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Technology is disrupting all industries and fields. Sales is no exception. The ways in which salespeople communication, gather information about prospects and customers, and keep records about their customers and deals have all fundamentally changed with technology. However, there is more change on the horizon. Discover the big sales technology trends that you need to prepare for.

1.    AI and Automated Customer Support and Service

AI is an emerging area that will change almost every industry; but one of the first to be affected is customer support. Using AI in your Automated Customer Support could turn a potential area of dissatisfaction into an area of satisfaction for your prospects and customers, which will maximize sales.

One of the most successful customer service apps is the Domino’s pizza app. It allows customers to quickly and easily order pizza from their phone. One of the reasons this app is so successful is because it builds on an existing behavior – looking at menus via mobile. Customers were already looking at the items they wanted to order on their phones, so Domino’s built functionality that would enable them to take the next step, and purchase.

While your sales may involve more complex decisions than the pizza toppings you want, you could leverage AI in other ways. For instance, you could have a bot answer questions that prospects have after reading about your solution’s functionality.

2.    Mobile Commerce

People are spending more time on their phones, which means there is more and more opportunity to leverage this behavior in your sales cycle. Mobile commerce is only just emerging in the consumer space, but there is an opportunity to leverage it in your B2B sales cycle as well.

Optimizing your website for mobile is the first thing you should do to ensure you are supporting the mobile commerce technology trend. However, there could be other ways to support your sales cycle. Maybe there is a way you could upsell existing customers using mobile.

3.    Social Selling

Social selling is predicted to grow even more in the coming years. This is a trend your team needs to capitalize on, since recent research has found that knowledgeable social media users are six times more likely to exceed quota. As social platforms expand beyond communication and socializing, there are more and more opportunities for sales organizations to leverage social selling.

BMC Software, a B2B IT solutions company, created a platform called BeSocial, which is a portal where salespeople can find and use content created by marketing and other teams. They can share this content by posting immediately, or schedule it to be shared later. This type of portal enables the sales team to spend their time on social selling effectively, and always know that their messages will be on-brand. Your sales team are not content creators, so consider how your sales team can leverage existing material and knowledge from inside the organization for their social selling efforts.

4.    Video

Industry leaders have been talking about using video in sales and marketing for a few years now; however, sales organizations have yet to crack the code on how to best leverage this channel. Facebook and other social media sites have introduced live video, which gives sales people a new channel to share information with their prospects.

Callaway Golf leveraged Facebook live when they did a tour of Arnold Palmer’s office, led by Palmer’s assistant and friend, Doc. The cameraman asks people to submit questions as the video is playing, creating urgency and a reason to watch the video live. For Callaway’s audience, this type of exclusive content creates a connection with the brand, and this is important for video. Creating video content doesn’t need to be about securing the sale, but it can be a factor in motivating the prospect to buy later on.

Leverage these technology trends in your own sales practice, and you will be at the forefront of your industry. You’ll be able to save time and increase engagement, allowing you to increase your sales.