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November 15, 2024
As part of building Strama, I spent this week having fascinating conversations with sales leaders across several major enterprises. These weren't just any companies - these were organizations at the forefront of AI adoption. One global research firm has built custom AI models for email writing and sales enablement. Another enterprise software company is implementing AI-powered email capabilities and advanced CRM integrations.
What struck me wasn't their lack of technology - it was quite the opposite. These companies are investing heavily in AI and automation. They have sophisticated tools for everything from conversation intelligence to sales enablement. But despite these advances, a fundamental problem remains: humans have become the middleware between systems.
At one leading research firm, despite having some of the most sophisticated AI tools in the industry, sales teams still keep their client notes in OneNote. Not because they lack technology - they have cutting-edge AI for email writing and sales enablement - but because their systems don't match how humans naturally work.
The pattern I saw this week was consistent: companies are rushing to implement AI features, but the core workflow challenges persist. Consider what I observed:
The irony? The more sophisticated the tech stack, the more time sales teams spend being system operators rather than relationship builders.
We're at a unique moment in sales technology. The rapid advancement of AI has created immense possibilities. Companies can generate emails, analyze calls, and predict pipeline. But in our rush to add AI features, we've missed something fundamental: the way humans actually work.
This hit home during a conversation with an enterprise software account executive. Despite having all the "right" tools - ZoomInfo integration, sales intelligence, CRM automation - their team still struggled with basic workflow challenges. The tools were powerful, but managing them had become a job in itself.
This context made what happened next particularly striking. During a demonstration of voice-controlled CRM updates, a veteran sales enablement leader had an immediate reaction. This wasn't polite interest in another feature - it was recognition of a fundamental shift.
"This is exponential speed for a rep," he observed. "I'm not typing. I'm not thinking. I'm not clicking between fields."
What resonated wasn't just the voice interface - it was the realization that technology could finally adapt to how humans work, rather than forcing humans to adapt to technology.
This breakthrough moment reveals something bigger than just voice commands. It shows what's possible when we stop thinking about adding features and start thinking about removing friction.
The companies I spoke with this week are sophisticated technology users. They have AI for email writing, conversation analysis, and pipeline prediction. But what they really need is something more fundamental: technology that works the way humans work.
These conversations revealed three critical requirements for the future of sales technology:
At Strama, these insights drive our development. We're focused not just on adding AI capabilities, but on fundamentally changing how humans interact with their tools.
The future of sales technology isn't about more features - it's about better human-system interaction. And after this week of conversations, it's clear that this shift can't come soon enough.
Interested in seeing what sparked that breakthrough moment? Let's talk.
