Sales Trends & Challenges in 2016 – 12 Experts Share Their Predictions

12 Sales Experts Give Their Predictions
What Sales Trends
Can We Expect in 2016?

We asked 12 renowned sales experts
for their predictions on the trends
and challenges salespeople will face
in 2016.
INTRODUCTION

1. 2016 will be the year of....
2. What sales trends do you predict will
emerge in 2016?
3. What are the biggest challenges that
sales professionals will face in 2016?
QUESTION #1

CEO, SalesLoft – Sales
Development Prospecting &
Automation
SalesLoft
Kyle Porter
... the account based
sales development
process
2016 WILL BE THE YEAR OF...

Bestselling author of Agile Selling,
SNAP Selling and Selling to Big
Companies
Jill Konrath
…—Sales—Overwhelm
Automation
SalesLoft
Kyle Porter
sales development
process

Sales & Marketing Strategist and
bestselling author: The New Rules
of Sales and Service
David Meerman Scott
... Newsjacking
Companies
Jill Konrath
…—Sales—Overwhelm
Automation
SalesLoft
Kyle Porter
sales development
process

Partner of Vantage Point and
best-selling author of Cracking the
Sales Management Code
Vantage Point
Jason Jordan
... the Sales Manager

President/CEO of PointClear, LLC
and author of The Truth About
Leads
Dan McDade
…—lead quality over lead
quantity
Vantage Point
Jason Jordan
PointClear

President of Sales Pro Insider, Inc.
Pinpointing barriers to sales
growth
Nancy Bleeke
... Streamlining
Leads
Dan McDade
…—lead—quality—over—lead—
quantity
Vantage Point
Jason Jordan
PointClear Sales Pro Insider

CEO, Act-On – Marketing
Automation for the Real World
Act-On Software
Andy MacMillan
... will be the year we
automate all of marketing

President, Heinz Marketing Inc.
Sales acceleration, demand
generation, pipeline management
Heinz Marketing Inc.
Matt Heinz
…—more—B2B—marketers—
than ever embracing
revenue responsibility
Act-On Software
Andy MacMillan

President, SalesLeadership, Inc.
Emotional intelligence and
consultative sales skills training
Colleen Stanley
... truth telling and
prosperity
generation, pipeline management
Matt Heinz
…—more—B2B—marketers—
than ever embracing
revenue responsibility
Act-On Software
Andy MacMillan
Heinz Marketing Inc. SalesLeadership, Inc.

Director of Sales - Kissmetrics,
Customer Intelligence & Web
Analytics
Kissmetrics
Chris Ashley
... stronger alignment
between Marketing and
Sales teams

Sales Strategist, CEO, Score More
Sales and President, Women
Sales Pros
Lori Richardson
…—Sales Tool Collaboration
& Convergence for a Greater
Cause - Productivity
Analytics
Kissmetrics
Chris Ashley
... stronger alignment
between Marketing and
Sales teams
Score More Sales

2. What sales trends do you predict
will emerge in 2016?
QUESTION #2

The concept of "logo-based territories" has been around for
a while in sales. What hasn't been there is account based
distribution down to the sales development rep role. The
"account based" approach allows companies the best shot
at landing their most important prospects. Prospectors,
inside sales reps, AEs, and top of the funnel demand gen
professionals will focus on a set of very relevant and highly
targeted accounts they want to add as customers, and all
of their efforts will be focused on converting them from
contact information into paying customer.
SALES TRENDS FOR 2016
Automation
SalesLoft
Kyle Porter

Learning agility will emerge as a critical skill necessary for
both sales leaders and salespeople. Companies will focus
on how to hire for this capability as well as how to develop
it with their existing reps.
Companies
Jill Konrath

I expect to see even more attention paid to front-line sales
management in 2016. Sales managers are at the nexus of a
lot of stuff sales executives need, like accurate forecasts,
healthy sales pipelines, timely reporting, and effective
coaching. Training dollars and accountability will migrate
from the sellers to their managers, and improved
performance will soon follow.
best-selling author of Cracking
the Sales Management Code
Vantage Point
Jason Jordan

After growing interest for five years, 2016 is the year
Newsjacking goes mainstream. For those who don't yet use
the strategy, Newsjacking is the art and science of injecting
your ideas into a breaking news story to generate tons of
media coverage, get sales leads, and grow business.
David Meerman Scott

The workload will shift from the field to more inside sales
(or tele-prospecting) and the burden of customer
relationship management will begin a shift from sales to
marketing. Specifically, more companies will adopt
account-based marketing approaches and the ones that
look beyond the IP-based, cookie-based approaches will be
the big winners.
Leads
PointClear
Dan McDade

Streamlining will be a growing trend in 2016. Smart
company leaders will look for ways to remove the
processes, technology, and fluff that keep their company
from growing. Technology continues to push metrics-based
management in large teams. Smaller companies continue
to challenge the "big boys" with their focus on service,
relationships, and making sales through relevant
conversations.
President of Sales Pro Insider,
Inc. Pinpointing barriers to sales
growth
Sales Pro Insider
Nancy Bleeke

Post Sales is the New Sales as more and more revenue
moves to the renewal ledger in the subscription economy.
As a result, marketers need to be lifecycle oriented and look
to automate their customer engagement strategy.
Marketing will expand from predominantly acquisition
marketing to retention, expansion and advocacy, and we
will see the role of CRM and the marketer evolve into the
new stewards of the customer relationship.
Act-On Software
Andy MacMillan

