Top Trends 2023 - Sales Technology

"As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired."

This iconic dialogue by Blake (played by Alec Baldwin) from the American sales drama Glengarry Glen Ross clearly shows how tough and competitive sales can be. Not just between salesmen but within the industry pitching their products and services to the same prospective consumers. To help distinguish yourself in the market, you need to be on top of your sales game. While we won’t give you the ABCs of sales, we will let you in on the top 5 Sales Technology Trends of 2023. So, grab your coffee and dive in to understand everything that’s happening in sales technology this year!
 

Trend 1: Sales Automation Will Be Critical

We bet you know that automation has become the norm in various industries. Yet, adoption is slow in the sales sector due to the common misconception that automation will reduce the creativity of sales professionals. However, in 2023, forward-thinking sales businesses will explore automation to improve their operational efficiency and revenue.

Automation experts believe that automating sales processes will foster creativity, efficiency and productivity among sales professionals. According to a study by Hinge Research, sales businesses that incorporated high-level automation into their sales operations generated 16% more leads compared to businesses that incorporated low-level or no automation. When repetitive and routine tasks are delegated to software, salespeople will find more time to devote to researching and preparing sales pitches, brainstorming and exploring more creative ways of selling their products.

This will improve sales outcomes and increase personalization that can be offered to prospects. Moreover, we will see better tools for automated web data capture, drip campaigns, email marketing, etc. being launched. A study by McKinsey reveals that 30% of sales-related activities can be automated, although the current number is far below that.  

TechDogs’ Opinion: Salespeople spend only a small fraction of their time actually selling, while the majority of their workday is spent on administrative duties. We believe that automation of such tasks will help salespeople focus on critical, creative tasks. Sales automation will bring in “meaningful automation” in the form of software-driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Such AI-driven tools will be used to create personalized pitches and sales recommendations. This will enable salespeople to channel their energy and productivity to tasks that contribute more towards sales revenue. We believe that automation will create extra bandwidth for salespeople, which should be reinvested in more productive tasks. #AutomationForProductivity
 

Trend 2: Businesses Will Explore Multiple Channels For Sales

Did you know that sales deals are already happening in the Metaverse? This year, salespeople will need to meet their prospective consumers across touchpoints on various channels. It’s impossible to predict exactly where a potential buyer will enter the sales funnel as they are becoming increasingly channel-agnostic. Hence, in 2023, sales teams will need to create a presence across diverse channels.

Businesses are expected to set up so that they can interact across a wide range of channels to meet potential consumers. To leverage this strategy, sales teams will need to ensure consistency of customer experience, regardless of the channel. More importantly, consumers should be able to switch between channels without losing any information for a seamless and convenient buying experience. Hence, most sales teams will soon be using centralized, real-time customer relationship management solutions.

Today, 84% of sales professionals communicate with their prospects through up to 4 diverse channels, including email, social media, live chat, etc. In 2023, it will become critical to invest in tools that support a multi-channel approach to build quality relationships with consumers and give them top-notch sales experiences!

TechDogs Opinion: We believe that being able to connect with customers on their preferred channels is a necessity in sales today. Businesses will have to ensure an equal presence across various touchpoints in the digital space, as it is quickly becoming a priority for most consumers. We are sure businesses will expand their digital footprint by exploring niche social media platforms, third-party retail websites and other digital spaces. However, we expect that a multi-channel sales strategy should also involve a presence in the physical retail space. Brick-and-mortar stores and multi-vendor spaces such as shopping malls are gaining traction again after the pandemic. The traditional physical retail channel cannot be ignored by sales businesses adopting a multi-channel strategy in 2023.
 

Trend 3: Artificial Intelligence Will Augment Sales Analytics

Any successful salesperson will tell you that one cannot disregard the importance of forecasting and predictive analytics in sales. It is one of the key pillars of every good sales strategy. Hence, sales teams looking to improve their analytics capabilities will increase investments in AI technology in 2023.

Sales forecasting strategies developed with the help of AI-powered software boast enhanced precision, lower risk and deeper market insights. Using Artificial Intelligence in sales will help salespeople identify leads quicker and project trends that could be used for improving their sales in the future. According to EverString, at the moment 63% of sales marketers are not using AI in their technology stack.

The adoption of AI will grow in the sales industry, as AI-based sales analytics will enable teams to assess their performance in real time and modify strategies accordingly. AI tools will also help sales representatives understand customer psychology and behavior based on past interactions (even if it is across a dozen different touchpoints!) to provide useful insights for the personalization of the sales experience. A report by Gartner predicts that roughly one in three B2B businesses will deploy AI to augment their primary sales processes in 2023.

