How the New Wave of Tech is Making Old School Sales Obsolete LinkedIn Report Reveals the Unprecedented Disruption of the Age-Old Profession Published on Jul 19, 2017 | Topics: Research
LinkedIn Corporate Communications Team
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Social media and time-saving tech have forever changed the way all of us function both in our personal and professional lives, so it was only a matter of time before they transformed B2B sales too.
Here at LinkedIn, we observe a lot of different behaviors in terms of how buyers and sellers interact. In recent years, we've seen a number of disruptive technologies and novel sales practices become mainstream.
Here's what we see: technology is transforming the sales profession, from the way leads are generated, to the conversations that happen once the digital handshake is made. To a large extent, it's accelerating connections, shortening sales cycles, and bringing a new level of transparency that is unlike anything buyers and sellers have ever experienced.
To shed light on the evolving sales landscape, we conducted our second annual State of Sales study to understand the impact social networks, business collaboration software and other technologies are having on the overall sales ecosystem.
We commissioned CensusWide, a market research agency, to survey over 2,000 U.S. based B2B sales pros and buyers, to capture a 360-degree view of the technologies and strategies that leading salespeople are using to stand apart from their peers, and how these approaches are landing with buyers. Here's what we found:
Sales Tech Is No Longer A Nice To Have, It's Table Stakes
The digital sales stack is now firmly established at the foundation of successful sales organizations. This year's survey shows that companies are receiving the message loud and clear and accelerating tech use in sales strategies accordingly:
98% of top salespeople report using sales technology on the job
90% of salespeople report that sales technology is either important or very important to closing deals
Inside sales professionals are the most tech savvy, with 46% using CRM tools and 40% using productivity apps
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Social Media Critical To Modern Way Of Selling
Last year, we learned that 70% of sales reps were already using social media to build and nurture relationships - a trend continuing to gain steam in 2017.
Across the board, salespeople who actively use professional and social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook are seeing a big impact.
62% of top salespeople - those who exceeded their projected target revenue by more than 25% - strongly attribute closing more deals to incorporating social networks into their sales strategy
94% of salespeople who are familiar with social tech say it provides them with valuable insights for connecting with customers and prospects
70% of salespeople expect to invest more time leveraging social tech strategies in the next twelve months, a striking 45% increase year-over-year
On the decision-maker side, leveraging social networks is having an impact, too. This year's survey found that buyers prefer working with salespeople who use professional and social networks to better understand their needs and provide more tailored and timely offerings.
77% won't engage with salespeople who don't have insights or knowledge of their business
62% look for an informative LinkedIn profile when deciding whether to work with a sales professional, and 85% consider it important for them to have existing connections with people at their company
69% of millennial buyers are more likely to speak with a sales professional who has a professional social media presence
With Sales Tech -- Millennials Lead the Way
Last year's study revealed that millennials use sales technology at higher rates than other generations across the board. This year is no different, as the under 35 years-of-age crowd continues to lead the way in early-stage adoption, while more seasoned professionals are slowly catching on:
56% of Millennials are using collaboration tools such as Box, Google Docs, Microsoft Office and Dropbox, compared to 40% of Baby Boomers
40% of Millennials use productivity apps like Asana, Smartsheet and Trello as part of their daily role, compared to 17% of Baby
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How the New Wave of Tech is Making Old School Sales Obsolete LinkedIn Report Reveals the Unprecedented Disruption of the Age-Old Profession Published on Jul 19, 2017 | Topics: Research 
