Sales

How to Digitalize Your Sales Organization

Use technology, data, and analytics to do it right.

by

and

Sally E. Lorimer

by

and

Sally E. Lorimer

From the Magazine (September–October 2022) · Long read

Israel G. Vargas

Summary.

Companies can reap great benefits from digitalizing their sales organizations—that is, using technology, data, and analytics to improve the sales process. Done well, digitalization increases customer engagement, boosts the skills and performance of salespeople, and supports a more customer-focused business model. But digitalization initiatives are often plagued by slow progress, poor adoption, or low sustained impact. This article discusses why that happens and recommends five actions to increase the odds of success: (1) Put a “boundary spanner”—someone with both sales and technical experience—in charge, and secure an executive sponsor; (2) build in accountability by establishing the business case, setting key performance indicators, and creating a governance framework; (3) deploy a functionally diverse team; (4) implement an agile approach; and (5) foster change in salespeople’s mindsets as well as in the sales process.

Idea in Brief

The Ideal

Sales digitalization can increase customer engagement, enable more-flexible and customer-centric selling organizations, help salespeople perform better, and otherwise contribute to business success.

The Problem

Sales digitalization initiatives are often plagued by slow progress, poor adoption, or low sustained impact.

The Recommendations

To increase the likelihood of success, create a cross-functional team led by someone with both sales and technical experience. Build in accountability measures, take an agile approach, and foster change not just in the sales process but also in mindsets.

Customers today don’t simply want knowledgeable answers to their questions about products and services; they want speedy solutions for their particular technical requirements and business issues. At Microsoft, where sales account executives interact with millions of software buyers each year, customers’ expectations of the sales team have skyrocketed. Yet until recently, it was cumbersome and sometimes impossible for account executives to get a true picture of each customer’s needs. They had to manually assemble and synthesize data that was scattered across Microsoft’s business units. Time and effort were wasted, and interactions with clients suffered.

A version of this article appeared in the September–October 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Prabhakant Sinha is a cofounder of ZS, a global professional-services firm. He also teaches sales executives at the Indian School of Business.
Dharmendra Sahay is a principal and leader of digital solutions at ZS, a global professional-services firm.
Arun Shastri leads the artificial intelligence practice at ZS, a global professional-services firm.
Sally E. Lorimer is a principal at ZS, a global professional-services firm.

How to Digitalize Your Sales Organization

Idea in Brief

The Ideal

The Problem

The Recommendations

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