Sales Trends You Can’t Miss in 2025: Sales Automation, Multi-Channel Sales, and More

Originally published December 30, 2024, updated January 15, 2025

Here are top 10 sales trends to watch in 2025 and stay ahead of the competition.

As 2024 wraps up, sales leaders are preparing for an exciting 2025. Expect game-changing sales trends like AI-powered sales automation, multi-channel strategies, and advanced personalization. But beyond the tech, data protection, value-based selling, and sales ethics will take center stage.

With a global economy still uncertain, sales cycles are expected to lengthen, purchasing processes to become more thorough, and CFOs to have a bigger say in sales decisions. Anyway, let’s get down to business and tell you more about what we’ve found during our sales trend analysis.

#1: Heightened focus on data protection

Customers are getting more serious about their privacy, and who can blame them? While we all love a good bargain, there's a growing concern about how businesses handle our data — especially when it comes to big players with revenues that dwarf most small countries. And let’s not forget the ongoing debate about banning giants like TikTok in the US (if you’re not living under a rock, you remember the data privacy drama, right? 🤨).

So, how do you protect your customer's data?

Launching into data protection begins with getting consent from a client. Be clear with your customers about why you need their data and how you plan to use it — show a consent form when a customer signs up.

Keeping security protocols in check will be among the top sales industry trends. After all, the human factor plays a role in 74% of all data breaches. Sure, coaching a room full of adults about setting good passwords, not opening files they don’t trust, and double-checking the websites they click on may sound silly. However, if you take a second to remember the consequences, a cybersecurity coaching session doesn’t sound that bad. Hmmm…. Sounds like a new sales trend on the rise to me! 😉

Here are a few things you can add to your sales data security practices:

Be honest in telling your clients why you collect their data.
Regularly check in with your helpdesk specialists to ensure your security protocols stay ahead of the curve.
Educate your team, making data protection and cybersecurity a part of the organizational culture.

#2: Sales automation at its finest

Some sale trends are so trendy that they just become the norm. An example of this is sales automation.

A common misconception is that automation stifles creativity and personalization as you scale, but the opposite is true. When you automate routine tasks, you actually free up time for brainstorming more creative sales strategies and personalized offers. A win-win!

The best way to automate your sales process is to implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system. It allows you to automate your outreach, set drip campaigns, visualise your sales pipelines, and manage them more efficiently.

For instance, NetHunt CRM is a simple CRM solution that helps you easily create complex automation sequences with multiple rules and triggers.

With our tool, you can create multiple pipelines with ultra-customizable elements. You can capture leads from multiple channels (social media and LinkedIn included), add them to the pipeline and automatically distribute them among managers. Further, the system would automatically move deals from one stage to another and assign tasks to the sales team members based on the changes in the pipeline.

Still, it isn’t just a CRM system integration that can help you automate the sales process. Everything related to the sales process optimization with the software and/or hardware means falls under this category.

#3: Messenger-based selling

In 2025, companies will fully use messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and Telegram as sales channels. You’d ask, ‘Why? Are social media channels like Instagram not enough?’ Well, the thing is that the boundary between social media and messaging apps is getting fuzzier with each passing year. And as we know, all those messengers have already introduced features that allow users to engage with brands and take part in social media interactions without leaving the app.

Here are the benefits that messenger-based selling, one of the latest sales trends, brings to businesses:

Higher open-and-click rates. Compared to traditional emails, which often go unopened, messages sent via messengers are three times more likely to be read.
Ultra-personalization. Sales teams can leverage rich media, such as videos, images, and voice notes, to tailor messages to individual customer preferences.
24/7 customer support powered by chatbot integration. Businesses can provide round-the-clock service, from guiding customers through the purchase process to answering FAQs. This means no lead goes cold, even outside business hours.
Built-in cost-effective sales tools. It seems like messenger providers know everything about this particular sales trend 🤨 For instance, WhatsApp launched new tools for broadcast messaging and payment options, while Facebook Messenger introduced more multi-channel integrations.

In the end, using messengers means a casual conversation effortlessly transitioning into a closed deal. Sounds effortless, right?

The rise in social selling further proves that ‘direct selling’ is dying out. If you want to increase sales, you should be delicate and unintrusive. In 2025, social selling is a must-follow sales trend to keep your business thriving.

Instead of trying to sell your product right here and now, you should plant the idea into your prospects’ heads and keep developing it. How? Always be there for them — answer their questions and showcase expertise online wherever and whenever possible.

The good news? If you have a business profile on any social media platform, you’re already socially selling. And if you don’t — you should. According to the recent sales trends analysis, 80% of B2B sales interactions between companies and buyers occur in digital channels.

Here is a small 🏷️ Pro Tip from us:

In 2025, aim to dedicate at least half an hour a day to be active on social media: Write posts, repost insightful market research with expert commentaries, like posts, and leave valuable comments.