2016 is the year we modify our sales process to truly reflect
how our buyers want to buy. Every interaction with them
will be well thought out and deliver value. No more making
them "earn" the right to information. We will put it at their
fingertips.
Unleashing the power of Sales
Development and Inside Sales
for B2B tech companies
The Bridge Group, Inc.
Trish Bertuzzi

The— Amazon —effect—will—continue—to—force—sales—
organizations to get clear on their differentiators, add more
value to the customer experience or resign themselves to be
replaced by a drone.
SalesLeadership, Inc.
Colleen Stanley

Marketings' share of the customer's journey will grow
throughout 2016 as prospects rely more heavily on self-
education through webinars, static demos, and online
content. Sales and Marketing will need to work together to
build processes that are effective in identifying and actively
engaging prospects at each stage of the sales cycle. Sales
teams will struggle if they have to go at it alone.
Analytics
Kissmetrics
Chris Ashley

It didn't happen in 2015 but I predict we'll see one or more
companies with more complete technology solutions to
help B2B sellers and marketers cohesively. Currently there
is so much noise about the many thousands of options in a
sales technology stack, and many issues making multiple
tools work smoothly together. Sales leadership will demand
better solutions to connect with buyers and improve the
sales experience.
Sales Pros
Score More Sales
Lori Richardson

1. Wider adoption of sales automation tools such as
SalesLoft, Tellwise and Tout.
2. Greater connection between buyer pain/needs and sales
process/messaging.
3. A focus on improving sales productivity and active selling
time.
generation, pipeline
management
Matt Heinz

2. What sales trends do you predict will
emerge in 2016?
QUESTION #3

All of the above! These are somewhat optimistic predictions
based on where I hope more sales organization focus and
direct themselves to improve their results, efficiency,
velocity and customer/prospect resonance.
SALES CHALLENGES FOR 2016
generation, pipeline
management
Matt Heinz

The biggest challenge sales will face in 2016 is the
temptation for automation. With all the data, email, and
phone sales tools out there, sales people will struggle to find
the balance between sincerity and scale. What's important is
that they focus on the efficiency of their prospecting. This
means they need to maximize the percentage of accounts
they convert into appointments over the accounts they try to
convert. This way they aren't leaving a brand scorched earth
behind, they're not eating up prospects that other reps could
sincerely approach, and they're able to get the prospects
they want to join their customer base.
Automation
SalesLoft
Kyle Porter

Sales professionals will continue to struggle trying to keep
up with increasingly complex decisions, the demand to
know—more, —and—new—technologies.—All—this,—combined—with—
an endless flow of information and distractions, will
decrease their productivity when their entire
organization is focused on increasing it.
Companies
Jill Konrath

The—biggest—challenge—in—2016—will—be—the—same—as—2015…—
Staying focused on consistent execution. Social media,
mobile—technology,—and—other— innovations —create—
distractions that pull the sales force off its fundamental
tasks. Get back to the basics... Managers, coach your
sellers. Sellers, create value for your customers. Anything
that—doesn t—support—those—two—objectives—is—a—waste—of—time—
and resources.
best-selling author of Cracking
the Sales Management Code
Vantage Point
Jason Jordan

Educating and informing rather than interrupting and
selling.
David Meerman Scott

Sales professionals do not know how to engage highly
qualified leads from marketing because for the most part
they have not gotten very many of them. As quality
improves (while quantity declines), sales will struggle to
approach each prospect as a market of one. Rather they
will be in selling mode rather than listening mode early on
and lose to a more consultative, insights based, approach.
Leads
PointClear
Dan McDade

The biggest challenges for sellers is staying relevant to meet
buyers where they are at in THEIR buying process to give
them what they need during the sales process so they can
make a decision efficiently. The biggest challenge is aligning
their efforts in their sales activities to make their company
happy, their buyers happy, and not lose themselves along
the way.
President of Sales Pro Insider,
Inc. Pinpointing barriers to sales
growth
Sales Pro Insider
Nancy Bleeke

As the demand for a richer, more personalized and
connected user experience grows, the role of the sales
professional will need to evolve with it. To do this, sales will
need to turn to marketing automation technology to
compliment the manual engagement typically facilitated by
CRM technology. The sales professional must work hand-in-
hand with the buyer, leveraging the latest in technology to
delight the customer and deliver the expected outcome.
Act-On Software
Andy MacMillan

Overcoming the biggest competitor, status quo, with
prospects and customers that are overwhelmed with
information—and—work.——And—one—more—tweet—or—email—isn t—
going to win that piece of business.
SalesLeadership, Inc.
Colleen Stanley

We live in a world where consumers would rather conduct
their own research online than pick up a phone and have a
conversation with a Sales representative. Sales
professionals that previously relied on building initial
rapport over the phone will need to adapt and learn how
to utilize current technologies to open those same doors.
Analytics
Kissmetrics
Chris Ashley

In—an—ever—expanding—noisy—world—it s—about—keeping—focus—
on what is important and maximizing the finite hours they
have to get things done.
Sales Pros
Score More Sales
Lori Richardson

HAPPY SELLING IN 2016!
Thank you to all the sales experts who shared their predictions.

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Sales Trends & Challenges in 2016 – 12 Experts Share Their Predictions

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Sales Trends & Challenges in 2016 – 12 Experts Share Their Predictions