The Complete Guide to Sales Automation for 2025

Helen Waite on November 25, 2024

Behind every deal that’s won are countless tasks and processes. Multiply that by all the deals in your sales pipeline, and things get complicated – fast.

Sellers are bogged down with tedious, time-consuming tasks, so it’s easy to see why so many are missing quota.

Today, winning revenue organizations leverage sales automation to streamline manual processes and free up their teams to do what they do best: sell.

You’ve come to the right place if you’re eager to see what sales automation can do for your business. In this post, we’ll explore everything you need to know about sales automation, including:

  • What it is
  • How it can increase sales productivity
  • How it works
  • What sales automation mistakes to avoid

What is sales automation?

You’ve probably heard “sales automation” at least once or twice. But you may be unclear on what this phrase means.

So, what is it?

Sales automation is using technology to streamline and automate the time-consuming, repetitive tasks and processes that are part of the sales cycle. By streamlining these tasks and processes, you can significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your sales team.

Organizations use automation in many ways, from updating CRMs to streamlining workflows to unlocking valuable insights. Artificial intelligence is expanding the scope of sales automation even further, enabling teams to streamline more (and more complex) activities. We’ll explore some of these use cases later.

What are the top sales automation benefits?

Sales is a numbers game. The more time sellers can spend actively engaging with good-fit buyers, the more deals they’ll be able to close.

Yet research tells us sellers spend less than 30% of their time each week actually selling.

Research shows that sellers spend less than

of their time selling
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But that doesn’t mean they’re slacking off the other 70% of the time. Instead, they’re spending it on time-consuming admin work and meetings.

A key benefit is reducing the time and effort required to complete tedious (but necessary) tasks. That means sellers can spend more time building customer relationships and guiding more deals through the sales cycle.

Depending on how it’s is used, there are several other benefits. For example, if an organization is leveraging automation for pipeline management, it’s getting insights that can help it improve deal outcomes. Or, if an organization is using automation to summarize and analyze sales calls, sales managers have insights they can use to deliver coaching that improves reps’ long-term behaviors and performance.

How does sales automation work?

There are countless ways organizations can leverage automation throughout the sales process. How sales automation works largely depends on how it’s being used.

At its core, sales automation is all about data. Often, it involves updating data based on an activity, such as a deal advancing to the next sales cycle stage.

Artificial intelligence takes automation to the next level.

For example, predictive AI can leverage sales data, make predictions based on that data, and recommend actions to increase the chances of the deal moving forward. AI can also provide recommendations on the best content to share with each prospect based on buyer behavior and past performance.

In addition, many organizations are now using generative AI to automate the creation of emails and other content. Sellers don’t have to start from scratch, which means they can accelerate deals.

Sales automation examples

When it comes to automation, the possibilities are endless. So, how should you use sales automation to improve the way you do business?

It depends on what your goals are.

However, here are some examples that can help you start your thought process.

Data entry

Data entry is perhaps one of the most common ways to leverage sales automation.

Logging data is necessary – but it’s time-consuming, especially if you use several different tools and platforms. With sales automation, your sellers’ activities can automatically be logged into your CRM. For example, if a seller shares a piece of content via email, that activity will automatically be logged in the CRM. That way, the seller can spend less time entering data and more time engaging with the prospect.

Pipeline analysis

Accurate forecasting is important. But often, deals go south – and you don’t know about it until it’s too late.

One use case for AI sales automation is pipeline analysis. This lets you quickly identify at-risk deals and provide remediation to get things back on track. AI can even deliver recommended next steps to improve the deal’s outcome.

Prospecting

Sellers only have so many hours in the day. They need to ensure they spend their time with prospects who are a good fit for their products or services.

Today, many organizations leverage marketing and sales automation to nurture and qualify leads. For example, if a buyer takes a certain action on the vendor’s website, it’ll trigger an email. Organizations can use lead scoring to assign certain points to certain actions. When a buyer score surpasses a specified threshold, the appropriate sales rep will be notified to contact them.

Call summary and analysis

Often, sellers spend a lot of time taking notes during calls and deciphering those notes after the fact. Organizations can leverage sales automation to analyze calls and provide summaries. This can help sellers understand what steps to take next and help sales managers identify opportunities for targeted coaching.

Content creation

Increasingly, sales interactions are taking place via digital channels. But developing written communication can be time consuming for sellers.

Today, sellers can use generative AI to help. For example, a sales rep can send relevant content to a buyer and ask a digital sales assistant to draft a contextual email to accompany the content. Sellers can also use sales automation to personalize content for each buyer.

Personalized training and enablement

Ongoing training and sales enablement ensure sellers are always ready for any deal. However, training and enablement must be personalized to each seller’s needs.

