Read the full article on the Just Sell website.

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In order to prepare you as best we can for the year ahead we’re taking a look at some of the emerging trends that we believe will be big next year in the sales world and the impact they will have on hiring.

Selling to people
The next year will see a change in the way sales teams sell. People will be at the centre of sales strategies, with the necessity for individuals to change from being perceived as salespeople. Instead, they will need to portray themselves as business partners who can provide ideas and solutions.

Dominic Quirk, Director of Advancing People, a recruitment company that specialises in hiring sales people says that there will be a bigger onus on business development in 2012. Clients can find out a lot about products or services online so many sales that were closed face-to-face will fade out. This means that field sales teams are likely to decrease over the coming 12 months.

Instead, sales teams need to be able to advise how the product/service will aid the growth of a business rather than providing only small details. This means sales people will need to learn new skills in patience, listening, creative problem solving and dealing with ambiguity and complexity in order to bring the sale from the first discussion and lead the client through the process.

Sales skills
In a tough climate to get that job, you need ensure your sales skills are sharp. Your product knowledge and presentation skills will need to be learned, practiced and polished. These fundamental abilities are at the core of every good sales person. It is imperative that you get them right if you are to be successful in 2012. If you can work on two or three skills a week you will greatly improve your chances of employment next year.

Sector-specific knowledge
Sales roles will be more prevalent in business areas that are seeing growth. Dominic Quirk says: “In particular with our clients, were expecting growth within the IT sector. They are in a good position to grow so we should see an increase in sales roles. Also, an increase in recruitment as things begin to lift, the recruitment companies will need to deal with that. Construction sales could have a bit of a turnaround as well.”

Dominic Quirk adds: “Along with generic sales skills, we’re seeing clients want more sector-specific experience.” Gaining knowledge of the sector will help sales people as they will become aware of how the client fits into the bigger scheme of things.

Coaching
A few years ago, there was a high demand for sales management roles, which meant that there was a focus on retention rather than acquisition. However, due to the economic climate, businesses want new clients and therefore sales management roles are hard to come by. Dominic Quirk, agrees saying: “Manager roles are the least available. They are a luxury for companies that need people to bring in new business, not just look after the ones that they already have.”

For sales managers to succeed in this difficult climate they need to be able to provide coaching to their staff in order to improve the bottom line. A trend in sales training seems to be an emphasis on neuroscience. Sales managers need to make sure that in these tough times, with increased pressure on their sales team to meet targets; their people do not burn out. Sales managers need to have a sound knowledge of how the brain works and the reasons behind our feelings and ultimately, how to master those feelings.

Closer links to marketing
Sales will see more collaboration with other departments including HR and in particular marketing. As marketing changes to include more data collection, sales teams will need to be able to interpret and use this data to their advantage. New customer groups will emerge and the only way to find them and know how to do business with them will be for the sales team to work closely with the marketing team to make sure the appropriate marketing approach is taken. Therefore, a useful skill for sales people to develop would be the ability to ability to position the same brand in different ways for different audiences.

In general, sales people will need to start thinking creatively in order to gain those difficult new sales. The old tried and tested methods unfortunately no longer have much impact. But this does offer an exciting opportunity for sales people to develop skills in new areas.

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Read the full article on the Eyes on Sales website.

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One of the most common reasons cited by organisations for the failure of their CRM systems is a lack of adoption by the sales team. Data isn’t inputted. Records aren’t kept up to date. And the value of the whole system is subsequently undermined.

For more information visit MyCustomer.com.

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For more information visit Techcrunch.com.

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For more information visit the Eyes on Sales website.

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As well as a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, social media also brings new choice, new opportunity and new ways of businesses keeping in touch with their customers. Every major brand now has a Twitter feed and a Facebook page, whether this is for the purposes of customer service, brand awareness or in an effort to generate sales leads. Even small and medium businesses are popping up on social network channels in an attempt to keep their finger on the pulse of this rapidly shifting environment. In fact, the social channels are seen as so important to the successes of businesses both large and small, a greater proportion of businesses’ marketing budgets are being allocated to the development of this media year on year. In 2009, the average spending on social media for the purposes of lead generation was around 9% of the total lead generation budget. That figure had almost doubled in the following year to an average of 17%.

Corporate websites more effective than social media
So, is this money well spent? Are companies seeing a return on their investment in social media? Unfortunately it would seem, following recent research by business consultants, Demandbase, that despite the efforts being made to move sales away from the homepage, the majority of companies’ trade is still conducted primarily through the company website. In fact, the study showed that a company’s corporate website is around seven times more effective in generating sales leads than any type of activity involving social media.

It appears that despite the trend for businesses to put their efforts into online marketing, these are merely spokes leading back to the ‘hub’ which is the corporate website. This is the place where consumer interest is truly harnessed and interest is converted into sales.

