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57% Of Sales Reps Missed Their Quotas Last Year

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Smart companies – and salespeople – recognize the value of incorporating customer service and customer experience into their sales process. Selling with service is about the service the customer receives throughout the sales process. It’s usually the human-to-human interactions that that take place between salespeople, including support staff, and the customer. Customer Experience (CX) is about the experience they have throughout the process. And, part of the experience may not be between a salesperson and the customer – or even from a person at all. It’s the entire interaction the customer has, from visiting a website to being put on hold while waiting for the sales rep, to receiving proposals and packages and more. Everything and anything the customer experiences with the company.

With the emphasis companies are placing on customer service and CX, it’s surprising that the sales department is missing quotas due to sales teams falling short on meeting their customers’ expectations.

Salesforce published its third annual State of Sales report, which is a comprehensive look at the latest trends, challenges and opportunities for sales teams. While the research revealed a number of trends, we’ll focus on the ones that tie to customer service and CX.

  1. As sales mandates change, sales teams are falling short of customers’ rising expectations: The State of the Connected Customer report, also released by Salesforce, found that 58% of consumers and 77% of business buyers feel that technology has changed their expectations of how companies should interact with them. Customers are demanding a more personalized and consultative selling process. Salespeople must deliver. The report also mentions that salespeople are increasingly responsible for metrics that may interfere with hitting their quotas.
  2. A data-driven sales playbook is emerging: The report states, “The foundation of sales is relationships — those intangible bonds built by the soft skills a talented rep brings to the table, including the ability to listen and pay attention to detail — but teams are increasingly amplifying the ingenuity of salespeople with data-driven insights.” This may look like an advantage (and for some it is), but I have concerns. As technology proliferates the sales process, especially for B2B organizations, the opportunity to build stronger relationships (people to people) is diminished; this is something I’ve been preaching for the last several years. There must be a balance between technology and human interaction. While most of my effort has been in the customer service world, it is obvious the same concerns are present in the sales world. In one extreme, everything is virtual. There is digital technology that doesn’t include human interaction. There is messaging through email or apps that, while convenient, doesn’t get the salesperson eye-to-eye with the customer. Even the phone doesn’t get you eye-to-eye. My friend Michael Staenberg says, “There’s nothing better than to meet with your customers face-to-face when you’re selling. You can’t push a pencil through a phone.”
  3. Virtual selling has hit the tipping point: As technology plays a bigger role in the sales process, as mentioned in No. 2, face-to-face opportunities are diminishing. Even though relationships are fundamental to long-term sales success, the research is showing that sales reps are spending more time in front of screens. In the past three years, virtual connections with customers have increased 3.2 times more than meeting with customers in person. Screen-to-screen selling might be convenient and cost-effective, but my concern is that, at least for a short term, the concept of building the relationship might be lost if the salesperson doesn’t inject some of his or her personality into the sales process.

So, why are 57% of sales reps not meeting their quotas? No doubt there are multiple reasons involved, from changing customer needs to economic issues and more, so finding a solution might involve a combination of creative ideas. But one thing is for sure, creating a better, more personalized CX can only help. With all the convenience of technology, people still want the human connection.

In our effort to give you the most accurate information, Salesforce has updated its original report from 77% to 57%.

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