Five Strategies for Transforming to a Best-in-Class Sales Organization

By Meera Mehta

In a recent survey of more than 330 leading sales organizations, Aberdeen Group asked business leaders about what business pressures keep them awake at night. Not surprisingly, the number one issue is delivering revenue growth in an increasingly competitive environment with lengthening sales cycles.

During these surveys, Aberdeen Group also gathered detailed performance metrics to rank the surveyed organizations in terms of overall corporate performance – identifying the key differentiated behaviors of best-in-class sales organizations (the top 20 percent of aggregate corporate performance scores). What strategies have worked for these high-performing organizations?

STRATEGY #1: USE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT DATA
The average sales cycle for best-in-class sales teams is 16 percent shorter than that of underperformers. The secret? For many, it’s using analytics to track sales content effectiveness.

Top performers are three times more likely to use analytics to improve the quality of marketing content and overall sales effectiveness. In fact, best-in-class sales organizations are 1.2 times more likely than other organizations to have and use customer engagement data. With data-driven insights, reps can engage prospects with intelligence instead of guesswork – and course-correct in real time.

STRATEGY #2: IDENTIFY WHAT WORKS – AND MAKE SURE REPS REPEAT IT
Research by Sirius Decisions found that 65 percent of content created for sellers never gets used. Best-in-class organizations ensure marketing content resonates with customers – and doesn’t go to waste. They ensure reps can quickly find and leverage content proven to be successful in closing deals, with 62 percent maintaining a central library of marketing-approved assets for different selling situations.

Best-in-class sales organizations are also 15 percent more likely than underperformers to use a formal selling methodology to identify optimal messaging and timing at each stage of the sales cycle – and 1.4 times more likely to align marketing content with specific stages of the sales cycle.

STRATEGY #3: PROVIDE ANYTIME-ANYWHERE-ANY DEVICE ACCESS TO SALES CONTENT
The bottom line: Mobile access to sales content makes sales teams more productive and effective. Best-in-class organizations that provide mobile access to sales content achieve 2.75 times more reduction in their sales cycle than all other organizations. Their reps are also twice as likely to achieve their quotas.

STRATEGY #4: GIVE YOUR SELLERS MORE TIME TO SELL
Consider how much time your sales reps typically spend on administrative tasks, data entry, and searching for information when they could be selling. So it’s no wonder that, according to an Accenture and CSO Insights sales performance optimization study, sales reps spend only 35 percent of their time interacting with customers.

As mentioned in Strategy #2, above, top-performing sales organizations make accessing and using effective marketing content faster and easier. Most of these organizations also maintain a central library of marketing-approved assets for different selling situations – and allow sales reps to customize for specific customers. Going even further, Aberdeen Group found that personalizing sales presentations with prepared content improved lead conversion by 1.3 times.

STRATEGY #5: KNOW WHEN TO WALK AWAY
Best-in-class organizations are better at prioritizing leads – and are 1.4 times more likely to walk away from deals unlikely to close. By making faster decisions to disqualify dead-end deals, sales reps can devote more time and energy to pursuing the most promising opportunities.

To learn more about these and other strategies employed by best-in-class sales organizations, view the webinar from Aberdeen Group and ClearSlide or download the white paper: “Transforming the Business of Selling.”