There are many jobs around today that weren’t even thought of 10-years ago. But this isn’t new.
And, guess what? We’ve always adapted to market changes, whether consciously or not.
A Case in Point
I’ve worked with Technology and Telecoms companies throughout my career and remember when British Telecom was floated the 1980s.
It caused considerable alarm amongst people working in the Telecoms industry at the time. However, telecoms technical skills became highly desirable in the new, liberalised marketplace.
Fast forward a generation and those skills are in more demand today than they have ever been.
In fact, the number of people directly employed by the tech sector is forecast to grow nearly 20% by the end of 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels (source: Statista).
And, in the same way, Covid has had a similar impact on the sales profession.
It has changed the way salespeople are able to engage with their prospects and that in itself, creates opportunities for ambitious firms that are prepared to embrace change for growth.
Thriving in the New Sales Environment
The truth is that there’s an incredible array of technologies available at the end of all our sales fingertips. We have been brave during the pandemic and need to show courage in adopting new technologies.
The risk of doing nothing - maintaining the status quo - is that our competition could steal a march on us, eat our lunch and grab market share.
There’s a lesson to be learned from the telecoms marketplace example. The jobs of 2022 might seem a world away from the jobs of the 1980s but many of them are simply evolutions - upgrades if you like - of jobs that have actually existed for many years.
The secret for them – just like it is for us in sales - is in how we adapt to the needs of our chosen markets, in the way our customers want to do business with us.
Digital marketing, for example, is just an evolution of traditional marketing but it’s adapted over time to leverage the benefits of today's technology and customer buying preferences.
The same applies in the sales arena.
The nature of sales and the sales process itself have both morphed, especially since the pandemic.
So, how has sales technology adapted to align with our new ways of working? And why is it so important to keep a-pace with it?
During the pandemic, we’ve all had to learn to work in a different way.
Tech-Up Today to Scale-Up Tomorrow
Post pandemic, the sales profession is favouring a more collaborative, a more human-centred approach.
So, how do we combine selling with more humanity whilst exploiting new ways of working?
I’m particularly interested in how AI tools - from Salesforce to Sales Navigator to Shootsta - could help all of us become more effective at selling, at getting our messages across.
The new breed of sales technologies can seamlessly automate and streamline the way we:
Source and develop new leads in our chosen markets
Nurture prospects in newer, more innovative ways, such as video
Manage the customer journey so that we engage the right people with the right message at the right time
Make it easy to do business with us - simple and frictionless from a Customer Experience standpoint
But the point of transforming sales tech is not in the technology itself but in how technology improves our sales effectiveness. Increased sales effectiveness leads directly to increased sales and therefore increased profitability.
The naturalist Charles Darwin wrote that it’s not the strongest, nor the most intelligent that survives. Those that thrive in a changing environment are the most adaptable.
So, the question for 2022 is can we risk not adapting to the post-pandemic world?
If this blog resonates with you, if you have a comment or maybe you want to chat through a tricky sales situation, email me at keith@salesmarvel.co.uk
I'd love to hear from you!
Meantime, have a Marvel-lous 2022!
Image Credit: York Minster (pre-Covid)
