Sales Trends to Watch
We’ve collected predictions on sales management trends from a few of our favorite sales industry resources. As you fine-tune your plans for 2022, consider the following.
Millennials Will Have Increased Presence
Millennials already make up 30% of the workforce. According to Vaniu, in 2018, many millennials will start to reach top sales positions. This cohort understands how to leverage tech and harness creativity. They also seek a more balanced life. To succeed, organizations must adopt a more collaborative and efficient work culture.
In a recent LinkedIn post, top sales blogger Daniel Disney also predicts that companies must come to terms with more millennial buyers. He expects this group will make purchases “in a totally different way than previous generations.” Companies must adapt to these new buying styles.
Automation and AI Will Improve Results
As technology continues to evolve rapidly, companies must harness AI and automation to improve the effectiveness of their sales teams. This article in Forbes, predicts that companies will use these technologies to gather data for “flexible, targeted coaching” to free sales teams to spend more time shortening sales cycles and closing deals.
According to a post by Jared Filler, Sales VP of PandaDoc, AI tools will also improve the ability to prescribe sales activities (what steps to take next) based on customer and prospect data.
Sales Training Will Be Customized and Continuous
An article in Sales and Marketing Management cites trends changing sales training. The author sees the old days of the “build it, and they will come” type of training as waning. After initial onboarding training, many sales reps revert to old habits. To counter this issue, companies will use a more “push” type of training with on-demand, bite-size training and deliver training where and when the sales reps need it.
Account-based Selling Rises
A blog post by Brian Trautschold at Ambition explains that when companies use account-based selling correctly, they can “shorten the buying cycle, increase lead-to-opportunity conversion rates and decrease customer acquisition costs.” New technology will be a crucial driver for better account-based selling.
Deeper Integration of Marketing and Sales
Sales and marketing always seem to have a Mars vs. Venus relationship. As companies implement better sales enablement platforms, the sales and marketing teams’ interactions will improve. In his post on sales trends, Fuller at PandaDoc also predicts an “account-based everything” culture will force a stronger marketing and sales alignment. He sees improved technology giving more real-time feedback on marketing and sales strategies.
If you have a prediction to add, let us know.