{"id":45690,"date":"2021-03-31T08:54:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=45690"},"modified":"2024-09-16T11:21:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T18:21:33","slug":"survey-reveals-salespeople-expect-to-travel-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/survey-reveals-salespeople-expect-to-travel-less\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey Reveals 51% of U.S. Salespeople Expect to Travel Less Post-Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quick Take:<\/strong> A new survey of U.S.-based salespeople shows strong enthusiasm for a return to stability and growth. Despite a sharp rise in the share of salespeople who plan to work remotely for the long term, however, training for digital selling is scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2020, at the height of the global pandemic, Salesforce conducted a survey of global salespeople for its State of Sales<\/a> report. Even then, as confusion reigned, 61% of salespeople were confident about one thing: their jobs would never be the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, nearly a year later, a new world of digital sales<\/a> is coming into focus. Economic forecasts are up, vaccine production and distribution is speeding up, and salespeople \u2014 along with the rest of society \u2014 have a clearer view of what the future holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We surveyed 250 quota-carrying sales representatives in the United States to learn how salespeople see the future of their roles, how and where they\u2019ll perform them, and how prepared they are to embrace a new era of selling. Here\u2019s what we found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expectations for growth and stability dominate sales outlooks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As layoffs mounted and public health directives restricted movement in 2020, businesses across industries grappled with an existential economic threat that in many cases became too powerful to overcome. Yet according to the salespeople we surveyed, gloomy outlooks have overwhelmingly been replaced by optimism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest share of sales reps (50%) expect their companies\u2019 revenue streams to grow over the course of 2021, compared to a mere 13% who expect declining revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n

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With bright outlooks for sales numbers, many salespeople (44%) say they feel increased pressure to deliver revenue. 38% of salespeople are worried that they\u2019ll miss their quotas this year, and an additional 22% remain unsure about the outlook of their quotas. Compounding this anxiety is the fact that just 19% of salespeople say they have excellent visibility into their pipelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital selling is here to stay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a year of selling virtually, what was once seen as a temporary change is now largely seen as a permanent shift in how salespeople conduct their jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent study<\/a> of B2B customers around the world found that 81% expect to conduct more business online after the pandemic than they did before. The implications for salespeople are clear:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n