One of the biggest social selling trends in 2025 is personal brand development. CEOs, managers, and other representatives of a company will work more toward establishing authority on social media, especially LinkedIn. Most of them will engage their target audience with expert-level content that builds trust, captures attention, and naturally guides them towards the product.

Here are 3 helpful social selling techniques to try in 2025:

Social listening with social media monitoring 🕵️‍. Monitor your prospects’ social media activity, gain valuable insights into their interests, and tailor your engagement strategies accordingly. If you’ve got an opportunity, listen to those ‘micro-communities’ like closed groups and forums closely as they offer unfiltered conversations with a wealth of insights.
Sharing relevant content on prospect feeds 📲. Regularly post valuable content on social platforms to ensure you're staying in your prospects' feeds, sparking interest, and guiding them toward your product naturally.
Building human-to-human connections 🤝. In 2025, successful sales will rely on genuine, human connections. Companies that are transparent, sharing both their successes and challenges, will earn the trust of customers. Don’t hesitate to share vulnerable moments with your prospects: share behind-the-scenes stories (for instance, how you’ve navigated industry disruptions), talk more about the mistakes and what you’ve learnt from them, and engage in real-time conversations on social media and forums.

#5: Multi-channel sales and ‘business partner perks’

Buyers are no longer tied to a single channel. Believe it or not, some deals are already happening in Metaverse!

Different buyers have different preferences, which means that sales reps can’t expect the same approach to work for everybody. Plus, two thirds of customers prefer connecting with brands through multiple communication channels.

That’s why multi-channel sales would definitely be on the top of the ‘Sales trends 2025’ list.

Here are a few things that will happen inside multi-channel sales trends in 2025:

The rise of ‘user-generated’ content. Companies will use generative AI tools to create product reviews and feedback on behalf of customers. While it might not feel like the most authentic trend, it’s happening — and fast. Why? Customers trust other customers more than they trust traditional ads.
Partnership perks. Companies are teaming up in smart ways to boost value for their customers. Take Walmart+, which partnered with Paramount+ to give members streaming access, or the potential for Walmart and Uber to collaborate on meal delivery and rideshare services. The concept? Advertise each other’s products across platforms to create a win-win scenario.
Omnichannel customer journeys. One journey, multiple places. Businesses will do everything to meet their customers wherever they are. Imagine browsing online, picking up in-store, or starting a conversation on social media that ends in a purchase on the website.
Voice sales assistants. Businesses will invest more into tools that simplify and personalize the customer journey, making it intuitive and hands-free. Moreover, we’ll see the rise of ‘emotional analytics’ tools (and we’re not talking about sentiment analysis here) that will tailor product recommendations based on a customer’s mood, detected through subtle changes in their voice or facial expressions when they interact with the company’s app.

#6: Put those sales on video!

In 2025, retailers will lean heavily on media and entertainment to forge deeper connections with their audiences. Because what are sales trends if not creative ways to build trust and engagement? Take a cue from Starbucks, which launched Starbucks Studios to create episodic content that fosters human connection and joy.

An image is worth a thousand words. The standard for videos is 24 frames per second, so you can imagine how much information a short video clip can communicate! International lockdowns have sent the world into a global video-craze: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu. Images flash in front of our eyes faster than ever, and we’re getting used to it.

In 2025, leverage video and step away from long text content to communicate the value of your offer. The year 2021 saw video make its grand entrance into the world of sales, and it’s here to stay. For example, for MediaValet, the introduction of videos into their sales process meant they cut their sales cycle by half! Plus, a subject line that contains the word “video” is 8x more likely to be opened.

And here are a few ways how you can incorporate videos as one of the most powerful recent sales trends:

Host live product demos and QA sessionsHost live product demos and QA sessions via platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, or dedicated live streaming platforms to answer your customer questions and address their concerns.
Record and repurpose live demos for future use on your website and social media channels.
Create short, engaging video content for platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels.
Optimize your videos for mobile devices, as most viewers consume video content on their smartphones.
Use trending audio, filters, and effects to make your videos more visually appealing and shareable. Don’t try to be THAT serious — people love when they can relate to others 😉

#7: Customer success over customer support

In 2025, sales management trends are shifting towards a stronger focus on customer success. It’s no longer enough to offer a high-quality product; customers demand solutions tailored to their unique needs.

You aren’t waiting for a problem so you can showcase your expertise and solve it promptly. That’s why in 2025, the role of a sales rep and a customer success manager is to personalize a business’s product offer in a way that appeals to the customer’s specific workflows and processes.

In 2025, increase the number of demos and walk-throughs your team conducts. Show customers how to reach their full potential, getting the most out of your product. Enrich your communication strategy with assessment calls to review your customers’ accounts and suggest improvements.

Another sales trend that’s going to be huge in 2025 is relationship-building associated with proper customer success.

Like never before, you need to be attentive to your customers' needs and asks. You need to regularly reach out and check in with them to understand how the economy is treating them.

