The Internet and the web have enabled access to information easy to the consumer at the click of a mouse. The customer no longer depends on the information provided by salespeople. Now when a consumer reaches out to a salesperson, he/she already knows a lot and needs answers to specific questions.
That’s why salespersons have to change and abandon their traditional role. The following trends are likely to have a direct impact on the bottom line in 2017. If you’re not planning for these trends you could be falling behind your competitors. If you think you don’t have the right training capabilities in-house, it is always advisable to depend on sales training professionals in Spokane, Washington.
1) Automation, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence likely to play crucial role in Sales
Advancements such as call or email intelligence will make the sales process more efficient by supporting and training staff. Advanced technologies will ensure better coaching of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) based on input data and success outcome data. Their calls can be automatically recorded, transcribed, and understood via instrument, helping managers train their staff more effectively.
As a result of this and other AI technologies, the SDR position is likely to be crucial and holds greater value at the end of 2017. Employers will focus on hiring the right SDRs and retain them.
2) Customer Success Leads as a Growth Engine
Bringing a new client can cost 500% more than keeping current ones. While spending time on the right audience lowers customer churn rate by 5%, it can increase a company’s profitability by 25-125%. It is a proven fact that current customers usually convert at a higher sales price and faster. Current clients are often neglected because the focus is always on new leads.
Companies focus on getting more outbound and more inbound leads, but they miss the third one the current clients. A new customer success position for driving the success and adoption of the new technology might emerge with a focus on if there is an upsell potential in the business.
3) Sales and Marketing Alignment
Sales and Marketing are two sides of the same coin but their goals often aren’t. Marketers complain that salespeople ignore marketing materials and often walk away with all the credit. Salespeople on the other hand complain that marketing people deliver poor quality leads that don’t translate into sales. The best companies have a marketing and sales alignment tied toward the ultimate goal of revenue and customer satisfaction.
Successful marketing leaders are the ones working in tandem with Sales to create an alignment of Account Based Selling (ABS) and Account Based Marketing (ABM) on top accounts. According to Dunlap, accountability and transparency for how to land and expand named accounts will be the key in 2017.
4) Fast action based on Human – technology combination
Customers make a decision based on when you contact them. Marketing Automation in association with a team can make decisions faster. It’s a formula for success: increasing sales and seizing the opportunity without alienating your customers.
For example, the system identifies user’s interest. You need a skilled professional who will research the person quickly before dialing his number. A smart salesperson doesn’t call blindly but he calls after making proper home work to swing the deal in favor of the company.
5) Transparency and accountability is the key to revenue success
For best policies every point of the sales process right from engagement to close needs to be accounted and monitored as there is no perfect blueprint for any one particular sale.
The takeaway is to mine and analyze your company data to better understand the sales, set new processes for training and develop benchmarks. Getting smart depends on knowing your sales structure and creating repeatable success. Companies in 2017 will focus more on understanding what makes a deal more likely to close and how to emulate that process for future deals.
6) Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are the new kingpins
Technology has brought a paradigm shift in the way a product is perceived and sold. The digital and social media revolutions are in full swing, and if you are not immersed in the nitty gritties of modern communication from Facebook to Snapchat chances are you won’t be able to harness clients. Right now, there is an abundance of information available to customers via public domain through social media and third party sites, but how can the average salesperson handle that?
SMEs, such as Digital Marketing Managers will fill this void with their deep knowledge of markets and value selling. They will help position a company against the competition with their understanding of the solution landscape.
The ability to leverage new sales technologies, through the hiring and utilization of digital experts in the larger interest of the organization will become more and more vital in 2017.
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