Marketers are ahead of their sales colleagues when it comes to deploying technology. But that is about to change in 2022. The trend has started in the US to increasingly use innovative technology in the sales department in order to score more transactions with existing and new customers.
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As a sales professional, you can actually make a difference in 2022 by employing innovative tools and visibly gett better results.
On average, companies currently have 5 to 10 tools in their sales technology stack. And, according to Gartner, 88% of all firms intend to invest in that stack.
Another intriguing finding from the poll is that 43% of B2B buyers prefer not to interact with vendors at all, if at all possible. And the following applies: the younger the customer, the less contact they want with a vendor.
The above also demonstrates that shoppers demand a perfect digital experience when they buy something. But in practice, it is generally impractical to think that a sale without a seller can occur in B2B.
According to the research, the number of customers who have regrets after a transaction is 23% higher than that of a seller. In addition to investing in online digital experiences (see my post on marketing technology trends for this), it is also crucial to ensure an ultimate experience in your sales strategy.
In this post, I will highlight a variety of trends in sales methods that can help you with this.
1. The “distance” is here to stay: virtual sales
Whether you loathe it or love it, remote selling has broken through during the corona pandemic. Human interaction is and remains vital in sales, but when it’s impossible – it’s time to move to a distant solution.
People (also in B2B) buy from people!
But in many circumstances, it is best to hold a video sales interaction, prospect with personal videos, and perform meetings via Zoom or Teams.
To get better at virtual selling, it’s vital to examine your discussions and have the tools to optimize them. A term that you also hear more often is “sales readiness software.” By employing technologies such as Mindtickle or Showpad, you give sales the knowledge and ability to have the proper discussions during the whole client experience.
2. Personal video: you can’t do without it in 2022.
Following the aforesaid trend, the use of customized video is crucial. Were you still quite distinctive in 2021 if you approached a prospect via video with a personal message? In 2022, this will become much more common. The younger target audience—who prefers digital contact—will also expect this.
Personal video tools such as Vidyard, BombBomb, and Dubb are incredibly easy to use and can be utilized in the following situations.
- Prospecting
You can’t get people on the phone, and people like to see who they are doing business with. Then, when you approach a prospect, send a personal video via email and LinkedIn stating why you think you can help the prospect.
- Presenting process
It requires a lot of work to make an offer. After an admission interview, you start eagerly on a quote that you send digitally. And that is typically a boring document. Suppose you deliver the quote with a personal video explanation.
In that case, you ensure on the one hand that you express enthusiasm and, on the other hand, you give the recipient the option to share your narrative (and personality) with the rest of the decision-making unit (DMU) on the client-side. Use a quotation tool such as PandaDoc for this.
- Follow-up
After the quote, you can send a personal video in which you ask for a response and for an explanation at an appointment.
- Relationship management
A very easy example is sending a personal birthday greeting. LinkedIn sends you a daily snapshot of the birthdays in your network. Within 2 minutes, you have recorded and sent a congratulation.
3. Account-based marketing (ABM): the relationship between marketing and sales.
ABM is having a resurgence. Within marketing, it was a trend a few years ago and subsequently withdrew from the spotlight. But it is now making a reappearance in a redesigned edition. Previously, it was mostly a manual action from marketing, it is now a coordinated approach from sales and marketing, and smart tools are used.
Together, prospects are defined, and an integrated sales approach follows smart marketing.
Tools such as Terminus and 6Sense ensure that data from the CRM is integrated with intent data—external triggers that signal that particular organizations have a desire for a given product or service—and other sources. The sales professional thus sees in his CRM exactly when a prospect can be reached, how much interest there is, which touchpoints have occurred and what the ideal material is to employ.
4. Customers manage their own agendas: determine when they have time.
Calendly and Doodle are two services that can be used independently or in conjunction with your Outlook or Gmail calendar to adjust to your client’s schedule.
While these options were sometimes supplied in email signatures in the past, you are now increasingly witnessing the trend that this plan option is also offered on websites for demo requests and introductions.
An extra advantage is that the tools consider time zones, and you can establish all kinds of regulations that also keep you in charge of your agenda. In addition, there are, of course, interfaces with MS Teams and Zoom to ensure that any login data is directly in the invitation.
Conclusion
With the shifting preferences of customers and prospects and the use of modern sales technology, the typical sales and marketing job is evolving.
The latest technologies will continue to provide new advantages in the coming years. At the same time, customer needs will shift even faster. As a result, the adoption of sales technology trends will pay dividends for businesses whose top focus is to exceed consumer expectations.
AI and IoT technology, as well as CRM and mobile solutions, empower companies by automating procedures and increasing the efficiency of marketing and sales teams. As a result, businesses give a better experience to their customers, increase their engagement, and acquire a competitive advantage over their competitors.
It is time to take action if your business wants to speed up the sales process and enhance efficiency.
Last Updated on May 24, 2023
