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Kaon Interactive Named Top 10 Sales Technology Solutions Provider

STS News Desk
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Kaon Interactive Named Top 10 Sales Technology Solutions Provider

Kaon Interactive, the leading provider of 3D marketing and sales applications for global B2B brands, has been named a Top 10 Sales Technology Solutions Provider by CIO Applications. The accolade rounded out a strong year for the company, which saw double-digit increases in revenue and customer growth in 2018.

A panel of distinguished judges made up of CEOs, CIOs, venture capitalists, research analysts and the CIO Applications editorial board analyzed sales technology providers across the country that provided cutting-edge technologies. Kaon Interactive joined a premier group of AI, software and CRM leaders who took home honors for exceptional sales and marketing solutions.

In addition to the CIO Applications honor, Kaon took home two Communicator Awards for its Siemens and Tecan applications, the Digital Agency Network named Kaon’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) solution for Cisco as one of the top four marketing experiences of 2018, and the company was named one of the Largest Mobile Tech Companies in Massachusetts by the Boston Business Journal. Kaon closed its best-performing year in 2018 with double-digit revenue and new customer growth.

Read More: S4M Granted Continuation Of Its MRC Accreditation

Kaon’s transformative sales and marketing applications allow B2B companies to more effectively communicate a product or service’s value to prospects through interactive experiences. These solutions, in turn, help to drive increased sales and reduced marketing costs.

Kaon’s client roster includes a pre-eminent list of visionary Global 1000 companies such as Cisco Systems, Dell-EMC, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Siemens and GE.

“Global executives who are looking to grow and sustain long-term, high-value customer relationships are seeing substantial results from our solutions,” said Gavin Finn, CEO & President of Kaon Interactive. “Because our interactive applications convey true competitive value differentiators, benefits include increased sales win rates and reduced sales cycles, while creating significant marketing efficiencies. Our applications simplify complex B2B products and solution stories, helping globally distributed sales forces with broad product and solution portfolios convey a crisp, relevant value message at every customer touchpoint.”

Read More: Salestech Interview With Jessica Sibley, Chief Sales Officer At Forbes

In 2018, Kaon’s ‘big data’ analytics showed global trends of increased user interactions by as much as 28 percent, year-over-year. This signals an industry shift to engagements that focus on value-based selling versus product selling, as visionary companies embark on digital transformation in their sales and go-to-market strategies. Capabilities such as AR and VR are now yielding tangible results as vehicles to help tell complex stories.

Kaon Interactive’s applications are created once and can be deployed everywhere. Currently available on devices running iOS, Android, MacOS, and Windows, Kaon Interactive’s solutions are used by sales teams and marketers in nearly 40 countries.

Also Read: Five Rising Video Capabilities to Accelerate Sales and Marketing Campaigns

SAP Hits or Exceeds All Raised Outlook Metrics

STS News Desk
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SAP Hits or Exceeds All Raised Outlook Metrics

Targets More Than 3x Cloud Revenue by 2023

SAP SE announced its preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2018.

“In 2018, SAP hit or exceeded all guidance metrics even after multiple raises. With Qualtrics joining SAP, we are now poised to revolutionize the business software industry with Experience Management. With a consistent track record of unprecedented growth behind us, we are leading our stakeholders forward to bridge the experience gap. Our strategy is innovative, complete and alone at the forefront of the experience economy.” – Bill McDermott, CEO

“SAP remains a beacon of growth and stability. New order entry surged 18% in Q4, taking the total for the full year to over €10 billion for the first time ever. This stellar business momentum sets us up perfectly for continued strong profitable growth in 2019 and beyond, while we expect our cloud growth will continue to outperform our business software cloud peers.” – Luka Mucic, CFO

Business Performance

Financial Highlights

Full Year 2018

Even after multiple guidance raises during the year SAP met or exceeded all of its 2018 outlook metrics.

For the full year new cloud bookings were €1.81 billion, up 25% (up 28% at constant currencies). Cloud subscriptions and support backlog increased 30%, reaching €10 billion at year-end. Cloud subscriptions and support revenue was €4.99 billion (IFRS) or €5.21 billion (non-IFRS at constant currencies), achieving the full year outlook (€5.15 to €5.25 billion non-IFRS at constant currencies). Software revenue decreased 5 % year over year to €4.65 billion (IFRS), flat year over year (non-IFRS at constant currencies). New cloud and software license order entry exceeded €10 billion and grew by 14% at constant currencies year over year in the full year. Cloud and software revenue was €20.62 billion (IFRS) or €21.58 billion (non-IFRS at constant currencies), exceeding the full year outlook (€21.15 to €21.35 billion non-IFRS at constant currencies). Total revenue was €24.71 billion (IFRS) or €25.96 billion (non-IFRS at constant currencies), exceeding the full year outlook (€25.20 to €25.50 billion non-IFRS at constant currencies).

Read More: Ve Global Make First Major Acquisition As Company Continues To Grow

SAP’s rapidly expanding cloud business together with solid growth in support revenue continued to drive the share of more predictable revenue. The total of non-IFRS cloud subscriptions & support revenue and non-IFRS software support revenue was 65% of non-IFRS total revenue for the full year 2018, up 2 percentage points.

For the full year, operating profit was €5.71 billion (IFRS) or €7.48 billion (non-IFRS at constant currencies), achieving the full year outlook (€7.425 to €7.525 billion non-IFRS at constant currencies). Earnings per share increased 2% to €3.42 (IFRS) and decreased 2% to €4.35 (non-IFRS).

Operating cash flow for the full year was €4.30 billion, a decrease of 15% year over year. Free cash flow decreased 25% year over year to €2.84 billion. At year end, net liquidity was –€2.49 billion.

Fourth Quarter 2018

In the fourth quarter, new cloud bookings were €736 million, up 25% (23% at constant currencies). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue grew 41% year over year to €1.41 billion (IFRS), up 40% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Software revenue grew 1% year over year to €2.09 billion (IFRS), up 8% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). New cloud and software license order entry grew 18% at constant currencies year over year. Cloud and software revenue grew 9% year over year to €6.32 billion (IFRS), up 11% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Total revenue grew 9% year over year to €7.43 billion (IFRS), up 13% (non-IFRS at constant currencies).

In the fourth quarter operating profit increased by 22% year over year to €2.40 billion (IFRS), up 8% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Earnings per share decreased 8% to €1.41 (IFRS) and decreased 15% to €1.51 (non-IFRS).

