SALES

by Steve W. Martin

DECEMBER 10, 2012

What are the top business-to-business sales trends for 2013? Here’s my list based upon my

experience of studying some of the world’s best sales organizations this past year.

1. Sales Force Behavior “Modeling”

Models are verbal descriptions and visual representations of how systems work and processes flow.

Models enable repeatable and predictable experiences. More organizations will study their top

salespeople in 2013 to understand how they formulate their winning account strategies based upon

customer politics, evaluator psychology, and the human nature of executive decision makers that

are unique to winning every account.

2. Win-Loss Analysis Studies

All companies and their salespeople are well versed on the logical arguments for selecting their

product. However, the decision to make a major purchase is also influenced by internal politics, how

the decision-makers receive information along with individual biases and personal desires.

Unfortunately many companies don’t perform any type of win-loss analysis so they don’t

understand their customers in these regards. Because of the economy and relentless competition,

2013 will be the year that many companies have to re-discover the lost art of win-loss analysis.

3. Emphasis on Language-Based Interactions

While proponents of the consultative, relationship, and challenger-based sales approaches will

continue to argue the merits of their respective philosophies, there is one thing everyone can agree

Top 10 Sales Trends for 2013 - HBR https://hbr.org/2012/12/top-10-sales-trends-for-2013

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