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3 Field Sales Trends That Will Continue in 2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Samir Majumdar
Samir is the CEO and Co-founder of Veloxy. After spending 20+ years creating corporate systems, boosting revenue, and eliminating inefficiencies, Samir started Veloxy to help sales professionals shorten sales cycles, accelerate pipelines, and close more deals.
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Everyone knows field sales is a fast-moving profession. Covid introduced new ways of doing things and updated old sales methods to accommodate customer requests.
Some of these updates massively interrupted the field sales game. But we think things are going to get back to normal in 2023. By normal, I’m referring to pre-Covid field sales success. In fact, field sales reps are spending 28% more time on the road this year than in 2021.
While it’s likely that some new trends will stick around, it’s more likely that old methods of success will resurface.
Given our prediction, here are three huge field sales trends to keep in mind for 2023:
Don’t forget to download the 2022 State of Field Sales Report here >
1. Focus on the customer experience
Before Covid, customers were demanding more value before and after buying. They were seeking a buying experience akin to their personal life.
With an ever increasing number of competitors, field sales pros quickly pivoted in 2019 and began to build stronger levels of trust. One of the ways they did this was by proactively offering solutions to their customers’ biggest problems—without the need or ask for a sale.
During Covid, field sales pros had to get creative to improve the customer experience. Using video conferencing tools like Zoom helped some, but field sales pros had to deal with longer sales cycles and lower response times.
With travel restrictions at an all time low, field sales pros are set to resume improving the customer experience while shortening sales cycles.
What to do about it in 2023
Customers missed the face-to-face interaction these past two years, but there are three tactics you can do to improve the customer experience in 2023:
Be sure to watch the 2022 State of Field Sales Webinar with 3 special guests here >
2. Social selling will continue to increase in popularity
72% of salespeople who actively use social media as a sales channel exceed their quota.
Social selling was definitely a pre-Covid trend that rose in popularity with remote selling. LinkedIn Sales Navigator rose 30% in 2020, and more sales teams used LinkedIn Events as a new channel for demos, seminars, and webinars.
Sales intelligence platforms also expanded their capabilities the past few years. Sales reps started to seek out the Twitter handles of key customers to discover new intel not found anywhere else.
Furthermore, applications such as Veloxy started centralizing all sales intelligence on a single mobile screen in preparation for the return of our favorite sales road warriors. By reviewing social content prior to a call or meeting, sales reps have greatly improved their initial talking points and overall in-person engagement.
BONUS: Use these 10 Social Selling Tips
What to do about it in 2023
Social media has always been a treasure trove of unique insights into buyer thoughts and opinions. Here are three tactics you can use to exercise social selling in 2023:
3. “Just in time” engagement will be critical
As I mentioned earlier, customers were demanding a better buyer experience prior to 2020. But one of the most eye-opening elements of that demand was their request for complete personalization.
This isn’t a first name, company name level of personalization. They want the whole phone and email outreach, content, and presentation experience to be personalized so they feel prioritized. Why? Well, because they can take their business elsewhere.
The most critical form of personalization is “just in time” engagement. What do I mean by that? I’m referring to the calling, emailing, and texting of your prospects, leads, and customers at the most optimal time. This is either when your customer wants to hear from you, or when they’re predictably engaged with each communication channel.
We live in an overcommunicated world where customers are receiving personalized emails, calls, and texts every day. Knowing when to click send or schedule an email can make all of the difference.
What to do about it in 2023
Sales engagement is a game of numbers and optimization. Here are three tactics you can use to predictably reach your customers at the right time in 2023:
Final thoughts on Field Sales Trends
We love helping field sales teams across the globe. Companies such as Tommy Hilfiger, Wex, and Comcast come to us for field sales advice and solutions.
Would you enjoy a 30 minute Q & A with our Field Sales guru, Jeff Grice? You can schedule time on his Calendly here.
And be sure to share the following field sales resources with your team: