I didn’t do a predictions post this year. (actually I am not sure I ever have)…The goal of this post was to get a couple things I have been thinking about out on the table. (which would not have been a very catchy title). I also am currently writing blog posts about all four
1. In 2 years desk phones will no longer have the inbound call feature — That’s right, they will just turn it off. I am not even sure why you need it now. Cell phones, email, social will all be the tools of the outbound marketer. Inbound marketing will be the absolute “must” overall. We will have to buyers raise their hands to get to them quickly and in a meaningful way.
2. I met recently with a CEO who told me all his company’s buyers are sending in orders with what they want to buy, how much, etc without talking to sales. As a matter of fact, they have ZERO record of these prospects. He realized these buyers are completely anonymous until the very end. So, picture this: These buyers are 95% done with the sales cycle when they come 
knocking. How about these predictions:
- We realize “nurturing” was a narrow look at the world..– Not sure what we will call it. In the consumer world it’s called Customer Priming. At the end of the day, we will be in a constant state of moving buyers down the funnel without having any idea who they are or where they are aka many will be untrackable. Your skills must become more and more effective in front of the gate…speaking of which:
- Reg Forms will be used 65% less than today — Good marketers will prime prospects on the open internet and only hit them with reg forms at the end of the buying process because buyers will demand it. Letting content fly is not a new phenomenon, I am seeing 85 page ebooks out there without reg forms.
3. Scoring will extend beyond the “lead” — I am working on a big blog post on this right now. Today we are so confined with our scoring (from first reg to close with scoring based on trackable activity after the first reg)…but with big data, we will be able to score of data we never thought of before. For example, Lattice Engines scores prospects based on ERP and CRM data. They can tell you who will be more likely to buy…not just what the buyer downloaded. Add that to all the applications providing social data and you start to see the possibilities. We will laugh at today’s scoring models a couple years from now.
5. Our LinkedIN message boxes will be 30X more filled with messages — I wonder what Linkedin will do when marketers and sales guys really start abusing the messaging function. Right now, I am getting 50% conversion of Inmail or messaging…but I am seeing the number of messages rising. As more people catch on, the message box will overflow and Linkedin, which has provided a pretty user-friendly experience, may have some decisions to make.
Craig Rosenberg is the Funnelholic and a co-founder of Topo. He loves sales, marketing, and things that drive revenue. Follow him on Google+ or Twitter