Last week the Faraday sales team took some time off from the usual day-to-day grind to reflect on the last year, talk about emerging trends in the consumer landscape, and get some much-needed exercise in the Green Mountains of Vermont—I'll admit they're a little greener in the summer.

We briefly talked goals and tactics (would it really be a sales retreat without some numbers?), but the bigger discussions revolved around Faraday's why — specifically, why data-driven companies will eventually dominate every consumer market. I'm not going to pitch you here, but I will share my biggest takeaways from the day...

1. We've all noticed the direct-to-consumer (DTC) movement that's rendering traditional marketing channels obsolete. Bypassing distribution channels is better for the bottom line and gives brand-manufacturers greater control over end-customer data—that is to say, meaningful data—which smart brands are using to optimize everything about their business. Here's the big takeaway: the DTC movement is expanding beyond retail and goods to literally every single consumer market (i.e., consumer finance, real estate, transportation, home improvement—the list goes on). My fellow colleague, Riley, just published a great article about how the DTC movement is transforming financial services. Definitely worth checking it out for a deeper dive into this DTC shift.
2. To echo Riley, companies who embrace this movement will thrive, while others slowly fade away. Intelligent use of data will distinguish the thrivers and faders, making it clear that AI/ML adoption is no longer a luxury—it's an absolute necessity.
3. Here's my third and final takeaway: if your team ever plans a snowshoe expedition (which is probably just a Vermont thing) make sure to wear snowshoes that actually fit, or you'll end up tripping yourself constantly, as I did (Dad's gigantic snowshoes).

Regardless of your company's industry, we can all agree on one emergent truth: the future of consumer marketing requires AI/ML to stay relevant.

We've just released Dealbot, our lightweight sales automation system for Pipedrive, as open source. Over the coming weeks we'll introduce Dealbot's features along with its cadence ecosystem in a series of blog posts.

Here's the secret behind the most successful sales development teams out there:

They're using cadences.

A cadence is a named, prescribed schedule of activities like phone calls and emails that you can use to engage and qualify your leads.

SalesLoft's classic 7x7 cadence

Using the cadence approach to outreach is one of those cases where a good tool makes all the difference.

Dealbot applies cadences to your deals in Pipedrive

Paid services like SalesLoft and Outreach are the gold standard for cadence management. But these tools might be overboard for your team, and can be expensive.

Faraday's Dealbot provides everything you need to get started using cadences with your Pipedrive CRM in an open-source package that can be hosted at Heroku for free.

Here's how to get started quickly

1. Create a free Pipedrive account if you don't already have one.

2. Click the magic button:
   

3. Fill out the required config fields and click "Deploy for Free." Don't close the tab! You'll get an email telling you what to do next.

Stay tuned

Over the next few weeks we'll dive into Dealbot features, use cases, cadences, and technology. In the meantime, check out the Dealbot site for more, or sign up below for future Dealbot blog posts.