With automation, sellers can be assigned relevant training and sales enablement based on their strengths and weaknesses. AI can also recommend resources to help sellers bolster their knowledge and skills.

Common sales automation mistakes to avoid

Sales automation can simplify and streamline the many moving pieces of the sales process, allowing your sellers to focus on building authentic relationships and earning customers’ trust.

But rolling out initiatives isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. Instead, you must be strategic and avoid certain pitfalls.

Let’s look at some of the most common mistakes to avoid.

Using disparate tools and software

Automation requires the right tools. For example, a sales enablement tool allows you to automatically deliver personalized training paths at scale. And conversation intelligence delivers sales call summaries and insights.

However, these solutions are often siloed, and sellers find themselves overwhelmed by the number of tools they’re expected to use.

This approach makes your sellers’ lives harder – when you should aim to make them easier.

Instead, invest in marketing and sales automation tools that integrate with your existing sales technology stack. For example, your sales automation tools should integrate with your existing CRM to automate the data entry process.

In addition, look for opportunities to trade point solutions for integrated sales automation platforms. For example, consider investing in a single, integrated revenue enablement platform rather than purchasing a sales content management system, learning management system, and a conversation intelligence platform.

Failing to properly personalize

Modern B2B buyers have come to expect personalized content and experiences – no matter where they are on the purchase journey. According to research from Forrester, nearly three-quarters of B2B customers expect fully or mostly personalized content.

of B2B buyers expect fully or mostly personalized content
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But often, organizations focus so much on automating content, communication, and experiences that personalization is overlooked.

When prospects receive generic content and communication, they’re likely to disengage. It’s important to strike the right balance between automation and personalization.

Neglecting data management

Great marketing and sales automation depends on great data. Your efforts will only succeed if your data is accurate and quality. For example, you may send the wrong emails to the wrong prospects or deliver irrelevant training and enablement to your sellers.

It’s important to prioritize data hygiene. Clean data is the foundation of effective automation.

Eliminating the human element

You can win more business faster with the right strategies. But remember that sales automation should complement human interaction, not replace it.

Be sure to strike the right balance between automation and the human touch. It’ll pay off in terms of customer acquisition and retention. According to Gartner, “B2B buyers are 1.8 times more likely to complete a high-quality deal when they engage with supplier-provided digital tools in partnership with a sales rep rather than independently.”

Taking a “once and done” approach to sales automation

Sales automation isn’t something you can set up once – and never think about again. But often, this is exactly what organizations do. As a result, B2B automation efforts become outdated and ineffective.

Instead, consistently track KPIs to see what’s working and what’s not. Then, use those insights to optimize your efforts.

Failing to provide proper training and coaching

Adoption will suffer if teams don’t know how to use the sales automation tools. Be sure to deliver proper training to help teams understand why you’ve invested in a sales automation tool – and how they can use it to be more successful in their roles.

Ignoring seller feedback

Your sellers have unique insight as they engage with customers daily. Yet, organizations often develop strategies without their input.

When developing sales automation strategies, be sure to involve sellers. Otherwise, you may implement strategies that don’t help sales reps and don’t align with customers’ needs.

See why Mindtickle is a critical tool in your sales automation toolbox

Your sellers only have so many hours in the day. With sales automation, you can streamline tasks and processes so sellers have more time to do what they were hired to do: engage buyers and close deals.

The right technology is key to any B2B sales automation initiative.

Mindtickle is an integrated revenue enablement platform that equips sellers with the training, tools, content, resources, and insights they need to effectively and efficiently engage buyers. The platform also leverages AI to automate and streamline the mundane tasks that take up so much of your sellers’ time – like searching for sales content, and drafting contextual emails. identifying key moments in sales calls, accessing real-time coaching, making sense of data and analytics, and more.

See Mindtickle in Action

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What is Sales Collateral and How Does it Help Reps Close More Deals?

Christian Pieper on November 25, 2024

Modern B2B buyers are more informed than ever before. Sellers must be ready to meet them where they are and deliver relevant information and experiences every step of the way.

With the right sales collateral, your sellers can effectively engage each buyer – no matter where they are on their purchase journey.

Sales collateral can take many forms – from sell sheets and presentations to case studies and ebooks. Sellers must share the right content at the right time with the right prospects.

In this post, we’ll explore sales collateral and how different types can be used throughout the purchase journey to boost sales engagement. We’ll also share tried-and-true best practices for creating winning sales collateral that helps your reps guide more prospects through the sales funnel – and convert more of them to customers.

What is sales collateral and why is it important?

First things first: what is sales collateral?

It’s any type of asset that enables sales reps to engage prospects and guide them through the sales funnel. It takes many forms, which we’ll explore in detail a little later on.

