In 2016, I attended the CEB Sales and Marketing Summit with a group of BDC staff. There, we heard a presentation by Brent Adamson, co-author of The Challenger Sale and The Challenger Customer. Brent Adamson gave some numbers that really illustrate the magnitude of the sales team’s burden.
6.8
This is the average number of people in a buying group (the customer's team of decision-makers) today. A few years ago, such a group consisted of an average of 5.4 people.
This data suggests that the larger a buying group, the less likely they are to buy. And when a larger group does decide to buy, they often have to make compromises to get everyone on board.
When so many stakeholders are involved in a advertising database complex sale, it's no surprise that sales team members today need to have project management backgrounds to close the deal.
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39%
This figure represents the percentage of buyers who are overwhelmed by the purchasing process, that is, who risk giving up and having regrets later.
4.3
This is the average number of internal colleagues involved in a sale.
8.5
This is the average number of tools and technologies a salesperson must use to close a sale.
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Understand the workflow and simplify your processes
What these numbers tell us is that companies that are serious about reducing the burden on their sales team must first assess themselves. You absolutely must understand the workflows and processes that your reps must follow day in and day out. You can start by asking yourself the following questions.
Do our salespeople have to use multiple reporting tools ( CRM , spreadsheets, project planning tools) just to find and qualify leads?
Is it easy to create a quote or do you need multiple people in-house to do this task?
How big are the buying groups we deal with?
Do our representatives have the expertise to interact with both novice and more experienced members of our potential customer buying groups?
Think strategically about interactions
The sooner your company begins to simplify its sales processes and reduce the burden on the sales team, the sooner your reps will be able to work effectively.
First, strategically plan your sales team’s interactions with your prospects’ buying groups. This approach is especially useful in complex B2B sales, but it also works well for one-on-one interactions with your customers. The easier you make life for your reps, the more likely they are to close sales.
3 Steps You Can Take Right Now
Identify and map out a rep’s daily tasks, address gaps, and resolve challenges that prevent them from doing their job well. Find ways that will help your leadership team be mindful of what your reps are experiencing.
Reduce the number of touchpoints needed to convert prospects into new customers. Try to reduce the number of people, systems and procedures that salespeople must interact with during the sales process.
Create reusable templates and messaging so your reps don’t have to start from scratch for every customer interaction. Customer relationship building communications and marketing automation can help.
These are just a few ideas to reduce the burden on your sales team and increase their effectiveness.
Where are you now? What steps has your team taken to make it easier to do business with you? Share your experiences with us .
