The Apple Watch is here. Heralded as the next big platform, consumer brands are quickly retooling their apps to fit its' wrist-size screen. You can do your banking, get a boarding pass, track your steps (or call a taxi), and even control the temperature of your house, but how will this new generation of wearables fit into your mobile enterprise strategy?

There’s no doubt that the future of work is digital, with people increasingly – and persistently – connected to smartphones and tablets. As wearables further redefine the 'what' and 'who' to the 'where' and 'when' of customer experiences, it will, by extension, redefine sales processes, too – giving businesses new opportunities to connect with customers, partners and employees.

In Forrester’s Five Urgent Truths About the Future of Wearables report, analyst JP Gownder notes that while consumer interest in wearables is strong, business demand for wearables is even greater. Today 68% of global technology and business decision-makers say that wearables are a priority for their firm, with 51% calling it a critical priority. This is comparable to the mobile landscape in 2010, when 43% of enterprises identified mobile devices as a priority.

As a result, research firm MarketsandMarkets estimates that the global market for BYOD and enterprise mobility will quadruple by 2019. Currently valued at $72 billion, annual growth rates of approximately 27% puts the projected market at $284 billion in the next four years. On the app side, we see growth keeping pace. In the last 12 months alone, the number of sales professionals accessing Qstream via mobile and Salesforce1 climbed to nearly 70%, up from 41% for the previous period.

While speed and convenience are some of the disruptive digital byproducts of Qstream’s mobile-first approach, the more critical of these is business outcomes – namely the ability of users to more efficiently and effectively win, grow and defend revenue in highly competitive or regulated markets. In fact, a recent study showed that early adopters of Qstream’s mobile sales performance platform outperformed their peers in average annual revenue growth by 3X across life sciences, tech and financial services sectors.

Apps that drive revenue and produce other productivity gains such as Qstream will clearly lead the way forward. Yet, only 25% of vendors today are thinking about mobile as way to disrupt their competitors, says Jim Lundy of Aragon Research.

One of the first movers in sales enablement software for the emerging wearables market is our partner Salesforce.com. Their new Salesforce1 app supports notifications on the Apple Watch, alerting wearers on critical steps in the sales process, such as sales quotes ready for approval. Later this year, Salesforce.com plans to introduce actionable notifications, enabling users to act on the alert directly via the Apple Watch.

Mobile access will continue its meteoric rise in line with the popularity of mobile devices. In our own customer base, we see a growing number of businesses in 2015 replacing notebook computers with tablets for their salespeople – driving further demand for mobile-first applications.

For firms still in the early phases of their mobile enablement, the best way to achieve a few quick wins is through mobile apps like Qstream designed to increase sales performance at scale. Some of these outcomes include a 53% improvement in sales coaching effectiveness, and a 30% increase in baseline sales capabilities within the first 6 to 8 weeks.

We believe wearables like the Apple Watch will become mainstream in enterprises and healthcare organizations within the next 2 to 3 years. But it’s early days for WYOD (Wear Your Own Device). To survive in the new digital world, sales organizations need to throw out their old playbooks and start to redefine success in terms of how they will capitalize on mobile devices to win, grow and defend – today. Are you ready? Request a demo.