Segment Performance Fourth Quarter 2018

SAP’s three reportable segments “Applications, Technology & Services”, “Customer Experience” and “SAP Business Network” showed the following performance.

Applications, Technology & Services (ATS)

In the fourth quarter, segment revenue in ATS was up 6% to €6.26 billion year over year (up 10% at constant currencies). Solutions which contributed to this growth in the fourth quarter are listed below.

Read More: Brad Dobbins Promoted To President Of Clickbooth

SAP S/4HANA

SAP S/4HANA is at the core of the Intelligent Enterprise. With S/4HANA, customers automate more and more of their business processes enabling employees to focus on higher-value tasks. It detects patterns, predicts outcomes and suggests actions empowering companies across all industries to reinvent their business models for the digital economy.

S/4HANA adoption grew to approximately 10,500 customers, up 33% year over year. In the fourth quarter, more than 40% of the additional S/4HANA customers were net new.

S/4HANA continues to be selected by world-class global companies, including Verizon Wireless, Cargill, Infosys, and Nestlé. Hilti and Haribo went live with S/4HANA this quarter. A growing number of companies including Sonos have chosen S/4HANA in the Cloud. Hitachi High Technologies went live on S/4HANA Cloud in the fourth quarter.

Human Capital Management (HCM)

SAP delivers total workforce management across both permanent and contingent labor. The SAP SuccessFactors suite is localized for 94 countries and 42 languages.

SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, which is the flagship of SAP’s HCM offerings, added more than 250 customers in the quarter and has now more than 3,000 customers globally. Competitive wins included Volkswagen, Volvo, Stadt Zürich, Yahoo Japan, and State of Illinois. Commerzbank went live with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central in the fourth quarter.

In Q4, SAP SuccessFactors was named a 2018 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice in the Cloud HCM Suites for Midmarket and Large Enterprises category.

SAP Leonardo

SAP Leonardo brings together cutting-edge technologies – AI, Machine Learning, IoT, Big Data, Advanced Analytics and Blockchain – with deep process and industry expertise, delivering completely new ways of working and powering the Intelligent Enterprise.

Companies like Barclaycard are among many others that adopted SAP Leonardo solutions in the fourth quarter.

SAP Digital Platform

SAP Digital Platform includes SAP Cloud Platform and SAP Data Management Solutions. With SAP HANA’s data rich and real-time in-memory architecture as the foundation, this represents a massive opportunity to drive full use of HANA.

The SAP Cloud Platform facilitates new app development, extensions and seamless integration. It orchestrates “hybrid” customer landscapes across on premise and cloud.

The SAP Data Hub is the “enterprise control tower” bringing together multi-source data including unstructured to provide a 360-degree view of all company data and manages compliance and governance policies from one central location.

Gartner recently recognized SAP as a strong leader in its Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems (OPDMS) for the 6th consecutive year.

Vorwerk & Co. and Sichuan Changhong Electric adopted SAP’s Digital Platform solutions in the fourth quarter.

Customer Experience

In the fourth quarter, SAP’s C/4HANA customer experience solutions achieved triple-digit growth in cloud subscription revenue year over year. Segment revenue in Customer Experience was up 52% to €349 million year over year (up 50% at constant currencies). The Callidus acquisition is reflected in these segment numbers.

SAP’s C/4HANA solutions serve a wide range of industries across both B2C and B2B and enable businesses to manage their entire front office: marketing, sales, commerce, service, customer data cloud – seamlessly and in real-time.

C/4HANA provides companies with a single, complete view of their customer across all channels and connects demand to the fulfillment engine in one end-to-end value chain.

McLaren Group, National Geographic, Prada, Rubbermaid and Dyson were among those that chose SAP’s C/4HANA solutions this quarter.

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

SAP Business Network

In the fourth quarter, segment revenue in SAP Business Network was up 26% to €721 million year over year (up 24% at constant currencies).

With the SAP Business Network SAP provides collaborative commerce capabilities (SAP Ariba), effortless travel and expense processing (SAP Concur) and flexible workforce management (SAP Fieldglass). SAP Business Network is the largest commerce platform in the world with more than $2.9 trillion in global commerce annually transacted in more than 180 countries. Uber and Coca Cola European Partners chose SAP’s Business Network Solutions in the fourth quarter.

Segment Results at a Glance

Segment Performance Fourth Quarter 2018
Applications, Technology & Services SAP Business Network Customer Experience
€ million, unless otherwise stated
(Non-IFRS)		 Actual Currency ∆ in % ∆ in % const.

curr.

 Actual Currency ∆ in % ∆ in % const.

curr.

 Actual Currency ∆ in % ∆ in % const.

curr.
Cloud subscriptions and support 652 39 38 601 30 28 160 >100 >100
Segment revenue 6,264 6 10 721 26 24 349 52 50
Segment profit 2,926 5 7 147 46 38 102 36 32
Cloud subscriptions and support gross margin (in %) 45 –1pp –3pp 78 1pp 1pp 64 3pp 2pp
Segment margin (in %) 47 0pp –2pp 20 3pp 2pp 29 –3pp –4pp

Regional Revenue Performance Fourth Quarter 2018

SAP had a solid performance in the EMEA region with cloud and software revenue increasing 6% (IFRS) and 7% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue was strong and grew by 40% (IFRS) and 39% (non-IFRS at constant currencies) with Germany, Spain and Middle East and Africa being highlights. In addition, SAP had strong software revenue growth in the UK, Italy and Sweden.

SAP had an exceptional performance in the Americas region. Cloud and software revenue increased by 14% (IFRS) and increased by 20% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue increased by 41% (IFRS) and 38% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). The United States, Brazil and Mexico were highlights for both cloud subscriptions and support revenue as well as software revenue.

In the APJ region, SAP had a solid performance. Cloud and software revenue was up by 5% (IFRS) and grew by 6% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Cloud subscriptions and support revenue was exceptional and grew by 48% (IFRS) and 50% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Greater China and Japan had strong quarters in both cloud subscriptions and support revenue and software revenue.

