In every episode of the Asia Growth Forecast, we ask our experts about the future of sales in Asia and how sales leaders can be ready to meet the moment.
Predictions from Asia’s Top Sales Leaders on the Future of Sales in the Region
Asia will witness increased adoption of digital tools and diversity of products
Thomas Jeng from Aspire shared, “Asia will see an increased adoption of digital tools and increased diversity in products being sold in Southeast Asia.” This opens up new opportunities for technology providers such as B2B SaaS companies. It also implies that sales leaders should lean into technology and leverage a streamlined tech stack to make their own teams more productive.
Local partnerships will be key to building a cross-border business in Asia
Andrew Baisley from Asana outlined that “globalisation has helped businesses expand to new markets, but it has also introduced challenges that strong local partnerships can alleviate. Partners can help with localisation that goes beyond just translation, providing the extra touch of in-person presence, relationships on the ground, and much-needed credibility.”
The talent market in Asia will continue to mature
In terms of hiring, things are only getting better: there’s already more and more depth of talent, and “experienced hires from industry leaders like Google and Meta are bringing their skills to startups in Asia,” added Thomas.
Millennials and Gen Z’s will drive business growth and brand values will be ever more important
Uma emphasized the growing significance of Gen Z in Asia, noting their increasing purchasing power which is expected to expand even more in the upcoming decade. She stated, "Sales and marketing teams in Asia need to identify and cater to their specific target audience or niche."
Uma also underscored the significance of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors, especially for Millennials and Gen Z.
Brands that embrace AI tech will scale faster, while being more human
Sanjiv Razdan from Nium is excited to see the growth of digital customer acquisition: “businesses will embrace tech that will reduce cost of acquisition and drive scalability.” And the impact of AI cannot be understated: Scott Pugh of Figma says “AI will impact how everyone does their jobs”. Increased automation will streamline the deal cycle and make it more efficient — so that sales teams can spend their time making an impact through human connection and personality.
HubSpot is Helping Sales Teams in Asia Build Better Relationships
Volopay, a rapidly growing fintech company based in Singapore, has been raising rounds of funding and growing their sales team — but they were working with spreadsheets and siloed systems. After transitioning from their legacy CRM to HubSpot and adopting the Sales Hub platform, Head of Sales and Customer Success Kashish Gupta was finally able to get the data, central visibility, and easy-to-use sales tools they needed to scale across Singapore, India, Indonesia, India, and Australia.
With the sales process more streamlined and data-driven, the team at Volopay is building better relationships with their contacts and converting 20% more deals, all while onboarding 1,500+ businesses to their platform.
Final Takeaway for Sales Leaders
Sales teams in Asia are poised for growth — especially those who are prioritising relationship-building and leveraging the latest tools so they have more time to spend with prospects and customers. We hope these insights and the Asia Growth Forecast podcast will help your sales team succeed and grow better.
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