OpenView’s 22 make-or-break sales and marketing predictions for 2013

What are the key trends that are likely to impact B2B sales and marketing in 2013? OpenView Labs - one of the best sources of information anywhere on the web for expansion stage technology companies - recently published 22 predictions.

I was pleased to be asked to be one of the contributors. You can read all of the opinions in the full blog post here, but just to give you a flavour, I'd like to share the headlines and a fascinating graphic summarising some of the key points below.

Inevitably, some of the predictions are at odds with each other. Which do you agree with? Which are likely to have the most impact on YOUR go-to-market strategies in 2013?

1. Aligning content with the on-going sales conversation is going to be key
2. Successful salespeople will position themselves as people of value
3. Buyers will control the prospecting process
4. Inbound marketing won’t replace traditional prospecting
5. Say goodbye to the road warriors
6. Sales (as we know it) is dead
7. No room for dead weight: focus on grooming sales talent with promise
8. Increased investment in recruiting & retention
9. Time to get personal with lead nurturing
10. Touch points, touch points, touch points
11. The days of manually dialling are over
12. Social selling surpasses cold calling
13. LinkedIn becomes the premier prospecting tool for b2b selling
14. Social collaboration leads to new opportunities
15. Sellers will join in on more social conversations
16. Buying process maps are going to be crucial
17. It’s time to add buying facilitation® to your sales efforts to influence the buying decision path
18. Salespeople will have unprecedented access to buyers
19. It will become even more challenging to connect with buyers
20. It’s all about value-add — and customers will be willing to pay more for it
21. Benchmarking is key
22. Finding opportunities, sales enablement, customer retention, controlling costs, leading from the front

Here's that infographic:

22 Must-Read Sales Predictions for 2013 by OpenView Venture Partners

And here’s that link to the full blog post again.