A recent Aberdeen Group research paper, Sales Intelligence: The Secret to Sales Nirvana, points to some key findings that reveal how “best-in-class” sales organizations* achieve above-average results–even as budgets shrink and sales cycles stretch out.
Economic Challenges No Surprise, But Lead Quality Trumps Lead Quantity
What is pressuring sales leaders, and what actions are they taking in response?
Economic challenges and the increased knowledge of the competitive landscape were the top two pressures identified in the report—by 47% and 44% of respondents, respectively.
While the economic landscape is beyond the control of sales leaders, preparing reps for successful discussions with better informed prospects is a major focus for successful executives. According to the survey, the emphasis on effectively overcoming budget objections and addressing cost-benefit concerns is a contributor to sales effectiveness–enabling reps to focus on fit and competitive advantage.
Three in four respondents—across the board—cite improvement of lead quality in the sales pipeline as their primary strategic action in response to economic and competitive pressures. With just over half of respondents citing it, database segmentation and analysis to identify profitable customers was the second most common action item designed to increase sales effectiveness.
Sales Leaders Cite Lengthening Cycles as Key Concern More Often Than Peers
One in four (27% of survey respondents) cited lengthening sales cycles as a primary business challenge; but nearly half (46%) of “best-in-class” organizations indicated this as a top-three pressure.
Why are these top flight organizations more concerned about longer sales cycles than their peers? The data suggest that these companies are proactively identifying a major drag to revenue generation and developing strategies—including the use of sales intelligence—better preparing reps and aligning their messaging with the business challenges of their prospects. These activities reduce the “getting to know you” phase of discussions, enabling sales reps to work the opportunity more effectively at converting prospects in a compressed sales cycle.
What Common Characteristics Are Hallmarks of Top Performers?
Three common characteristics mark best-in-class performers:
- 72% currently have a process for tracking prospect engagement
- 64% have a centralized repository of marketing and product information
- 51% currently have executive-level support for the use of third-party information providers within sales
Other Performance Keys
The report identified other critical considerations in driving sales effectiveness, including: consistent, repeatable prospect management and sales processes, attention to data management issues (e.g. centralizing information, unifying customer information) and the incorporation of sales intelligence–critical company and competitive insights—as part of the sales process.
Download a full copy of the report…
*Aberdeen’s criteria for “best-in-class” included year-over-year improvements in:
- Lead conversion rates
- Percentage of reps achieving quota
- Sales cycle time
- Time spent researching relevant company/contact information
Economic Challenges No Surprise, But Lead Quality Trumps Lead Quantity
What is pressuring sales leaders, and what actions are they taking in response?
Economic challenges and the increased knowledge of the competitive landscape were the top two pressures identified in the report—by 47% and 44% of respondents, respectively.