aspect is this: Say your com-


pany has just made a new acquisition, and now suddenly you have a new capability you haven’t even been trained on yet. But by linking Marketing with SAM, you can brief yourself right on your phone and have instantaneous access to whatever is on the marketing site and - poof - you’re able to have an intelligent conversation with your customer.


LS: At the end of the day, if you’re investing


in your SAMs – and you should be, as these are highly paid people who are handling your


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