8/13/2019 17609_2 - Rwebsite - Top 10 Sales Trends for 2013 -
Steve Martin
2/2
Many companies have realized that their sales didnt increase
even after spending a great deal of money and effort
implementing a sales process methodology. The reason for this is
because the black hole of the sales process is what
happens during and at the close of sales calls
(http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/how_to_close_a_sales_call.html) .
Today
more than ever, its the personal interactions with prospective
customers that determines winners from losers, not the
internal processes of the sales organization. In 2013 more
companies will be studying and categorizing these customer
interactions so they can improve sales force effectiveness.
6. Organizational Buying Psychology
If you are involved in selling enterprise solutions, you already
know the importance of understanding the inner workings of
the various departments within the prospective customers
company. Your solution might be purchased by the information
technology department and used by accounting and human
resources. Therefore, its critical to map out the
interrelationships of the departments within an organization.
The essence of successful enterprise sales is understanding
not only who to sell to, but how to craft a message that appeals
to various departmental constituents. Understanding
organizational buying psychology becomes an even more critical
topic in 2013.
7. No Decision as the Main Competitor
For sales forces involved with large capital expenditure sales
cycles, never before has the mantra Call High or Die been
so true. Salespeople must reach C-level executive decision
makers early in the sales process because the default for
organizations today is to maintain the status quo and delay
every major purchase.
8. Intelligent Territory Management
Salespeople who have to manage hundreds of accounts and vast
geographic territories face the perennial problem of
where to spend their most precious resource, which is their t
ime. Perhaps the most important Big Data application within
sales will be the analytics that predict which prospective
net-new customers should be called upon and what installed
base accounts are most likely to buy next. As opposed to
salespeople creating their own action plan for the days
activities, more intelligent territory management systems will
direct them to call on certain accounts and prospects in 2013.
9. Technology Fatigue
While technology has profoundly improved the effectiveness of
salespeople, there is an interesting trend that has been
growing over the past couple of years and will only get worse.
Salespeople today are always available to customers viatheir cell
phones, constantly receiving a gargantuan stream of e-mail
information, and every account update they make in
Salesforce.com is broadcast to sales management. Many long time
salespeople are suffering from Technology Fatigue
and complain they are burning themselves out.
10. Continued Migration from Field to Phone
One final trend that bears mentioning is the accelerated move
from field-based sales to phone-based internet sales. Many
companies have quickly transitioned the majority of their field
reps to be almost exclusively phone based. Therefore, these
reps must now be able to create winning relationships with their
voices as opposed to how they sold in the past with their
physical presence. Understanding and mastering the art of
persuasion (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010
/10/persuasion_tactics_of_effectiv.html) will become even more
important for all salespeople in 2013.
10 Sales Trends for 2013 - Steve W. Martin - Harvard Business
Review
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/12/top-10-sales-trends-for-2013/
2 18-11-2013 21:58
