Earlier this week we hosted a joint Webcast with RAIN Group, a member of the Qstream solution partner network. During the session, RAIN’s President, Mike Schultz, shared some top-line results of their recent sales research.
The objective of the research was to answer the question: “What do the top-performing sales organizations do differently than the rest?” The global survey examined various elements of sales organization performance, including: results, strategy, structure, operations, enablement, talent management, motivation, capabilities, and training.
It was a great discussion, and we’ve highlighted some of the highlights below.
A strong focus on sales process, supported by effective sales management, doesn’t hamper sellers’ agility and judgment, it magnifies them. (14:50)
Organizations are being challenged by the need for sellers to be agile and responsive to buyer needs, while still adhering to a defined sales process that allows the organization to assess pipeline health and measure the progress of opportunities. Some sales leaders have responded to this by decreasing their focus on sales process and compliance in order to allow reps to be more creative. This may be counter-productive to achieving your goals.
In fact, RAIN's research found the opposite to be true: a focus on sales process, good management techniques (including guides and checklists), and the discipline to follow the process, helped to guide sellers and enhanced judgment and communication. It also produced better outcomes. Responding organizations with a more mature, customer-focused sales process, also reported better results.
Elite performers understand that sales training is not just an event, it’s a process. (24:30)
One of the most striking statistics in RAIN Group’s research focused on seller knowledge: 80% of the elite performers reported that their sellers have the knowledge they need to sell effectively, compared to only 39% of the rest. The difference was equally stark when respondents were asked if they were effective at assessing reps’ skills and capabilities: 77% for elites and just 34% for the rest.
Elite performers understand that sales training is not just a one-time event, but for the rest, this is where most training efforts—both sales and product-focused—break down. Top-performing sales teams are using strategic reinforcement, often supplemented by self study after their training to ensure that key knowledge and concepts stick with reps. Technology platforms like Qstream also play a key role by reinforcing information in smaller, more frequent intervals, a dynamic clinically proven to boost performance and long-term retention.
Elite performers were 83% more likely to have a specific focus on maximizing sales to existing customers. (29:57)
Clearly one of the most important metrics in identifying a high-performing sales organization is win rates, and in RAIN Group’s research, the difference in win rates between the elites and the rest was quite large—58%. One of the biggest factors contributing to this gap was a focus on existing customers. So why aren’t more organizations tapping into this asset?
The answer may be skills-based. When asked about priorities for the year ahead, 50% of respondents said increasing business from existing accounts was at the top of their list. Yet, when those same leaders were asked if their reps had the right skill set to drive account growth, less than half agreed.
Selling to existing customers requires reps to be able to both educate and influence buyers, including those at the highest executive levels. To close these gaps, sales teams need both a process for strategic account management, as well as the individual skills to inspire and persuade customers to invest more.
Sales winners are more than twice as likely as second-place finishers to make the case for why they offer overall superior value. (35:36)
More and more organizations are moving to value-based selling, and the data in the difference it can make in terms of sales results make the case. To identify the true “value-based organizations” in their research, RAIN Group focused on five key questions addressing alignment with a customer’s buying process, and how likely the sales process was to focus on delivering maximum value for the customer. Only 16% agreed or strongly agreed to each question, versus the remaining 84%, creating this “value driving” group.
It’s no surprise that win rates were better for the value-based elites, but there were some additional benefits beyond just financial results. Value-driving sales organizations also had more success retaining the sellers they wanted to retain, a significant operational savings given the high cost of rep turnover.
Front-line sales managers just might be your secret weapon for creating and sustaining a high-performance sales team. Or not. (48:35)
It’s perhaps no surprise that managers who inspire the best performance from their sellers also generate better business results. But it’s more than just inspiration. For any sales enablement strategy to work—process, playbooks, technology tools, methodologies, and the like—sales management must be in place and effective. Making sure these tools are adopted, used effectively, and improved over time is almost always contingent on sales management that sets the right expectations and the right example.
That means your managers must have the right skill sets as well. When looking at capability areas, and sales management specifically, survey respondents gave “managing and coaching sellers” the lowest scores across the board. This would seem to indicate that even elite performers have room to improve in this critical area.
At your convenience, we hope you’ll check out the full archived session and share your own thoughts with us.
What is your organization doing to improve sales performance in 2016?