a systematic literature review
Heiko Fischer, Sven Seidenstricker & Jens Poeppelbuss
The transformative power of digitalisation is revolutionising traditional sales techniques, heralding a new era in how business is conducted. These digital technologies have the capacity to restructure entire sales organisations, lending unprecedented support to sales professionals or even standing in as their replacements. Despite the growing fascination with digital sales from industry and academia, there’s still a considerable knowledge gap that needs to be bridged.
This research embarks on an exploratory journey to identify the driving forces behind digital transformation in sales and evaluate how this shift is impacting the sales landscape and redefining the role of sales within organisations. Subsequently, it highlights unaddressed research questions within the realm of digital sales that warrant further scrutiny.
The detailed review of literature presents a comprehensive summary of the current understanding of digital sales. The findings indicate that technology is yet to fully supersede human sales force. As the interaction between customers and sales teams (encompassing information sharing, communication, and engagement) evolves, it is becoming clear that the future of sales will likely be an amalgamation of digital and traditional channels.
The literature review underscores that competitive advantage in today’s market hinges on key strategies. These include decoding customer needs, harnessing technology to meet new relationship demands, embracing data-driven decision making, and recalibrating the sales function.
This fusion of digital and non-digital channels points towards a more diverse and adaptive sales environment. Technological advancements provide numerous opportunities to enhance sales strategies, but the human element retains its importance. The art of understanding customer needs, creating relationships, and personalised communication still belongs to the human salesperson.
It’s clear that digital transformation isn’t about replacing the human workforce, but rather reimagining their roles in a digitally oriented landscape. Successful sales organisations will be those who can strike the right balance between leveraging technology and maintaining the irreplaceable human touch in their sales strategies. They must be agile, ready to adopt data-driven decision-making processes and, evolve their sales functions to remain competitive.
Digitalisation presents a dual-faceted approach for the future of sales – embracing the digital while valuing the non-digital. By identifying the catalysts of digital transformation and understanding its impacts, businesses can navigate the changing sales landscape with more confidence and readiness. Through continued exploration and adaptation, the potential for successful digital sales implementation is promising.
Reflections
- The article highlights the transformative potential of digitalisation in revolutionising traditional sales techniques. How does this transformation resonate with your personal or professional experiences? Discuss any instances where you have witnessed digital technologies restructuring sales organisations and the resultant impact on sales professionals.
- The future of sales is anticipated to be a blend of digital and traditional channels as per the article. In your opinion, what could be the potential advantages and challenges of such a hybrid model? How could this impact the interaction between customers and sales teams?
- Reflecting on the highlighted strategies for gaining a competitive edge in the market, such as understanding customer needs, using technology, data-driven decision making, and reimagining the sales function – how would you apply these strategies in your own business or professional context? Provide specific examples where applicable.
- The article concludes by presenting digitalisation as a dual-faceted approach that involves embracing the digital while still valuing the non-digital. Reflect on the implications of this perspective for the role of sales professionals. Considering this, how do you envision the future role of sales professionals in a digitally-oriented landscape?