According to a story at CIO TODAY, investment in sales acceleration technology surpassed $1.2 billion in April of 2015. That’s a sizable figure which clearly indicates a trend.

However, is it a trend your company should join? How many technologies have you seen that were supposed to be “the next big thing,” but then failed miserably? And even if most companies use this technology, that doesn’t mean it’ll work for your company. That’s just the nature of business.

What is Sales Acceleration Technology All About?

Well, it does exactly what its name says. But, depending on the software you choose, it works differently. For example, one tool may help you bypass phone trees so your sales team spends most of their time talking to prospects. Others help you visualize the data on your sales process better so you can improve it. And another kind may gamify the sales process to help motivate your employees.

So there’s a broad range of tools that fit under the “sales acceleration” category. The key, in my opinion, lies in knowing your most pressing problem and finding the tool designed to solve it. And yes, it may make sense to use several tools together to construct a highly effective sales process.

Why Invest in Sales Acceleration Technology?

You have dozens of reasons to invest in sales acceleration technology – all good ones. Check out a list of these four from InsideSales.com’s 2014 Sales Acceleration Market Size Study:

  1. Close much bigger deals: Companies studied that closed the biggest deals spent twice as much on sales acceleration technology as the average company.
  2. Much faster sales cycles: The companies that had the shortest sales cycles spent 28% more than the average company.
  3. Higher close rates: The companies that had the highest close rates spent 17% more than their average competitor.
  4. Increased revenue: Of course, this one follows naturally from the previous three. The top 50% of companies (in revenue) spent twice as much as their average competitor.

This is among bigger companies, of course. You don’t need to invest a truckload of cash in sales acceleration technology to see a good ROI. But, these stats do help you see the benefits of sales acceleration at scale.

Why else might you invest in sales acceleration technology? Here’s a few other reasons  I can think of:

1. Buying Behavior has Shifted

Remember when sales was all about in-person appointments? Today’s B2B buyer does most of their research (57% according to Google) online before ever talking to your sales team. Plus, they’re more stretched for time than ever. So, inside sales is becoming more important, and sales acceleration primarily helps with that approach.

2. Your Reps Hit and Exceed Quota

Aren’t employees the biggest expense at every company? And doesn’t it cost a lot to hire and train new ones?

So why not make the most of what you have and cut those hiring costs to next to nothing? And why not have all your employees make the most revenue for your company they can?

Sales acceleration technology makes sense for nearly every business, regardless of size. The real challenge is finding the best tool you need right now, and working with a vendor you can trust.

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