Print

Digital

Internal

External

Print vs. digital sales collateral

Today, some organizations continue to use printed sales assets. However, the vast majority of sales organizations are transitioning to digital collateral. This is especially true in today’s world, when many sales are conducted without a buyer and seller ever meeting face-to-face.

A best practice is to leverage a sales content management solution to centralize your digital collateral.

Internal vs. external sales collateral

Some sales collateral is used externally. In other words, this collateral is shared with customers and prospects. Some examples include case studies and data sheets.

Other collateral is for internal use only. This collateral (often referred to as sales enablement collateral) is developed only for use by the sales team. Some examples of internal collateral include sales playbooks and sales battlecards.

The importance of sales collateral

Now, we’re clear on what sales collateral is. But why is it important?

Sales collateral drives sales effectiveness and sales efficiency. When it’s done well, it engages buyers with the right information at the right time in the right format. Outstanding collateral can accelerate the sales cycle, so sales reps can close deals faster. When reps can close more deals, your revenue will grow.

What are the different types of sales collateral?

There are many different types of sales and marketing collateral. Each type is especially effective in certain parts of the purchase journey. For example, a case study may be impactful for a prospect who is close to making a decision – but first wants to get a better idea of how other businesses have leveraged a similar solution to achieve their goals. However, the same case study may not resonate with prospects who are higher up in the funnel and just starting to research their options.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the different stages of the sales journey – and some of the best collateral for each stage.

Sales and marketing collateral for the awareness stage

During the awareness stage, prospective customers are aware that they have a challenge (or multiple challenges), and they’ve started to look for solutions to address it. B2B collateral is an important tool that helps ensure prospects become aware of your company and its solutions.

The purpose of collateral at this stage is to make your brand known – and demonstrate that your business is a thought leader. Some common types of collateral that resonate during the awareness stage include:

Blogs are a great way to demonstrate your thought leadership during the awareness phase.

Videos can convey key information in a format that’s easy to digest.

Enables prospects to see what’s new at your organization.

These are a great way to quickly convey a lot of information in an easy-to-digest format.

Regularly posting on key social media channels can increase prospects’ awareness of your brand.

Sales and marketing collateral for the consideration stage

During the consideration stage, prospects start weighing their options. They know about your organization and may have some knowledge about your products and services. But they’re not ready to sign on the dotted line just yet.

Collateral can help sellers build relationships and deliver value during the consideration phase with assets including:

These can be an effective way to present a large amount of information.

eBooks and guides are popular ways to add value during the consideration stage.

Conducting surveys – and then summarizing your findings in a research report – is a powerful way to earn prospects’ trust.

Webinars are an interactive way to share a variety of information and data with prospects.

At this stage, sellers should be sure to use B2B sales content that is industry-specific and speaks to the buyer’s specific challenges.

Sales and marketing collateral for the decision-making stage

At this stage, prospects are getting ready to buy. They’re likely considering your business – as well as a few competitors. The right collateral can build their confidence about your solution being the best option. Collateral that’s effective during the decision-making stage includes:

You can put together fact sheets to concisely convey key product information.

Tells the story of how a company has leveraged your solution to solve their challenges.

These customer quotes give prospects an idea of what it’s like to work with your company.

Provides prospects with concise feedback from your current customers.

Tools like ROI calculators can help prospects understand what they can expect from investing in your products or services.

Demos enable buyers to see your solution in action.

Sales and marketing collateral for retention stage

After you’ve closed a deal, the goal is to keep that customer around long-term. After all, retaining an existing customer is a whole lot easier (and less expensive) than acquiring a new one.

This can be a great way to share best practices to ensure customers are getting the most value from your solution.

Let customers know what’s new with your product and how it benefits them.

Newsletters are a great way to share what’s new at your company. They can also include links to other resources that’ll build customers’ knowledge and ensure they’re getting the most from your solutions.

You can engage customers by sending automated emails when they complete certain activities.

How do you create sales collateral for your business?

The right sales collateral can help you grow revenue. But creating collateral for the sake of creating collateral isn’t effective. After all, research suggests that up to 70% of B2B sales collateral sits unused.

Asking key questions for sales content development

It’s important to create collateral that resonates with buyers throughout the purchase journey – and is proven to move deals forward. It’s also imperative to ensure sellers know where to find the collateral they need – as well as how to use it.

So, how can you start creating more effective collateral for your team? The first, foundational step is to answer these five questions:

Question #1: Who is your customer?

Before developing any type of asset, you must have a clear understanding of who you are talking to. Today, many sales organizations develop buyer personas. Buyer personas are detailed descriptions of fictitious prospects who are a good fit for your organization’s products or services.

Question #2: What are your customers’ pain points?