Financial Results at a Glance

Fourth Quarter 2018
IFRS Non-IFRS1)
€ million, unless otherwise stated Q4 2018 Q4 2017 ∆ in % Q4 2018 Q4 2017 ∆ in % ∆ in %
const.
curr.
New Cloud Bookings2) N/A N/A N/A 736 591 25 23
Cloud subscriptions and support revenue 1,406 995 41 1,413 997 42 40
Software licenses and support revenue 4,914 4,812 2 4,914 4,812 2 5
Cloud and software revenue 6,320 5,807 9 6,327 5,809 9 11
Total revenue 7,428 6,805 9 7,434 6,807 9 13
Share of predictable revenue (in %) 57 55 2pp 57 55 2pp
Operating profit 2,401 1,964 22 2,547 2,364 8 8
Profit after tax 1,692 1,864 –9 1,803 2,133 –15
Basic earnings per share (€) 1.41 1.54 –8 1.51 1.77 –15
Number of employees (FTE, December 31) 96,498 88,543 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Full Year 2018
IFRS Non-IFRS1)
€ million, unless otherwise stated Q1–Q4

2018

 Q1–Q4

2017

 ∆ in % Q1–Q4

2018

 Q1–Q4

2017

 ∆ in % ∆ in %
const.
curr.
New Cloud Bookings2) N/A N/A N/A 1,814 1,448 25 28
Cloud subscriptions and support revenue 4,993 3,769 32 5,027 3,771 33 38
Software licenses and support revenue 15,628 15,780 –1 15,629 15,780 –1 4
Cloud and software revenue 20,622 19,549 5 20,655 19,552 6 10
Total revenue 24,708 23,461 5 24,741 23,464 5 11
Share of predictable revenue (in %) 65 63 2pp 65 63 2pp
Operating profit 5,705 4,877 17 7,165 6,769 6 10
Profit after tax 4,089 4,046 1 5,200 5,346 –3
Basic earnings per share (€) 3.42 3.35 2 4.35 4.43 –2
Number of employees (FTE, December 31) 96,498 88,543 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1) For a detailed description of SAP’s non-IFRS measures see Explanation of Non-IFRS Measures online. For a breakdown of the individual adjustments see table “Non-IFRS Adjustments by Functional Areas” in this Quarterly Statement.
2) As this is an order entry metric, there is no IFRS equivalent.
Due to rounding, numbers may not add up precisely.

Business Outlook 2019

Reflecting SAP’s strong cloud and overall business momentum as well as the Qualtrics acquisition with a January 23rd, 2019 closing date, the Company is providing the following 2019 outlook:

  • Non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue is expected to be in a range of €6.7 − €7.0 billion at constant currencies (2018: €5.03 billion), up 33% – 39% at constant currencies.
  • Non-IFRS cloud and software revenue is expected to be in a range of €22.4 – €22.7 billion at constant currencies (2018: €20.66 billion), up 8.5% – 10% at constant currencies.
  • Non-IFRS operating profit is expected to be in a range of €7.7 – €8.0 billion at constant currencies (2018: €7.16 billion), up 7.5% – 11.5% at constant currencies.

In addition, SAP expects total revenues to increase strongly, at a rate slightly lower than operating profit.

The comparative numbers for 2018 do not include Qualtrics. Callidus revenue and profits are included in the comparative numbers from the April 5th, 2018 acquisition close date.

Read More: Amrita Ahuja To Join Square As Chief Financial Officer

While SAP’s full-year 2019 business outlook is at constant currencies, actual currency reported figures are expected to be impacted by currency exchange rate fluctuations as the Company progresses through the year. See the table below for the Q1 and FY 2019 expected currency impacts.

Expected Currency Impact Based on December 2018 Level for the Rest of the Year
In percentage points Q1 FY
Cloud subscriptions and support +5pp to +7pp +1pp to +3pp
Cloud and software +2pp to +4pp 0pp to +3pp
Operating profit +5pp to +7pp +1pp to +3pp

Ambition 2020 and 2023

Looking beyond 2019, SAP is updating its 2020 ambition last provided in July 2018. This update reflects the Company’s consistent fast growth in the cloud, strong cloud & software momentum and operating profit expansion as well as the Qualtrics acquisition. The Company is also introducing a 2023 ambition. All numbers are based on 2018 currencies.

Ambition 2020

In 2020 SAP now expects:

  • €8.6 − €9.1 billion non-IFRS cloud subscriptions and support revenue (previously €8.2 − €8.7 billion)
  • €28.6 − €29.2 billion non-IFRS total revenue (previously €28.0 − €29.0 billion)

SAP also continues to expect:

  • €8.5 − €9.0 billion non-IFRS operating profit
  • The share of more predictable revenue (defined as the total of cloud subscriptions & support revenue and software support revenue) in a range of 70% − 75%

Ambition 2023

Over the next five years the company expects to:

  • More than triple non-IFRS cloud subscription and support revenue (2018: €5.03 billion)
  • Grow to more than €35 billion in non-IFRS total revenue (2018: €24.74 billion)
  • Grow non-IFRS operating profit at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% − 10% (2018: €7.16 billion)
  • Approach a share of more predictable revenue of 80%

SAP will discuss the key drivers behind the long-term growth aspirations at its Capital Markets Day in New York on February 7th, 2019 and in its Integrated Report 2018 and its 2018 Annual Report on form 20-F, each which is scheduled to be published on February 28th, 2019.

Read More: SalesTech Star Interview With Jon Miller, CEO & Co-Founder At Engagio

Increased Focus on Key Strategic Growth Areas

In 2019, SAP will further increase focus on its  key strategic growth areas. For the first time since 2015, SAP will execute a company-wide restructuring program to further simplify company structures and processes and to ensure its organizational setup, skills set and resource allocation continue to meet evolving customer demand. Restructuring expenses are projected to be €800 million to €950 million, the vast majority of which will be recognized in the first quarter 2019. Excluding restructuring expenses, the program is expected to provide a minor cost benefit in 2019 and €750 million to €850 million in annual cost savings as of 2020 that will fuel investments into strategic growth areas. The expected cost savings and reinvestment are fully reflected in SAP’s financial outlook and ambitions.

IFRS 16

As of January 1st, 2019, SAP adopted the new IFRS standard on lease accounting (IFRS 16 ‘Leases’). Under the IFRS 16 adoption method chosen by SAP, prior years are not restated to conform to the new policies. Consequently, the year over year changes in profit, assets and liabilities and cash flows in 2019 will be impacted by the new policies.