It’s true that for the majority of consumers, business transactions will take place at the company website regardless of where their attention was caught and if that company website is not up to scratch, the sale will fall at the last hurdle. While investment in email marketing, social media, search engine optimisation and other online marketing tactics is still going to be money well spent, companies need to remember to allocate a good deal of their budgets to keeping the website current, user friendly and cutting edge.

In the survey by Demandbase, executives at companies were asked to rank the top online source of sales leads and almost a quarter of respondents cited the website as the top performer, well exceeding email marketing at 14%, online advertising via banners etc. at 7% with social media coming in a poor runner up at just 3%. Despite this recognition that their website was their most powerful sales tool, 80% of respondents thought their website was not performing to the best of its abilities and 87% thought more investment was needed into tracking unregistered users of the site and seeing at what point the user abandoned the site.

However, this doesn’t mean companies should entirely abandon their efforts on social media. While overall the corporate website should have the primary focus in terms of generating leads, there are other benefits to using social media to keep in touch with customers. A number of recent surveys have shown social media to be important for customer service and for maintaining brand awareness for all businesses. Small businesses even report good levels of business won through social media, with Facebook being the channel of choice for many.

With around 65% of adult Internet users now accessing social media sites on a regular basis, according to a recent Pew Internet survey (double the figure of 29% in 2008), the scope for communicating with clients via these channels should definitely not be overlooked. The key to the success of using social media to sell is not to expect direct sales from these channels. The corporate website is key to converting interest into a sale, but social media can be a superb tool to bring people into this domain. In terms of investment, the website should always come first, but there should be something left in the budget for social media and other forms of online marketing.

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Cloud computing isn’t a term everyone understands though and since the wider internet is often termed the cloud anyway, the concept of cloud computing can be confusing. Understanding the term, cloud computing and what it can do for sales is important when looking ahead to 2012 and so it’s best to start the year off by getting on top of this concept.

Cloud computing differs from the more traditional legacy computing. In the latter, you install a service or programme on a server or hard drive. Take Outlook Express as an example; this is an e-mail program that you access from your hard drive. Meanwhile, when using cloud computing, the service stays on the internet. Gmail is an example of this.

The result of cloud computing overall is the creation of a real-time service. This real-time attribute is a blessing for many types of organisation, including businesses aiming to increase sales. As cloud computing enables the swift collection of the latest information using only a browser and a connection to the internet, accurate information about what’s going on in all aspects of the business and its wider world is readily available. Information that’s useful therefore becomes available to businesses when they need it and this info will most probably be accurate. Using legacy computing rather than cloud computing, businesses have to enter information themselves and there’s a chance this info will be inaccurate. Cloud computing reduces the chance of error.

Because the business doesn’t have to enter as much data and has access to up-to-date info, it can make use of this data more readily and then use it to its advantage, for instance by increasing sales. An example of how this could happen can be found in terms of consumer trends. Cloud computing allows a business to analyse the latest data on what consumers are buying. A business can therefore focus its efforts on what’s selling and stay current on what is in demand from consumers. Businesses are able to respond more efficiently to a changing market, therefore concentrating on appropriate segments as required. In short, cloud computing results in a more competitive business that is in touch with the market.

The speed at which information is available and how that can help a business reach out to consumers is visible through the example of the web commerce giant, Amazon.com. When a customer purchases a science-fiction book through Amazon.com, for instance, they’ll get a bunch of recommendations based on what has just been bought. This targeted recommendation service utilises the information the website has about that customer and instantly turns it into advertising that taps into what the customer has already displayed they like. In this case, the result may well be that, thanks to the targeted promotion, the customer buys a second book based on what Amazon.com has recommended and a second sale is made.

Working in real time
Cloud computing isn’t just about enabling faster responses and data analysis. Cloud computing allows a business to work in real time.

Its very infrastructure is geared towards turning potential leads into done deals and therefore into money. Thus, the leads the company requires in order to generate profits are there for the taking. Companies that take advantage of this will be able to claim greater sales, as their lead generation and deal sealing will increase. Having access to real time information should mean that potential leads aren’t lost before they can be acted upon by the company.

Cloud computing has implications in terms of inner company workings too. As there’s a lot of information relating to the business and its projects available through the cloud computing infrastructure, this information is available to more company employees in a simple fashion. This saves time and effort and allows multiple projects to be managed coherently and simultaneously.

For general staff, the information that’s available can make a big difference to their success and productivity and cloud computing keeps this data at their fingertips. For example, an employee may need info contained in a specific e-mail; with cloud computing, they will more readily be able to access the e-mail. Alternatively, a sales assistant might utilise customer history to aid their work.