Generic B2B sales content isn’t effective. Instead, it must speak to a customer’s specific pain points.

When developing your buyer personas, it’s important to understand their challenges. That way, you can develop sales content that specifically addresses those pain points.

Question #3: How can prospects trust your solution?

To close deals, you must articulate why your solution is the best option for solving your customers’ challenges.

Of course, it’s important to establish your brand messaging. However, incorporating the voices of your existing customers into your sales content can be a powerful way to earn prospects’ trust.

A recent Gartner study found that “third-party interactions, such as reading customer references or reviews and consulting directly with third-party experts, are better suited to provide customers with value affirmation.”

Question #4: What types of content will help in the buyer journey?

You know who your customers are and you understand their pain points. You also understand how your solution is ideal to address those pain points. Next, you have to determine what types of content are right for delivering your message throughout the purchase journey.

There’s no right answer here. As we discussed earlier, different types of sales collateral resonate with buyers at different points in the purchase journey. It’s important to determine the right mix of sales assets, measure regularly, and optimize accordingly.

Question #5: How can you retain your existing customers?

Often, sales content is focused on acquiring new customers. However, it’s also important to develop collateral that aids in customer retention.

It’s important to ask yourself what you need to keep your customers around long-term. Then, develop the right content to engage them.

You can use the answers to these key questions to develop the right sales collateral.

Streamlining  management

You’ve answered the key questions above and used the answers to develop sales collateral. What now?

It’s important to ensure your sellers know how to find and use your newly created sales content.

At some sales organizations, collateral is stored in multiple repositories or distributed by email. This makes it difficult for sellers to find the sales assets they need in a specific situation. In addition, it’s common for sellers to use outdated content.

A best practice is to store and organize your sales collateral in a single platform. Many revenue enablement solutions include content management functionality so you can store all content in one place. That way, sales reps can easily find the best content for any selling scenario.

In addition, sales enablement teams must provide training to ensure sellers know when and how to use the sales collateral that’s available to them.

Measuring and optimizing 

Sometimes, organizations develop a piece of sales collateral, upload it to a repository, and then never think about it again. This isn’t an effective approach.

Instead, it’s important to consistently measure usage of sales collateral. In other words, how often are sellers using a specific piece of sales collateral? And how are buyers engaging with it?

Measuring how (or whether) sales collateral impacts sales outcomes is also important. That way, you can understand which collateral has the biggest impact. Then, you can use those insights to optimize your sales content strategy accordingly.

When should salespeople use sales collateral?

Your sales reps may have a large amount of sales collateral available to them. But when should they use it?

There’s no simple answer to that question. As we already explored, sales collateral plays an important role in every stage of the sales funnel.

Early on in the purchase journey, sellers can use sales collateral to earn a prospect’s trust and help them understand more about their business. For example, a sales rep could share an ebook or whitepaper to demonstrate industry expertise and provide value early on.

Later on in the journey, sellers can use sales collateral to help overcome objections and convey why their solution is the best option. For example, a sales rep could share a case study about how a similar business overcame a similar challenge. Or, they could share a sales battlecard to help buyers understand how different solutions stack up.

The important thing is to share the right sales collateral at the right time.

Sharing relevant content at the right time helps sellers earn buyers’ trust and entice them to continue on the purchase journey. On the other hand, sharing irrelevant content will cause the buyer to disengage.

Organizing your sales collateral in a sales content management system is an important way to ensure sellers can quickly surface relevant content. Look for a solution that leverages AI to deliver content recommendations based on data.

Increase the impact of your sales collateral with Mindtickle

Sales reps must keep their buyers engaged. But this isn’t always easy, as sales cycles are long and buying groups are increasingly large.

Sales collateral is an important tool sellers can use to deliver relevant information and keep buyers engaged throughout the entire purchase journey.

Many organizations focus on creating a high volume of sales collateral. But often, a large portion of that sales content sits unused.

Instead, focus on creating high quality sales collateral that’s aligned to the purchase journey. In addition, be sure your sales collateral is easy to find and that your sales reps know how to use it to accelerate deals.

Mindtickle’s revenue enablement platform incorporates sales content management, which enables organizations to store and organize all sales collateral in one central location. That means sales reps can easily find the right sales collateral for any selling scenario. AI also recommends sales collateral based on data and past performance.

In addition, Mindtickle allows sellers to see how buyers engage with sales collateral so they can adapt their approach accordingly. Sales leadership can also measure how sales collateral is used and whether it improves sales outcomes.

Simply creating sales collateral isn’t enough. Mindtickle also enables organizations to deliver sales training and sales enablement to ensure sellers know how and when to use the sales collateral that’s available to them.

Sales Content Management in Mindtickle

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This post was originally published in January 2024 and updated in November 2024. 

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