Why Sales Productivity Matters

A recent Bain Capital Ventures¹ study of software companies over an 8-year period cites sales productivity as a key indicator of a company's success.

Surprisingly, it is not:

• First mover advantage, or

• The amount spent on sales, marketing or R&D.

"Sales-force productivity is the critical differentiator. In successful firms, sales forces are 80% to 120% more productive that in unsuccessful ones," according to Jeff Crisan, principal, Bain Capital Ventures.

How do sales people become more productive?
According to Bain, enabling your sales representatives to clearly and consistently tell prospects the value of your company's offerings is critical. People buy when they believe the product or service will add value to their organization.

Problems often arise as a result of sales people drowning in information they can't use with customers, or not providing ways for them to get to the resources they need quickly.

Consider another intriguing conclusion.
CSO Insights 2004 Selling Effectiveness Report: "More than 50% of sales reps are not meeting their quotas. Yet it is striking that the firms with a strong selling methodology are meeting their quotas."

Increasing sales productivity promotes success.

The Challenge

Sales is overloaded with too much information; much of it not customer-centric. As well the sales process can be disrupted or broken by various factors: fast-changing new product information and changes on the competitive front.

Are your salespeople:

• wasting time searching for relevant information?

• frustrated at not finding the information they need when they need it?

• spending time translating marketing information into customer language?

Do they use a sales process that complements the customer's buying process?

Quickly evolving market data, new product information, mergers and acquisitions, changes on the competitive front and marketing information not reflective of the customer need are some of the factors that disrupt good communication.

The result: even skilled salespeople are not equipped to sell effectively.

Our Value

We help you make your sales force and channels more effective by providing the critical sales information when they need it. We communicate that information in ways that help customers buy.

Our unique methodology allows you to:

• quickly assess the information needs of your salespeople throughout the sales cycle.

• synthesize that information with practical tools they can use.

• implement the tools and process.

• deliver critical information, when and where they need it, to move the prospect through the sales process.

In brief, we help your salesperson sell and your customer buy.

¹ MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter, 2004

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