Rethinking CRM: The Latest Innovations from Oracle Sales

When Oracle’s Larry Ellison spoke about the Future of CX at the Oracle Cloud CX Virtual Summit, he left viewers with a thought-provoking statement:

“Sales automation should help you sell more, not just forecast better. That’s a fundamental distinction between first-generation sales automation and second-generation.”

According to Larry, Oracle is on a transformational journey to shake up the traditional approach to customer relationship management by redesigning CRM systems to help sellers—well—sell more.

What's wrong with the traditional approach to CRM?

The role of the sales professional has become multifaceted, encompassing skills from marketing and public relations to finance, negotiating, and reporting. Traditional approaches to CRM are no longer enough.

As Larry put it, traditional CRMs don’t help sellers sell because they were designed around a core principle: help sales managers forecast better. The seller’s core role then becomes continuous data entry, not better engagement across the sales cycle.

For years, sellers have been frustrated with CRM. In addition to wasting mountains of precious time on manual tasks and data entry, they regularly swivel among three or more applications—surrounded by an untold number of windows littering their screens—just to get the basics of their job done. According to recent research from the Beagle Research Group, 66% of digital sellers would rather go to the dentist, wait in line at the DMV, do jury duty or perform other unpleasant tasks than update their CRM.

What does a next-generation CRM system look like?

The next-generation CRM experience puts the seller’s ever-changing role at its core.

Next-generation CRM is not a system of record that overlays new UIs on top of the same old data tables. Instead, it provides a prescriptive, intelligent seller experience, offering recommendations and guidance at every point along the sales journey. It makes sense for sales people and matters to their work, which is engaging with customers, not managing a beautiful rolodex.

Next-generation CRM leverages vetted data from across the enterprise – including marketing, sales, and service, as well as supply chain, finance, and historical ERP actuals – for a true 360 view of the customer and the business. Leveraging such comprehensive information reduces unnecessary data entry and fuels powerful AI algorithms that guide sellers with real-time and lifetime details about their customers, accounts, and territories.

Next-generation CRM gives sellers the superpowers 98% of sellers wish they had.

The latest Oracle Sales innovations

Oracle Sales is on a transformational journey to build the next-generation sales experience. We’ve built a complete CRM solution that unifies data from across your business and creates personalized seller experiences through our prescriptive Oracle Redwood UX to help sellers sell better.

We’re reimagining CRM around the modern seller and are excited to offer regular highlights with our new Quarterly Update on Innovations for Advertising and CX series.

This quarter, we shared Workspace with Adaptive Search and our Sales Mobile app with Sales Assistant.

Adaptive Search (now including quote data) - Get tasks done quicker with fewer clicks and avoid switching from system to system with a single, comprehensive search across CRM, CPQ, and ERP systems. Search, segment, and filter records the way that works best for you.

Favorites - Stay focused on the leads, opportunities, and attributes that matter most with a system of recommendation. Automatically tag your favorite accounts and contacts, and surface a curated list of the most relevant records based on your historical patterns and behavior across Oracle Sales, mobile, digital assistant, and Microsoft Office 365.

Workspace Infolets - Accelerate deal velocity by creating tasks, accepting leads, and qualifying opportunities within the Oracle Sales home screen. New Workspace Infolets embed fully functional Workspace views into your home page for easy access.

Mobile with conversational UI - Reps can now get a helping hand from a Sales Assistant in their mobile app, making it easier than ever to log notes, make calls, access their daily sales brief, and create expense reports through a conversational UI. The consistent experience across web and mobile helps reps stay on top of deals any time they’re away from their desk.

To learn more about these and other Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience innovations, visit Oracle.com/cx/innovations!