Telemarketing Software Featured Article

Over a million sales staff will become obsolete over the next five years, according to market research firm Forrester (News - Alert). Many of these lost jobs will come from staff on the low end of the sales hierarchy—those who process orders and play a less consultative sales role. But job losses also can come to sales teams that don’t keep pace with the latest trends in selling. Sales is a volatile discipline.

With that in mind, here are four sales trends to watch in 2016.

1. Customers Run the Show

The customer is always right, of course, but now customers also are coming armed with more product knowledge than ever before. By some estimates, the average customer is more than halfway through the decision-making process when they interact with sales.

Good sales now starts with coming into the sale more aware of where the customer is in the buying decision and better understanding their needs since sales needs to get up to speed faster than ever.

2. Predictive Analytics is a Must

We have the technology. Awash in potentially useful data, predictive analytics now can help sales teams determine who, when, what and how to best reach customers. With global competition heating up more with every year, sales teams that marshal data best will be those that win out.

Reinforcing this point, consultancy the Aberdeen (News - Alert) Group found that best in breed sales teams were three times as likely to use predictive analytics than the average for their industry.

3. Increasing CFO Involvement in Sales Forecasting

Since accurate forecasting is so important, businesses are increasingly including their chief financial officer in the sales forecasting discussion. Only 20 percent of CFOs are confident of their sales forecasts, according to CSO Insight, since more than half of all predicted deals don’t close.

To narrow the gap between expectation and reality, an increasing number of firms are taking a more integrated approach to forecasting that includes the CFO in forecasting.

4. Video Will Change Sales

Reaching customers in the B2B space is getting harder than ever. Back in 2007, it took an average of four cold calls to reach a prospect. Six years later it took eight calls, and soon this number will reach double digits and it is harder than ever to get a foot in the door.

The reason for this is competition and the volume of cold pitches that potential customers now receive. The video revolution can help, though.

Video is becoming the sale team’s best friend as video becomes an effective way to stand out from the crowd. Personalized video increases email engagement by 44 percent according to Martech Advisor. It boosts open rates by as much as 60 percent, and simply adding “video” in the subject of an email increases open rates by 500 percent. Is your sales team engaging with all four of these trends?