Report: Better sales focus could unlock more revenue

A better focus on sales could unlock more revenue.

That’s the crux of AI-driven CRM company SugarAI’s new report on the manufacturing and distribution industry, focusing on where improvements can be made to generate more revenue.

According to the report, the majority (53%) of surveyed companies said commercial performance was broadly stable, with 21% saying they’ve consistently delivered strong growth and 17% saying they’ve struggled to deliver growth. This discrepancy can be attributed to the complexity of the industry—63% of business leaders say commercial complexity is increasingly difficult to manage. The biggest pain points are:

• Identifying growth opportunities within existing customers (49%)
• Commercial information exists across multiple systems and commercial teams manage many competing priorities (45%)
• Large numbers of customers, products, and commercial data (37%)
• Commercial decisions rely heavily on individual knowledge and experience (35%)
• Forecasting and planning accurately (30%)

The report suggests existing silos are creating these barriers for industrial sales teams, and removing them can unlock opportunities and help teams focus better on what’s important. It shows that 51% indicated commercial teams need better information and better guidance on what to focus on. Additionally, 53% say traditional CRM systems provide information but don’t indicate clear priorities or recommendations.

Staying focused: According to the report, half of business leaders think they could generate up to 10% more revenue from existing customers over a 12-month period if their commercial teams knew what to focus on and what actions to take.

Many businesses see AI as a way to unlock that revenue, with 50% of responders highlighting the technology as the path forward. They also believe AI will help recommend the best next steps (44%), improve forecasting and planning (41%), identify customers at risk of reducing spending or churn (39%), and help commercial teams decide what to focus on (39%).