Latest Report

Q1 2012 - Salesperson in a Box: The Reality of Virtual Selling Conversations

• Professionals lack training for virtual conversations; only 10% feel well-equipped.
• Companies aren't providing enough tools for virtual interactions; more than 50% of reps want better content.
• Virtual conversations present their own unique set of challenges, including a high rate of multi-person audiences.

 

Messaging Report Archive

Q4 2011: Nurturing

• While 55% of marketing and sales professionals indicated that their organization has a formal nurturing program in place, a little over half of those said that the leads being delivered to Sales still aren't well qualified.
• Not surprisingly, emails and phone calls dominate nurturing programs, while media (videos, webinars) and direct mail are used less frequently.
• A slight majority felt that their company's nurturing content was compelling enough to cause prospects to accept a sales appointment.

Special Edition 2011 - Marketing and Sales Alignment Conference

• Less than half of respondents are currently measuring the impact of their messaging initiatives.
• 0% of Marketing and Sales leaders see complete consistency in their company's messaging across the customer conversation continuum (from demand generation to sales cycles).
• The #1 factor in the success of the roll-out of a new, differentiated message is that sales managers embrace the new message, and are ready to coach to it.

Q3 2011 - Lead Management, Marketing and Sales SLA's

• 74% of marketing and sales professionals indicate that their organization does not have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Marketing and Sales, or if they do, they've never heard of it.
• 70% saw some or significant increases in the quality and qualification of leads after their organization implemented an SLA.
• 59% say that Marketing support misses the mark when it comes to messages and tools that help follow-up with leads in the early stages.

Q1 2011 - Sales Tools

• 74% of reps feel that it's impossible or difficult to find the right tools in their current content delivery solution.
• Less than a third of those surveyed feel that marketing materials fit the way they sell.
• 75% report that most materials are either heavily laden with company jargon, or require translating before being used with prospects.

Q4 2010 - Coaching

• 89% of reps confirm that more coaching from their first-line managers would have a moderate to significant impact on their performance.
• Yet, only 27% of companies methodically support and train managers on coaching techniques.
• Not surprisingly then, coaching from sales managers tends to occur sporadically; only 11% of reps have managers that frequently shadow their calls and coach to their conversations.

Special Edition: Marketing and Sales Alignment Forum 2010

• 41% of Sales and Marketing leaders report that setting revenue, pipeline, and marketing goals is a cross-functional process between Marketing and Sales.
• Another 41% say this is not yet a practice, but is a priority.
• Nearly all leaders say that Marketing and Sales goals are numerically defined, but 66% struggle with measuring performance against those goals.
• 79% of leaders state that Marketing and Sales goals could be better socialized with field salespeople and marketers that ultimately executive on them. 21% feel they do a good job at this.
• Only 7% of executives report that their organizations have a solid understanding of the conversion rate between leads, opportunities and pipeline for their organizations

Q3 2010 - Deal Creation

• Salespeople report that Marketing's contribution to their pipeline is mostly "weak" or "unknown."
• 2 out of 3 salespeople work for companies that either support or mandate sales skills training and learning reinforcement.
• Most often, by the time that Sales engages a prospect for the first time, your competition is already involved.

Q2 2010 - The Changing Buying Cycle

• Salespeople are spending more time on demand generation than in the past.
• The Great Recession's effects are still lingering in pipeline size and close rates.
• The majority of sales cycles are spent convincing prospects that they have a problem that your company actually solves

Q1 2010 - Tools and Messages

• Salespeople need better tools that focus on setting your solution apart and creating impact.
• Better messaging, value propositions and conversation skills training is at the top of wish-lists for 2010 company initiatives.
• The majority of salespeople are looking for more training and support in such key conversation areas as prospecting, executive conversations and negotiations.

Q4 2009 - Virtual Training & Differentiation

• The greatest advantage of virtual training is decreased time out of the field.
• 62% of executives think their company's message doesn't stand out in the marketplace.

Q3 2009 - State of the Sales Call

• Virtual interactions dominate customer-facing selling time
• Marketing suffers collateral damage as sales repurposes marketing materials
• Sales reps call for more help from their managers, especially in messaging how their solution is unique