The actual impact of IFRS 16 on our profits depends not only on the lease agreements in effect at the time of adoption but also on new lease agreements entered into or terminated in 2019. Based on SAP’s current lease volumes, the Company expects the full year 2019 impact of IFRS 16 on profit as follows:

  • Operating expenses and consequently operating profit are expected to experience a benefit of substantially less than €0.1 billion.
  • Finance costs are expected to increase and net financial income is consequently expected to decrease by an amount very similar to the benefit in operating profit.
  • Thus, the impact on profit before tax, profit after tax and earnings per share is expected to be inconsequential.

IFRS 16 is also expected to impact SAP’s cash flow statement: operating cash flow for full year 2019 is expected to increase and cash flow from financing activities is expected to decrease by approx. €0.3 − €0.4 billion. SAP plans to adjust the definition of its Free Cash Flow metric in a way that it is not affected by this change in cash flow classification.

Read More: S4M Granted Continuation Of Its MRC Accreditation

More disclosures on our adoption of IFRS 16 will be provided in our Consolidated Financial Statements 2018 which will be part of our Integrated Report and our Annual Report on Form 20-F. Further insight into the IFRS 16 impact on SAP’s financials in 2019 will be provided in the respective Quarterly Statements and the 2019 Half Year Report as well as the 2019 Integrated Report.

Sennheiser Selects Mullenlowe Group as Agency for Their Consumer Business

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Sennheiser Selects Mullenlowe Group as Agency for Their Consumer Business

Audio Specialist Partners with Brand Agency in the fields of Global Marketing Strategy, Creative, Media Planning and Buying, and Retail Marketing Initiatives

Audio specialist Sennheiser has selected MullenLowe Group as its global marketing communications agency of record for its consumer business. Together they will partner to energize Sennheiser’s brand momentum in core European markets, and to elevate brand visibility and consumer demand in North American markets. Sennheiser and MullenLowe Group will collaborate on global marketing strategy and creative development. Media planning and buying will be handled by MullenLowe Mediahub while retail and CX activation will be taken on by MullenLowe Open. 

“With its challenger mindset and its approach to help brands earn an unfair share of attention in the marketplace, MullenLowe Group is the i82deal partner for Sennheiser as we set out to energize and elevate our profile with consumers around the world,” said Virginie de Beco, Sennheiser’s director of consumer marketing.

Read More: Ve Global Make First Major Acquisition As Company Continues To Grow

“Sennheiser is a company with a rich heritage, strong innovative power, and an enviable reputation in the audio world. Our products are respected and admired by people who love sound. Now we would like to take this passion for our brand further, especially in the North American markets. MullenLowe Group demonstrated creative thinking, media innovation, and customer experience activation ideas that we believe will spark even more interest for Sennheiser as the brand of choice for discerning listeners worldwide.”

Virginie de Beco joined Sennheiser as director of consumer marketing in November. Following senior marketing roles at Motorola, Lenovo, and Del Monte, she brings to the audio specialist a wealth of experience both in marketing strategy and in execution in mature and emerging markets, as well as in brand building and activation. Together with MullenLowe Group and the global marketing team at Sennheiser, her key objectives include refining Sennheiser’s approach to consumer marketing and bringing greater synergy to the company’s broad array of communications initiatives. In seeking a new single-source global solution, Sennheiser thus aimed to find an agency capable of aligning these goals with the ability to field integrated teams.

Read More: Brad Dobbins Promoted To President Of Clickbooth

MullenLowe Group has identified a global strategic positioning and creative expression for Sennheiser. Tasked with realizing this vision is a diverse, international team with hubs in London and Boston and extended talent based in Germany and Australia. MullenLowe Mediahub is working on innovative, customized media strategies tailored to variances in Sennheiser’s brand awareness levels throughout Europe and North America. Concurrently, MullenLowe Open is developing plans to elevate Sennheiser’s retail presence, both within its own channels and with key retail partners worldwide.

“With the rise of voice-powered technology and new audio formats like podcasts and streaming music as popular mediums, sound is becoming ever more relevant. That’s why it’s incredibly exciting to be partnering with a premium brand like Sennheiser that creates great sound experiences for its customers,” said Kelly Fredrickson, president at MullenLowe Boston. “We’re honored that Sennheiser recognized the power of our ‘hyperbundled’ creative, media and activation offering. We’re looking forward to working closely with their team to amplify their tremendous audio story on a global stage.”

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

MullenLowe Group will commence working with Sennheiser from January 2019 and is currently developing global consumer campaigns set to debut early in 2019. 

Zuant Sets the Standard for Mobile Contact Data Compliance with Launch of Zuant Vault

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Zuant Sets the Standard for Mobile Contact Data Compliance with Launch of Zuant Vault

Zuant, the award-winning mobile lead capture cloud solution announces the launch of Zuant Vault for guaranteed mobile customer data compliance. In a world focused on security and privacy issues, Zuant Vault provides precise control and management of contact data to meet the most stringent regulations such as GDPR.

Zuant will host a 30 minute webinar on February 6, at 12pm to demo Vault and answer audience questions.

Zuant CEO, Peter Gillett, warns, “While most industry coverage of data issues in a GDPR world focuses on in-house systems, managing contact data on mobile devices poses a huge risk because it is stored on individual devices. Zuant Vault deals with this risk head-on.”

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

Simple 1x Opt-In  

The cloud-based administrator management system guarantees 100% compliance by ensuring companies market only to those who have granted permission.  Two years in development, Zuant Vault is designed for ease of use, and allows sales teams to obtain consent from the individual one time only via a smooth opt-in process. Their consent is stored in Zuant Vault and transfers to all devices automatically, so that the process never needs to be repeated for that individual.

ILLUSTRATION 1: Whenever a new contact is being captured, the system automatically displays a consent capture dialog.

Enhanced Data Integrity

Zuant Vault is a secure datastore that lives in the cloud. Each account has a database in the Vault, and each database contains the entire history of every change made to every contact record. Every detail of every data load is also recorded, so that the entire history of the interactions between the company and its prospects and customers is properly maintained.

Zuant Vault eliminates duplicate contacts being created, which greatly improves data integrity.  Sometimes circumstances such as iPads used offline at a tradeshow can create duplicate contacts at the point of data-capture. Now, when information flows into Zuant Vault, each contact will be de-duped automatically. This process is essential to GDPR compliance rules, because it ensures that previously captured consent settings are correctly interpreted when further interaction with a contact takes place.

Read More: Amrita Ahuja To Join Square As Chief Financial Officer

ILLUSTRATION 2: Contacts detected as duplicates are merged upon being uploaded to Zuant Vault.

