Manufacturers and distributors finally using IIoT and AI improving sales performance and productivity by Barrett Thompson

from Manufacturers and distributors finally using IIoT and AI improving sales performance and productivity by Barrett Thompson
by Anasia D'mello
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There are sales data metrics which are finally driving behaviour among manufacturers and distributors far beyond the plant floor and warehouse fulfillment operations. Knowing that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than sell to an existing customer, the need for AI and IIoT driven data about these current customers is greater than ever before.

It does not stop with that factor; the probability of closing a sale with an existing customer is 60 – 70% greater than a new customer, where the close rate is merely 5 – 20%. Ask any sales rep and they will report that sales can be improved by minimising the time spent on administrative and reporting tasks, says Barrett Thompson of Zilliant.

All B2B companies strive to achieve top and bottom-line success every quarter which requires a strong team of sales reps that can consistently meet or exceed quota. That objective has become increasingly challenging in a complex marketplace with hundreds or thousands of products, with sales reps responsible for managing numerous accounts.

Many organisations rely on the more experienced or high-performing sales reps, or “A” players to make their numbers. These reps have the talent, knowledge, and experience to sell profitably every quarter, even when challenged with a large book of business and complexity in the market. They often have a long history at one company, which gives them a deep understanding of the products and customers, leading to a higher level of efficiency and better outcomes in the field. These superstar sales reps are also aging out of the workforce at an alarmingly rapid pace.

The result for most complex manufacturers, discrete and engineer-to-order, or build-to-order (BTO) distributors, are sales teams consisting of mainly of “B” and “C” players with just a handful of “A” players. If all the B and C players sold as profitably as the A players, the impact on a companies’ revenue would be significant.

As the more experienced sales reps retire and salespeople become more transient, B2B companies are wisely and finally investing in technology solutions that improve sales performance across sales teams regardless of experience.

AI-Enabled Solution that Delivers Sales Intelligence to Drive Revenue

Using an AI-enriched solution that delivers unmatched sales guidance, sales reps can achieve the full economic potential of every existing customer relationship. Only when manufacturers and distributors deliver prescriptive sales intelligence on optimal product mix, pricing, and market demand (by applying AI and machine learning techniques to historical and ongoing data), are sales reps able to maximise customer lifetime value. This sales intelligence can be delivered directly to sales reps within existing workflows, including CRM, and eCommerce applications.

Experienced sales reps, even the very best, cannot keep up in complex business environments and when sales reps manage a large number of customer accounts; staying ahead of customer churn is virtually impossible for sales given the sheer volume of accounts and products.

AI guarantees that even if a small percentage of customer churn is recovered, it makes the difference between a flat year and a profitable year. Prescriptive sales intelligence looks [...]

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