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Sales Forecast 2017 Sales and Marketing Experts

 2016-12-20-1482247306-6033699-SolomonThimothy.png "src =" http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-12-20-1482247306-6033699-SolomonThimothy-thumb.png "style = "float: right; margin: 10px "width =" 100 "height =" 100 "/> <br /> <em> By Solomon Thimothy </em> </p>
<p> As the year draws to a close, we are naturally curious to know what the New Year will bring. The big question for startups is what the sales pitch will look like. After all, sales are the engine of growth for any business. Curious myself, I appealed to other sales and marketing experts to ask them what we can expect to see in 2017. </p>
<p> <strong> Artificial intelligence as the basis of sales </strong> </p>
<p> Artificial intelligence, or AI, is gaining popularity. Our watches are smart, our thermostats are smart, our homes are smart. Why can not our sales systems be smart? That's precisely what AI does for sales: from simple automation to sophisticated intelligence monitoring, through automatic reactions and predictive behaviors, the AI ​​will become more common among sales teams. Forget the diaries, calendars and notes to follow the tracks or try to follow everyone in the funnel. AI will do this for the seller, leaving him free to spend time on meaningful tasks and conversations with prospects and prospects. </p>
<p>Sean Alpert, senior director of product marketing at Salesforce, said at a recent Dreamforce conference: "Intelligence and automation are the future of sales, allowing teams to search for the best leads, discover the actions, help close deals, build meaningful customer relationships and be even more productive. "</p>
<p> If you have not introduced a form of AI into your sales process, then it's time to start. I know that our team has greatly benefited from the small automation such as self-scheduling and automatic reminders. This certainly keeps them focused on big opportunities without dropping the ball on futures. </p>
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Development of modernized, process-oriented sales systems

If your sales system consists of Excel spreadsheets or a Rolodex, it's time to modernize your sales system by putting in place integrated tools that bring together sales processes into one platform . Businesses and sales teams with modernized, process-oriented sales systems will take advantage of the convenience, accessibility, scalability, and integration of diverse systems. which will facilitate and accelerate the management of prospects and the conclusion of contracts.

"The winning systems in 2017 will integrate with the best vendors and we will see more integration: data sources, leading to a mapping / routing of accounts, cadence engine, email providers. , CRM, social API, phone, recording analysis software, intelligence customization, analysis and visualization, "said Kyle Porter, CEO of SalesLoft, at the Rainmaker sales conference.

Our agency wholeheartedly believes in integrated processes, and we are always looking for ways to bring together more of what we are doing right now. Simple things like sharing our CRM, tracked calls, proposals and key information can help a sales team work smarter. From extracting performance reports from sales teams to reducing the time that our sales people spend on mundane tasks, we have been able to let them focus on prospecting and interviewing prospects.

Increased focus on productivity and sales acceleration

There are a ton of tools that offer incredible insights into behaviors, backgrounds and more. Focus on tools that provide additional information to sales representatives, as they will become more and more popular in 2017. After all, the more information you have about a prospect, the better the relationship you can foster. The additional intelligence allows businesses to grow and evolve without having to increase their workforce.

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We continually test emerging tools and technology to determine which ones provide us with the best information and value for our target audience. We have found that even small nuggets of information can often make a huge difference when trying to reach a potential prospect. Not only are our sales representatives more educated and better prepared, but they are more likely to understand the prospect, which means that relationship building is even easier.

Virtualization and digitization of the sales process

From mobile apps to virtual meetings, one can expect to see the interactions between salespeople and prospects become completely digital. Our sales team already knows this: in fact, in-person meetings only account for about 10% of all our meetings. For the rest, we rely on virtual calls and even texts. While this may become the new standard, it's important to know your prospect before you completely digitize your properties. In other words, before starting Skyping with a prospect, make sure that he is on board for virtual communication.

If you lead a sales team or worry about your own business, 2017 could change the game. Keeping up with modern sales trends will help you stay ahead in 2017 and beyond.

Solomon Thimothy is the founder and CEO of OneIMS and Clickx, and has built his career around his passion to help other companies develop an online presence and thrive in the digital world.