Flawless Security

Controlled access to contact information is also vitally important. GDPR stipulates that contacts have the right to be erased from a system. Zuant will ensure that the details of any contact will not be revealed unless Zuant is able to guarantee that the relevant consent is in place.

Read More: SalesTech Star Interview With Jon Miller, CEO & Co-Founder At Engagio

This is of particular importance  given that Zuant can operate offline and on occasion may not be able to refer to the cloud-based Vault for the latest situation regarding consent for the contact in question.

Zuant can perform various actions with regard to individuals, such as sending emails, pushing data to third party systems, and storing data. The value of having data stored in Zuant Vault is assurance that the individual has consented before an action takes place.

Read More: S4M Granted Continuation Of Its MRC Accreditation

SalesTech Interview With Chris Harrington, Chief Operating Officer at InsideSales.com

Sudipto Ghosh
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SalesTech Interview With Chris Harrington, Chief Operating Officer at InsideSales.com
Tell us about your journey into Sales and Revenue Management in the SalesTech industry.

If you can believe it, I started my sales profession in telemarketing selling Ginsu Knives when I was in college — I worked for NICE corporation in Utah, which is now a part of Convergys. While there, I was named the top sales rep at the company and quickly mastered the ability to read a customer’s true interest level, as well as develop an ability to detect when a customer was not interested, which helped me know where to best focus my time. I was promoted a number of times and eventually ran the entire call center for 4 years.

My next big move was to Los Angeles where I joined DIRECTV and was responsible for sales operations across the entire country. In this role, my team of 40+ sales professionals would work with consumer electronics dealers, manufacturers, satellite TV dealers, and independent installation professionals, as DIRECTV launched their satellites and acquired their first 6 million subscribers. This was when my appreciation for subscription revenue models started because at the time there were only phone and cable subscription businesses. No one had yet thought about software as a subscription business.

Eventually, I found my way back to Utah with my family when I started at Domain Systems. Working at Domain Systems was the first time I started to really appreciate the value of data in the enterprise and across the entire value chain. I accepted the opportunity to join Omniture as the President Global Sales & Client Services.

A very exciting time because Omniture was the pioneer in SaaS. The company had been in business for six years at the time and we were at an annual revenue run rate of $3.5 million. Omniture was in a 40-way tie for 4th place when we took down #1 competitor’s customer, Walmart. This changed the landscape for our company — we eventually became #1 in the industry. This led to Omniture’s IPO in 2006 and by 2009 we had also concluded seven accretive acquisitions and were at a revenue run rate of $350 million annually before we were acquired by Adobe in 2009 for $1.8 billion. Shortly after, I accepted the role of President at Domo, which has set out and is successfully tackling the incredibly deep world of business intelligence and following Domo’s IPO in June of 2018, I moved to InsideSales.com.

Read Also: IVP Concludes Successful Year – Announces 15 New Investments

What inspired you to join InsideSales.com?

As Domo was finalizing its IPO and I was deciding my next move, there were a number of critical things that played into my decision to join InsideSales.com:

  • SaaS – I wanted to work with a company that was redefining the future of sales.
  • Data – think of the current landscape like an oil rush and data as the new oil; I believe data will soon be the “currency” we will all trade on.

I wanted an opportunity to sell into the top-line buyer. The ability to run an entire company and maintain its culture of excellence. The ability to work with industry veterans such as Dave Elkington who has been a pioneer in the sales technology stack since 2004 and laid the groundwork for InsideSales.com to excel.

Recommended: Current AI System of Growth Spans SalesTech, MarTech, and AI 

Tell us more about what you do at InsideSales.com and how your work helps customers with their Sales strategy.

At InsideSales.com, I work to help customers use data and analytics to inform marketing and sales. Sales reps need to use intelligent automation and apply Machine Learning to stay ahead of competitors. Our collective Intelligence™ works to improve the buying process, allowing sales reps to focus on connecting with the right people and focusing on the deals that matter most to ultimately drive revenue for their organization.

How is the North American SalesTech industry different today than when you first started in the industry?

When I first entered the SalesTech market, it was a street fight. What truly differentiated companies was the prize fighter, aka the sales rep you brought to the fight. The difference today is that the prize fighter now comes with a variety of assistance including a cut man (competitive intelligence), a conditioning trainer (training), a great promoter to decide when to fight (data and deal intelligence), and a coach for strategy (informed leadership). Selling today is still a fight but competitors enter the ring more prepared than ever before.

There’s also an endless white noise coming at buyers.

All of the marketing and sales approaches used today simply look, sound and smell the same — so true differentiation is key to breaking through. Especially since the committees who buy now are different; the power of today’s business buyer has moved away a bit and some of that power has moved back to IT. That means the growing concerns around data integrity and privacy have never been higher, and the resources a sales rep must bring to the battle today are more than a clever copywriter to help nail an RFP.  

How much has the new technology in ABM and CRM influenced your Sales Automation?

The white noise created from so many sellers clamoring after the same buyers means that the need for true Account-Based Marketing (ABM) has never been higher. This does not mean simply implementing creative direct mail, which is often confused as ABM. Rather, the actual approach of AMB, which involves the science and research required for the proper targeting and messaging. The holistic approach is critical.

Directly or indirectly, which sales leaders and companies have made the most profound impact on the way you work with technology for sales and revenue?

Some names that come to mind include:

How do you work with data science, process automation, enterprise planning, and advanced analytics at InsideSales?

At the core of our offering to customers is the incredible value we’re able to deliver via Collective Intelligence™ which is the foundation of data science, process automation and advanced analytics.

As we continue to streamline our operations at InsideSales.com, our reliance on data science, automation, planning and analytics are central to every effort. It’s in my heritage — I have been in the analytics and intelligence market since 2002, so it’s at the heart of everything we do. In fact, it’s even represented in our core values as a company.

What are the major pain points for businesses in putting a 360-degree focus on Sales Tracking for better account conversions?

In my experience, sales leaders aren’t looking for opinions which is exactly what comes from a 360, because they don’t want additional cooks in their kitchen. Part of this is 100% valid — it’s a challenge to bring science into the art of sales. In most sales leaders’ experience, the majority of this feedback creates work that doesn’t drive results, so they stay away from it because it’s busy work.

The challenge has been helping sales leaders understand how a true data-driven, 360-degree focus can help them drive clarity and results. However, express value effectively will remove this pain point.

