Sales Ops is always evolving, and our successful use of digital to promote inbound web traffic has been a fundamental base of our sales expansion.
Sales Revolutions is more about strategizing in advance to win the battle than just fighting on the front line on the D-day. We have learned how sales lead management processes are mostly “under the gun to change” when the tides of sales ops revolution rise. Peter Gillett, CEO of Zuant, spoke to us at length about his sales journey and how Sales Ops revolution is disrupting major business sectors globally with the proliferation of newer technologies, including automation, analytics, and machine learning.
What is Zuant and how do you differentiate it from other sales tech companies?
Zuant is a digital platform used extensively at high profile events and tradeshows around the world to present content and capture leads. This data flow automatically through to CRM and marketing automation systems.
It is also configured in an ‘everyday’ format for sales people on the road, which removes the need to log into systems late in the day and input data. Critical sales information can be captured in real time or immediately after a meeting while sitting in the car or airport, which is a great sales productivity tool and helps shortens the sales cycle.
Our differentiators are:
Excellent customer service bar none – This is HUGE as the default in tech and telco is appalling customer service!
Another really important difference is we are a premium product, not just a good looking design running through the Zuant system. We deliver a smooth, positive UX to go with it.
How was it working with Lucent Technologies as your first web-based CRM Client in the mid-90s?
It was a great, pioneering time, and Lucent provided real encouragement to make the whole system work well for their global CRM database. This was at a time when we continually had pushback from clients who would comment that this Internet thing would never catch on!
We focus on America; the UK providing an excellent, low-cost base for creative tech development, and being close enough as a time zone to provide good service across all time zones in the US.
Tell us more about your innovations across industries — mixing business with sport? How did that help you manage Zuant currently?
Well, that’s a different question!
Actually, I think there are some really good crossovers from successful sport to business; the whole competitive aspect combined with the need for focused time management mixed with all the latest technology.
And as a motorsport enthusiast, it’s fascinating to see some of the tech crossovers – one of our neighbors, McLaren, is using their pit to car technologies to work within the medical world for the whole area; it’s opening up for remote diagnostics and communications with patients out and about in their normal day-to-day lives.
On the Zuant side, we have a number of applications out in the field for companies like Pirelli, and this has pushed forward the development of our off-line capabilities so that they can be provided in the field and then synchronized when back on base each evening.
What are the milestones and key events in Zuant’s Sales Ops Revolution?
This one is always evolving, and our successful use of digital to promote inbound web traffic has been a fundamental base of our sales expansion. The next step will be weaving video into our presentations to clients, to advance discussions with a more educated audience.
How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a sales tech champion?
Another interesting question, which will be evolving fairly quickly in the coming months. Frankly, this is still at a really early stage of development; Companies who lead the way here should be able to achieve a huge competitive advantage by automating communications not just with prospects through the sales funnel, but also developing a really good ongoing relationship with customers so that they build and grow with the business versus dying on the vine.
What do Email Automation tools mean to Sales and Sales Ops teams in 2018?
If we are talking marketing automation tools here, then the answer is not enough!
And this also ties in very closely with the under-utilized resource of inside sales, who should really be the ones who benefit from literally the second-by-second update on digital activity by their prospects and customers.
How badly do Demand Marketing teams suffer from “Good data versus Bad Data” hygiene?
Well, of course, the whole GDPR focus of attention right now should have been the catalyst to get companies to finalize an ongoing data hygiene program. But, from our experience, we don’t see much change, so, once again, a really good opportunity to put in place improvements so that any companies limited sales resources are focused on the right people.
How do you work with Data Science, Process Automation, Enterprise Planning, and Advanced Analytics?
Frankly, the simple answer is that we don’t. The only item that we focus a lot on is process automation through every stage of the pre-sales and follow-up account management. We continue to find ways to automate when it’s so easy to stay with a manual approach that stops the business from growing.
What are the major pain points for businesses in putting a 360-degree focus on Sales Ops for better account conversions?
I think you have really covered them above; namely data hygiene and integration of inside sales with digital marketing.
What are your predictions for on-boarding/ adoption of DaaS for improved demand generation and pipeline growth?
Once again, this is one of those underexploited but great ideas. I expect it will become the norm to provide sales leads to the field, complete with updated company data and social media behavior about the business contacts involved.
Which events and webinars do you most occasionally attend and why?
ExhibitorLive in Vegas at the beginning of each year is important to our traditional core market, although I personally enjoy attending many of the Oracle modern marketing experience types of events.
Thank you, Peter, for chatting with us about the Sales Ops revolution at Zuant!