Over the past two decades, technology-driven innovation has profoundly changed selling and sales organizations. PCs and smart mobile devices are now essential selling tools; CRM platforms are virtually ubiquitous; and new applications appear daily to help automate, enhance, or speed up how salespeople sell.
This research examines how business-to-business firms identify, assess, and select new technology used by the sales organization. It also focuses on how firms approach technology investment decisions, which technologies are considered most impactful, and where sales leadership realizes return from sales technology.
Throughout this survey we use the term “sales tools.” We use the term somewhat generically to refer to any piece of software or hardware used to enhance sales productivity or effectiveness. However, the term excludes general-purpose applications such as email or spreadsheets.