Forrester (NASDAQ: FORR), headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is a leading global advisory and market research company that helps many organizations in their customer-centric efforts supported by technology-driven insights.

Kelley Hippler, Forrester’s Chief Sales Officer (CSO), was on December 6, 2021, a concluding Guest Speaker of the Winter 2021/22 semester at WU for 2235: Personal Selling and Sales Management class.

Kelley talked about the Future of B2B Sales, how sales strategies should be revolutionized for both buyers and customers in order to bring customer-like experiences expected by the buyers. The future of sales will be purpose-driven, precise, personalized, productive, and profitable. Purpose-driven because buyers and sellers seek value beyond core products and services, while preciseness is assured based on AI-driven insights. AI will assess the required knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a particular sales role. According to Kelley, the most appraised soft skills of sellers include curiosity and empathy.

Moreover, preciseness comes with personalization that assures contextually-relevant experiences that boost value both for sellers and customers without affecting their privacy. Insights-driven automation will help secure productive selling since future B2B sellers need to spend more time selling. And in order for profitability to be certain, the current activities and resources need to be optimized with selected routes-to-market powered by lifetime value and customer acquisition cost ratios.

Kelley has built and breathed new life into the Global Sales and Customer Success organizations for two decades. She is a global business executive with 20 years of experience building bold, profitable sales and customer success organizations. Her leadership focuses on enablement, efficiency, and structure, and she has a track record of instilling process and organizational excellence to achieve revenue growth and sales productivity. She is an invaluable resource for companies looking to accelerate growth and profitability. 

Kelley’s list of awards is impressive, including the Modern Top 100 Sales Leader for 2019-2021. She is also a recipient of numerous awards, like CSO Award, CEO Club, Forrester “Client” Award, Forrester “Consistency” Award, and President’s Club.

Kelley, thank you for being with us and impressing us with the simplicity of a genuine leader. We wish you much success with your future sales endeavors!