The world of sales is changing rapidly and technology is driving those changes. Sales managers and teams everywhere are using social, mobile, big data, and cloud services to change the way they do business.

Gerhard Gschwandtner, Selling Power Founder and CEO, says that while the most-talked about tech trends in sales remain significant, there are other changes happening we must also pay attention too.

Here are four trends Gschwandtner recommends keeping in mind when considering the future of sales.

1. Young sales reps lack traditional skills

While today’s graduates are very sophisticated when it comes to using technology, they are often not so smart when it comes to people skills and a nose for sales. Gschwandtner says that it is now more important than ever that companies train new reps on the basics of establishing a relationship and having value-added conversations. He also says that it’s vital that companies use aptitude tests and other sciences to hire sales people with a true drive to succeed.

2. There are less sales jobs and more sales support jobs

By 2020, 80% of business-to-business transactions will be automated. As a result, Gschwandtner says in the coming years we can expect the number of sales jobs to shrink from 15.5 million to just four or five million. In the meantime, technology has created more and more sales support functions. For example, companies often now need people to manage the information that is delivered to sales reps on their laptops and mobile devices.

3. Buyers are making decisions without human help

60% of a buyer’s decision process in valuating a product is now made online. Buyers are making self-selections and using self-service more than ever before. This trend means that the sales person’s role is no longer to provide information about a product. Their role now is to add value by understanding the needs of a customer. Gschwandtner says that only those who make that transition will have a future in sales.

4. Video sales enablement is in and phones are out

Gschwandtner forecasts that very soon video conversations will become the norm for sales reps and teams, while phone conversations alone will become obsolete. This is because only so much can be understood through words, while body language is much for effective. Gschwandtner also sees this video sales enablement making the hiring process more automated, with video resumes becoming the norm.

To hear more from Gschwandtner, please join us today at 2 pm ET/11 am PT for Transforming Sales: Accelerating Sales Growth and Streamlining Processes. This free Webinar will provide you with new ways to grow sales and empower your sales team.

• Get ideas on how to help your team sell faster and more effectively.
• Learn to deploy CRM applications seamlessly and scale to your organization's needs.
• Help your organization realize accelerated growth and measured ROI.

Other speakers include:

Ken Powell, VP of Global Sales Enablement, SunGard
Mark Woollen, VP of Marketing, Sales Cloud, Salesforce.com