6 Once-Hot Sales Trends That Are Losing Steam in 2024

Sales is an ever-evolving field. What works today may not work tomorrow as buyer behaviors change, new technologies emerge, and economic conditions shift. As sales professionals, it‘s crucial to stay on top of the latest trends and adapt our strategies to remain relevant and effective.

But it‘s equally important to recognize when certain trends have run their course. Not every new tactic or technology that gains popularity is destined to stick around for the long haul. In fact, several sales trends that were once considered "must-dos" are starting to fizzle out.

Wondering if your tried-and-true sales strategies still hold up? Based on my analysis of the latest industry research and conversations with sales leaders, here are 6 once-hot sales trends that could fade away in 2024 and beyond.

1. Salespeople as Keepers of the Product Knowledge

In the not-so-distant past, salespeople served as the primary gatekeepers of information about their products and services. Buyers came into sales conversations with minimal knowledge and relied heavily on reps to educate them.

However, the rise of online research and content marketing has fundamentally changed this dynamic. Today, >85% of buyers say they prefer to gather information on their own before ever engaging with a sales rep (Source).

Modern B2B buyers complete 57-70% of their purchase decision before contacting a supplier (Source). By the time they connect with a salesperson, they‘ve already researched their problem, potential solutions, competitors, and pricing. They expect sales reps to deliver personalized insights, not generic product info.

This shift requires sales reps to reposition themselves from information disseminators to insight providers and trusted advisors. Rather than leading with a canned pitch, we need to focus on understanding the buyer‘s unique context and tailoring our messaging.

"Buyers don‘t need salespeople to tell them what they already know," says John Barrows, sales trainer and author. "They need help translating that information into what‘s truly important for their business."

Action Item: Adjust your sales process and messaging to lead with empathy, insights, and a consultative approach vs. a generic product pitch. Dig into each prospect‘s specific goals and challenges before a call and come prepared with relevant questions, use cases, and advice.

2. LinkedIn as the Ultimate Prospecting Platform

For years, LinkedIn was the undisputed champion of social networks for salespeople to find and research potential buyers. And it remains an invaluable channel for many B2B sellers with 80% of social media B2B leads coming from LinkedIn (Source).

However, Facebook has emerged as a major contender for the prospecting throne. According to HubSpot‘s 2024 Sales Trends Report, 57% of salespeople say Facebook is the most effective social network for prospect research compared to 51% who favor LinkedIn.

One factor driving this trend is Facebook‘s massive scale with over 2.9 billion monthly active users compared to 830 million on LinkedIn (Source). More people using a platform equals a larger pool of potential prospects for sellers to target.

Facebook has also been investing heavily in business-friendly features like Facebook Business Profiles, Facebook Messaging Ads for lead generation, Facebook Groups focused on professional interests and networking, Facebook Jobs, and more.

"I‘ve seen a big uptick in response rates and engagement with prospects on Facebook, especially in industries outside of the classic B2B tech verticals," says Morgan J. Ingram, Director of Sales Execution and Evolution at JB Sales Training. "It‘s become a go-to channel for me to build real relationships with buyers."

That said, LinkedIn remains a highly effective platform for many sellers and Facebook isn‘t ideal for every business or industry. B2B salespeople may still see better results on LinkedIn while B2C reps often favor Facebook and Instagram.

The Takeaway: Rather than putting all your eggs in one social media basket, adopt an omnichannel approach to prospecting. Experiment with multiple platforms, track your results, and double down on the channels that deliver the best ROI for your specific audience and use case.

3. Virtual Selling as the Default

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual selling via video calls and online demos became the norm by necessity. And many experts predicted that these virtual tactics would permanently overtake face-to-face sales even after lockdowns ended.

However, the data tells a more nuanced story:

• 65% of consumers say they prefer to interact with a salesperson in-person (Source)
• Only 16% of salespeople say improving their virtual selling process is a top priority (Source)
• The percentage of salespeople who say video calls are effective for selling dropped from 41.5% in 2022 to 26% in 2024 (Source)

This doesn‘t mean that virtual selling is going away entirely. It remains an important tool and many buyers still prefer the convenience of meeting online vs. in-person.

However, the post-pandemic sales landscape will likely be dominated by a hybrid approach rather than a fully virtual one. The most successful reps will strategically blend online and offline interactions based on each buyer‘s preferences and what‘s most effective for moving deals forward.

Research from McKinsey shows that almost 90% of sales have moved to a videoconferencing/phone/web sales model, and while some skepticism remains, more than half believe this is equally or more effective than sales models used before COVID-19 (Source).

Action Item: Audit your sales process to identify opportunities to incorporate more face-to-face interactions, whether that‘s in-person meetings, site visits, dinners, or events. Build deeper offline relationships with key customers and prospects.

