The data-driven Chief Sales Officer takes the B2B sales organization to new heights

All parts of modern organizations must start to leverage data and based on data define actional insights that will be used to drive improvements in small steps. The B2B Chief Sales Officer (CSO) has based on our experience started to leverage data in different shapes and forms. Reporting on sales performance and forecasting has for a long time been the core focus of the CSO. If you compare the CSO with marketing the CSO is behind in being data-driven.

‍One of the reasons for that is that the CSO has been lacking important data that comes from the core of the operations of the B2B sales team. It is the process from the first meeting until order and what is happening in the interaction between sales and the potential client during that important process. The CSO has been relying on data that the Sales Executive is entering into CRM systems and potentially tracking data based on interaction with the website using marketing automation solutions.

This is not enough if the CSO is going to be able to drive significant improvements in sales performance and drive down the cost of customer acquisition and increase hit rate.

When sales are becoming more and more digital and virtual after the pandemic, this opens up for getting data from all virtual interactions in terms of digital meetings and charing information with the buyer using digital techniques.

To be able to gather the data from meetings and the process from first meeting to order you need to implement a Virtual Sales Platform (VSP). These platforms are specifically made for Virtual Selling and do not have the limitations of standard digital meeting platforms like MS Team, Zoom, and Google Meet.

If you implement Virtual Selling as a methodology using a VSP MacKensiey claim in their research report from April 2021 that, you can become up to 62% more effective.
The VSP includes a digital salesroom where the Sales Executive can share information during the sales process with the buyer. In conjunction with the salesroom, the Sales Executive set up and conduct virtual meetings for different purposes during the sales process. These meetings give the sales executive better control and the ability to deliver a whole new experience for the buyer.
The data that is being generated is the new gold for the CSO and the Sales Executive to use for driving improvements.

What data will you get from a VSP (Virtual Sales Platform)?

To make it easier for you as CSO to understand the potential of improvements we have listed examples of some of the most important data that you will get access to:

• Amount of virtual meetings & meeting time
• Participant engagement in virtual meetings
• What content is actually used in meetings and after, and what never reach the prospect
• How are meetings performed ( Face2Face, Content Share, Screen share )
• Conversation AI insights
• Conversation Division, Conversation Shifts,
  Questions asked ( By sales rep or prospect ),Word clouds, Tonality
• Transcript analysis ( trends, words, questions, and more )
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Drive improvements in small steps

Based on this data you drive improvements in small steps together with the sales team. The data itself will also make it easier for the sales team to understand where there is potential room for improvement. After implementation, it is possible to follow up and see the results of the changes. The data will also be valuable in the 1:1 coaching sessions and discussion regarding what to do to win deals.

Driving constant improvement in small steps is delivering significant results over time. Small improvements add up and only 3% improvements per month will make you 100% effective in only 24 months.

What do I have to do to become a data-driven CSO?

We recommend that your first step is to experience Virtual Selling and a VSP yourself. It is an eye-opener and will help you to understand how it can be implemented in your sales team, deliver benefits to the sales team and yourself. Virtual Selling is here to stay is clear according to Gartner and others. Take your first step now and book a meeting with us here we will demonstrate a VSP for you.

What does Virtual Selling look like in reality?

There are only a few Virtual Selling platforms available on the market. If you want to see a Virtual Selling platform in action it is possible to arrange a demonstration of Pitchflow´s platform. You can contact Pitchflow and book a demo here and experience both the platform and a Virtual Selling meeting yourself.