The latest edition of the State of Sales Report by Salesforce, prepared in partnership with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), reveals that 83 per cent of ANZ retailers have strong confidence in their businesses’ profitability despite changing social and economic conditions.
This prevailing sentiment comes despite 78 per cent of ANZ sales leaders saying that selling is currently harder than it was two years ago due to unpredictable market conditions, competition with other businesses, and changing customer expectations.
The report also reveals how sales teams are adapting to these challenges and customer demands to drive efficiency, productivity, and success for their business across a variety of platforms such as email, phone, and social media.
In fact, 82 per cent of sales professionals are very confident in their companies’ growth strategy over the next year, with 81 per cent feeling confident that on the whole, their companies are able to retrain or reskill their sales workforce for today’s new economy as they focus on productivity and efficiency.
“Today’s retailers are adjusting to a world that is more competitive, complex and resource-constrained driven by external factors like rising inflation, supply chain challenges and changing regulations,” Jo Gaines, Area Vice President for Retail and Consumer Goods at Salesforce, said. “However, those that modernise their tech stack and leverage new technologies like artificial intelligence can create a more productive workforce that better understands who their customers are beyond a single moment in time.
“This, alongside improved cross-functional alignment between sales and marketing, customer service and sales operations, is enabling efficiencies and freeing-up sales reps to focus on what they were hired to do: focus on the human side of selling and build meaningful relationships with their customers,” Gaines added. “In the face of uncertain economic times, short-term sales opportunities are taking a back seat in favour of long-term relationship building. In the year ahead, retailers must focus on fostering customer loyalty to drive recurring sales and consistent growth.”
Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association, said that the world of retail is evolving at an ever-increasing pace and sales professionals know better than most the importance of meeting the customers where they are.
“The pandemic accelerated changes and shifts towards omnichannel retail and demonstrated that those willing to harness technology and innovation to meet their customers’ needs were able to be resilient in the face of crisis,” Zahra said. “Post-pandemic, we face fresh headwinds – compounding economic strain, supply chain and resource challenges and labour shortages as well as the impact of climate change on customer sentiment and product and service offerings. It’s important for retailers to consolidate their learnings from the pandemic and to continue to listen closely to their customers and feedback from their sales teams to help navigate through what is bound to be another year of intense challenge but momentous opportunity.”
The ARA has forecasted that Australians will spend a record $66 billion in the November to December pre-Christmas trading period this year, up 6.4 per cent on last year’s spending. The higher numbers are driven largely by price increases as well as stronger food and hospitality spending, as Aussies enjoy their post-pandemic experiences.
“While these are great results, it’s important to acknowledge that price increases are a factor in these numbers and are also driving Australians to spend to get in ahead of inflation,” Zahra said. “Agility, future focus and maximising efficiency are key skill sets needed within retail teams. Focus needs to remain customer-centric, as loyalty and retention are imperative to success in the coming years.”
