I am pleased to announce that Gartner has launched our new formal program for sales technology research. Yes, we have long covered CRM technology for sales at Gartner. What is different is that this is the first time in years that we have created a dedicated research agenda specifically for sales technology.
In previous years, sales technology research was a component of Gartner’s larger CRM research agenda. This meant that application leaders had to do a bit more digging on the Gartner portal to find our research, particularly if they were looking for information on categories that were not covered in Magic Quadrants.
Our research is now anchored on the four key initiatives shown here.
Sales Execution includes tools for managing daily sales processes, such as Sales Force Automation and Lead Management.
Sales performance management includes systems for managing quotas and territories in concert with systems for managing sales compensation plans.
Sales enablement — Tools that train and coach sellers what to sell and how to sell it, such as sales content management and sales training solutions
Sales effectiveness includes systems for managing complex, rules-driven sales process steps like generating quotes.
Within these initiatives, we review many other technology categories. This includes emerging technologies for artificial intelligence in its various forms. We will also advise clients on strategic technology considerations, such as how to build strategic technology roadmaps.
We have published our research agenda for 2019 in the document “Sales Technology Primer for 2019.” Gartner clients can access the document here.
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