Make Your RevTech Work for You, Not the Other Way Around

In the bestseller, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki compares the behavioral traits of his biological father (poor dad) with those of an acquaintance he views as financially savvy (rich dad). He describes “poor dad” as a hard worker who put in time to earn money. Increasing his earning potential meant proportionately increasing his time investment. By contrast, Kiyosaki describes his “rich dad,” as not working for money but, instead, making his money work for him through passive income. RevTech is having a Rich Dad, Poor Dad moment. “Rich dad” leaders will make shrewd technology choices with an exemplary return on investment. “Poor dad” leaders will buy technology that requires a lot of maintenance and administration in exchange for modest gains in seller productivity. Every decision from here on out will only deepen the wedge. Vendors are eagerly incorporating novel capabilities like natural language processing (NLP), conversation intelligence and generative AI into their RevTech offerings to increase seller productivity. Each new innovation springs off the previous one like a slinky going up the stairs. This slinky is somehow defying gravity and gaining momentum with each step. If you are a sales operations leader, you are now at the crossroads between the “rich dad” approach and the “poor dad” approach to buying RevTech. Here’s how you can embrace ‘rich dad’ thinking and not get left behind. Don't Rely on Your CRM to Be Your Biggest Productivity Engine Kiyosaki addresses a few myths about personal finance in his book. This statement made me sit up straight: “Your home is not an asset. It is a liability.” I’m not going to call your CRM a liability. However, your CRM, like a home, needs care and attention. It needs governance. It needs active administration. It needs timely updates and enhancements. The more feature-rich your CRM, the more time you need to invest in implementation and maintenance. The more complex your CRM, the more time you need to invest in governance and adoption. You need CRM as much as you need a home, but if it is your only seller productivity aid, you are very much working for your CRM more than it is working for you. Augment your CRM with intelligent sales engagement and revenue intelligence tools to boost seller productivity without using brute force. You still have to care for your CRM, but let AI-driven pipeline forensics and predictive automation do some of the heavy lifting for you. Improve Your RevTech IQ to Maximize Returns on Your Investments Kiyosaki asserts that rich people have high “financial IQ,” which he breaks down into accounting, investing, understanding markets and the law. Correspondingly, RevTech IQ entails four knowledge areas that will help you choose a high-impact RevTech stack that yields optimal seller productivity: Informative analytics about the impact of sellers’ environment, actions and decisions (“accounting”) A sense for where seller time is best spent (“investing”)  Awareness of the emerging vendor landscape and technological capabilities (“understanding markets”) Working knowledge of relevant regulations and ethical guidelines surrounding privacy, security and risk management (“law”) Over the years, Rich Dad Poor Dad has garnered both praise for making financial literacy accessible and criticism for its inherent elitism (not to mention paternalism!) in promoting investment options only available to those who are already reasonably wealthy. This is analogous to sales operations leaders feeling more empowered to make bolder RevTech purchases only when they have the privilege of generous budgets and top-down executive support. My take? You don’t have to invest in every piece of cutting-edge technology to be successful, just like you don’t have to pursue all of Kiyosaki’s advice to get rich. The point is to be curious, nurture a keen perspective, and maintain a healthy balance between conservative pragmatism and opportunistic futurism. What’s true for personal finance also holds for RevTech.