2015

SALES
INDUSTRY
PREDICTIONS

20 TOP SALES EXPERTS WEIGH IN

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

Introduction
In todays rapidly evolving sales environment, its important to stay proactive.
By the time your organization adapts to the latest trends, those trends are
old news. The key is to stay connected with the sales community for new,
innovative sales tactics that can be implemented quickly.
To help, weve brought together some of the industrys top thought leaders
and practitioners to get you started on the right foot in 2015. We asked them:
2015 for sales leaders is the year for what?
In this eBook youll find the top sales trends and predictions for the coming
year from 20 leading industry experts. Many also offer tips on how to adapt to
position your team for success in the New Year.

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Sales Leaders will Embrace Predictive Analytics

2015 is the year for sales leaders to embrace predictive analytics to make their sales teams more
effective, efficient and successful by engaging with precisely the prospects who need them. This
requires a better approach (selling the hole vs. the drill) as well as engaging the right prospects not
just based on demographic profiling but also precise, timely buying signals and trigger events that
lead to a mutually-beneficial conversation (not to mention higher lead to opportunity conversion).
The smartest sales teams are partnering with their marketing counterparts to leverage predictive
analytics tools such as Lattice, Mintigo, 6Sense and others to not just identify ready-to-engage
prospects, but surround those future opportunities with great content, value-added discussions, peer
validation and other messages that challenge their status quo, communicate a clear value translation,
and drive measurable value on both sides of the transaction.
This isnt just theory. Some of your competitors are already doing this. 2015 is your opportunity to
catch up, replace media with technology, and create the scalable systems that will propel your growth.
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Matt Heinz
@heinzmarketing
President, Heinz Marketing Inc

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Data driven, socially educated and empowered sales teams

2015 is going to be the year that sales and marketing finally get on the same train. We will see
a connected workforce unlike we have ever experienced, with employees becoming brand
advocates. Social Selling will no longer be thought of as an interesting tactic but this year will bring
on a new methodology for sales teams.
The sales professionals already adopting this new era will become the next thought leaders of their
space, their connections and influence will become an in-demand resource for the companies they
work for.
As social activity by sales professionals gets measured directly to revenue we will see new
programs built in companies of all sizes. A data driven, socially educated and empowered sales
team will drive awareness and build pipeline at a large scale. 2015 is going to be an inflection point
for many companies.
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Koka Sexton
@kokasexton
Leader of the LinkedIn #SocialSelling Movement

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

The year of learning agility

With constant change as the new norm, learning agility emerges as the crucial skill. Forward-thinking
sales organizations will recognize its importance in on-boarding new hires, shortening the path to
proficiency, adapting to changing conditions, launching new product/services and overall salesforce
productivity.
Theyll start:
Screening for agility in the hiring process.
Focusing on developing an agile sales culture.
Coaching reps on rapid learning skills and getting better mindset.
Those sales organizations who embrace this trend early on will dominate their marketplace.

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Jill Konrath
@jillkonrath
Bestselling author of Agile Selling,
SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

A mindset shift from selling to serving

Sales professionals need to move from using LinkedIn as their online resume, to managing their
digital reputation. Instead of optimizing for the recruiter; optimize for the buyer. Heres how:

Its no longer Always Be Closing; its Always Be Connecting. Your network is your net worth.
Nobody likes to be sold to. Were living in the Age of the Customer where buyers have choice
and voice.
Sales professionals need to read; read what their buyers read and share that content across their
social networks.
Sales professionals learn how to listen; listen to the conversations being had on the social web.
Social Selling is about finding and being found.
Mindset shift from selling to serving.

Social Selling training for your Sales team is NOT OPTIONAL because a fool with a tool is still a fool.
Oh, and if you suck offline; youll suck MORE online. #DontSuck
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Jill Rowley
@jill_rowley
Founder and Chief Evangelist of #SocialSelling

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Making your sales dream team a reality

2015 will be the year of the highly-optimized, process-driven sales force. For the last five years,
sales leaders have been trying to make their teams as productive as possible. 2015 will be the
culmination of all that: using a wide technology platform, focusing on enablement and creating
that dream sales team everyone has been working on. In 2015 that dream becomes a reality.

