If the trend continues, the rate of technological change in the next decade will only increase. And businesses, tied to advancements in technology in order to remain competitive, will be forced to change at roughly the same speed. Every generation of salespeople secretly thinks they have perfected the process, but every passing generation reveals blind spots or inaccuracies in the former’s thinking.

So, what will your sales team look like in ten years? Not what they will literally look like (the answer is obviously: ten years older!) but what will the sales process look like, and how will it be changed for the better? No one has a sales crystal ball to consult. But judging by the way sales teams are currently evolving, here are a few predictions as to what they will look like in the next decade.

Sales Engagement Technology Will Be the Norm

Sales engagement platforms are already starting to catch on with teams looking to automate the sales process and remove the guesswork from picking leads. However, you can expect this technology to become the norm in the next decade. This type of platform is, in essence, a synthesis of all the good ideas sales technology has had: workflow automation, queue-based lead routing, lead tracking, etc. You can learn more about sales software from VanillaSoft if you’re curious about the details. Suffice it to say, companies not using them will soon find themselves at a major disadvantage.

Expect Increased Collaboration With Marketing

The rift between sales and marketing is one of the more regressive features of modern sales teams. It makes no sense why two teams with a common goal would be so at odds, so reticent to volunteer information with one another, and so unwilling to collaborate. Companies that have evolved to align their sales and marketing efforts, however, have seen great results. It’s only a matter of time before things change. It helps, too, that the aforementioned sales engagement software makes alignment easier than ever.

Automation Will Greatly Boost Productivity

In the coming decade, expect many if not all sales teams to use AI in some capacity to augment their sales processes. Also, expect automation to have a great role in closing more leads and boosting productivity. All those manual, time-eating tasks that reps had to undertake – from data management and lead prioritization, to email writing and even dialling the phone – will be automated, turning your team into a well-oiled machine. Nothing will replace the mind and personality of a great salesperson; in fact, automation will actually make it so that their core competencies are better used.

What else will change in the next decade? What metrics will sales managers be discussing – or will there even be sales managers left to discuss anything? At the end of the day, no one quite knows what the future has in store for sales. However, speculation based on current evolution paints a hopeful picture, one of greater effectiveness and more collaboration.