TechDogs’ Opinion: We bet everyone (including salespeople, duh!) knows how the latest technological revolution is all about Artificial Intelligence! We believe that AI integrations will not only boost predictive and sales analytics but also help sales professionals analyze unstructured data. AI will enable sales teams to extract meaningful insights from calls, messages and other customer interactions. We expect this will help them understand how close a lead is to conversion and improve personalization. AI-driven approaches will provide actionable sales intelligence throughout the customer lifecycle, including granular insights into consumer behavior and intent in real time. #AugmentToKnowIntent
 

Trend 4: Better Mobile Strategies Will Be Needed

Last year, roughly 5.2 billion people used smartphones. In other words, an incredible 67.1% of the global population! As the adoption of smartphones grows, sales teams will need to become more mobile-friendly to properly capitalize on this ever-expanding channel. In 2023, more businesses will look to enhance sales made via smartphones and mobile devices.

Online sales revenues directly correlate to how well businesses leverage channels such as mobile sales. After all, 47% of consumers now shop more frequently via mobile applications than in brick-and-mortar stores. A report by Dynamic Yield stated that only 12% of consumers are satisfied with their mobile sales experience. This addresses the need for more user-friendly mobile strategies for sales, something businesses will consider in 2023. Hence, businesses will look to provide consumers with a seamless sales experience through mobile apps.

Moreover, by 2025, mobile commerce is predicted to account for more than 10% of total retail sales in the United States. This upward trend in mobile shopping will be reflected globally, with 98% of Gen-Z shoppers owning a smartphone. Hence, to remain competitive, sales teams will focus on developing strategies to be more accessible through mobile devices.  

TechDogs’ Opinion: With the consumer adoption of 5G gathering speed, smartphones will soon become a major source of online sales. We believe that the best way to improve mobile sales strategies is by launching mobile apps designed specifically for consumer shopping. These mobile solutions will need to have robust features such as cryptocurrency wallets, personalized AI recommendations, quick checkout, etc. Since Gen-Z and Millennials make up a large portion of online shoppers, we believe the demand for a good UX on shopping applications will need to be addressed. To make mobile apps more user-friendly, sales vendors must revamp their designs to be more persuasive, appealing and convenient for their younger consumers.
 

Trend 5: Speech Analytics Will Augment Conversational Sales Approaches

Despite the ubiquity of chatbots, research by NewVoiceMedia reveals that 68% of consumers still prefer to resolve their sales issues by talking to a real person over the phone. Providing a top-notch customer support experience is essential to sales. Hence, sales teams will experiment with speech recognition and analytics in 2023.

While cold calling is a thing of the past, consumers still prefer conversational support for sales queries. In fact, conversational sales enable better personalization in communication, leading to higher customer engagement and conversion rates. For example, 52% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases if the seller offers support via live chat. As a result, sales professionals will look to leverage conversational technologies to offer better support and personalization over sales calls.

Using advanced speech analytics software that captures the unstructured data in the form of audio call recordings and converts them into structured data for analysis will revolutionize sales support. These AI-driven tools will help salespeople get better insights into their customers through sentiment analysis based on speech patterns, language, etc. Speech analytics tools will also offer real-time recommendations to sales representatives, leading to better personalization and higher sales conversions.

TechDogs’ Opinion: Although AI will become the standard for predictive sales analytics, businesses are still experimenting with speech analytics. Using a data-driven approach to understanding consumer sentiment, speech analytics will eliminate guesswork and cut down excess costs in following up with prospects multiple times. We believe that speech analytics software will engage sales representatives with immediate feedback and prompts that will be used to tweak sales pitches on the fly. Speech analytics solutions will also perform sentiment analysis in real-time, offering unmatched insights into the customer’s perception of your pitch. We expect that speech analytics will allow sales professionals to understand who their most valuable prospects are, allowing them to focus on converting them. Moreover, speech analytics will also be deployed to train new sales professionals to make their pitches more engaging and convincing.
 

To Sum Up

As always, sales will be driven by consumer demand. Businesses that align their strategies to answer this demand will always find themselves in a better position than competitors. We believe that in 2023, salespeople will invest in speech analytics, AI and automation. Moreover, they will focus on mobile strategies and multi-channel approaches for sales. Heed these trends and you can also celebrate like Michael Scott!