Since the mid-1970s, I’ve been privileged to witness many organizations’ efforts to improve their performance. Many of their successes were enabled by advances in computing. The focus has been on creating ever simpler, faster, ways for individuals to get specific tasks done.

In recent years, in my circles, it’s gotten increasingly interesting. There’s a shift occurring, to using technology in ways that make business practices smarter as a path to better results. It’s enabling what’s known from what’s done to shape what’s subsequently done. It’s the equivalent, for conversation supply chains, of lean manufacturing innovations pioneered by Toyota. It’s learning-focused and performance-improving. It’s a shift away from ‘efficiency at scale’ to ‘learning at scale.’

Within this as context, I see Dreamforce as an annual, giant, conclave of thousands of folks committed to ‘making better happen’ with the help of the Salesforce ecosystem. They’re finding new and inventive ways to ‘make better happen’ from what’s being displayed, presented, and discussed in hallway conversations.

This year? They’ve seen what Salesforce and its partners have done to:

• make information easier to use on the front lines of execution [and from a diverse mix of originating data sets],
• improve the odds that reps win more sales conversations with target buyers, and
• empower front-line employees to be more context-aware and thoughtful in the doing of their work.

It’s an observable flood of 'innovations-in-progress.' The user experience, on the front lines of marketing and sales, is becoming easier, simpler, context-aware, better aligned, and more informed with the aid of analytics. These innovations triggered understandable murmurs of "that’s cool." 

Will sales productivity naturally improve from these advances? Maybe. I suspect it will take more than that.

The ease, speed, and smarts with which front-line reps can now know something when doing their jobs is one thing. Knowing the performance consequences of acting or not acting on what they know is something else entirely. Smart guidance in the user experience will improve the odds that reps will execute with impact, but it’s no guarantee.

The remaining innovation challenge is finding ways to measurably, and persistently, improve sales productivity. It remains an elusive business challenge despite all the innovations we’ve seen to date.

In my view, when our uses of technology start to conquer this type of business risk, we will redefine what’s meant by the hallway murmurs of "that’s cool." It won’t be us Dreamforcers doing the murmuring. It’ll be our clients’ colleagues in finance.

The journey continues. Thanks to Salesforce for their leadership in inspiring it.

About the Author

John Cousineau is the founder and CEO of innovative information inc., makers of Amacus, a solution that improves B2B sales productivity by letting sales teams discover and improve the buyer value of sales practices.@jcousineau.