A Look Ahead: 5 Sales Predictions for 2016
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s another year comes to a close, it’s time for ball drops, year in review round-ups, and of course, a peek inside the crystal ball to see what’s in store for sales organizations in 2016.
Throughout the year, we saw some daring predictions. Perhaps the boldest, which had B2B sales reps frantically updating their resumes, came from Forrester who predicted that by 2020, 1 million U.S. B2B sales jobs would be lost¹. A subsequent Forrester report issued six months later reinstilled a sense of calm. It wasn’t that sales reps would be laid off by the masses, but rather the type of sales skills required to best service modern B2B buyers would shift.²
Our predictions focus on the five trends that will shape sales in 2016.
- Spending on training events will decrease – The National Sales Meeting isn’t going away any time soon, however companies will shift funds to emphasize ongoing coaching and training technology. Studies show that within 90 days of a training event, 80 percent or more is forgotten. Sales organizations are catching on to the fact that practice and coaching are key to message absorption and increasing win rates and implementing methods and tools to reinforce learning.
- The use of video in sales enablement and training will increase. Studies show that employees spend about 45 minutes a day watching video, with this number likely to double in 2016. Modern sales organizations are already harnessing the power of video to give sales teams a competitive advantage in capturing, curating and sharing best practices from the field, as well as onboarding reps and providing ongoing coaching to sales reps. Video’s accessibility and ease of use, particularly when coupled with mobile technology, allows sales reps instant access to relevant content they need, when they need it. Knowing that there are over 4 billion videos viewed on YouTube every day, it makes sense that video is being embraced in the workplace.
- Social selling will become ubiquitous. For several years now, the trend of social selling has been popping up on year-end predictions lists. We know that social media is an incredibly powerful tool for identifying and researching prospects. All selling is social, which is why we’ve never differentiated between “networking-with-friends selling” or “going-to-networking-events selling.” Social selling will become a standard practice, so much that the label “social” will eventually get dropped and it simply becomes just another part of selling.
- Sales and marketing teams will become more closely aligned. While it may sound like a hippie’s plea of “Why can’t we all just get along?” the success of your sales organization depends on this interlock. Teams are realizing their co-dependence, and actually beginning to embrace it. Sales teams need collateral and content generated by marketing to drive and convert leads. Marketing needs customer insights, objections raised and competitive intelligence from sales to better craft content. Sure, there will always be finger pointing between sales and marketing, but it will be balanced with high-fives.
- Org Charts Will Morph with New Titles and Reporting Structures. As previously mentioned, the relationship between sales and marketing will continue to mesh. We’ll see new roles that bridge the gap between the two departments popping up, like Sales Enablement Director. Furthermore, roles will continue to shift, with more CMO’s overseeing sales as well as marketing. Even in organizations with a dedicated head of sales, it will become increasingly common for inside sales teams to report to the CMO. These shifts reinforce the importance of establishing regular and open dialogue between sales and marketing.
Keep checking our blog for updates and follow us on Twitter (@AllegoSoftware) to see what other sales enablement and training trends emerge in 2016.
¹Source: April 13, 2015, “The Death of A (B2B) Salesman” Forrester report.
²Source: October 19, 2015, “The B2B Sales Force Digital Reboot” Forrester report.
