Sales trends for 2012

Social, economic and political tensions are reshaping the business landscape and altering the way companies should approach sales strategy.
In a list of 12 sales trends for 2012 Barrett argues that business and sales leaders need to rethink 'go-to-market' strategies and traditional sales force structures in order to prosper in the year ahead.

Just some of the trends that are expected to make an impact next year include:

• A focus on coaching – making sure sales managers are trained and coached to become sales coaches themselves is said to be a vital approach to sales success
• Niche sales and marketing – rather than relying on mass marketing, sales teams will need to listen to their customers and offer a more personalised approach to doing business
• More online time – instead of having large field sales teams it's suggested an increasing number of sales, especially in the B2B space, will go online
• Education in action – building team skills in the areas of patience, listening, problem solving and dealing with ambiguity will be important for sales staff
• Shrinking product life cycles – Barrett predicts product life cycles will continue to shrink as businesses seek to continually develop innovative products to encourage consumers to act quickly .

            Sue Barrett