Business management trends to watch in 2017

Business management is a constantly evolving discipline, and that means there are new development constantly. The majority of them fall quickly by the wayside as they fail to produce results, or prove too costly or disruptive to many businesses. A few, though, become ingrained as go-to techniques.

The following 10 trends are making a name for themselves at the moment, and will bear watching throughout 2017, and probably beyond. They won’t all prove worthy, but they probably will give us important insights either way.

#1 Bringing in subject matter experts rather than marketing experts to drive sales

Customers have built u substantial ‘psychic armor’ against purely ‘sales-focused’ techniques. However, they do seem to respond well to sales people who really know their product and how to use it for better results.

#2 Giving dedicated sales support to those subject matter experts, rather than the other way around

SMEs may become vital to communicate your product’s value to the customer, but they aren’t really trained in closing the sale. With sales support people on hand to spot and act on opportunities, you could see better results.

#3 Better integration of content marketing with sales messages

Well-integrates sales and content marketing material still includes valuable information for the user, but also suggests how to move the process forward, in a non-pushy manner.

#4 Collaboration tools eclipsing old-fashioned email

The use of integrated collaboration solutions could become much more important than traditional email contact for many users, leading to less ‘inbox monitoring’ and higher actual productivity.

#5 A shift in priority from ‘sales’ to ‘recurring income’

Rather than focusing on locking customers into long-term contracts, many businesses will turn to a model where they instead encourage frequent renewals or even open-ended monthly payments.

#6 Grooming millenials for leadership positions

It is all but inescapable – ‘millenials’ will become the next generation to step into leadership roles. Those roles must then adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of the people occupying them. Just how is an open question, though.

#7 A focus on ever narrower market segments

Today’s consumers are more tech-savvy than ever, and they respond poorly to broadly targeted sales messages. Narrowly (and intelligently) segmented marketing efforts will be needed going forward.

#8 Brick and mortar operations will be limited to providing personalized, expert advice or other added value

If you want general, fungible goods or services, you’ll go online. You’ll only pay a premium for personal service if it adds something meaningful to the deal. Expert advice or carefully curated stock will still be worth paying for all the overhead.

#9 Online video will become more important to almost everyone

Executives, consumers, and everyone in between are getting more information form online video channels. If you want your sales message to be heard, it had better also be watched.

#10 Crowdfunding will become an important way to float new products and services

A crowdfunding initiative has 2 main benefits: it allows a company to gage consumer support for a product or service accurately, and it costs a lot less than traditional techniques. This could be a game changer in 2017 and beyond.

You can read more about this topic at Forbes.