4. Social Selling as Just a Buzzword

Social selling, or using social media to find, connect with, and engage buyers, has been gaining mainstream adoption over the past decade. But it still gets a bad rap in some circles as an overhyped trend or hollow buzzword.

However, the impact of social selling is becoming impossible to ignore:

• 78% of salespeople who use social media outsell their peers who don‘t (Source)
• Social selling leaders create 45% more opportunities than peers with basic or no social skills (Source)
• 95% of buyers say they‘re more likely to engage with a rep who shares relevant content and insights (Source)

What‘s more, younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z overwhelmingly prefer to discover, research, and buy from brands directly via social media platforms. 91% of executives ages 18-34 report using social media for business purposes (Source).

Dismissing social selling as a passing fad could mean missing out on a massive opportunity to meet your buyers where they are and authentically engage them. The key is to use social media to build genuine relationships and provide value, not just blast out spammy pitches.

Action Item: Invest in training your sales reps on effective social selling techniques. Create a playbook with guidelines, content ideas, and cadences. Make social selling activities like researching prospects, sharing content, and engaging in discussions a core part of your team‘s daily workflow.

5. Sales and Marketing Misalignment

Tension between sales and marketing teams is an age-old issue. Marketers complain that sales doesn‘t follow up on their leads. Salespeople say the leads from marketing are low quality. The two departments operate more like rivals than teammates.

But those days are numbered. High-growth companies can no longer afford to let sales and marketing operate in siloes. Alignment between the two functions has emerged as a major competitive differentiator.

Consider these stats:

• Organizations with tightly aligned sales and marketing teams are 107% more likely to achieve their revenue goals (Source)
• Aligned organizations achieve 19% faster growth and 15% higher profitability (Source)
• 60% of salespeople say their team has become more aligned with marketing since last year (Source)

When sales and marketing work together seamlessly, magic happens. Marketing can deliver more sales-ready leads, equip reps with relevant content, and orchestrate cohesive customer journeys. Sales can provide feedback to refine targeting and messaging. The result is a well-oiled revenue machine.

Action Item: Implement a formal sales and marketing service level agreement (SLA) outlining each team‘s goals, expectations, and commitments. Schedule regular meetings to share ideas, updates and feedback. Build shared dashboards to track progress against joint KPIs.

6. Cold Calling as Completely Dead

If I had a dollar for every time I‘ve heard "cold calling is dead," I‘d be writing this post from my private island. Let‘s be clear – cold calling is far from dead. But it has certainly evolved from the old-school approach of smiling and dialing through a random list of prospects.

Cold outreach, whether via phone, email, or social media, still plays an important role in most sales orgs. Consider these statistics:

• 63% of salespeople say they regularly conduct some form of cold outreach (Source)
• Making 6 calls yields a 90% contact rate with a lead (Source)
• Phone calls are salespeople‘s #1 choice for cold outreach, beating out email and social (Source)

So proclaiming that cold calling is completely dead and irrelevant for modern sellers is inaccurate. But randomly bombarding prospects with generic, scripted pitches is certainly an ineffective and outdated approach.

Today‘s buyers expect a much higher level of personalization and relevance in cold outreach. Successful reps research their prospects in advance, tailor their messaging to the buyer‘s specific needs and use case, and focus the call on starting a conversation vs. closing a deal on the spot.

Cold calling and outreach should also be one component of a larger omnichannel sales prospecting strategy, not the only tactic. For example, many reps have success warming up cold calls with personalized emails, social touches or direct mail in advance.

When done right, cold outreach remains a viable way to fill the top of your pipeline with sales opportunities. But like any tactic, it must evolve with the times to remain effective.

Action Item: Update your cold calling and cold outreach playbooks to focus on personalization, relevance and multi-channel sequences. Provide reps with sales enablement content like email templates, call scripts and objection handling guides. Test different combinations of tactics to optimize connect and conversion rates.

Key Takeaways

The world of sales never stands still for long. Emerging technologies, changing buyer preferences and turbulent market conditions will always give rise to new trends while leaving others in the dust.

Some of the most hyped sales trends of the 2010s, like sales reps as walking brochures, LinkedIn as the ultimate prospecting platform, virtual selling as the only way forward, and cold calling as extinct, are starting to lose their luster. Meanwhile, underrated strategies like consultative selling, social selling and sales/marketing alignment are proving to be major difference makers.

As we look ahead to the rest of 2024 and beyond, the most successful sellers and sales organizations will be those who can quickly identify which trends are here to stay, which are on the way out, and adapt their approach accordingly.

But most importantly, we must keep our finger on the pulse of our customers. No matter what the latest trends and technologies are, solving our buyers‘ problems with smarter, more human experiences remains the ultimate key to sales success.