Sales is undergoing a radical and fundamental change in response to the evolving demands of a more informed and increasingly digital world of prospects. HubSpot CRO Mark Roberge interviewed nine thought leaders regarding their predictions on the Future of Sales.

1. THE FUTURE
OF SALES
Here’s what the future has in store
for the sales industry according to
today’s top thought leaders.
By MARK ROBERGE
Chief Revenue Officer
HubSpot

2. The way sales is done has changed.

3. The convergence of sales and
marketing has created tremendous
opportunity to reach prospects in an
entirely new context.

4. The convergence of sales and
marketing has created tremendous
opportunity to reach prospects in an
entirely new context.
Tactical, authentic, and regular use
of social and technology platforms
has become a standard part of a
winning sales strategy.

5. The world is more
interconnected than
ever before

6. The world is more
interconnected than
ever before
74% of online adults
use social networking
sites

7. The world is more
interconnected than
ever before
74% of online adults
use social networking
sites
Facebook has
1.44B monthly
active users

8. Whether they realize it or not,
your customers have a problem
Image via Drflet

9. Whether they realize it or not,
your customers have a problem
(and it’s up to your salespeople to solve it.)
Image via Drflet

10. It’s a partnership,
not a power struggle

11. It’s a partnership,
not a power struggle
The relationship between salesperson
and prospect is now built off of trust, and
success is predicated upon teamwork

12. In sales, we have to step up our game. We need to be
there as consultants and advisors to our buyers. We need
to engage with prospects in their context.

13. We need to understand the specific challenges the customer is trying to solve and translate the generic
marketing that’s on our website to their business.

14. We need to understand the specific challenges the customer is trying to solve and translate the generic
marketing that’s on our website to their business.
We need to tell the story from their perspective.

15. Here are some insights into the
future of sales from nine of the
industry’s top thought leaders
Want to know more?

16. Authority, trust, and usefulness have become the
attributes most sought after in today's sales
professional...as buyers choose to work with those
who can help them identify problems and
opportunities they themselves may not yet know
exist.”
John Jantsch
( @ducttape )
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant,
speaker and author of Duct Tape Marketing,
Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine
and The Referral Engine and the founder of
the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant
Network.
“

17. Executives are going to
wake to the fact that you
can’t simply manage
people...by staring at a
CRM screen or sending
threatening emails about
deal status and pipeline
health. My strongest hope
and belief is that
managers will once again
see 1:1 meetings with
every member of the sales
team as their highest
value activity.”
Mike Weinberg
( @mike_weinberg )
New Business Development & Sales
Management Consultant; Author, “New
Sales. Simplified. The Essential Handbook
for Prospecting and New Business
Development”
“

18. The future of sales is in data. It's cheaper, more
accessible, and more actionable than ever before...It's
making sales teams incredibly efficient in finding and
scoring leads. As more and more sales people embrace
data, it only gets stronger.”
Max Altschuler ( @maxalts )
Founder & CEO, Sales Hacker Inc.“

19. Sales isn't a role, it's a mindset -- one where
your focus is on solving problems, not pushing
product or services.”
Charlene Li ( @charleneli )
Principal Analyst, Altimer
“

20. The modern buyer is digitally driven,
socially connected, mobile, and
empowered; your sales team should be
too. It's time to get serious about Social
Selling!”
Jill Rowley ( @jill_rowley )
Chief Evangelist & Founder, Jill Rowley #SocialSelling
“

21. Paul Greenberg is the author of CRM at the Speed of
Light, 4th edition and upcoming The Commonwealth of
Self-Interest (Harvard Business Press, 2016)
Paul Greenberg
In order to meet the needs of a more informed potential customer,
sales needs two things: 1. Sales people need to be subject matter
experts who can provide content and intelligence as often as they
sell; and 2. Sales will increasingly need sales technology tools that
provide insights into the best ways to close deals, whether that be
insights into their prospects’ behavior or competitive intelligence.
Take both and you up your win rates pretty significantly.”
“
( @pgreenbe )

22. Sales organizations will be
continually faced with a choice.
They will choose to be more
strategic, creating greater value for
their clients, and capturing more of
that value. Or they will get sucked
into being more transactional,
creating—and capturing—less
value. The middle is going to be
ripped apart.”
Anthony Iannarino
( @iannarino )
Keynote Speaker & Workshop Facilitator
B2BSalesCoach.com
“

23. Matt Heinz
The future of sales is bright, and it’s full of
professionals who shed light on
challenges and proactively lead their
buyers into better outcomes.”
( @heinzmarketing )
President, Heinz Marketing Inc
“

24. “ Brian Halligan ( @bhalligan )
CEO and Co-Founder, HubSpot
It's imperative that those of us in Sales and Marketing adapt our
approach to reflect the needs of the modern buyer. Customers are
now controlling the buying process and inbound selling is how
modern salespeople can keep up.”

25. Created by
Mark Roberge
( @markroberge )
Chief Revenue Officer
Tired of doing sales the
old-fashioned way?
Check out HubSpot’s free sales product, HubSpot CRM.
Your customers, your sales reps, and your bottom line will
thank you.
Have your own predictions
about the Future of Sales?
Be sure to share them!