Miller Heiman Study Finds Collaboration Growing Among Top Sales Organizations

RENO, Nev., April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Building a culture of collaboration is one of three defining attribute of World-Class Sales Organizations according to the latest findings from the Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study. Miller Heiman, a leading sales performance consulting firm, recently released the results from its 10th annual study of selling and sales management best practices in the complex, business-to-business selling environment.

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"The day of the individual, stand-alone, lone-wolf salesperson has given way to a complex, team-selling environment where the collective capabilities and knowledge of the team are required to carry the day," said Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer of the Miller Heiman Research Institute.

The study defined collaboration through several of the questions that were asked of sales professionals from around the world, including an organization's effectiveness in pursuing large opportunities, the effectiveness of sales management in supporting opportunity advancement, and the identification and sharing of best practices of top performers for the purpose of improving the team.

• Our organization is highly effective in allocating the right resources to pursue large deals.
• Our management team is highly effective in helping our sales team advance sales opportunities.
• We know why our top performers are successful.
• We leverage the best practices of our top performers to improve everyone else.

Each year, the Miller Heiman Research Institute develops key insights for sales leaders based on findings from this annual study.

This study defined an exclusive group of respondents that outperformed all other study participants in areas such as opportunity creation, opportunity management, relationship management, and enablement activities as World-Class Sales Organizations. Representing a three-year low of 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.

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: "The Currency of Collaboration"

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