Insight-Driven Sales Management

In the new VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world that we live in, there are new rules that will reshape many of the components of sales management, from prospecting, to lead qualification, to closing and relationship management. This chapter will explore the impact of technology, data proliferation, and omni-channel customer touch points on how organizations will manage their sales process and the sales teams in the integrated online and offline worlds (O2O sales). The digital-age consumer and the digital-age sales team will have different communication needs and tools that need to be addressed by sales leaders to ensure their organizations' success and competitiveness in this new landscape. Customer insights is the new name of the game and it needs to be developed using techniques such as content management, user experience management, performance analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Effectively and efficiently managing the sales process and the sales practices in the digital age will be the new challenge that organizations need to face as some types of sales jobs might disappear (order takers) and new jobs will need to be developed (sales analysts and data scientists). Todays sales managers need to put science into the art of selling.