Equipping a modern sales team is complex and expensive, according to research from SugarCRM

Almost half of firms (48%) are putting off investing in technology for their sales teams because of concerns over cost.

The new SalesTech Report from CITE Research, on behalf of SugarCRM, found that many businesses are reluctant to spend money on new technology because of the impact on the bottom line. Despite this, 63% of UK companies spend at least £1,200 on technology annually per sales representative to equip them with the right tools to do their jobs effectively – including smart phones, laptops, CRM systems and web meeting platforms. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (22%) of the respondents said they spend at least £2,400 per sales employee.

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The research also highlighted a lack of confidence and expertise in installing new technology, with 34% of respondents admitted to being worried about the complexity of introducing new tech systems – and 20% concerned about a lack of skills in using the tools.

The survey further revealed concerns around the pressure of keeping pace with digital transformation, with 63% of firms worried about the cost and effort needed to keep systems up to date and more than two-thirds (69%) concerned about the need for training staff. Other hurdles to tech deployment include cultural challenges, with 34% of organisations citing ‘resisting change’ as the main reason for avoiding investing in new technology.

“In today’s digital age, technology is a crucial asset to improve the effectiveness and productivity of sales teams,” said Larry Augustin, CEO, SugarCRM. “However, these survey results indicate the challenges organizations are facing when it comes to evolving the way their sales teams work. It’s clear there is still work to be done when it comes to overcoming obstacles and reframing how we think about technology in the workplace.”

Rebecca Wetteman, analyst at Nucleus Research, added: “The results of the CITE research survey match Nucleus’s own findings. The research indicates a modernisation of sales culture where using tools to gather, analyse and share data is much more important than wining and dining potential clients.

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“What I find interesting about the report from CITE and SugarCRM is that organisations are no doubt willing to spend money, but many are in the experimental phase. Other than CRM, organisations are dabbling in a variety of other tools in a trial and error phase to determine what is absolutely critical for sales people to be more effective.”

The survey of 400 sales executives in the United States and United Kingdom was conducted to define what the technology stack for a modern sales team looks like.

The study revealed that CRM remains the most frequently deployed tool for sales teams, with 70% of organisations saying they use the technology. In addition, laptops, smartphones, tablets, lead development applications, collaboration and productivity tools, digital transactions software, online meeting schedules, web meeting platforms, internal messaging tools and data enrichment services were all deemed “valuable” or “extremely valuable.”

Methodology

CITE Research, on behalf of SugarCRM, conducted a survey among 400 business professionals, with 200 respondents in the United States and 200 respondents in the United Kingdom.  Respondents were screened to be employed full-time, work in sales or business development and have a job title of director-level or above. All respondents worked at companies with 100 or more employees.

For the complete survey report, please visit: https://files.sugarcrm.com/resources/analyst-reports/2017-SalesTech-Survey-Report.pdf