Recommended: Top B2B Technology Companies For AI In Sales Forecasting

What are the key technology-specific differentiations between Inside Sales and Tele-marketing/Tele-calling?

Tele-sales, as it’s often referred to, is focused on just that: calling. It was a sales motion invented for a B2C model that allowed reps to call multiple people at once using a predictive dialer.

Depending on which household picked up first, the dialing system would then hang up on the other calls and connect the household to the sales rep. Most of these types of tools have been outlawed with some of the robocalling laws that have been created in the last few years.

The inside sales model is quite a bit different from a technology standpoint. Inside sales is a B2B sales motion rather than B2C, and it’s much more sophisticated. It’s often based on data — either a prospect being qualified as a good target customer, or done with prospects who have engaged with the company in some way (often online).

Rather than focusing on just calling, inside sales technology is multi-channel, allowing reps to interact with a business using the phone, email, voicemail, chat, direct mailer, video, and social media.

The idea of “predictive” is still relevant but it has changed significantly. With an inside sales model, the AI or prediction comes in alerting the rep of which prospect they should be focusing on, when they should be focusing on them and how (which communication method) they should potentially use to reach out.

What does 2019 look like for an Inside Sales professional?

In 2019, sales will reach a breaking point under pressure to deliver growth with limited resources and increasingly elusive buyers. Just 53% of sales reps meet their quotas — let that sink in. With that, organizations are realizing the only way to deliver on growth imperatives with a limited number of elite sale reps is to virtually replicate their best and brightest with data insights and automation.

Traditional cold calling and inside sales won’t cut it, which is why 2019 is going to be all about digital sales transformation with advanced technology like AI and machine learning. Sales needs a much more scientific approach to everything — prioritization, targeting, cadence, forecasting — and behavioral data and predictive analytics are absolutely key to that.

In addition to customer data, chatbots and other technology that assists inside sales teams will rise in popularity, making the lives of prospects easier and helping reps close more deals by optimizing the price, configure, and quote process.

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a SalesTech champion?

By pulling down the mystique surrounding AI, and breaking down for sales leaders how AI will improve productivity and results.

As a sales leader today, you have a lot to be concerned about. You’ve likely chased a number of solutions who had promised in the past only to discover the smoke was all smoke and no fire, and you eventually return to the basics of run-block-tackle. Helping a sales leader understand today that data and AI is not a magic play, it is at the foundation of your playbook in run-block-tackle, will help dramatically.

Which sales technologies are you currently working with – (example ABM, Technographic data, CRM etc)? How do these technologies help you sell better and faster?

Certainly, ABM is central to our go to market. CRM in my mind isn’t a sales technology, but a system of record that we use to drive action in tools like InsideSales.com, ABM, InsideSales.com Playbooks, InsideSales.com Predictive Pipeline and Domo. These tools help us identify the prospects who are most ready to engage, and what our engagement strategy and approach should be. They help keep the sales rep organized by integrating and writing directly back to CRM. The technology also helps remove the witchcraft and sorcery that typically makeup sales forecasting by leveraging AI.

From the industry, which sales leader would you like to see featured in this interview section—

Thank You, Chris, for answering all our questions. We hope to see you again, soon.

About InsideSales.com

InsideSales.com accelerates revenue growth by 30% with the only full-stack AI sales platform powered by Collective Intelligence–exclusive insights from 120 billion global buyer interactions. With Amazon-like buyer recommendations informed by the actions of billions of buyer behavior data points, InsideSales.com delivers unprecedented B2B buyer insights to triple productivity and improves the buyer experience. Fast-growth brands like Caesars Entertainment, Cisco, CenturyLink, T-Mobile, Fidelity Investments, West Corp., Broadridge, Ten-X, Waste Management, and others rely on InsideSales.com to deliver significant measurable improvements to sales and marketing visibility, productivity, and effectiveness.

About Chris

Chris Harrington is the Chief Operating Officer of InsideSales.com and has driven unprecedented growth at three of the world’s fastest digital sales and marketing powerhouses — Omniture, Adobe and Domo. At one of the first SaaS digital marketing powerhouses, Omniture, Harrington had full responsibility for delivering seven years of annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth. He took the company from $4 million a year to over $500 million before it was acquired for $1.8 billion by Adobe Systems, where he led all enterprise sales. Most recently, Harrington served as President of the $2 billion business intelligence leader, Domo, and continues to serve as a member of the board of directors for Spredfast.

RICOH Tours Adds Advanced Online Advertising Technology in Its Platform

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RICOH Tours Adds Advanced Online Advertising Technology in Its Platform

New feature doubles online advertising conversion with 360° Ads

RICOH Tours, one of the fastest growing solution providers in real estate technology adds a new and industry’s only feature to the RICOH Tours virtual tour platform. The advanced online advertising technology allows real estate professionals to display targeted 360° interactive banner ads for their listings and businesses leading to improved advertising performance.

The 360° interactive banner ads appear on web and mobile websites based on consumers’ location and interest. Ads’ performance can be easily tracked per conversion like clicks and other specific calls to action.

“There have been significant advances in real estate digital marketing, and we are excited to further elevate the digital presence of agents and brokerages, with 360° interactive banner ads that reach local buyers and sellers wherever they browse on the web or mobile,” said Kay Iwaisako, Business Lead of RICOH Tours. “Agents and brokerages can easily extend the value of 360° tours they are already creating, and now run highly effective ad campaigns through services like Google Ads”.

Read More: Ve Global Make First Major Acquisition As Company Continues To Grow

The feature will be on show at the RICOH Tours booth #1, 6th Floor, Inman Connect New York, January 29 – February 1, in Marriott Marquis Times Square.

RICOH Tours DIY virtual tour solution costs 90% less than 3D scanning. An intuitive solution requires no professional, technical or photography experience or expensive tools. The process is done via the award-winning Ricoh Theta camera and mobile agent app. Agents simply connect the camera and the RICOH Tours app wirelessly, and capture high-quality 360° images with one-click. In the background these images are instantly assembled and uploaded to the cloud, creating true-to-life 360° virtual tours in minutes ready to be published on the go.

Read More: Brad Dobbins Promoted To President Of Clickbooth

RICOH Tours gives agents a marketing edge by leveraging the power of the Theta camera and virtual tour platform. With the camera, mobile and web apps all developed by Ricoh, should questions arise, there’s only one place an agent will need to go for support – further simplifying the user experience.

