Insights into Commercial Tech Stack Performance

Over the past two years, many firms have made significant investments in their commercial technology stacks. However, more than half have struggled to unlock sufficient value, whether in terms of sales growth or cost efficiencies. To investigate the causes of this underperformance, Mark surveyed 100 CIOs, CCOs, and sales leaders from European companies.

The findings highlight that the challenge is less about technology and more about business strategy and governance. Key short-term obstacles include high maintenance costs, limited automation, and heavy dependence on manually updated CRM data. For smaller companies, this leads to resource constraints that hamper growth, while larger organizations face issues like poor data quality, unclear ownership, and a one-size-fits-all approach to system capabilities, limiting actionable insights.

Differentiating the Winners and Laggards

Our study identified critical factors distinguishing firms that consistently derive value from their tech stacks ("winners") from those that fail to do so ("laggards"). As sales processes become increasingly digitized, this gap is expected to grow. Winners are already achieving:

• Sales growth of up to 5% through efficient scaling of go-to-market strategies.

• Cost reductions of more than 5% in sales and marketing expenditures by minimizing reliance on manual labor.

The Role of Advanced Tech Stacks and AI

Only organizations with state-of-the-art tech stacks that integrate data, intelligence, and activation layers will be well-positioned to implement generative AI (GenAI) solutions at scale. These firms can unlock productivity gains of 30% to 50% by redesigning workflows and reshaping organizational functions. In contrast, firms deploying AI tools without reengineering processes may only realize gains of 10% to 15%.

The Path Forward

As shown in Exhibit 1, specific factors consistently separate high-performing firms from underperformers. The findings emphasize that success in leveraging commercial technology lies in aligning governance, business processes, and technology to deliver measurable outcomes.

Best Practices for Building a Winning Commercial Tech Stack

1. Developing a Business Case Around Value Creation

Winning organizations prioritize value-driven business cases with clearly defined ROI objectives. By focusing on top-line impact—such as customer acquisition and lifetime value—they integrate CRM tools into the operating model rather than treating them as standalone IT projects. Success is measured by the value generated, not just cost savings.

2. Strategic Vendor Selection

Winners favor scalable, off-the-shelf solutions like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, which allow for rapid deployment and seamless integration into workflows. These tools are often complemented with best-in-class third-party add-ons, carefully balancing adoption speed, cost, and functionality. Notably, 83% of winners rated their tech stack as state-of-the-art across all customer-facing functions, compared to only 13% of laggards.

3. User-Centric Adoption Strategies

Effective adoption hinges on user experience (UX) design. Winners ensure tools fit into users' workflows, emphasizing simplicity and iterative testing to align with user needs. They pair this with robust change management programs led by business leaders, backed by C-level sponsorship and adequate budgets. Training focuses not just on tool usage but on achieving business objectives and adopting new behaviors.

4. Transforming, Not Just Implementing

For winners, CRM integration is part of a broader business transformation. This involves redesigning processes, enhancing collaboration between sales and marketing, and aligning technology with user needs. Such a transformation prepares organizations to maximize the potential of emerging technologies like AI and GenAI, making them a core part of business processes rather than standalone tools.

5. Leadership-Driven Change

Successful transformations are spearheaded by growth-oriented business leaders rather than solely relying on IT. This approach ensures business priorities dictate objectives, capabilities, and value realization. While IT handles implementation, the business side of the C-suite drives strategy, prioritization, and adoption.

6. Leveraging AI and GenAI

Winners lead in AI adoption, integrating advanced analytics into every stage of the customer journey. They align their efforts with the "10/20/70 rule" for GenAI implementation:

• 10% effort on algorithms,

• 20% on data and technology infrastructure,

• 70% on operational transformation.
  This focus enables rapid scaling of use cases, deeper insights, and significant value creation.

Key Takeaway

The most successful firms view commercial technology not as an isolated IT initiative but as an enabler of business transformation. They invest in scalable tools, ensure seamless adoption, and redesign processes to unlock the full potential of AI and GenAI, positioning themselves for sustained growth and competitive advantage.

Case Study: Transforming the CRM System of a Global Tech Company

A global tech company, known for its superior product, initially grew so rapidly that it neglected to invest in upgrading its 20-year-old tech stack. This outdated infrastructure, combined with stagnating revenue growth and increasing competition, eventually became a significant barrier to sales and further expansion.

Facing this challenge, the company embarked on a transformative journey, recognizing that its legacy product could no longer sell itself. The goal was to revamp its business operations with a modern tech stack and structured processes that would empower sales teams, enable faster time-to-market, and establish a foundation for sustained growth—particularly through the integration of AI and GenAI technologies.

Steps in the Transformation

1. Building a Value-Driven Business Case
   The transformation began with a robust business case outlining the need for growth-oriented tools and processes. The company identified the critical objectives: increasing sales efficiency, reducing manual tasks for the salesforce, and ensuring scalability for future AI applications.

2. Strategic Vendor Selection and Tech Stack Design
   The company opted for a Salesforce solution that was 80% off-the-shelf and 20% customized, supplemented with targeted third-party tools to enhance sales efficiency. By focusing on modular and scalable solutions, the company avoided over-engineering while meeting the specific needs of its seven product teams.

3. User-Centric Adoption and Governance
   The transformation emphasized broad C-level support, aligning business and IT teams under joint leadership. Each product team had a dedicated product manager and IT lead to ensure alignment between business objectives and technical implementation. Training programs prioritized user-centric design, ensuring that the tools supported sales processes and encouraged adoption.

4. Seamless Integration and Rapid Deployment
   By streamlining implementation and aligning tools with structured sales guidelines, the company quickly turned its tech stack from a liability into a competitive advantage.

   Results

The transformation delivered significant outcomes:

• Enhanced sales efficiency and time-to-market.

• Greater alignment between sales processes and technological capabilities.

• A scalable foundation for integrating AI and GenAI, enabling continuous innovation.

Key Takeaways for Organizations

Given the rapid pace of technological innovation, particularly in AI and GenAI, organizations should:

1. Define Strategic Objectives: Establish a clear vision for tech-enabled sales, marketing, and service functions, tied to measurable business outcomes.

2. Align Tech with Value Drivers: Regularly assess the commercial tech stack against strategic value levers, focusing on user-centric design and practical application.

3. Prioritize High-Value Opportunities: Focus on investments that deliver tangible results and generate enthusiasm for adoption.

4. Adopt a Business-Led Approach: Ensure transformation efforts are driven by business objectives, supported at the C-level, and integrated with structured processes.

By following these principles, companies can transform their operating models to support continuous innovation, achieving competitive advantage and sustained growth.