Forging the ideal tech stack for your sales operation is a constantly evolving process. What works for your team today may not work for your team tomorrow, and choosing your vendors requires a steady eye toward future growth. With those challenges in mind, Pavilion (formerly Revenue Collective) partnered up with Wizards of Ops for a tech stack survey — to understand how high-growth companies manage their sales tech stack these days.
Respondents were primarily sales and marketing teams from high-growth companies, with most companies generating revenue in the range of $1M – $30M. Aaron Leeder, VP of Partnerships & Alliances at Pavilion (then Revenue Collective), sat down with Brad Smith, Founder of Wizards of Ops, to discuss the results. Below are a few highlights.
There’s always room for improvement
With technology moving as quickly as it does and industries evolving at a fast clip, it can seem like a sales tech stack is never complete. A little more than half of survey respondents said that they are happy with the vendors they have, but there are gaps to fill — and an additional 20 percent said there are major gaps to fill. Other respondents felt they had identified the right tech, but may want to re-evaluate their vendors.
The pandemic has also impacted the stability of tech stacks. Thirty-one percent of respondents added additional types of technology to address changing needs, while 15 percent consolidated their tech stack, and a combined 10 percent changed vendors to either cut costs or meet new requirements. Companies will likely readdress their tech stack this year to make sure it’s primed for sales in a post-pandemic world.
Teams are open to diversifying their vendor options
According to the tech stack survey, new players are creeping in on old favorites. Salesforce is by far the most widely used tech for teams surveyed at 81 percent, and it’s also the favorite. But in areas like demand generation and marketing automation, there are many more players in the space than there used to be.
“Five or ten years ago, you might have only five or six favorite tech logos, but people are latching on to the things that are helping them improve their go-to-market approach,” said Smith.
That means brands like Gong, Outreach, and HubSpot are emerging as favorites as well.
Tech stacks are still maturing for specific use cases
Adoption of things like e-signature, CRM, and email marketing tech is strong, but some areas of sales and marketing are still developing when it comes to using tech to help with the process. Landing page and A/B testing, for example, is only used by 40 percent of surveyed respondents. Smith anticipates that percentage will go up drastically in the next couple of years, but in the meantime, there are only a handful of leading tech players in the space.
Sales teams recognize the need for SaaS management
The majority of respondents are working with vendors to manage their tech stack and ensure it’s running at optimal levels. The leading vendors in the survey were Sonar and Blissfully, at 37.5 percent and 31.3 percent, respectively. Actively managing your tech stack is important because businesses evolve, and the opportunities for optimization are different for each team.
“It’s great to see that people are focused on their tech stack,” says Smith. “It kills me when I talk to leaders and they ‘I’m sure we have a tool for that, but I don’t know what’s connected to, what, or how much it costs.’ I’m glad people are focusing on it now.”
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