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Four Sales Trends To Lean Into In 2019

Forbes Business Development Council
POST WRITTEN BY
David Elkington

Forty-seven percent of sales reps missed their quotas last year, according to research firm CSO Insights (via Small Business Trends), and the competition is only getting more intense as the industry continues to evolve drastically. From digitization to millennials emerging as a new generation of buyers and sellers and companies leveraging outside consultants to set sales strategies, there are several trends the most advanced organizations are already leaning into that others need to be aware of to hit their numbers this year.

Based on my observations as the CEO of a sales and lead-management software company, here are four of the biggest trends I expect to impact sales growth in 2019:

Digital Sales Transformation

In the past 24 months, I've noticed companies working to transform their traditional sales structures into a high-velocity, data-driven, systematic sales organizations that can scale. I first noticed this trend in the late 2000s in the microbusiness space, with small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) who had a greater need for efficiency and higher risk for experimentation with a new way of selling. Now, larger companies are adopting it, too. I’ve seen enterprises spanning a wide range of industries make the "digital transformation" shift to drive growth.

A digital sales transformation should be business-led — IT alone won’t digitalize sales. This is comprised of the three main things that business leaders across all departments have talked about forever: people, process and technology. Start by getting your organization aligned with a straightforward vision that’s clearly communicated to all stakeholders and employees — don’t try to jump straight into “solution mode.”

A New Demographic Of Buyers And Sellers

What’s really driving digital transformation is a new generation of buyers and sellers; according to Pew Research, millennials are already the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. This group — some of which are now well into their 30s and moving into decision-making and leadership roles — grew up with smart technology. They need to be empowered in a new way, and likely expect to be empowered with the same kind of technology they have in their personal lives, like an internet of things (IoT)-controlled home (via Nest and Alexa).

In my experience, the new generation of sellers doesn’t want the same old way of doing things — and, quite frankly, it won’t cut it anymore, as buyers have introduced an entirely new set of expectations. Buyers I work with have developed a strong preference toward self-education, and Gartner recently said that "B2B buyers want more simplicity in accessing the right information."

According to a 2014 study from Google and Millward Brown Digital, "B2B Path to Purchase Study," B2B buyers conduct an average of 12 searches before engaging with a brand. When they speak with a sales rep, they generally want to have specific technology questions answered and a proposal, so companies should set up strong processes for buyers to understand their solutions on their own. The easier a brand makes the purchase-decision journey for buyers, the more successful they may be.

To do this, make sure your website is mobile friendly and easily searchable, with high-quality images and videos that show off a product’s features and use cases. And create personalized experiences. Buyers are so inundated with content that it’s much harder to connect with them. Approach customers as humans rather than just accounts and provide meaningful communications that will earn loyalty. For example, individualizing email messaging and sending out notes based on a subscriber’s personal browsing behavior ensures you’re following them on their customer journey and can reengage with customers who may have gone silent.

Tapping Into Data To Fuel Growth

Competition is fierce, which means sales teams need the insights to use their time wisely and create a valuable buyer experience. My company utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) in our solutions, so I know AI can uncover buyer preferences, forecast the results of consumer actions, and translate these insights into business recommendations. However, the true value of AI is directly related to the scope and quality of the data that feeds it.

Data about buyers, how they engage and where they are in their purchasing journey can give sellers an advantage. Many brands aren’t capitalizing on the large amounts of data that already exists for them. Companies can mine their existing customer databases to look for patterns based on which email campaigns are the most successful, for example, and create more opportunities to garner direct feedback from their reps. In a crowded market space where many buyers have limited attention and tight budgets, more and better data can be the key competitive advantage.

More Outsourcing For Sales Expertise And Enablement

There’s a huge problem in many U.S. companies today: Software as a Service (SaaS) shelfware. Companies buy technology with a false belief they can deploy it without IT or a sales leader to effectively drive adoption and integration into the workflow. What ends up happening is companies do minimal deployments and don’t end up using the technology effectively.

What’s left — after technology — is people. Organizations need to make sure sales teams are enabled with the best-of-the-best strategies and experts. Because the execution of sales processes and technologies is becoming so specialized, some companies are starting to hire consultants rather than developing the expertise in-house. They’re outsourcing things like go-to-market strategy and sales training from major consultancies, but in-sourcing their own salespeople — because buyers ultimately want to engage with people who know your company and product.

When evaluating outsourced talent, make sure you bring someone on with previous experience in and references for what you’re trying to accomplish. This can save precious training and ramp-up time that would normally happen on your dime. Also, treat consultants like an extension of your team and work to establish long-term relationships versus treating them like a visitor — because getting them up to speed on your organization, customers, partners and challenges is a large time and resource investment.

Competition is fiercer than ever and growing a business has never been harder. As an organization, if you’re not bringing in experts to help your people to support your sales teams, you’re doing yourself a big disservice.

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