According to the recently published Gartner, ‘Future of Sales Report’ by 2025 80% of B2B sales will be digital.
That prediction may or may not come true, but I believe we are already seeing a permanent transformation across the sales organisation.
Change is inevitable and at the very least sales leaders and sales professionals need to be thinking about reinventing their organisations and skill sets.
So, what are some of the areas worth considering?
Historic Perceptions.
Many sales organisations are built on a geographical model with external sales people covering a defined territory.
Does this still make sense?
Will salespeople still need to drive hours to meet customers on a regular call visiting schedule?
Would a hybrid model combining virtual meetings and face to face ones be more valuable to both customers and sellers?
What are the new skill sets your team require to operate effectively in a challenging virtual sales environment?
https://www.linearstructure.com/video/virtual-selling-optimise-your-new-sales-reality/
Are your team already leveraging social media to make new connections and identifying new sales opportunities, or do they need training?
https://www.linearstructure.com/video/how-to-leverage-the-power-of-social-media-for-sales-managers/
Do you need as many external salespeople?
Is there an option to create new internal or dispersed sales roles?
Someone who can work independently from home, engaging multiple contacts within your customers, to support and increase the value your external person delivers?
These are just a handful of the questions that need answering now.
Sales strategy, sales processes and resource allocation of the salesforce will all experience a seismic shift, one that will move the sales organization from seller-centric to buyer-centric and from analog to digital as its primary method of initial engagement with customers.
This presents an immense opportunity — but only for progressive sales management professionals who act rapidly to build adaptive systems that engage the customer in new and meaningful ways.
All of this means that now is the ideal time to start the conversation about how you can create your ideal sales future.
Let’s start a conversation today.
peter.holland@linearstructure.com
Committed to Your Continued Sales Success!
Peter
