How You Can Win in a Tougher Market
by Gerhard Gschwandtner

CSO Insights just released their 2008 Sales Optimization Survey. The report uncovers the growing challenges of chief sales officers. Here are some of the key facts from this 226-page report.

Who generates your leads? Research shows that sales reps generate 50.1 percent of sales leads, while only 28.3 percent are created by marketing. When you drill down, you’ll find that when the burden of lead generation is taken off the shoulders of sales reps, they are effective at reinvesting those hours into selling-related activities. Lesson: Don’t make your salespeople chase after leads. Generate leads for them and make them chase after deals. Action Tip: SalesGenie.com offers 100 free sales leads.

What happens to the deals in your pipeline? Of the 1,500 sales organizations surveyed, 48.7 percent say that their reps close the deals in their pipeline forecast. They lose 30.1 percent, but 21.2 percent end up a “no decision.” It’s not a sin to lose a sale; the big sin is to lose prospects to a “no decision.” Why? Because these salespeople were chasing garbage trucks thinking they were loaded with money. World-class sales organizations use score-cards that determine the value of each opportunity. This simple tool can cut the garbage from your pipeline in half.

Do your salespeople research prospects before each call? A whopping 47.9 percent of sales leaders were not satisfied with their salespeople’s research efforts. Salespeople know that browsing the Internet siphons off too much selling time. What do world-class sales teams do? They tap into such smart lead management resources as Hoovers.com, InsideView.com, and Generateinc.com. These services can give your salespeople critical information just before the call. Action tip: Convert research time into belly-to-belly selling time.

Do your salespeople sell value and avoid discounting? The survey says 43.8 percent of the sales organizations need improvement in these areas. Your CRM solution isn’t going to help. What will help is a best-practice sharing system that harnesses the collective intelligence of your sales organization. The SavoGroup.com can connect all reps with the best practices of your top performers. Lucidera and Business Objects offer better analytics that drive better decisions.

Do you sweep failures under the rug? An astonishing 59.7 percent of companies fail to perform win/loss reviews because they say it’s hard to find an objective evaluator within the company. The Sales Executive Council has assembled great know-how for conducting effective win/loss reviews. More companies rely on third parties to outsource this task. Turn win/loss reviews into a powerful sales improvement engine.

Do you hire reps that succeed? An astonishing 48.6 percent of sales leaders admit that they are unable to consistently hire reps that succeed in selling. Yet these leaders admit that their success depends on finding top-quality reps. Such companies as Caliper, H.R. Chally, CRI Hire, and Employee Continuum offer state-of-the-art resources that can dramatically improve your hiring decisions.

What’s your goal? Sales leaders described their top three goals for 2008 as follows: 1) increase revenues, 2) increase sales effectiveness, and 3) increase market share. What stands in the way of reaching your goals? Chances are, it is not the lack of insight; it is more often the lack of awareness of possibilities.

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