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

New Research Shows Marketers Are Caught in a Love-Hate Relationship with Social Media

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New Research Shows Marketers Are Caught in a Love-Hate Relationship with Social Media

OnBrand Magazine and Bynder’s annual State of Branding Report reveals the trends, challenges and investments on the minds of marketing professionals in 2019

OnBrand, a leading publication that features insights and opinions on the latest in branding and marketing, announced the release of the State of Branding Report 2019. The report, developed annually with Bynder, a global leader in digital asset management (DAM), aims to get inside the head of the modern marketer and reveal their biggest challenges for 2019, their priorities, and how they plan to stay on top of the latest trends within marketing and branding.

Read More: Salestech Interview With Jessica Sibley, Chief Sales Officer At Forbes

The data, representing 501 marketing and branding decision-makers at organizations based in the United States and the United Kingdom, shows that identifying the right technology to serve as an extension of a brand continues to be a top challenge for today’s brands. Similarly, while marketers still rely heavily on social media to reach their consumers, they are becoming increasingly wary of how continuous algorithm changes may be disrupting engagement opportunities with their audiences.

The top five key findings include:

  1. Brands are more reliant on social media, but not without some hesitation: Respondents identified social media networks as the most fruitful channels for reaching audiences and influencing buyer behavior. However, 65% feel algorithm changes are the biggest threat to online brand engagement.
  2. Owning a strong customer experience is key in cutting through the digital noise: 29% of respondents felt “excellent customer service” was the most effective way to differentiate a brand and engage consumers—more so than the product itself (13%) or the quality of brand campaigns (15%).
  3. It’s time to ramp up investment in branded visual content: 67% of marketing decision-makers will invest more in creating branded visual content than they did in 2018. Why? To boost visibility and engagement with their target audiences (42%) and to stand out from the competition (22%).
  4. Brands are striving to personalize, but are struggling: Last year’s report revealed “personalization” was top-of-mind for branding and marketing decision-makers. It seems brands are still figuring out how to ensure personalized content targets the right audience, and if their company is equipped with the right tech to support personalization efforts. This year, when asked about the biggest challenges associated with personalization, 25.7% of respondents mentioned they’re struggling to get that personalized message to the right audience, 23% are caught on identifying the right technology to support personalized experiences, and 21.8% find it difficult to balance personalization and brand voice.
  5. Investing in tech: emerging vs. established: 94% of respondents feel it is “very” (63%) or “somewhat” (31%) important for their company to invest in new technologies in 2019, with customer experience and engagement proving to be the number one motivation. Experimental technologies such as AI (45.1%), virtual reality (36.3%) and voice assistants (40.3%) are on investment radars, but more established outlets—such as mobile apps (65.7%), progressive web apps (50.1%), and digital asset management software (46%)—still make up the largest slice of most marketing budgets.

Read More: The Global Inside Sales Association (AA-ISP) Announces Underwriter Affiliation With Gong.Io

“At a time when brands are struggling to identify what technology and channels are most effective at reaching audiences, it’s important to remember that creativity and story go a long way when it comes to differentiating your brand,” said Jennifer Harvey, VP of Branding and Communications at Bynder. “We are seeing more brands invest in branded visual content and owned channels like mobile apps, both of which present a compelling and creative opportunity to engage with consumers. Brands that are able to break through the noise and prioritize customer interactions will emerge as winners in a rapidly evolving arena.”

Read More: Ve Global Make First Major Acquisition As Company Continues To Grow

AI, Machine Learning and Salesforce Positions Among Top 11 Tech Jobs in 2019 with Salaries Exceeding $200K

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AI, Machine Learning and Salesforce Positions Among Top 11 Tech Jobs in 2019 with Salaries Exceeding $200K

New Tech Salary Guide Released by National Tech Staffing Agency Mondo

Mondo reported the results of its annual Tech Salary Guide with 11 tech jobs garnering salaries of $200,000 or more for 2019. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning skills are in high demand, with AI Developer and Machine Learning Engineer salaries now reaching $200,000. As found in past years, the top salary continues to be for CTO/CIOs ($175,000 – $300,000).

The guide reveals Salesforce skills are also highly valued this year with Salesforce Solution Architects earning a spot among the highest-paid technology professionals (salaries from $145,000 – $210,500).  In the category of database professionals, the highest paid specialists are Database Architects, with salaries ranging from $145,000 – $200,000.

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

Overall, according to the 2019 Mondo Tech Salary Guide, the 11 highest-paid tech jobs for 2019 with salaries of $200,000 or more are:

  • CTO/CIO ($175,000 – $300,000)
  • Chief Information Security Officer ($175,000 – $275,000)
  • Demandware Developer ($127,500 – $237,500)
  • Solutions Architect ($155,000 – $220,000)
  • IOT Solutions Architect ($140,000 – $210,000)
  • Data Architect ($145,000 – $210,000)
  • Salesforce Solution Architect ($145,500 – $210,500)
  • Database Architect ($145,000 – $200,000)
  • Project Manager ($75,000 – $200,000)
  • AI Developer ($120,000 – $200,000)
  • Machine Learning Engineer ($120,500 – $200,000)

Read More: SalesTech Star Interview With Jon Miller, CEO & Co-Founder At Engagio

“Cybersecurity and IT security skills continue to net some of the highest salaries within technology departments,” said Tim Johnson, CEO of Mondo.  “Salaries are expected to keep climbing as the talent gap widens, resulting in a projected shortfall of 3.5M security-related roles by 2021. We are also seeing some tech salaries that remain flat for less competitive, yet necessary skill sets, like QA and Network Support.”

The guide underscores that skilled tech professionals continue to be in high demand and garnering top salaries in the following categories:

Top AR, VR & IoT salaries include:

  • IoT Solution Architect ($140,000 – $210,000)
  • IoT Software Engineer ($100,000 – $175,000)
  • VR Engineer ($100,500 – $160,500)
  • Mixed Reality Developer ($100,000 – $160,000)

Top Cybersecurity and IT Security salaries include:

  • Manager, Information Security ($120,000 – $185,000)
  • Application Security Engineer ($120,000 – $182,500)
  • Network Security Engineer ($115,000 – $172,500)
  • Cybersecurity Engineer ($110,000 – $165,000)

Salesforce positions with the highest salaries include:

  • Salesforce Solution Architect ($145,500 – $210,500)
  • Salesforce Project Manager ($100,500 – $185,500)
  • Salesforce Developer ($115,500 – $165,500)

Read More: S4M Granted Continuation Of Its MRC Accreditation

Mondo’s 2019 Tech Salary Guide data is based on Mondo’s placements over the past year in New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Denver, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Dallas. Mondo is the largest national staffing agency specializing exclusively in high-end, niche Tech and Digital Marketing talent.