Look for possible solutions if they’re showing signs of churn and struggle to keep purchasing from you due to economic hardships. Sometimes, giving in and discounting your product until they can afford the full price will not do you much harm but will show your customer that you genuinely care about them.

At the end of the day, the recession isn’t forever and sales management trends come and go, but the authentic relationship you’ve built with your customer will stay — and having a brand advocate like that is absolutely priceless!

#8: Data rules the sales

Data-driven this, data-driven that — everything's data-driven these days. Sales are no different. This particular sales trend thrives on a methodical approach to gathering, analyzing, and using data to develop sales strategies. Hard work? Yes. Profitable? Sure!

Sounds like a win-win? It is.

Here's a blueprint to build a data-driven sales strategy:

Pin down the right metrics. What are you trying to achieve? Higher ARR, more MQLs, or clients from a certain industry? Without knowing what to track, you can’t know what data to collect or how to analyse it.
Centralize your data collection with the help of a CRM. Most modern CRM systems allow you to pull data from various sources into your customer database. Some CRM systems, like NetHunt CRM, allow you to export that data into Google Looker Studio on the fly, simplifying the process quite a bit.
Craft a sales strategy based on insights you gathered from the data. What’s the point in gathering insights if you won’t use them?

Further, regardless of the sales industry trends, keep a finger on the pulse, review your data and make adjustments to your strategy consistently.

Here are a few key metrics to include:

Lead conversion rates
Customer lifetime value
The time spent on each stage of the sales cycle
Customer acquisition cost
Customer satisfaction scores

#9: Ethical sales — a bridge of trust to your customer

Ethical sales is all about building trust with your customers through honesty, transparency, and fairness. We at NetHunt CRM, for instance, place trust at the heart of our customer interactions. We don’t lie, hyperbolize, or obscure information just to close the deal or follow another sales trend.

Ethical sales isn’t about selling to sell, it’s about selling to drive the customer's business forward. All in all, this sale trend is about being a trusted advisor more than being a charismatic sales shark.

Research shows that 84% of consumers consider a business’ ethics and values before they make a purchase. 63% of customers want more ethical business practices.

Here are the perks of paddling down the ethical stream:

Enhanced customer loyalty
A shiny brand reputation
A leg up in the competitive market.

And, here’s a brief guide on how to sell ethically:

Keep your communications transparent and honest.
Deliver on your promises.
Respect customer privacy and data.
Don’t annoy your customers with a constant stream of communications.
Develop fair pricing and maintain good contract practices
Cultivate a culture of ethical behavior within your sales squad.

Your customers want you to respect them when selling. Some are looking for help more than spending money. Demonstrating that you care about your customers' success as much as your own should become one of the new sales trends in 2025.

#10: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking over

You can’t ignore the importance of forecasting and analysis in the sales process. To implement this sales trend successfully, sales teams must conduct a thorough analysis of metrics to justify the choice of their strategies and assess their current performance. But this is only a part of what AI can do.

According to our 2025 sales trend analysis, sales AI will definitely reshape how businesses approach sales in general.

Here are a few AI sales trends to look for in 2025:

‘Emotional’ analytics for product recommendations ❤️ As we’ve already mentioned in the article above, AI will use analytics for hyper-personalization to understand customers' emotional states during the shopping experience. Tools like facial recognition and voice analysis will help provide tailored, empathetic product recommendations. And don’t forget about sentiment analysis! Businesses will gauge customers' moods and preferences more accurately with the use of natural language processing (NLP) models.
Combining generative AI + predictive AI 🔮 Leveraging both Gen AI (for original content creation) and Predictive AI (for forecasting outcomes through pattern recognition) will help businesses reduce customer churn, discover new segments, and personalize their engagement with customers.
AI sales assistants and chatbots 💬 The biggest names in the CRM game — Salesforce, Microsoft, and HubSpot — have already launched AI co-pilots that help sales teams draft emails, research customer data, create workflows, and build dashboards. Most systems will refine their AI capabilities and offer them as product add-ons.
AI-driven workflows ⚙️ AI will continue to automate repetitive sales tasks, from scheduling meetings to sending follow-up emails. Plus, we expect more voice assistants for both customers and sales reps. 79% of companies say that live chat has had positive results for sales and revenue — now imagine when they’d have an opportunity to literally talk to an AI assistant who can handle their inquiries faster than a human!

Final thoughts

“Competition drives innovation, but so does the aftermath of a worldwide crisis.”

It’s obvious that we’re about to step into a challenging era — but you shall not worry! Where one business sees threats, another sees opportunities.

And remember, you don’t have to adopt all sales trends on the list; there are plenty to choose from. Opt for sales industry trends that work best for you and enjoy the benefits of being a cutting-edge business that thrives through the economic downturn.

Here’s to 2025! 🥂

Table of Contents

10 Biggest Sales Trends in 2025