Video, GDPR and on-demand learning: 2018's biggest sales trends

It’s crystal ball time as we all look at 2018 and wonder what it will bring.

There is one constant though. For us in business, we all hope the year ahead brings us more sales.

Duh! I hear you say.

But how will that actually come around?

Are there some areas we should be looking at that will make a more positive impact than others? Are there some areas that will put our capacity to sell in greater jeopardy?

Let’s take a closer look.

Will video kill the telesales star?

I first tinkered with video prospecting about 5 years ago but the time it took to set up each day and the reliability of the tech let me down considerably.

I remember putting my “proverbials” on the line at a major keynote in 2012 and proclaiming to the world that to stand out we all needed to prospect via video. Much like Jerry Maguire did when he issued his “mission statement”.

I received the same response as the film. A lot of raised eyebrows and responses like “Is this guy bonkers?”

Five years later and I think we’re more prepared for it and there’s a bigger need for it now than ever before.

Trying to stand out and gain attention when prospecting is getting harder and harder.

Call, email, call, email, call, email, call, email – give up. 

There’s got to be a better way and I believe there is. It’s through video prospecting.

Think how personal you can be and how powerful it will be to article your proposition in person.

Of course it’s not going to be for everyone but I’d give it a go if you want to stand out from the pack.

Want some help with this?

Try LOOM and Vidyard to get you started quickly.

Trying to stand out and gain attention when prospecting is getting harder and harder.

The rise of on-demand learning

Throughout 2017 we saw a dramatic rise in demand for sales training content.

This was not content to be delivered face to face but instead to be part of an internal content library or some kind of company sales academy.

Organisations did not want to rely on a Google result for help when closing deals. They wanted to have some say on what their sales teams were learning if they had an immediate need. 

With more and more sales professionals being away from the office there was a need to provide them with development opportunities when they needed it the most, on-demand; and that would not take them away from the office for long periods when they should be out selling.

Hence the demand for small, microlearning and online bitesize sessions increased as the year went on and I cannot see this diminishing in 2018.

Take this one step further (maybe 2019) and I can see a whole social learning movement of sales people being in total control of their development needs and collaborating and learning from each other without the need for formal trainers.

Want some help with this?

Try Grovo and Skillshub for off-the-shelf sales training content.

Over-inflated ego? Pipeline? Or both?

Your sales pipeline is not qualified hard enough.

There you go, I’ve said it.

I see it day in and day out. I see pipelines that create a false of sense of security for everyone involved including..

The sales rep – “Hey, look at my pipeline, I’ve got loads bubbling”.

The sales manager – “So Sales Director, based on our target of 22% closing ratio and our current pipeline, we’re looking at a £650k month”.

The sales director – “So Managing Director, based on the figures this month we’ve looking at making up the short fall from the past 3 months”.

The managing director to themselves –  “Why is there a short fall in the last 3 months?”

Garbage in. Garbage out.

2018 will be the year when sales organisations wake up to the fact that if you don’t really understand your numbers and have accurate numbers then there is disaster just waiting to happen…for everyone in the chain.

GDPR – the usual knee-jerk reaction?

Armageddon is arriving on 25th May 2018.

Yes, it’s GDPR.

Everyone’s writing about how it will be the death of sales and marketing only to find a couple of months later everyone will wonder what the fuss was about.

I made it through Y2K when there was going to be a computer melt down (psst it never happened by the way) and I will make it through GDRP – as will you.

Just get prepared for it and understand it and you’ll be ok.