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Craig Rosenberg
@funnelholic
Co-founder and Chief Analyst of TOPO

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Inbound and outbound got married

2015 is going to be the year that sales and marketing executives finally realize that inbound and
outbound got married, they just never received an invitation to the wedding.
We are doing a terrible job with our inbound leads; treating them like they are cars on an assembly
line that warrant the same amount of time and attention. Shame on us!
The person that responded to your content and/or filled out the web form, in all likelihood, is not your
perfect buyer. View that contact as an arrow to opportunity. Make the assumption that something is
going on at their organization that caused them to react and focus outbound efforts on getting to
your perfect buyer.
You have a story to tell about how to help them build a better business. Dont waste one moment
telling your story to the wrong person just because they stepped forward.
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Trish Bertuzzi
@bridgegroupinc
President & Chief Strategist, The Bridge Group, Inc

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

The year of technology challenges

In 2015, sales leaders will be bombarded with even more technology tools. The problem is,
salespeople are not productive with the tools they already have. We are fascinated by the next
bright, shiny object. We race to be the first to get the coolest new gadget or app. And we forget
that technology is only a tool. Relationships are actually what seal our deals.
For example, LinkedIn is the professional online network. Yet when I ask my clients if theyre
connected to every single one of their clients on LinkedIn, the answer is usually, No. Some of
them dont even understand why these connections are critical for their business.
Top salespeople build connections and relationships online and offline. They leverage technology
to strengthen those connections, but they dont rely on it to do their jobs. People do business with
people, not with technology.

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Joanne Black
No More Cold Calling
@ReferralSales
Americas leading authority on referral selling

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Social Selling rolls out in a big way

2015 is the year for big data and success for Social Selling. The years 2012-2014 were about
collecting enough empirical evidence to prove that social selling worked for every industry; every
genre; every type of business. 2015 is taking all that empirical evidence and rolling it into programs.
Its about sales enablement teams, marketing and executives actually implementing a social selling
program.
Here are three key elements to building a successful Social Selling program:
1. Establish measurable goals, or activity that can be tied directly back to ROI.
2. Make sure the social selling routine of your best reps is documented and reproducible.
3. Build out a prescriptive process, including how and when with stages of sharing specific
content to different buyer personas at various stages of the buying cycle
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Jamie Shanks, MBA

@jamietshanks
Managing Partner, Sales for Life

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

2015 SALES TREND

Taking outbound prospecting to the next level

Outbound prospecting has been taking off like crazy over the past couple of years, now that
companies have seen how outbound rocketed sales growth for companies like Salesforce.com,
Acquia (#1 fastest growing private software company in the USA), and Responsys (sold to Oracle for
$1.5 billion). Theres a lot of manual work involved in prospecting, and in 2015 even more apps will
become available to automate it, streamline it and make it easier to measure & analyze, such as from
Carburetor (www.Carb.io).

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Aaron Ross
@motoceo
Author of #1 Bestseller Predictable Revenue

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Kill the Red Bull!

Todays millennials work at a different rhythm than any other generation and have already
transformed our sales organizations. Keeping this talent engaged, inspired and motivated is very
important. This ambitious bunch will create new possibilities that never existed before.
So its time for them to get amped up in a new way, heres how:
1. Peer-to-peer mentoring; take the time to win. Collaborate and mentor them.
2. Less talking head training. They want to do. They want to collaborate.
3. More competition, fun and recognition because they want to.

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Josiane Feigon
@JosianeFeigon
CEO of TeleSmart

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Better sales messaging

In 2015, successful sellers will get a handle on crafting better messages, using innovative
strategies, such as video, and making them shorter, simpler and about the buyer, not about
us. If we do this, well make better use of everyones time; our buyers as well as our sellers. Its
going to be a fantastic year.

