The first quarter of 2019 has finally wrapped and the results are in. What’s working? What’s not? What sales trend bandwagons do you need to jump on before it’s too late?
Don’t worry–there’s plenty of time left in the year for you to try your hand at some of the trendiest (and most effective) sales tips, tricks, and strategies. Below, we’ve broken down five of 2019’s coolest sales trends so far and some questions to help you find ways to implement them into your own business.
1. Omnichannel Experience
What a fun name, right? Although it sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, the omnichannel experience looks at every touch point you have with prospects and customers from across their buyer’s journey–online and offline.
Source: X-Cart
Hubspot defines it as “a multi-channel approach to marketing, selling, and serving customers in a way that creates an integrated and cohesive customer experience no matter how or where a customer reaches out.”
Disney is a frontrunner for “best omnichannel experience.” Think about how many different ways you interact with the Disney brand when you, say, book a trip to Disney World. You use their responsive website, visit their in-person park, meet dressed-up characters, go on themed rides, receive paper handouts, get email updates and text notifications for FastPass, etc.
Question to Get You Started
What are the different touchpoints your prospects go through in their buyer’s journey? Are there any places where communication is lacking?
2. Data Integration
Think of data integration as the analytics-side of omnichannel selling: it allows you to analyze data across different tools and applications all at once so you can get a better understanding of where your business stands.
Source: Mulesoft
Everything is getting more connected. CRM tools often utilize data integration to connect with things like your calendar, email, or even sales platforms.
The biggest benefit of data integration is that it allows you to easily use more accurate, inclusive data for analytics. When you have a tool that collects data from different applications automatically, you can make smart decisions faster, improve efficiency, and even automate some tasks.
Question to Get You Started
How do you currently acquire your data for your analytics? Is it manually or automatic?
3. Buyer Power
It’s a buyers’ market. For what, you ask? Everything. ….Everything.
As Sales Hacker put it, in 2019, the buyer has the control. Nobody wants to get hard-sells anymore. Instead, we read reviews, chat with peers, compare solutions, read more reviews, and generally take our time with our buying decisions.
What does this mean for you and your business? First off, cold calls are dead. Second, the only sellers who should go door-to-door are Girl Scouts. And lastly, it’s more important than ever to focus on building a relationship with your prospects over time rather than diving head-first into the sale.
Question to Get You Started
How are you building a relationship with your customers? Generally how long does it take a prospect to get from the beginning of your sales funnel to the end?
4. Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning. Big data. Natural language processing. Analytics. You’ve heard it all before, but now its time to make sure you’re completely up to speed: in 2019, AI is going to be more important than ever.
Source: Medium
As artificial intelligence gets more, well, intelligent, we see it playing a larger and larger role in sales–from helping us make sense of the data we collect in our CRMs to communicating with our customers more efficiently through things like smart chatbots.
Not to brag, but Map My Customers does a pretty good job at staying ahead of the curve on the AI-front. If you check out our homepage, you’ll see a little chatbot ready to assist you. And, of course, our software is filled with smart features that help put more information and insights at your fingertips–without the work.
Question to Get You Started
Where can you replace manual work with software powered by artificial intelligence? Take a look at your buyer’s journey and find any sticking points.
5. Generation Z
The next generation is finally old enough to have income streams of their own, which means it’s time to start taking them seriously as a target market. And, fascinatingly, they differ from their predecessors–the infamous Millennials–in a major way: they prefer brick and mortar stores.
Source: McKinsey & Company
Gen Z has never known a world without the internet, social media, or technology, and generally, they are more progressive-leaning, environmentally-conscious, and enjoy a personalized experience.
Hershey is currently knocking it out of the park with Gen Z. In addition to having a brick and mortar set-up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, they’ve collaborated with Facebook to launch new products in exciting young-people-friendly ways. Plus, everybody likes chocolate.
Question to Get You Started
Are you looking at Generation Z as a legitimate target market? Does your brand have a strong social media presence?
Conclusion
If you’re ready to knock the last three quarters of 2019 out of the park, be sure you’re making the most of these five burgeoning trends: omnichannel experience, data integration, buyer power, artificial intelligence, and Generation Z.
Have you noticed any other interesting sales trends so far in 2019? Share them in the comments!
