Businesses have spent much of the past 18 months mitigating extraordinary circumstances that have brought on constant technological change and an increasing reliance on digital channels. The disruption caused has been felt heavily by enterprise software sales, as many organisations were forced into adjusting how they sell software in the face of new buying habits and trying economic times. With an increasingly saturated market, many want to find growth opportunities before their competitors and are pondering which trends are here to stay and will play a part in shaping their future success.
According to a study by McKinsey, sales leaders rate digital channels as twice as important now as they were pre-Covid, with 66% voting digital-enabled sales interactions as most important to their customers, versus 34% of leaders who considered traditional sales interactions more important. It is clear that digital sales trends have accelerated and moving forward, B2B sales will look fundamentally different from what they were pre-pandemic as the traditional sales process is constantly evolving.
Current sales industry trends
Historically, enterprise-level software sales relied heavily on personal connections and face-to-face relationships that are built over time. Covid, however, put an immediate stop to in-person meetings and forced organisations to re-evaluate their sales cycle, as the existing model meant sales for software products could stretch beyond six months and consist of multiple meetings with CIOs, CTOs and CEOs. This model became temporarily redundant and is unlikely to return to the way it was entirely, which means sales leaders will need to adapt their approach.
Trade shows and conferences could also no longer be taken advantage of as the world moved online. Sales teams across the globe were forced to replace the intelligence they gained from in-person interactions and find new ways to connect with their buyers online and analyse their behaviour. Propelled into the future of software selling, other shifts in the industry resulted in emerging sales trends such as:
- Rising customer demands
Buyers today expect a customised and seamless buying experience. A recent study from Salesforce surveying 8,000 consumers and business buyers indicates that:
- - 84% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services
- - 73% of customers say one extraordinary experience raises their expectations of other companies
- - 66% of customers are willing to pay more for a great experience
- - 73% of customers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations
- Big data and advanced analytics
Sales teams are looking to analyse huge volumes of data to not only decide what the best opportunities are, but also to drive decision-making and revenue.
- Collaborating more closely with marketing
The sudden shift to remote working and the move to virtual B2B buying has had profound implications for how companies sell and buy from one another. With most sales leaders accepting the need to increase their use of digital channels, they must now work more closely with the marketing department to derive actionable insights to drive company performance.
The role of technology in sales
The pandemic created a paradigm shift in how businesses operate, as traditional face-to-face interactions have given way to sales and service support by video conference, webinar, phone, chatbots, and various other means. B2B companies are being forced into leveraging technological solutions to drive more personalised user experiences to maintain a competitive edge. Those who have accelerated their adoption of digital tools will outperform their competitors and continue to succeed, as they utilise emerging tech to deliver results, such as:
1. Artificial intelligence (AI)
AI can produce actionable insights and is being widely adopted in organisations to help drive revenue and deliver a positive, personalised customer experience and encourage loyalty across multi-channels. According to a study by McKinsey, 63% of respondents report revenue increases from AI adoption and 35% report having an active continuous-learning program on AI for employees.
According to study by Salesforce, only 34% of sales professionals spend their time selling. AI-powered sales enablement solutions can help to transform the sales process by automating repetitive, administrative tasks, freeing up sales reps to focus on more business-critical tasks such as nurturing leads. AI tools can also drive efficiencies by:
- - Automating lead qualifying
- - Providing a deeper understanding of customer engagement
- - Enhancing content management
2. Machine learning
Machine learning has the potential to reduce the most time-consuming, manual tasks that keep sales teams away from learning more about and supporting their buyers. Techniques such as automation, predictive analysis, forecasting, reporting and lead scoring are just a few examples of how leveraging machine learning can free software sales teams up from time-consuming, manual tasks.
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