Salespeople today must use technology to interact with branded content and generate a steady stream of leads. But too often, they are forced into using outdated, disconnected technology solutions to access and share this content, making them less productive and less satisfied at work.
According to a recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report, 51 percent of respondents say outdated and inadequate office technology impedes their ability to retain employees with high-value skills and experience. What’s more, 58 percent of respondents say an organizations’ technology offerings factor into a candidate’s decision to take a position.
Today’s employees have grown impatient with slow, outdated technology.
Here are three core functionalities your top performers expect from their technology – and their employers – as they move into the future:
Humanize the Digital Customer Experience
Despite the rapid pace of technological innovation, people still want to do business with people not machines. According to PwC, 82 percent of U.S. consumers will want more human interaction throughout the customer journey – not less. Best-of-breed technology solutions can help salespeople appeal to their consumers’ emotions in an authentic way to foster loyalty and build customers for life.
Although great customer experience begins with humans, best-of-breed technology solutions can actually help salespeople be even more human during the process of completing complex financial transactions. From the products and services your salespeople offer to when and how they choose to send marketing messages, the right technology solutions allow salespeople to do more of what they excel at: building and nurturing relationships, displaying empathy and making sense of complex information.
Personal Branding Within the Enterprise at a Local Level
Personal branding – it’s how your salespeople present themselves online (and off) to prospects and customers. And it’s possible to put personal brands to work for the entire organization.
From a corporate perspective, the benefits of having your salespeople help build your corporate brand are very clear. Strong brands win, outperforming their less recognizable competitors by as much as 73 percent according to McKinsey research. Meanwhile, your salespeople – in industries such as banking, wealth management and mortgage more than most – live and die by their personal brand.
So, invest in your top talent and provide them with premium content libraries built for intelligent automation. Find ways to help them deliver the right message to the right person at the right time on the right channel to increase their reputation among prospects and customers. Lastly, consider providing corporate-approved templates, so salespeople can educate prospects, build online authority and create an ongoing communication loop that generates customer loyalty without sacrificing your organization’s corporate image.
With the right technology solutions, your salespeople will be empowered to build and apply their personal brands to the corporate mission. The increased satisfaction and productivity you’ll see from your salespeople will not only increase the bottom line, it will foster greater employee retention.
Scalable Business Growth
Scaling a business is about doing more – increasing revenue – with less, or at the very least without adding additional resources to the mix. In addition to the manual, highly repeatable activities that can – and should – be automated, organizations also need increasingly sophisticated processes and technology to cope with the increasing number of consumer touchpoints along the customer journey.
Current AI technology can boost business productivity by up to 37 percent. As our Chief Customer Officer Sue Woodard says, “Technology won’t replace salespeople, but salespeople who use technology will replace those that don’t.” As an organization, it’s your job to reinforce the role of people to drive growth while leveraging technology to do it at scale.
Conclusion
Business and technology are intertwined. You can’t expect stellar results from your salespeople if your technology doesn’t address their needs and wants.
It’s your job to empower the people who are closest to your consumers with the right solutions, so they can deliver on all of the most meaningful aspects of the customer experience: speed, relevance, consistency and hyper-personalization. Further, addressing the needs of your top talent shows you are dedicated to their success, work-life balance and professional development.
And that’s a recipe for attracting top talent.