It’s easier to manage sales more effectively too, as professionals can build sales systems that integrate cloud computing and gain greater control over the sales process as a whole. A sales manager can utilise cloud computing to track a sale from a lead to an order to the completion of the sale. This aids understanding of the sales process and enables better troubleshooting should problems arise.

Finally, cloud computing enhances the ability of a sales team to drive business anywhere at any time. If a sales team member is out on the road, they’ll be able to use their laptop to access the latest information and services they require without considering the need for upgrades or whether the data they have is relevant. The up-to-date nature of the information can then be used as part of sales deals or to enable efficient management of overall sales performance within a company.

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To find out 10 blunders and mistakes you need to avoid read the full article on the Eyes on Sales website.

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LinkedIn has seen exponential growth in the professional world over the past few years, with 54% of professionals now rating their LinkedIn accounts as more important than their Facebook accounts in 2011 compared with just 42% in 2010.

Such is the influence and self-promotion opportunity that LinkedIn allows, some US based companies have even been asking prospective job candidates to submit their LinkedIn profiles as part of their recruitment process. More and more employers are researching their candidate’s connections and work history on LinkedIn, so a good profile with recommendations is essential in the job market today. For many people LinkedIn acts as a live, working business card and once your profile is up to date and well organised you will be able to attach a link to email signatures and blogs to help increase your credibility.

However, while many lower level employees primarily use LinkedIn to increase their employment opportunities, middle and senior management are increasingly using the network to promote and expand their business as well as to find potential business partners and organisations with services they will find useful. For sales professionals, LinkedIn offers unlimited opportunities for networking and increasing sales, if you know how to use it well. Sales people looking for a promotion or a new position will be head and shoulders above the competition if they have a good working knowledge of how to use LinkedIn to generate sales leads. Increasingly, employers are coming to expect this of their candidates, so make sure you are on top of this useful tool before applying for any jobs.

Using LinedIn to generate new business.
So, how do sales people use LinkedIn to generate new business? One of the top tips for any sales person is to use your existing network to find prospects by subtly and intelligently identifying useful contacts. For most, users their first degree connections will be made up of 90% old colleagues, employers and school friends they are keeping in touch with. The 10% that could be potential prospects can be approached in subtle ways to create new opportunities, either through using In Mail, joining their discussions in groups or sending your company information to their desk.

If you don’t find any prospects in your immediate network, make the most of your connections. Using the ‘advanced people search’ tool, you can search the connections of your contacts (your second degree connections) by industry, job title or well thought out keywords. When you identify a prospect, use your shared connection to get introduced to them, although be sure to explain to your first degree connection, why you want to speak to the person and what you think you can do for them, otherwise they may refuse your request.

Using this technique means the number of first degree connections and more importantly, the number of connections they have is essential to maximising sales opportunities. With this in mind, be sure to offer a LinkedIn request to any clients, colleagues or peers you connect with at conferences or in meetings. Once you have connected with them, it can be a good idea to look through their contacts list not only for prospects, but also for ’super-connectors’ in their network. This means people with hundreds of connections. By getting introduced to these super-connectors, you can quickly expand your second and third degree network, thereby increasing your chances of finding sales prospects through LinkedIn.

Find out who’s looking at your profile
It is also possible to see who has viewed your profile and the profile of your company. People looking at your profile may well be in the market for the type of services or products you offer, so follow these up through LinkedIn or by sending out a prospectus to their offices. LinkedIn also makes it easier to find the decision makers within an organisation, so if you think a company is interested in your services, actively seek out their directors and send them further information.

Another way to find out who may be interested in your business is to check which companies have been visiting your company website. This is easy enough information to obtain from your web provider, so make sure you have access to this information and use your knowledge to research these companies on LinkedIn and find the decision makers to follow up with. If you travel a lot for work you can use your extended network to find contacts in locations you will be visiting. This will enable you to make arrangements to meet up with these contacts, thereby maximising the benefits of your travel.

LinkedIn is also a good place to build your online reputation, through participating in relevant groups and discussions. Try not to use these as places to tout your business. Instead, it is better to make some educated and well thought out contributions to discussions, demonstrating your knowledge and intelligence on the subject matter and thereby enhancing your credibility within your industry. As well as joining groups that deal with your industry, join those that deal with your target market. Even if you don’t contribute to the discussions, you can keep your finger on the pulse of trends, concerns and issues with your target market, giving you more to talk to them about and keeping you in the loop for new opportunities.

With all this in mind, it is absolutely essential you nurture your first degree contacts. Asking to be introduced through a connection you only met once five years ago may be viewed as somewhat utilitarian and could damage your reputation. Sending them the odd weblink that might be of interest to them from time to time is enough to maintain your relationship and make that contact request easier to make.

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