2013 Priority for Sales Leaders: Get Closer to Customers

RENO, Nev., Oct. 11, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- Urgency, pending technology changes and the escalating demands of today's increasingly complex selling environment dominated discussions on how to get closer to customers at the Miller Heiman Sales Performance Summit last week. The reason: To stay ahead, sales organizations have to get better, and get better faster than the competition, or lose out.

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"Truly executing on a strategy to get closer to your customers requires detailed attention to driving precision in every single interaction with the client" said Sam Reese, Chief Executive Officer of Miller Heiman in the first session of this two-day leadership event. The speakers that followed recognized that while being customer-focused is something that is easy to recognize as a priority, it requires discipline to implement.

Discipline was a key theme throughout the Summit as executives from GE, Freese and Nichols and Canon Europe shared initiatives that are bringing their organizations closer to their customers. These speakers revealed strategies they're using to successfully battle complacency, challenge the status quo, and identify the value propositions that are aligned with their customers' perspective.

Today's sales organizations build loyalty with strategies that focus on helping their customers win, the executives told the more than 160 sales leaders from four continents attending the summit.

Additional insights from the annual Miller Heiman Sales Performance Summit included:

• Past successes won't help organizations succeed next year. You have to get better, and get better faster than the competition or you will lose.
• Small changes can drive huge results. Building a common framework, using the same terminology across divisions allows global visibility into deals and opens new opportunities.
• "Satisfied" customers aren't enough. Loyalty and retention comes from helping your customers win.
• Customer service counts. Today's social media-world puts your reputation on the line with every customer interaction.
• Invest in coaching to build, and retain, top salespeople. Training managers in coaching skills reaps huge payoffs.
• Data counts. Improving accuracy of analytics and customer metrics will dominate sales operations and change behavior in the years ahead.

In his summary remarks, Reese announced that the 10^th annual Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study is now open to participants. This study reveals trends in sales performance that sales leaders need to know as they build successful strategies. The study results are used as a foundation for much of Miller Heiman's thought leadership, including the agenda for the Miller Heiman Sales Performance Summit series. Learn more and join the study at: http://www.millerheiman.com/research_center/sales_best_practices_study/index.html

Summit Video – Get Closer to Your Customer or Get Left Behind http://youtu.be/9K1ufefeORQ

The next North America Sales Performance Summit will be Sept. 11-12, 2013 in San Diego. Miller Heiman also hosts international Sales Performance Summits in the United Kingdom, Australia and Europe. Details: 

http://www.millerheiman.com/workshops_events/client_summit_us/index.html

About Miller Heiman: The Sales Performance Company

Miller Heiman is a proven leader in sales performance, bringing game-changing insight to sales leaders worldwide for more than 35 years. With the experience gained from over 15,000 engagements, working with one million plus alumni, we help businesses implement sales-execution best practices to increase close rates, reduce sales cycles and lower the cost of complex sales. Our clients profit from our world-class selling system and repeatable methodologies, which leverage extensive research and a precise, customer-centric approach to promote sustained results. With offices around the world (United States, United Kingdom and Australia), Miller Heiman delivers consistent and timely results. For more information, visit www.millerheiman.com or call Jennifer Vodehnal, Director of Corporate Communications, 1-877-678-3380 - [email protected].

SOURCE Miller Heiman