Robert DeSisto

Robert DeSisto is Chief Value Officer at Salesforce. Previously, he was Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner Research where he was responsible for managing the software as a service (SaaS) research agenda, CRM sales agenda, and business application research community.

May 18, 2017 By Robert DeSisto

3 Secrets to Building High Performing, Connected Service & Sales Teams

The world of selling and customer service has changed a lot in just the past 10 years. It used to be salespeople could rely on a good golf game and communication skills to win deals. Customer service was a 1-800 number and often after long wait times and referral to 'multiple departments' customers... Read More

Customer Service, Sales

Feb 22, 2017 By Robert DeSisto

CRM Value Is More Than the Price

Over the past two decades, companies have been turning to CRM to increase business value and improve relationships with customers. But the definition of value differs for each company and impacts how they select and implement a CRM. Their value expectations will drive how they select and implement... Read More

Cloud, Leadership

Dec 08, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

4 Must-Ask Questions When Choosing a Grief-Free CRM Platform

Too often during my career I have seen customers over-emphasize user interface experience and functional features when making a CRM vendor decision. While both elements are important, they cannot outweigh the long-term stability and performance of the platform, which both are built on. Think of it... Read More

Cloud, IT

Dec 05, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

What New Research Tells Us About Customer-Centric Sales

With unprecedented access to information at their fingertips at all times, customers are now in complete control of their buying journeys — browsing, communicating, and purchasing wherever and whenever they desire. The sum of this shift doesn’t merely amount to a highly-informed customer base that... Read More

Sales

Oct 20, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

Why Have Thousands of Companies Selected Salesforce? It's the Value.

In the course of my nearly 20-year career I've collaborated with 1000s of customers making a CRM vendor selection, many involving Salesforce. Customers would often boil it down to two questions: “Salesforce is a higher price. Is it worth it?” “Why do customers pay a premium?” These are fair and... Read More

Cloud

Sep 20, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

The Death of the AI-less Salesperson

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to beat chess and Jeopardy champions. Certainly if AI can be used to play a game as unpredictable as chess or require the world knowledge to compete in Jeopardy, it can be used for selling. Selling can't be that much more unpredictable than chess, or... Read More

Sales, Artificial Intelligence

Sep 02, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

If You Want A Public Cloud App Dev Platform, Evaluate Public Cloud App Dev Platforms

In my prior analyst job it was important to always make sure I was delivering analysis that was driven from a customer perspective. I was always on guard not to take short cuts and group technologies into a market that really was not a market, but just to make my job easier. When this occurs, the... Read More

Cloud, IT

Jul 08, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

Not Enough Mobile App Developers? Make More!

Mobile apps have become the first choice for customers and employees. In a recent Forbes article, key retailers talked about how important mobile apps had become to their digital business. Walmart said 50% of its online orders came from a mobile device over the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber... Read More

IT, Mobile, Developer

Jun 14, 2016 By Robert DeSisto

In the Age of the Customer: Selling is a Team Sport

Customers have more knowledge and control over the selling process than ever before driving this new Age of the Customer. To win business in this environment, customers expect salespeople to be prepared. If they are not, customers will move on to the next competitor. The only way for salespeople to... Read More

Mobile, Sales, Social Media