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# S A L E S T A L E N T
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What’s Next for the
‘What’s Next’ generation?
2015
As the digital noise continues to grow in an era of shrinking attention spans,
email deliverability challenges and digital overload, our Millennial talent
keeps powering ahead. They continue to disrupt inside sales organizations
with their wacky wonderfulness and they seem to surface EVERY WHERE:
as employees, customers, and decision-makers. They’re socially connected,
have extremely high expectations of themselves, and of you, and they want it
all NOW.
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1
Forget “Talking-Head” Sales Training
Companies are spending on sales training at a pace we haven’t seen since before the
recession. Keeping Millennials engaged, inspired, and motivated is essential. It’s time to
lose the traditional “talking - head” training methods. Instead, add more peer-to-peer
collaboration, storytelling, competitive gaming, and lots of variety and FUN for this
“What’s Next?” generation.
Quick Tip: Make the learning process active — they do not want to sit passively and listen to a data dump.
Change up your delivery methods to include more variety. Incorporate videos, social media, and other visual
resources that help them stay engaged. Remember, Millennials prefer to learn from their peers, so include
plenty of real-life peer-based examples, experiences, and discussions.
2
Who’s Got the Power?
Almost 30% of Millennials have already climbed to management positions and they have
SERIOUS spending power. They are expected to outspend Baby Boomers annually within
five years, and their spending will climb to $200 billion by 2017.
Quick Tip: Serious spending power means that accepting the “no budget” objection isn’t an option anymore.
When selling to these new, young power players, we must align and adjust our offerings to resonate with their
business values. Millennials are extremely tech savvy, they prefer text over talk, and they won’t sit through long
presentations — but will gladly watch a short video of your solution. They are engaging and prefer the #FUN
factor over everything. They are results focused and expect the answers from you in a SIRI sort of way.
3 Protect Your Sales Talent from Getting Poached
The hiring frenzy for inside sales talent shows no signs of slowing down — the competition
for talent in a rapidly diminishing talent pool is challenging. Plus, CSO Insights predicts that
voluntary turnover will be the highest in 10 years. It’s no longer just about recruiting, but also
about retaining.
Quick Tip: To hold onto Millennials, it’s essential to create a workplace that is engaging, collaborative,
and competitive. They want their work to have purpose and make a contribution to something big, so
always let them know how much your organization relies on their personal contribution.
4 Paths from Best Salesperson to Best Manager
WHOA — 50% of the workforce is no longer inspired by their managers.
The more equal they feel to their peers, the more they will listen. Team leads
and coaches will have more success changing salespeople’s behaviors than
their sales managers will.
Quick Tip: A great salesperson doesn’t automatically make a good manager, so don’t just
automatically promote your best sales rep. The skill requirements to lead and motivate a sales
team, and drive revenue, are completely different than those for being an individual contributor.
To create a safe and cohesive sales environment, make it a priority to invest in your personal
leadership development, pay attention to individual skill sets, and learn how to give valuable
feedback that motivates change.
Promote
your
peeps
wisely.
5
Generation C — It’s All About Collaboration
Real-time collaboration is what Millennials are all about. They want fast, on-demand
peer- collaboration, often through digital channels. They are more comfortable and
productive when they aren’t left on their own. Whether they’re talking about working,
learning, or traveling, they are trusting, collaborating, and sharing more of themselves
— even if it’s with complete strangers.
Quick Tip: More people and businesses will share resources, eliminating inefficiencies and improving revenues.
Say goodbye to the lone - wolf days of hiding away in cubicle isolation. Creating more open sales environments that
encourage collaboration and sharing is key to strengthening trust as sales becomes more collaborative.
6
Smart #Women in Sales are Starting to Change
Men’s Minds
More smart-selling women with power dominate the economic force. By 2028
they will control 75% of discretionary spending around the world.
Quick Tip: Some of the best salespeople and team leaders are women — why shut them out?
Personality traits like collaboration and listening skills — skills that drive revenue — are more
common in women. We need to encourage more “lean in” when it comes to their career development.
Listen up,
fellas!
7
Social Selling Brand Advocates Are In Demand
Move over hunters and farmers, and make room for the social selling
brand advocates. They are the new chief digital officers – socially
educated and empowered. Their social reputations and influence will
become an in-demand resource for the companies they work with.
Not only will their digital influence be their new job security, it will also
be tied to their revenue.
Quick Tip: Salespeople have the ability to spread their social influence. Encourage your socially savvy Millennials
to spread the good news about your brand to their social networks. When you are looking to add new talent, take
advantage of their social networks to help spread the word.
8
CMOs Are Moving Up the Food Chain
The CMO now comes second only to the CEO, and their influence is BIG. CMOs will advise
and council CEOs on how to win, serve, and retain customers to grow the business. They will
also lead organizational changes and new collaboration initiatives aimed at unifying all
customer engagement activities across the enterprise.
Quick Tip: Marketing organizations are home to a lot of brains and decision-making dollars. Marketing is a major
force in building the company’s future, and they are getting their hands into everything these days. Make sure to
include them in your meetings because they will make a big difference.