AI-based Invoice Management Leader Stampli Hires Tiffaney Fox Quintana, Former VP at HelloSign, and Jeff Zamczyk, Former SVP at Eat Club

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AI-based Invoice Management Leader Stampli Hires Tiffaney Fox Quintana, Former VP at HelloSign, and Jeff Zamczyk, Former SVP at Eat Club

Stampli bolstering leadership team to scale business and meet demand of more than 24 billion invoices processed annually for midsize and large enterprises

Stampli, the interactive invoice management platform for mid and large enterprises, announced the strategic hires of Jeff Zamczyk as vice president of sales, and Tiffaney Fox Quintana as vice president of marketing.

Zamczyk brings more than 25 years of experience building and leading sales teams for a number of B2B sales and service organizations at different stages of a company’s lifecycle. He was most recently VP of Sales at Nimble Pharmacy and served as SVP of Sales at Eat Club for the four years prior. He also previously led global mid-market sales teams at SuccessFactors, where he drove year over year revenue growth of more than 100 percent.

“I was instantly drawn to Stampli because of the simplicity and magic of the product, as well as the enormous market opportunity,” said Zamczyk. “The sales team has already achieved amazing results, having achieved 5x growth year over year and I believe we are poised to accelerate even faster with the right resources in place. It is an incredibly exciting time to join the company and I can’t wait to get started.”

Read More: SalesTech Star Interview With Jon Miller, CEO & Co-Founder At Engagio

Fox Quintana joins Stampli after spending the last three years as VP of Marketing for HelloSign, a leader in eSignature, electronic fax, and digital workflows. She also served on the board of the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA), the premier trade association focused on the advancement of electronic signatures and records. Prior to HelloSign, Tiffaney was the Senior Director of Marketing at TIBCO, where she ran global acquisition campaigns, field, and digital marketing. Previously, Tiffaney helped build out Rackspace’s cloud business, seeing it through a hyper growth stage where she oversaw all marketing related to the Cloud division.

“Stampli’s vision of bringing a modern, digital and intelligent approach to an archaic and cumbersome process is something I am deeply familiar with from my previous roles,” said Fox Quintana. “Between the product innovation and dedication to its customers, I’m inspired by Stampli’s vision and am thrilled to bring my expertise to drive rapid growth.”

Read More: S4M Granted Continuation Of Its MRC Accreditation

“Our customers consistently tell us how Stampli has fundamentally transformed their accounts payable operations, and that market validation is the reason why we’re excited to bring Jeff and Tiffaney aboard,” said Eyal Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Stampli. “Jeff and Tiffaney have proven track records of creating positive and immediate impact, building great teams, and consistently exceeding ambitious growth goals. Their hires represent an important milestone in the journey of Stampli and I look forward to working alongside them.”

Read More: Salestech Interview With Jessica Sibley, Chief Sales Officer At Forbes

Sabre Reveals Consumer Trends to Shape Guest Expectations in 2019 and Beyond

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Sabre Reveals Consumer Trends to Shape Guest Expectations in 2019 and Beyond

Sabre Corporation, the leading technology provider to the global travel industry, released a study in partnership with TrendWatching, global consumer trends and insights experts, which reveals the top consumer trends that will shape the hospitality industry in 2019 and beyond.

“The hospitality industry is always reinventing itself, constantly adapting to the changing expectations of travelers,” said Clinton Anderson, president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “As a result, digital transformation has become a rising priority for hoteliers due to its ability to generate more targeted, personalized offers. Ultimately, shifts in how individuals interact with technology, brands and even space translate directly into new, untapped opportunities for hoteliers. As a trusted partner to the hospitality industry, Sabre is committed to providing hoteliers with the most innovative technology solutions that will drive revenue, and to identifying the trends that will influence consumer behavior in the future,” he added.

Read More: Brad Dobbins Promoted To President Of Clickbooth

Trend 1
VIRTUAL COMPANIONS

While time-pressed travelers may wish to avoid other people during their stay, others will welcome companionship – even in virtual form. Travelers deeply accustomed to digital assistants, chatbots and more will look to the next evolution of artificial intelligence. They will seek out virtual personalities that have the power to entertain, educate and befriend. The presence of virtual digital assistants has grown incrementally since 2011 and shows no sign of stopping.

Trend 2
BREAKING BRICKS

Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are expanding into hospitality – building immersive brand experiences for their customers – providing an entirely new breed of competition for traditional players, while delighting loyal fans. Social media feeds have become saturated with picture-perfect travel snapshots of branded lifestyles, and as a result, consumers have ever-higher standards when shopping. Brands hold the capacity of reaching overstimulated customers by launching unique partnerships to cut through the noise in unexpected locations.

Trend 3
MAGIC POINT-OF-SALE

Using their devices to summon a “magic point-of-sale,” travelers can engage with establishments, browse products, test and purchase in innovative new ways. Smart brands are using technology to gain rich data on consumer preferences and habits, and are leveraging innovative channels like these to reach them in the right place, at the right time. Globally, the augmented reality (AR) market hit $1.1 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $7.9 billion by 2023. The maturing of virtual reality (VR) and AR revolutionizes how and where consumers shop and engage with brands.

Read More: SalesTech Interview With Matt Amundson, VP Of Marketing At EverString

Trend 4
NEW WORKFORCE

The proliferation of on-demand services and co-working environments are transforming expectations around work and travel. A growing cohort of professionals are making travel their main priority by becoming digital nomads. The explosion in gig economy and freelancing platforms indicate that consumers are embracing alternative lifestyles that don’t tie them down to a specific company, location, or even daily schedule.

Read More: Amrita Ahuja To Join Square As Chief Financial Officer

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

Sabre’s innovative SynXis suite can help hoteliers cater to the evolving needs of their guests and generate a more personalized experience. To learn more about the opportunities that hoteliers can harness to propel their business into the future, and to discover additional trends that will shape the hospitality industry.

Read More: SalesTech Star Interview With Jon Miller, CEO & Co-Founder At Engagio

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