In order for your sales team to be effective in their pursuits of growing your business through retail partner expansion, they must be equipped with the proper knowledge, motivation, and tools to be successful. Download our free report for the 4 reasons why your sales team may be failing, with statistics to support. You will also find the innovative technology tips that are key to solving these pain points.

1. 4 of the Biggest Challenges for a Modern Day Sales Rep
Even for the most motivated and smooth­talking sales reps face a great amount of competition in the
field and, ironically enough, innovation is helping to give the upper hand.
In order for your sales team to be effective in their pursuits of growing your business through retail
partner expansion, they must be equipped with the proper knowledge, motivation, and tools to be
successful.
A good sales manager desires to be in sync with their team, and more importantly, grasp a concrete
understanding of the biggest pain points his team encounters. Without knowing where your reps are
falling short, it’ll be near impossible to boost their performance.
Innovation is touching the product market and changing the way CPGs and retailers are selling. New
POS technologies and Augmented Reality (AR) are quickly setting standards for universal sales team
who are looking to use new technology to optimize their sales process.
Here are 4 reasons that your sales team may be failing, and how implementing AR solutions can help
benefit your business.
Planograms can’t accurately demonstrate scale in an actual environment.
In the past, when you wanted to pitch an idea to a potential partner, you had to rely on flat mediums
such as paper planograms or images of products or displays. Using such resources, it is very hard to
envision the impact a display might have on a sales environment. It also leaves important
decision­driving details such as floor space and display sizing up to pure estimation and guesswork.
Stop selling the old way.
Forward thinking companies are using technology to enable product visualization. The power that
sales representatives have in­hand now is game changing. Technology is making its impact felt among
territory sales reps looking to better their performance. Visual merchandising software solutions help
planning professionals to create and manage more planograms on a central platform.
Augmented reality technology is helping sales teams excel in the field by turning the planogram’s
purpose into an interactive experience. By using AR, the sales rep can demonstrate to the retailer
exactly how both shelved and stand alone products will look like on display in real time. Even take a
photo of the hologram of the display where it’ll be place in the actual store and take it with you to
show even when you’re off­site.

2. The shopping and buying experience is not personalized.
The more personalized and interactive an experience is, the more influence you have on potential
customers. This is true for buyers and retailers alike, personalization is a key.
The tailored shopping experience originally gained traction through online mediums. The ability for
online shoppers to create wishlists soon allowed for personal coupons and product recommendations
which influenced many returning customers and shortened the sales cycle.
A personalized buying experience is needed when selling into retailers as
well; an advantage provided by AR. If your sales team is out in the field
pitching new product and display designs, they can show the retailer
exactly how the particular products you’re shipping will look and fit in
their very own store.
Augmented reality helps repurpose already available 3D models but it also
saves a substantial amount of time when it comes to POS manufacturing
decisions and, later, shipping compliance. Retail buyers can see how
branded displays will looks from conception to implementation in the
store.
Lack of connection between your online and offline marketing campaigns.
E Commerce is usually mentioned in reference when selling to consumers but online and offline
marketing campaigns are both vital when selling into retailers as well.
Traditionally, though, there has been a division between what types of marketing you could
accomplish in online and offline capacities. Perhaps your online campaigns were successful in securing
a loyal audience, but ultimately, didn’t translate into sales because there was no clear connection to
the in­store buying experience. Such a disconnect makes it difficult to engage customers and lead
them through their purchasing journey seamlessly.
According to ​Pixel​, “More than 80% of U.S. shoppers want the ability to check for nearby product
availability and with so many people still wanting to shop in person, this is huge.” As of now, new
ecommerce shoppers would rather shop in person, further stressing the need for offline and online
marketing campaigns to be a parallel.
Many brick and mortar retailers who also sell online have noticed the difference in the buyer’s
journey, but innovation in this area is bridging the gap.
By leveraging augmented reality, it’s becoming easier to create an
interactive experience both online and offline. The marriage between
AR and ecommerce will allow consumers to try products they find
online in their home with the touch of a button.
On the other hand, augmented reality makes it possible for the end
consumer to enjoy the online marketing experience. Customers can
simply use their smartphone to scan a product booklet to bring the

3. product to life at their fingertips, instantly. Interactive content through AR is a great way to have your
online and offline marketing campaigns working in tandem with one another.
Lack of necessary, automated CRM tools and integration.
The dwindling success of your sales team may also be related to poor tracking of leads, client
interactions, follow­ups, or sales.
According to a ​Qvidian study​, 22% of retail organizations say that they don’t have their systems at all
connected with one another. Without software communication, it’s extremely difficult to sell
efficiently. Insightful data isn’t just a metric for consumers, innovation in the sales industry has helped
reps track how many times a store viewed a planogram or
To make sure that your sales team is organized and maintains the integrity of your company’s
important data, it’s important to use CRM software correctly in relation to the software used in the
field. POS display software and augmented reality solutions integrate with the best CRM solutions to
provide for a frictionless transfer of data and a never­before visibility by all teams. Augment is an AR
mobile solution that integrates easily with CRMs like Salesforce, StayinFront, and others.
Innovation is aiding a helping hand to reps in the field. Using new technology to get much more
insight into where your team’s pain points are and how to streamline the process to edge
competition.
Augment is a leading provider of custom AR business solutions, and can help you design apps and
online integrations that will help your sales team succeed, and grow your business.