9
Wearable Technology Is the New Dress Code
Whether you have the FitBit, the Galaxy Gear, or the PULS wrapped around your wrist, wearable
technology will continue to explode and change everything from how customers shop to how
salespeople sell.
Quick Tip: Fitbit has transformed people’s commitment to exercise. For employees who like constant acknowledgment
and feedback, this could be the best idea for your next sales contest giveaway — and we know how much Millennials
love swag.
10 Stop Speed Dating Your Customers
Customers are running from those speedy, robo auto-dialing messages. No one wants
to get these in 2015. Stop the madness and make a real connection. Just BE HUMAN,
even for 30 seconds — please.
Quick Tip: Don’t get so carried away with quantity that you lose sight of quality. When dialers advertise the new 1,000
calls are replacing the 100 calls, think about what gets lost in the process. If you have dialers, put some limits to how
much and how often they are used. Make sure they don’t replace the art of conversation, which is slowly disappearing.
11 Watch for the SnapChat Buzz Distractions
Visual entertainment snacks will continue to proliferate when it comes to outreach.
These entertaining snacks are part of our visual culture and visual language, but
watch out — these digital distractions have become a huge threat to workplace
productivity.
QUICK TIP: Instead of spending time recording your latest voice mail greeting, take time to briefly
record a video clip that introduces you and your service. Or if you have a great Instagram photo
that is business-professional and relevant, use that — it can make you stand out from the rest and
keep you visually relevant.
12 Old School Sales Tactics Make a Comeback
The traditional sales tactics — chiefly on paper and in person — are starting
to make a comeback in B2B marketing. Think print advertising, tradeshows,
hand-written notes, memorabilia.
QUICK TIP: People still find comfort in the old-fashioned – the more “home-made” the better.
Instead of spending tons on something glitzy and high tech, something simple and low tech
is refreshing and appreciated. A hand - written, personalized note thanking your team for a
great sales quarter goes a long way now.
13 Red Bull Kills Sales Momentum
Sales momentum can make or break sales productivity, and craziness can kill it dead.
When you look down the sales aisles the seating arrangements, leaderboards, and
big bells & whistles must combine to motivate and excite. Drinking Red Bull and other
energy drinks propels salespeople past motivation to bouncing off the walls. Watch for
signs of Red Bull doping: jittery, mind racing, eyes bulging.
QUICK TIP: If you want to create a calm learning environment that promotes thinking and great collaboration,
keep energy drinks out. Red Bull could kill your well-intentioned buzz. Especially if consumed in large doses,
it can create agitated and aggressive behavior that is tough to control and not very interesting to watch.
14 Calling all Salesforce and LinkedIn Power Users
Sales 2.0 tools & apps will continue to proliferate in the sales landscape, and the power
users will master the sales process. Just look at their output. Just raising tool IQ won’t
be enough anymore: becoming a power user of the tool is the secret to sales survival.
QUICK TIP: LinkedIn has become a primary prospecting tool, but there is still very little training in it.
Millennials need to realize that LinkedIn is not Facebook, and that posting their surfing pictures may
not be the best representation of their ability to manage large deals. Make sure they build their
contacts up to have a minimum of 500+.
15 Meaningfulness + Money = OM
Mindfulness hits the mainstream. More salespeople will search for meaning
& mindfulness at work as they try to make their way through all that bloated
digital infobesity. Just remember: in sales, it’s still all about making money,
saving money, spending money — but now with lots of mindful intention.
QUICK TIP: Create more opportunities to disconnect and give tired brains some time
off from digesting their digital overload. Time for a digital break: attend live in-person
events and forums that allow people to connect more with each other.
Just 2
more
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About LiveHive
As buyer behavior evolves in the digital world , and face-to-face selling
gets replaced with screen-to -screen, there’s a new a layer of complexity
in today’s sales cycle.
That’s why we built LiveHive from the sales-floor up - to give every sales
rep complete visibility into prospect engagement. It takes the guesswork
out of the hard work of prospect-ranking, and frees salespeople to pursue
what’s most promising. Every LiveHive tool is designed to integrate seamlessly,
so you can simply plug in and get to work.
With LiveHive, you can see your content’s entire digital journey from
the moment you hit send. Start your free trial today at LiveHive.com.
About the Author
Josiane Feigon is a pioneer, maverick, and visionary in the inside sales community.
She is the founder of TeleSmart Communications and the author of the upcoming
book Smart Selling to the Right People (AMACOM, 2016) and Smart Sales Manager
and Smart Selling on the Phone and Online.
If you would like to receive regular trend updates on topics such as Inside Sales Future Trends,
Managing and Motivating Millenials, and Selling to the Right People, sign up for our Newsletter.
Inside Sales Thought Leadership Blog: www.tele-smart.com/blog
Twitter: @josianefeigon
YouTube: Youtube.com/user/josianefeigon
LinkedIn Smart Selling Group
Phone: 415-543-6537
Email: getsmart@tele-smart.com
Well, it’s
been a
blast.