Learn how to optimize your technical sales cycle with AI.
Sales AI
April 11, 2024
What does your technical sales enablement tech stack have to do with Batman? More than you might think.
Even if it has been twenty years since you’ve watched a Batman episode or movie, you likely remember his ability to proficiently use his utility belt.
Functionally, the belt enabled him to fight crime. More importantly, it gave him confidence that he had what he needed when he needed it. But that didn’t happen overnight. There was a time in his crime-fighting career when he had tools he never used or were too clunky to be efficient.
The same can be true for your technical sales enablement tech stack commonly used in advanced manufacturing industries that make complex products like specialty chemicals, paper, plastics, rubber, textiles, industrial coatings, and more.
As sales leaders, we seek to equip our teams with the best tools for the job. But with shrinking budgets, technical sales teams need ways to do more with less — making generative AI a critical part of a future-proofed tech stack.
Navigating vast amounts of product data and portfolio knowledge with a less-than-optimized tech stack can create challenges that prevent them from accelerating deal cycles and closing more business.
So how do you improve? Implement the right GenAI sales technology and achieve peak tech maturity levels.
Before we dive into the different levels of sales stack maturity, it’s important to understand that every sales organization is at a different starting point. Additionally, moving between maturity levels is not linear. You can easily take one step forward and two steps back if you aren’t diligent.
We can sum up the first level of sales stack maturity in one word — fragmented. Reps may use sales enablement technology or generally understand that AI tools could help them, but it varies from one rep to the next.
The systems and processes are constantly in flux and simply aren’t working together. Burdened by scattered information and data, technical sales reps have to work extra hard to get the information they need, which limits efficiency.
The biggest challenge for organizations in this stage is knowledge and information transfer. Without a centralized process or standardized sales enablement technology, information rarely remains with the organization when employee turnover occurs. Sales leaders might have a general idea of deals in the pipeline, but process breakdowns and information gaps can make or break it. Moving out of this stage requires uniformity across the entire team.
Sales enablement tech stacks under the Curious category are generally bloated—too many tools without a clear strategy. In this stage, some standardization has occurred, but sales leaders are unsure which tools are the most helpful to streamlining processes.
Sales leaders have started to recognize the trends of an undefined tech stack, including unequal adoption of new technologies across teams. Rightsizing your tech stack is essential. As you pair down systems and processes, sales leaders must evaluate what tools their teams need to drive revenue.
In this stage, leaders are likely fielding questions from team members about the tools they can use, like what AI tools are or aren’t authorized, policies on data sharing, company privacy guidelines, etc. Sales leaders and sales reps alike are curious about the untapped potential of a clear tech stack strategy, but aren’t sure how to get there.
Intention and careful iteration with your sales enablement tech stack will inevitably lead to standardization. For many organizations, the progressive stage is the tipping point concerning maturity. Tools in your utility belt have been trimmed down to the bare essentials, allowing your team to be better equipped and more well-versed in using each tool at their disposal.
At this stage, there is no fumbling for the Batarang — each rep on your team can access the tools they need without delaying the sales process. However, it can be easy to tip the scale in the other direction in the progressive stage, as you may be more comfortable taking on new technologies.
Here, leaders also run the risk of team members using unauthorized AI tools in the name of experimentation. But without a clear strategy, they’re likely not experiencing the full benefits of these solutions.
Diligence and a clear vision are essential to move to the next stage and avoid slipping backward.
Seeing your technical sales enablement tech stack reach a mature level is no simple feat. It requires balance and intention. In this stage, you have a clear understanding of what has worked in the past and tools that brought significant and little value to the sales team.
Now is the time to seriously consider which AI platforms best suit your organization. Since you know what your team needs to meet their goals, you can evaluate these systems more critically and discern which will fit naturally into your ecosystem.
Your added flexibility and confidence in your tech stack make it easier to stay ahead of the competition and meet customer expectations. As the sales landscape evolves, you have processes to routinely audit your tech stack and adjust accordingly.
In the final stage of tech stack maturity, data leads the way.
At this point, you have systems in place that generate ROI for both the organization and each of your sales reps. Here, tools like your CRM, Sales AI Enablement platform, and third-party providers all work together seamlessly to create a well-rounded solution.
In addition to the existing tools, optimized sales enablement tech stacks will also have a clear integration roadmap that has identified tools and vendors that bring additional value to the team.
Moving faster through the maturity model and gaining a competitive advantage doesn’t have to be daunting — especially in the age of GenAI.
With strategic sales tools like Nesh’s GenAI, you can leap from any stage to stage five in a single bound. Doing so will amplify the impact of your organization’s ability to drive revenue across the enterprise, simplifying the ability to support technical services, customer service, and other teams that drive the customer experience.
Batman didn’t go at it alone — he had Lucius Fox in his corner, helping him stay ahead with the latest technology for his utility belt. See how adding Nesh to your technical sales team’s utility belt will do the same.
Download our guide to maturing your technical sales enablement tech stack today.
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