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Lori Richardson
@scoremoresales
A Top Social Sales Influencer and Sales
Strategist at Score More Sales

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Using consumer sales tactics to your advantage

2015 for sales leaders is the year of the consumerization of the sales process. For the last couple
of years, sales people have had to operate more like marketers. They have to find their own leads,
curate their expertise in the marketplace and draw people to them. The best are no longer hunters
or farmers. They are magnets. For 2015 and beyond the trend is that practices buyers use to make
personal (consumer) buying decisions are spilling into the business to business (B2B) world. Its no
longer B2C or B2B, its B2All.
As a B2B sales person and a leader, you must figure out how to use those consumer selling and
buying tactics to your advantage. If you ignore them, you will miss connecting with buyers and they
will buy from your competition.

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Colleen Francis
@EngageColleen
Founder and President of Engage
Selling Solutions

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Using pure analytics and data to drive sales training and coaching
Next year, were going to see an interesting confluence of Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk in the sales
effectiveness space. The traditional emotion-driven, gut-driven sales coaching that we so often
see with reps and their bosses is going to be replaced - or at least augmented - by the use of pure
analytics and data.
Were seeing a lot of movement in the marketplace where organizations are using data to drive a
kind of coaching, training, sales effectiveness and career management that weve never seen before.

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Peter Ostrow
@PeterOstrow
Vice President and Group Director, Aberdeen Group

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Rethinking your sales organization and your sales model

2015 is the year for rethinking your sales organization and your sales model. We have done
research recently with ZS Associates a large global sales consultancy that shows that 40% of
companies over a billion dollars are shifting headcount from the field to inside sales.
We also know that technology companies under a hundred million have inside sales as their
primary sales channel and are generating more than 50% of revenue without in-person meetings.
Some of the fastest growing businesses are generating revenue in new ways, so its time to rethink
roles, territories, comp plans and your whole sales model.

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Anneke Seley
@annekeseley
Author of Sales 2.0 and Founder of OracleDirect

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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The traditional selling model is changing!

In 2015 were going to see Inside Sales teams move from a traditional team selling model to that of a
discrete model. Specifically, instead of using inside sales to partner with and support their field reps,
they will move to a discrete model where they carry their own quota, and are responsible for the full
sales cycle with their own set of accounts.
Research is clear, decision makers want easy-to-use digital and virtual engagement with sales on
their own terms. Virtual selling is on the increase, face-to-face is on the decline. Sales leaders
prepare your teams now. Develop them and train them on virtual selling skills and the full sales cycle
so theyre ready.

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Bob Perkins
@rperk10
Founder & Chairman, American Association
of Inside Sales Professionals

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The year that sales acceleration technology goes mainstream

2015 is the year that sales acceleration technology crosses a chasm.
It used to be that a lot of SaaS companies and technology companies embraced sales acceleration
technology to build inside sales teams really quickly and successfully. What Im seeing more of, is
that industrial companies and manufacturing companies are adopting this trend as well. This is the
year that the technology becomes mainstream.

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Nick Hedges
@Nick_Hedges
President & CEO of Velocify

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Study Situational Dominance

In every customer conversation you will find yourself in one of three places.
You can be in a submissive position, where you are not respected and the customer rejects or
ignores what you say. When you are in this position, the prospective customer thinks of you solely
as a salesperson who is trying to sell him something.
You can be in an equal position, where the customer respects you and is interested in hearing
what you have to say.
Or you can be in a dominant position, where the customer accepts your arguments, internalizes
them, and then acts on them. Situational dominance can be thought of as gaining the willing
obedience of the customer. The customer listens to your opinions and advice, internalizes your
recommendations and agrees with them, and follows your course of action.
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Steve W. Martin
@stevewmartin1
Author, Heavy Hitter Sales Linguistics

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Build and Execute a Sales Strategy

78% of sales forces are trending to miss the 2015 revenue number. We say this because in 2014,
that was the number of organizations that had the wrong sales strategy. We define sales strategy as
An Operating Plan for the companys sales force . A sales strategy allows you to allocate people,
money and time in the most optimal way to get the most out of your sales force. By doing so, sales
leaders avoid the suffering that comes with missing the number. All of you are time starved and
asked to do more with less. Some key reasons why your strategy is suffering:

