We are living in a digital age, where businesses, products, and services are evolving at a super-fast pace, so it doesn't come as a surprise that sales and various other activities are being digitally transformed. Digital transformation is the consolidation of digital technologies and data into all spheres of business. The era of direct sales is fading & in-direct sales are coming up. Digitalization changes all aspects of the sales process and helping many organizations in this present COVID -19 situation. Companies that make use of emerging opportunities the right way can achieve competitive advantages. One of the main reasons for quickly adapting to digital form is changing consumer purchasing habits. The use of digital technology to research, browse, and purchase has gone from segment-specific to mainstream.

 In the sales activity, developing & maintaining long term relationships between the sellers and the purchaser is a very crucial thing for companies to achieve sustained business growth & business retention. The aim to build long-term business relationships has led to a great deal of sales activity to take place in face-to-face interaction. Digitalization of communication is rapidly changing this mode of business, especially in the present time period. Studies show that 90% percent of buyers search product information first on online medium before they reach out to any sales representatives. Therefore, the influence of digitalization in sales & business growth is a fertile ground for study.

We are living in a society that is driven by digital technology. Such is its impact that there are countries where citizens don't have running water, proper shelter & food, but own smartphones. The digital transformation has a big influence on people's interactions, work, purchases, and life. Seeing these many changes majority of companies are shifting towards the process of digitalization nowadays due to its benefits. Essentially, the fast growth of computer and mobile technologies has made it necessary for businesses to go digital. While some companies are able to convert products and services into digital form, some are still drowned in the implementation process. Digitalization is transforming sales and bringing great benefits to the entire organization. Some of them listed below.

• Improved customer experience - The digitalization of the sales process allows representatives to analyze the customer purchasing behavior, their requirements, and helps in engaging & servicing its customer in a better way & quickly. 
• Use of Artificial intelligence -AI can learn from historical sales data and guide sellers to the optimized offers and pricing that maximizes win chances.AI tools can help salespeople fill pipeline fast. There are AI tools today that find new leads for you within your databases. AI tools can also augment your work. 
• Increase productivity - In most cases introducing more technology into a business means more efficiency, greater productivity, and a decrease in unnecessary costs and manual energy. By using technology to save time and energy, employees can focus more on providing customers with an excellent experience or doing more productive work done, save money, and ultimately increase sales.
• Benefiting through Cloud storage - Cloud technologies help sales teams improve their effectiveness and become more agile. The work flexibility, inter-interoperability, and collaboration among the sales team improve significantly when data is stored on cloud servers.
• Sales Automation tools - Sales CRM software has the functionality to automate and schedule follow-up emails to prospects and leads over time. A sales automation tool can also optimize the sales funnel for increased conversions. Leads are tracked and sorted as they enter the sales funnel.

For example, The face of the banking and insurance services industry has changed in the past few years with the emergence of technology and digital services. AI and its related technologies improved every facet of banking & insurance operations. Policy buying, product comparisons & Claims processing in insurance can be processed via an app or website instantly, and policy writing can be done in less time with machine learning capabilities. Similarly, in banking nowadays almost every service is available on their apps or through internet banking. Digital transformation is also speeding up customer service, where live chat and digital assistants are helping customers in their most important times of need.

With so many positive effects of digital transformation, we also have negative effects & challenges facing by organizations & individuals.

• Data security & privacy
• Maintenance costs are due to constantly evolving new technology and higher data storage.
• Competition in product pricing because of higher transparency
• High bandwidth and faster internet connectivity is required at both ends 
• Social Disconnect
• With more technology-driven work & less manual work could lead to job loss

With new digital technology is evolving very frequently which will affect the organization's sales process, they need to constantly restructure their business model. It has paved the path to innovation, growth, and discovery of new business opportunities. It has to be adopted if we want to move further. There's no other way round.