The Miller-Heimann Group invited sales managers to learn about the latest trends in sales at the event “The Future of Sales”. LOGO CEO Dorothee Gabor accepted the invitation together with around 300 top-class participants and experienced an inspiring and well-organised event in Munich’s Allianz Arena.
The Future of Sales – Where is the journey heading?
Ursula Heller from Bayerischer Rundfunk moderated the event with charm and humour.
How will the sales landscape change, which of the typical time-honoured salesperson qualities will continue to be indispensable in the future and what impact will digitalisation have on sales processes.
The numerous presentations and practical workshops provided answers to these questions.
For LOGO consult as a CRM manufacturer, these are of course very important areas. After all, a CRM is the first step towards the digitalisation of sales processes. But as mentioned in Klaus Steven’s opening speech (accompanied by surprisingly quiet laughter in the audience): “You wouldn’t believe it, but there are still companies that don’t use CRM.”
The importance of AI in sales will increase massively, that much is clear. Whether the data collected will support management, marketing and sales in making better decisions and providing the right contact person with the right information at the right time, or whether it will be used to completely automate certain sales processes, depends primarily on the industry segment and the type of customer.
In all the presentations it became clear how much more important specialist knowledge is for sales staff today. Because today prospective customers look for information on the internet before the first sales talk, this first contact must already be professionally sound. Otherwise the prospect will leave immediately.
A major change in the buying decision process in B2B has also taken place in the number of decision-makers. It is no longer enough to have a “good connection” to ONE decision-maker in the company. A sales process can only be successful if the questions of the different departments can be answered satisfactorily.
“Consultative Selling – Why consultants are the better sellers”
In the workshop with Miller-Heiman account director Hans Prange, all this is backed up with figures and practical examples.
From the event box, the participants have a spectacular view of the playing field.
First, some research findings on the changing sales figures in recent years are presented.
Today, companies are looking for reliable strategic service providers, and a company has to show these qualities already during the sales talks.
This will be a huge challenge for the coaching of the sales team, because only a small part of today’s sales staff are experts and an even smaller part have advisory qualities. The more complex the product or service, the more problematic it will be to set up the team accordingly.
Employees from STEM professions are already preferred for sales jobs today
They have the best prerequisites for understanding the customer’s processes and aligning the advice with the company’s strategy.
If the customer has the feeling that he is not dealing with a salesperson but with an advisor who supports him in achieving his personal goals as well as the company’s goals, he will feel well taken care of and feel more confident in making a purchase decision.
This has nothing to do with digitalisation in sales, only the support of the sales employee can be improved with the help of AI and the processes can be supported with a good CRM.
Some of the participants are relieved that not all sales processes will be taken over by machines in the near future, but that there are human characteristics that still make us better salespeople in B2B.
