I recently asked the top sales pros for their sales predictions for 2010 . . . and the results are in!
I’ve alphabetized the contributing authors and took liberty to announce my predictions at the end (even though Bleeke is at the beginning of the alphabet) . . . a sign of things to come – not following convention.
The exact questions I asked the experts were:
1. What is the new year going to bring for our sales leaders?
2. And what is the new year going to bring for our sales reps?
| Jeb Blount | |
| Sales leaders will be faced with the challenge of retaining top sales talent as competition for sales talent heats up while sales employment improves on the leading edge of the global economic recovery. | Sales professionals will find an improved job picture with companies hungry for seasoned sales talent. With more choices, 2010 will be a great year to make a career move, though base salaries, perks, and benefits may lag behind expectations. |
| Jonathan Farrington | |
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Sales Leaders: One of the very few things to come out the deepest recession in living memory was that sales leaders in most industries, faced with decimated training budgets, were forced to roll up their sleeves and coach their teams themselves. They no longer had the option to abdicate sales team development to external providers -- and do you know what? Many of them actually enjoyed it -- in fact, they discovered they were pretty good at it. As a consequence, I believe that in 2010, more and more sales leaders will develop their coaching skills and look for external mentors themselves because it is highly likely that sales skills training budgets will never be the same again -- ever. An item that appears as a cost on the balance sheet with no tangible return is now going to be subjected to the most rigorous scrutiny -- shareholders will insist on that. |
Sales Reps: I believe that top sales professionals will accept greater responsibility for their own development in 2010 -- in fact, the most successful already started doing this in 2009. With massive cuts in training budgets, they had no choice. They were not prepared to sit around in the vain hope that someone else might eventually make them successful: They work with the mantra "If it's to be, it's up to me." Traditional generalized classroom training will be consigned to the annals of history as organizations look to adopt a more blended approach, which will include tailored in-house coaching, together with the more cost-effective online training and mentoring. Whichever way you look at it, 2010 is still going to be tough for front-line sales professionals in most market sectors, but providing they remain focused, diligent, and committed to their ongoing development, they will win through. |
| Alice Kemper | |
| Sales Leaders: Leaders in any industry are going to see that they can gain market share from the weakest competitors. Cream will continue to rise to the top, with the inferior companies suffering greater than average losses and, in some cases, going out of business altogether. | Sales Reps: If they survived the last year and a half, then they have developed skills to navigate the new terrain of this economy. The most successful sellers will continue to seek opportunities within the new terrain. Q3 and Q4 will reward sellers who have intelligently "laid pipe" through the tough times. |
| Jill Konrath |
www.sellingtobigcompanies.com |
| Sales Leaders: In 2010, a salesperson's ability to personally bring value to the relationship will become the primary factor in determining which company wins the business. In a world of minimally differentiated products and services, customers will choose to work with sellers who continually bring them relevant ideas, insights, and information. If no salesperson stands out in this area, pricing will become the de facto determinant. | Sales Reps: In 2010, sales leaders will finally realize that investing in Sales 2.0 is essential to increase sales productivity and improve sales effectiveness. It’ll become glaringly apparent that sellers who leverage Sales 2.0 tools significantly outperform their colleagues. On the downside, sales leaders will mistakenly assume this success is due to technology and overlook the substantial skill differential among their reps. This failure to invest in training will result in much lower ROI than initially projected. |
| Anne Miller | |
| Sales Leaders: A slow rebound in business, as companies will still be gun-shy about spending money until employment picks up. | Sales Reps: The need to be prudently persistent with accounts, creative in how they sell, and informed as much as possible about their clients' businesses. |
| Nancy Nardin | |
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I predict the new year will bring: A new enthusiasm and focus for knocking down barriers that stand in the way of sales teams. |
A trend that will be "back-to-basics": build relationships, focus on the customer, and provide value. |
| Nancy Bleeke |
www.salesproductivityinsider.com www.salesproinsider.com www.sharpenz.com |
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Sales Leaders: Leaders at all levels will continue to have to do more with less. Problem-solving and finding proactive activities to equip and engage their sales team will be critical. Retaining top and average performers will need attention as the markets start to show signs of strengthening and sellers start to look for new opportunities. |
Sales Reps: The gap between high performers and mediocre performers will widen. Top performers will seek skills, habits and tools to sell even more. The "noise" of social media and the Internet will become louder. Filtering to find the right tools and right information will be key to do what sales people need to do: get in front of people to determine how they can provide value with and for them. Collaborative approaches in marketing, nurturing, selling and account management will reign. |