A short video summarizing the top three sales trends from HubSpot’s 2024 Sales Trends Report based on a global survey of ~1,400 sales professionals. Key points: (1) Most sales reps are outperforming goals (56% exceed) and AI can reclaim roughly two hours/day by automating tasks and outreach; (2) self-service tools (demos, trials, chatbots, knowledge bases) are widely used and correlated with better performance; (3) AI empowers buyers’ research—most prospects research before first contact—shifting reps toward relationship-building and personalized conversations. The video also briefly promotes HubSpot as a CRM.
Questions this video answers
Over 1,400 sales pros globally.
56%.
29%.
15%.
Around two hours per day.
Chapters
We surveyed over 1400 sales pros across the globe and in this video I'll go over the top three trends we're seeing this year. And one of these trends is about how AI is changing the game for both buyers and sales reps, which may just surprise you. So stick around. Let's dive in. Starting with trend number three. Most sales pros are outperforming their Goals Our report revealed that 56% of sales pros are exceeding their sales goals this year, 29% are meeting them and and only 15% are underperforming. The even better news is that AI is expected to boost their performance. One of the first and most popular ways is by helping them spend less time on manual tasks. Currently, sales pros are only spending around two hours a day on selling. It's not a lot of hours. AI can save them two hours a day and help them be more efficient. How exactly? Well, one example is by using AI to automate and streamline outreach messages. Say you're a sales rep and you want to send an email to a prospect you found on LinkedIn. First, start by picking a generative AI tool to write your outreach email. This could be ChatGPT, Bard, or another tool at your disposal. Next, it's time to write your prompt. The more specific you can get about your desired tone and message, the better. Something like this will do the trick. You're a sales rep and you're reaching out to a prospect with the following bio Insert bio here. Using that, write a short, compelling and friendly email introducing yourself and explaining how insert product or service can address their current pain points. From there, all that's left to do is to tweak the output to fit your needs and send that email. It can be a massive time saver for sales reps who could now spend more time selling. Oh, and by the way, if you want to see the full list of sales trends, check out our 2024 report linked below in the description below. Literally, just giving away mana from heaven here really revolutionized the game for you. Trend number two Self service tools and sale enablement content are more important than ever. Think about product demos, free trials and chatbots. Those are all examples of resources companies can make available to prospects to help guide their purchases. Buyers are already doing their own research, so the more resources they have, the more confident they'll be to make a purchase. 64% of B2B sales pros offer self service tools and 85% of them say it's effective. In fact, sales pros who offer buyers self service tools are 47% more likely to exceed their goals this year compared to those that don't. So I don't want you to be left behind. You know what I'm saying? Want to get your own self service tools up and running? Start with an FAQ and or a knowledge base. It's low cost and low effort. Start by asking your sales team to write down the most popular questions they get from prospects as well as current customers. You can even check your social media accounts to see what questions followers are asking the most about your brand. Then take those questions and organize them by theme. Some will be very product specific, diving into specific features. Others may be more general account setup, pricing, customer support options, etc. From there, write down the answers to these questions in a blog post format. Then all that's left is publishing it to your website and letting those sweet prospects come to you. The great thing about a knowledge base is you can always add more later. Whether you start with 10 articles or 100. The most important thing is having valuable information your audience can use to guide their purchasing decision. This leads us to our number one trend. AI is supercharging your buyer's research process. 96% of sales pros say that when they first speak to a prospect, they've already done research on their product or service. Not only do buyers know about the company and the products or services they offer, they also know how it compares to competitors. We also know that 71% of consumers prefer to gather information themselves rather than speaking to a human. With AI, buyers can come equipped with all the knowledge they need to make a decision. So what does that mean for sales reps? Higher quality conversations, shorter sales cycles, and a focus on relationships building. As a sales rep, you'll have to rethink the value you bring. You won't just be sharing product information. Instead, you'll be working on boosting your buyer's confidence, personalizing your approach based on their needs, and creating a personal connection. And that starts with asking questions. To get to know your prospect better, you want to uncover who they are, their goals, and their challenges. Questions like you specialize in X. Why did you choose that niche? What are your goals for the next three, six or 12 months? What's holding your team back from reaching your goals? Tell me about your average day. How would this solution impact your daily work? Are all great starting points to understanding your prospect. And don't be afraid to follow up and dig in even more into their background. The more you know, the more you'll be able to solve for the customer. So that wraps up our top three sales trends of 2023. If you want to discover more sales trends, as I said, my friend, download our free report linked in the description below. Which trend surprised you the most? Feel free to comment below and let us know. And don't forget to subscribe for more insights. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read the report on who's been stealing cookies from my cookie jar. I've got a couple of leads. I'm hoping to crack the case by nightfall. Until then, I'll see you next time. I can find this client info.
Have you heard of HubSpot? HubSpot is a CRM platform, so it shares its data across every application. Every team can stay aligned. No out of sync spreadsheets or dueling databases.
