RENO, Nev., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Among the findings from the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study is a strong link between developing a clear understanding of customers and an organization's performance in customer retention and revenue growth from existing customers. Miller Heiman, a leading sales performance consulting firm, announced this finding from the results from its tenth annual study of selling and sales management best practices in the complex selling environment.
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"Approaches that begin with what customers actually want and demand are certain to be more successful," said Sam Reese, CEO, Miller Heiman. "The most reliable starting point for any sales strategy is developing a clear understanding of what clients require."
Companies that possess this knowledge are better positioned to react quickly when changes occur in the sales cycle thus allowing their salespeople to spend more time on deals they can win. This not only improves prospecting and produces higher wins rates; it also results in higher retention.
The Miller Heiman Research Institute develops key insights for sales leaders from the study. "The study results validate that World-Class Sales Organizations are consistently performing at a higher level than all other respondents in the study," said Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer. "One of the key attributes of these top-performing organizations is their clear understanding of clients' needs."
Among the behaviors that define World-Class Sales Organizations in getting closer to customers and improving retention include:
- Consistently using a formal process for measuring customer satisfaction.
- Developing a clear understanding of customers' issues before proposing a solution.
- Creating relationships and dialog at the highest executive levels with strategic accounts.
- Ensuring the sales force spends sufficient time with customers.
This study defined an exclusive group of respondents that outperformed in areas such as opportunity creation, opportunity management, relationship management, and enablement activities as World-Class Sales Organizations. Representing less than 5 percent of the study participants, data showed a 25 percent gap in year-over-year growth when compared to other study participants in measurements including customer retention, average account billing, and quota achievement.
Data was collected during the fall of 2012 and included more than 1,100 professionals from companies in complex selling environments regarding the sales activities and performance of their organizations.
An Executive Summary of the results of this study includes insights for sales leaders to capitalize on the findings when validating and continuing to develop their strategies to be successful this year.
View a complimentary copy of the Executive Summary for detailed insights about the best practices of World-Class Sales Organizations: www.millerheiman.com.
More on this topic can be found in a recent blog from Joe Galvin: "Relationships Matter" http://www.millerheiman.com/blog/Miller-Heiman-Blog/April-2013/Relationships-Matter/
About the Miller Heiman Research Institute
Miller Heiman Research Institute is a research organization dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B to B sales organizations. We help members develop and hone sales strategies by providing thought-leading research, critical analysis, benchmarking against world-class sales organizations and customized insight to their strategic issues through our advisory services. Through our extensive research into the best practices, strategies and decision frameworks of World-Class Sales Organizations, we help our clients apply these insights to their organization through published research, keynotes and presentations as well as analyst inquiry. For more information, visit www.millerheiman.com/research_institute.
For more information, visit www.millerheiman.com
SOURCE Miller Heiman Research Institute
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