You have the same strategy as your competitors

You have tactics masquerading as a strategy
You have a strategy that misaligned with buyer needs
Your strategy is out of alignment with the product strategy
You dont have a strategy

If you want a blueprint of what a best in class strategy looks like and a self assessment, try this.
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Matt Sharrers
@mattsharrers
Partner, SBI (Sales Benchmark Index)

20 Sales Industry Predictions for 2015

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Empowering your sales reps

2015 is the year to empower your sales reps. You hear a lot about sales enablement solutions. Reps
dont need to be enabled - they need to be empowered! Empower your sales reps by giving them
back their selling time so they can have real live conversations with real live prospects.
Identify the interruptions and tasks that keep salespeople from talking with prospects and commit to
reducing, eliminating, or automating those tasks. Think of all the things, big and small that consume
time. An example of a big task that consumes time is searching for the right contact or contact
details. An example of a small task that consumes time is cutting and pasting. How many emails and
presentations are done this way?
UPS saved millions of dollars in fuel costs by eliminating as many left-hand turns as possible from
their delivery routes. You better believe that eliminating seemingly small things can lead to big
outcomes. Address the left-hand turns in your teams day and empower them to generate more
revenue for them and for the company.
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Nancy Nardin
@sellingtools
Smart Selling Tools
Foremost expert on sales productivity
tools and strategies to drive revenue

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2015 for sales leaders is the year for rising sales turnover
Let me raise a yellow flag for CSOs. Over the past three years the sales rep turnover rates (voluntary
turnover reps leave + involuntary turnover - reps are let go) have been at historical lows. While it
would be great if that continued, one trend CSO Insights research is tracking says we may well be in
for an unexpected surprise in 2015. Based on the initial responses from 700+ companies taking part
in our 21st Sales Performance Optimization study, 67% of firms plan to increase the size of their sales
teams in the coming year. The source of new reps most companies are targeting is experienced sales
people from within their industry.
If sales organizations follow through with those plans, as they did in 2004, we will see a repeat of
the spike we witnessed in voluntary turnover as companies poach the best reps in their marketplace
from each other. With over 40% of firms reporting that it takes >10 months to get a new sales person
fully productive, revenues will take a noticeable hit if all of a sudden you have to replace fully
productive reps with new ones.
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Jim Dickie
@jimdickie
Managing Partner, CSO Insights

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Sell smarter and faster with Velocify in 2015!

Give your sales team a competitive advantage this year with Velocifys intelligent sales solutions. Velocify can
help you increase the velocity of your sales environment and systematically improve sales performance through
rapid lead response, increased selling discipline, improved sales team productivity, and actionable sales insights.
With Velocify, your sales teams can respond to leads faster and smarter than ever.

Lead Capture
Lead Scoring

Funnel Insights

Integrated
Sales Dialer

Velocify Intelligent
Sales Automation

Sales Activity
Prioritization

Lead De-Dupe

Lead Distribution
Automated
Guided Selling

Get your sales team on the right track this year with all of the intelligent sales automation features

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Do you have all the right sales strategies

in place to get ahead of the competition
in 2015? Learn how sales acceleration
technology can enable your sales reps
to get more intelligent and drive more
revenue in todays high-velocity selling
environment.

Get a Demo Today

Call: 888-843-1777
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Email: sales@velocify.com
Web: velocify.com
Blog: velocify.com/blog

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Velocify is a market-leading provider of cloud-based intelligent sales software, designed for high-velocity sales environments. Velocify
helps sales teams keep pace with the speed of opportunity and increase revenue by driving rapid lead response, increased selling
discipline, improved productivity, and actionable selling insights. The company has helped more than 1,500 companies across a variety of
industries improve customer acquisition practices and sales performance. Velocify was recently recognized as one of the fastest growing

velocify.com

companies in North America by Deloitte and a Best Place to Work by the Los Angeles Business Journal. For more information, please visit
Velocify.com or follow the company on Twitter @Velocify.

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