We’re all finally settling back into work and a new year stretches out before us like a fresh page. When it comes to sales, many of us are anxiously reading the tea leaves to ascertain what unique opportunities and challenges await us. The macroeconomics continues to spike anxiety, product-led growth is officially entering the mainstream, and it’s never been a better time to be an innovator in the sales space.
But before we get ahead of ourselves and send you down a panic, let’s state the obvious: The only bad years for sales are the ones where we didn’t plan ahead for what's next. So sit back, buckle up, and get ready for the future-forward adventure that is 2023. Here are the top 3 sales trends every business should keep on its radar to stay ahead in the year to come.
1. AI is coming for us all, and that’s a good thing
2023 is poised to be the year of AI as we’ll know it for decades to come. ChatGPT isn’t a flash in the pan but a signal that the future is now, and it’s here to stay and rattle our cages for the greater good. What else does this spell for your business?First, predictive analytics will be key for identifying customer needs in order to craft targeted marketing campaigns that reach the right audience at exactly the right time. By leveraging AI and machine learning, companies can analyze data from a suite of sources like customer feedback surveys or web analytics platforms to tailor their messages accordingly.
This helps ensure that customers are receiving content that addresses their individual concerns while also limiting wasted spending on ineffective messaging. Move over outdated content creation and time-sucks like generating client outreach. We can hear you sigh of relief from over here.
2. Account-based marketing takes center stage
Next, you can expect that account-based marketing (ABM) will play an integral role in enhancing buyer-seller relationships. This means more personalized strategies tailored to individual clients, and more sophisticated segmentation capabilities overall. Not only is the functionality better, but it will help teams close conversions at scale in less time.
To effectively utilize ABM tactics, marketers must understand their customer’s environment at a granular level including their goals and challenges as well as prior interactions with the company; this way they can formulate creative solutions specific to the parties involved.
3. In-product buying experiences are table stakes
Forget about getting users “below the fold.” This year is all about bringing customers behind the curtain to feel like you had them at “hello.” With the emergence of interactive product-led growth strategies at businesses like Slack, Evernote, and Figma, we're seeing a marked shift in how companies deliver buying experiences within their product. instead of reading a bunch of white papers, you’re more apt to try before you buy.
Sales cycles are notoriously fickle, but companies are finding creative ways to shorten them by prioritizing the user experience. Expect to see more freemium models and services crop up, similar to Figma’s approach. Free access to demos or trials is an ideal way to let users see for themselves the value companies offer, and inevitably convert to the premium version in faster and more cost-efficient way.
Conclusion
Overall, these trends point toward a future where customer engagement is collaborative, driven by an emphasis on personalization, backed by analytics to make every stage of the buyer’s lifecycle optimized for success. With these three tactics under your belt, any B2B business can remain competitive in 2023. For more information on how to get more value than ever out of your sales strategy, visit Userled.io.
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