Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Tight Budgets in 2023 Won’t Lessen the Need for Delightful Customer Experiences
By Chris Shutts, CEO of Logik.io
COVID, inflation, and now a forecasted global recession – people have been put through the ringer over the last few years. But, regardless of a tougher economic climate, businesses will get no relief from the expectations of buyers who demand an elevated customer experience driven by the “now” economy, in which buyers expect to be able to swiftly make purchases regardless of channel and do so in an unfettered manner.
With expectations mounting from consumers and businesses being forced to do more with less, tech leaders will need to strike the difficult balance between tightening budgets and customer expectations. The result? Enterprise sales tech stacks will therefore need to be constructed in a way that prioritizes efficiency without sacrificing experience.
With that in mind, here is what businesses can expect will shake out in 2023, a year that will force fundamental changes in the relationship between buyers and sellers.
The line between sales tech and commerce tech will disappear
The merging of these two technologies has been a long time coming. Sales tech, which has traditionally focused on the sales user experience, needs to change to support the new normal. Commerce tech, which has been focused on the buyer, is ultimately where companies need to focus and sales tech will be absorbed into it, making the sales operations more customer-centric in the process.
As the market bears witness to the consolidation and integration of these technologies, some will be uncomfortable seeing sectors vanish – but that discomfort will, in the long run, benefit companies. CRM and commerce platforms will become far more intertwined, no longer operating disparately. That integration will force CPQ and commerce to be more closely aligned, enabling sellers to move quicker to provide buyers with options regardless of the channel they engage the company on.
Emerging sales tech will take on a different focus – no longer will the sales professional be the target, but on the customer, delivering more elements of commerce and self-service.
CIOs will prioritize sales/commercial efficiency and system consolidation
Economic downturns impact every part of the business, but in particular the CIO. Every company is a technology company in an age where digital transformation is no longer a nice to have but a necessity. With more emphasis on digital innovation but facing stringent budgets, CIOs can no longer justify huge tech budgets that have caused a proliferation of tools at many companies.
The result of all these tools has led to Frankensteined tech stack with bandaids and glue to maintain and optimize them. The operational inefficiencies, coupled with the broken integrations and bloated processes, have slowed down organizations. In the best of times, that’s not optimal. In the worst, it’s the kind of chaos that shudders businesses.
Because of that threat, tech leaders will focus on platforms with built-in ecosystems of native solutions – think Salesforce on the sales side and Shopify on the commerce side – to solve their challenges and eliminate the bottlenecks and tech debt their organizations face.
Supply chain challenges aren’t going away
2022 was a year in which every American learned about the supply chain – and not for the right reasons. Expect those challenges to continue in 2023 as the global economy becomes more inconsistent.
Because of this, companies will need to ensure their processes, technologies, and operations are nimble enough to adjust to these issues without interrupting their sales cycles and customer experience. This means making sure inventory is aligned with what sales reps are selling, that manufacturers bill of materials (BOMs) and routing information are up to date and aligned with sales orders in real-time to ensure delivery and fulfillment lead times are met, and that adjustments made in the manufacturing process are reflected in sales systems, particularly in those like CPQ that facilitate the quote-to-cash (QTC) process.
Even as we face a global recession, companies can take solace that they’ve been here before – and only a couple of years ago when they had to close their doors and adopt new selling processes because of the pandemic. While a recession feels daunting, that experience will come in handy as companies continue toward digital nirvana.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Shutts is the CEO of Logik.io. He co-founded BigMachines in 2000 and sold the company to Oracle in 2013. Chris has a Bachelors and Masters in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and two mechanical design patents.
