Written by: John Spence | via Kite Desk
As I look at the future of sales, let’s say over the next five years, there are a few major trends that I predict will impact our profession.
#1: Competence is critical.
As products become more and more similar, one of the ways to keep out of the commodity trap is for the salesperson to add real and significant value by being exceedingly professional, prepared, and competent. It is not enough just to know about your products and services, you must be an expert on your products and services, your industry, your competition, your customer, and their business. Customers are more knowledgeable than ever and one of the quickest ways to lose trust (and a sale) is for the customer to know more than you do.
The salesperson of the future is going to have to be committed to lifelong learning on sales skills, product knowledge, business acumen, industry awareness and all of the key factors that their customers are concerned about.
#2: Keep up with technology.
The velocity of change across every business is only going to increase in the next 10 years. That means you have to keep up with the technologies that change your business, the technologies that change your customers’ business. and the technologies that will impact how you perform your job as a salesperson.
I can absolutely guarantee you that five years from now things will be dramatically different from a technology standpoint and you need to be riding the front of that wave, not letting it crash down on you.
As an example, many of the top innovation thought leaders have outlined a major areas where there will be massive change in the next 5 to 10 years, they are: computer deep learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of things, augmented reality, virtual reality, synthetic medicine, and genetic decoding and re-coding.
I challenge you to take a few minutes and think about how significant change in these areas might drive significant change — even a complete realignment — in your business or in the customers that you serve.
#3: Social media is the future of referrals.
I would not say this was the future of sales, but I can say with great confidence that over the next several years social proof via social media will continue to grow as the major driver of referrals. There is absolutely no stronger marketing then when a satisfied customer tells 100, 1,000 or 100,000 people about how amazing your products and services are. So building strong relationships with highly satisfied customers, who become customer evangelists and tell everyone on their social media platforms that you totally rock, will be the most powerful way to increase your sales success. On the other hand, you must also remember that if you mess something up terribly, you can just as easily create a customer terrorist who goes out to their entire network in an effort to shut you down.
Reputation, both on-line and off-line has never been more important or fragile.
#4: You can’t sell just your product.
I believe it will be critical for the salesperson of the future not just to sell their products and services, but have a command of the full array of solutions that can solve a broad set of problems for their customer, even when it means bringing in other vendors who have unique expertise and possibly even partnering with the competition. If you can be the type of salesperson who is basically a “one-stop shop” for your customers, giving them the answers and solutions they need no matter where they come from, you will be a valuable member of their team. As an example, many of my clients call me with problems that have nothing to do with my immediate area of expertise, but they know because I have such a broad global network of business experts I can likely find the answer from them from someone else and trust that I would only recommend someone who will deliver excellence.
Be a valued resource.
#5: Some things will never change.
Even though I’ve just outlined some major changes that will inform your future as a salesperson, you also have to understand that there are a handful of things that must never change. These are core elements of being a true sales professional — honesty, integrity, responsiveness, trust, superb communication skills, and always acting in the best interest of the customer. A lot of people say that in order to stay successful in the future you will have to “think outside the box.”
I recommend you first figure out the things that must absolutely stay in the box, such as the items I’ve listed above, and then be willing, even eager to change anything else that might need to change.