As we approach a new decade, now is a better time than ever to talk tech trends in the sales world. It seems that there are new movements popping up daily, and some will be more relevant to your organization than others. To help you navigate this overpopulated landscape, we’ve collected five of the most groundbreaking trends that are shaping the future of sales. Incorporate some of these trends into your 2020 planning and find success in the new year!
1. Empowered Buyers
Buyers now have more information available to them than ever, increasing their control over the buying process. Because of the vast amount of information on the internet, buyers often have the ability to learn about your product’s functionality before even speaking to you. This results in some prospects coming to you after already making the decision to buy. That’s great, but it can also work against you if they decide on a competitor after doing their own research, before speaking to you.
In some cases, free trials are even available, making it easier than ever for buyers to take the customer journey mostly solo. Because of this, it’s crucial to meet buyers in the middle. Are they downloading a lot of your content or installing a free trial? Reach out sooner rather than later to establish yourself as a resource more valuable than online research.
2. Salesforce Verticals
Over the past year or so, Salesforce has put an increased emphasis on highlighting products through verticals. These verticals include Manufacturing, Health and Life Sciences, Financial Services, and Sales. These verticals have been fully embraced by Salesforce which is proven by the new organizational structure of Dreamforce. By separating the massive amount of apps on the Salesforce AppExchange by verticals, consumers are able to find the products they’re looking for with ease.
On the other hand, you must now fit your product into these verticals to appease buyers. The new generation of educated buyers are not interested in generic sales pitches. They expect you to understand their vertical industry including its key performance indicators and the major challenges and opportunities that they and their competitors face.
3. The Rise of Automation
This is a trend that offers great assistance to everyone in sales as it helps organize your prospecting efforts. Platforms such as Salesforce allow users to manage leads and contacts. Other platforms such as Pardot or Hubspot allow teams to instantly engage web visitors, qualify prospects to identify hot leads, and book meetings so salespeople can close deals faster. On top of those benefits, automation also allows salespeople to personalize their messages accurately and during the right moment in the sales cycle.
Additionally, automation can help free up more of reps time by eliminating their need to do tedious tasks such as tracking emails or calculating conversion rates. Instead, they can spend their time on value building activities such as getting to know your clients and prospects to better address their pain points. Using CRM software will help to eliminate manual administrative tasks and allow salespeople to unlock their full potential.
4. Increased Focus on Data Security
A rather major trend as of late that affects every business and organization is the increased focus and concern about data security and privacy. The population is becoming increasingly concerned with how their data will be used as they now more than ever understand the importance of the personal data.
In addition to personal concern, certain governments are starting to step in in an attempt to protect their people from data breaches and the use of their information without their knowledge. Regulations such as GDPR in the European Union and the California Privacy Act are forcing companies to rethink how they gather and use consumer information.
Because of all this, companies are implementing stricter security reviews and process when looking into adding to their tech stack. This affects many organizations, particularly those in the Salesforce ecosystem, as they use CRM data. The good news is, most organizations are happy to help their consumers understand their data usage processes and abide by security reviews before purchase or installation.
5. Sales and Marketing Alignment
The siloed departments are now a thing of the past, sales and marketing must align to divide and conquer the challenge of attracting modern buyers. In recent years, marketing and sales have been slowly becoming more aligned, working together to find and fix customer’s pain points. Marketers are listening to sales, asking them what they need to do their job better. Quality content is abundant, filled with information for sales to hand over to prospects. This trend complements the other of increased buyer agency as it is helping shift sales perspective about a buyer and what they;re looking for. Adding the eyes of marketers allows sales to get their message across at the right time in the right medium.
There you have it, five of the most impactful trends shaping the future of sales. Take this information with you into 2020 to ensure your team is on track from the start to meet their goals. In addition, attend Dreamforce 2019 to learn more about the trends that are emerging in various verticals. If you do decide to attend, stop by our booth, #711, to see how LevelEleven’s solutions can help your organization in the new year.
