CSO Insights Releases New Findings from its Global Sales Best Practices Study
Analysis of Global Sales Best Practices Study Reveals Key Differences Between World-Class Sales Performers and Others
DENVER, June 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- World-Class Sales Performers are B2B sales professionals who deliberately establish a process for managing global accounts, implement social media guidelines and use sales analytics to measure and predict sales performance. They outperform their competition by at least 21 percent, according findings from a global research study released today by CSO Insights.
The 13th annual Sales Best Practices Study, conducted by CSO Insights, the independent research arm within MHI Global, a TwentyEighty Inc. company, is one of the only organizations dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B2B sales organizations. The Study provides an aspirational benchmark for other sales organizations that are working toward achieving high-performance results by analyzing best practices leveraged globally and identifying those that are most relevant to driving sales performance in today's complex selling environment.
"This year we have seen a noticeable jump in terms of World-Class Sales Performers adopting analytics to measure and predict sales performance," said Barry Trailer, chief research at CSO Insights. "We're also seeing these companies outdistance all others by formalizing their sales professionals' social activities and taking advantage of social selling to reach key decision makers."
Three of the latest findings continue to validate behaviors top performers identified from analysis of previous studies:
- Alignment - 94 percent of World-Class Sales Performers align sales and marketing to what the customer wants and needs compared to 39 percent of all respondents.
- Resources - 94 percent of World-Class Sales Performers allocate the right resources to pursue large deals compared to 40 percent of all respondents.
- Success Measures – 94 percent of World-Class Sales Performers understand why their top performers are successful compared to 44 percent of all respondents.
The survey also found a correlation between performance and the ability to align business objectives with sales performance objectives.
Despite the fact that global account management is of growing importance, the CSO Insight's analysis showed this is one of the largest gaps between World-Class and all respondents. While 91 percent of World-Class Sales Performers have an effective process for global account management in place, 32 percent of respondents do not.
"Global account management starts with defining the criteria for a global account, and making a distinction between strategic and global accounts," Trailer said. "This might include defining how buying decisions are made, how the delivery to this customer is organized, and how many resources in each country are required to create the expected value for this customer overall, among others."
Other notable survey findings of the 2016 Sales Best Practices Study:
- Ninety percent of World-Class Sales Performers reported the relevance of having access to key decision markers in large deals, compared to 38 percent of all respondents.
- Ninety-seven percent of World-Class Sales Performers developed executive-level relationships with strategic accounts in a systematic way, compared to 40 percent of all respondents.
- Eighty-two percent of World-Class Sales Performers have a highly effective process for getting new hires to full productivity compared to 22 percent of all respondents.
- Ninety-two percent of World-Class Sales Performers have the organizational structure in place to easily adapt to rising and changing buyer behaviors, compared to 39 percent of all respondents.
- Eighty-eight percent of sales managers in World-Class Sales Performers spend adequate time monthly coaching individual team members, compared to 32 percent of all respondents.
The 2016 Sales Best Practices Study was administered between September 2015 and March 2016 and gathered input from more than 1,200 global B2B sales professionals working in complex sales environments. The study was organized into six key areas: creating opportunities, managing opportunities, managing relationships, people and organization, operations and enablement and management execution.
Download the 2016 Sales Best Practices Study here. To learn more about CSO Insights, visit www.csoinsights.com.
About CSO Insights
CSO Insights is the independent research arm within MHI Global, dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B2B sales organizations. The CSO Insights team of respected analysts, provide members with the research, data, and expertise required to build strategies for sales performance improvement. CSO Insights' annual sales and marketing effectiveness studies have become industry standards for sales leaders seeking operational metrics, data, and analysis, most notably the Sales Best Practices Study, Sales Performance Optimization Study, and Lead Management and Social Engagement Study. For more information about CSO Insights, visit www.csoinsights.com.
About MHI Global
MHI Global is one of the largest dedicated performance improvement companies in the world, bringing game-changing insight to sales performance, customer experience and leadership and management. Backed by its Be Ready set of solutions, MHI Global helps companies build and sustain successful, customer-focused organizations that drive profitable revenue and predictable top-line growth on a global scale. To learn more, visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Google+.
About TwentyEighty, Inc.
TwentyEighty is a one of the largest workforce development companies in the world and is powered by some of the premier brands in the industry, such as Miller Heiman, VitalSmarts, Forum, Strategy Execution and Omega Performance. Our solutions are designed to help companies improve business results through the areas of Leadership Performance, Sales Performance, Credit Performance and Strategic Execution. Visit us at www.twentyeighty.com.
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SOURCE MHI Global
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