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2020 Sales Trends Virtual Event – The Time is NOW

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What a year it has been. 

On Friday 13th March, as we were observing the COVID-19 situation we decided to postpone the Barrett Annual Sales Trend Breakfast, planned for March 25th.

Nine months later, on 25 November, we hosted our event virtually. We explored the 2020 Sales Trends, which seem to be even more relevant now than when we wrote them. For our virtual event we assembled our esteemed panel:

  1. Alison Rowe – Chief Executive Officer, Australian Energy Foundation
  2. Ben Shute – CEO, Comprara
  3. Karl Mattingly – CEO, Dysrupt Labs
  4. Stephanie Mackenzie – General Manager – Communities Sales at Stockland
  5. Toby Kent – Entrepreneur, professional speaker, and business advisor

and covered everything from Geo-political trends, procurement, our clean energy future, resilient cities, how to be an effective sales leader and where sales opportunities are emerging in these interesting and changing times. The question was asked ‘Is there a Better Normal rather than a ‘return to normal’?’ and the answers were overwhelming in support of moving towards a better normal, no turning back. The Time is indeed NOW.

We have videos and podcasts from the event so you can participate in these important discussions. Please share far and wide as there are many important messages people need to hear so they can sell better now and sustainably into the future. 

As a backdrop here are my introductory remarks:

Welcome to the 2020 Sales Trends virtual Event – The Time is NOW.

2020 marks many things it seems, but it also marks 25 years in business for Barrett. Over these years we have seen many things – good, bad, and indifferent – when it comes to managing businesses and sales teams successfully or otherwise. Fads, trends, myths, hype, well-worn facts, innovations and home-truths have all been a part of this 25 year journey.

We’ve talked with over 10,000 business leaders from the C-suite and Sales about their issues, concerns, ideas, and opportunities when it comes to sales strategy, sales operations, processes, salespeople, and culture. Some have been the early adopters and pragmatists – those who could see changes, took the lead and adapted, catching the opportunities early, while others were closed off and preferred to talk about change instead of taking decisive action; they bided their time and remained with the status quo until it became a crisis, which left them scrambling to secure their future.

It begs the question: With everything we need for positive change and progress available to us now, why wait for a crisis to secure our future?

How Ironic and possibly prophetic that we wrote these words back in December 2019.

Despite the mighty disruptions and distress of the COVID pandemic, it seems this crisis has been the accelerant needed to bring forward many positive changes and progress.

Governments, industry bodies, and the global business community who have been talking for decades about making changes and taking action to address climate change, reduce the impact of industry on our environment, reduce waste and CO2 emissions, create ethical supply chains, deliver viable innovations, and alternative strategies and triple bottom lines that create more and better sustainable businesses and communities now seem to be turning their talk into action.

Many are stepping up to take purposeful and decisive action and make positive changes in the way we do business, the way we sell, and the way we measure success. The traditional business paradigms of the last 50-60 years seem to be past their use-by-dates and no longer working.

The mantra of sell and consume ‘more, more, more’ no longer has a place in the new normal.

We are discovering better ways of doing business where companies and sales teams can be a force for good and contribute to a better society, a better world.

The evidence is here, organisations can be profitable and do business and sell in a way that protects the world’s finite resources and is good for the economy and society now and in the long term. Instead of waiting for governments, many businesses and communities have already taken the lead and walking the talk on positive change, ditching short-termism, embracing collaboration – with colleagues, clients, suppliers, communities, and other stakeholders-, as they adapt to a COVID normal and emerging post-consumerism world.

So welcome to this belated event, the Barrett 2020 Sales Trends Business event, where we will look at what businesses can do now to prosper, for the betterment of their teams, clients, communities and for the sustainable future of our planet. We will take a look at the big global trends that are affecting businesses, customers, consumers and communities everywhere. We will also explore the practical trends that are affecting how we buy and sell under the pressing mantle of these big global trends: AI, crowd sales forecasting, new sales funnels, tenders, procurement, AI, the soft skills revolution and sales education practices that help people sell better, faster.

As we transition to a new paradigm of business, the new and better normal, we ask the questions:

  • What are we selling now?
  • What are we buying now?

The Time is NOW.

You can download the full 2020 Sales Trends Report here.

Remember, everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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