How Sales Teams Can
Win More Deals
© Primary Intelligence, Inc. 2015
Connie Schlosberg
Digital Marketing Specialist
Primary Intelligence
Housekeeping
•
This session will be available on our website
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All phone lines are muted
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Please ask questions using the Chat function
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#BuyerNeeds
Today’s Speakers
Carolyn Galvin
Director of Industry Insights
Primary Intelligence
John Holland
Coauthor and Cofounder
CustomerCentric Selling®
Today’s Agenda
• Background
• Importance of Understanding Buyer
Needs
• Deep dives
1. Organization Size
2. Decision Date
3. Cultural Differences
• Q&A
Ken Allred
Primary Intelligence
CEO & Founder
Primary Intelligence
We manage
568 win loss and customer experience programs
We evaluate more than $20
billion worth of purchase decisions annually
We analyze more than 3,000 deals and customer engagements annually
We support more than
6,000 sales, marketing, product, CI & CX leaders globally
We work with 6 of the Fortune 20
CustomerCentric Selling®
• Founded in 2002
• Worldwide network of Business Partners
• CCS® and Rethinking The Sales Cycle books published by M-H
• Training Industry's list of Top Sales Training Companies every year since 2009
• Nearly 1,000 clients
• Sales ready messaging® helps sellers have better conversations with executives
about business issues
• A focus on product usage to empower buyers
• Goal: Identify and share best practices to drive higher revenue and improve sales
forecast accuracy
Importance of
Understanding
Buyer Needs
Understanding Buyer Needs is #1
35%
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
13%
RESPONSIVENESS
5%
RELATIONSHIP WITH SALES
15%
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
9%
KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR INDUSTRY
3%
FACILITATING EASE OF PURCHASE
5%
PROFESSIONALISM
12%
PRESENTATION & DEMONSTRATION
5%
CONCERN RESOLUTION
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Deep Dives
Organization Size
Research Findings
“Excellent” ratings
decrease as
organization size
increases
100%
90%
89%
80%
80%
72%
70%
77%
72%
69%
60%
64%
50%
40%
30%
29%
20%
20%
10%
0%
7%
4%
1-50
13%
7%
51-500
8%
501-1K
Understanding needs (0-6 Rating)
Understanding needs (9-10 Rating)
15%
8%
1K-5K
17%
11%
5K-10K
20%
11%
10K-100K
7%
100K+
Understanding needs (7-8 Rating)
n = 6,314
“Average” ratings
increase as
organization size
increases
Strategies for Selling into Different
Organization Sizes
• 8.5% of sellers are “world class”
• 13% of sellers generate 87% of revenues
• “A Players” are easier for small companies to attract
• As companies grow, under more pressure to codify way they sell
• When selling to large organizations, buying committees likely bigger
• People within committees have different agendas, posing challenges to
sellers (more difficult for sellers to be relevant to different stakeholders)
• Small percentage of sellers can provide enterprise-wide views of the value
(costs vs. benefit) of their offerings
Decision Date
Research Findings
60%
50%
48%
44%
40%
40%
35%
37%
46%
45%
36%
35%
18%
19%
44%
42%
42%
38%
38%
37%
19%
20%
21%
30%
20%
17%
20%
19%
10%
0%
2008
2009
2010
2011
Understanding needs (0-6 Rating)
Understanding needs (9-10 Rating)
2012
2013
2014
2015
Understanding needs (7-8 Rating)
n = 10,584
“Excellent” and
“average” ratings
have reversed
over time
Strategies for Selling to Buyers Over the
Long Term
• Most sellers execute sales cycles starting with lower levels
• Mid- to low-level buyers’ use Internet, social networking have increased that trend
o Knowledgeable buyers find sellers to be less helpful/competent
o 70% of buying activities are complete before sellers are involved
o “Parallel vs. serial” evaluations of offerings
• Ever-increasing reliance upon reactive “leads”
• Proactive contact of key player levels allows:
• Targeting the right profile companies
• Earlier qualification and disqualification
• Top down rather than bottom up selling
Cultural Differences
Research Findings
60%
50%
50%
48%
44%
42%
37%
40%
36%
34%
29%
30%
23%
20%
22%
19%
16%
10%
0%
North America
Understanding needs (0-6 Rating)
EMEA
APAC
Understanding needs (7-8 Rating)
LatAm
Understanding needs (9-10 Rating)
n = 10,584
Sales teams in
North and Latin
America had the
highest
percentages of
“excellent” ratings
Strategies for Selling to Buyers in
Different Cultures
• “Results” are the international language of business
• Many non-US cultures are hierarchical, making access to higher-level
officials difficult
• Leverage vendor executives to get access to higher levels and do provocative
selling regarding business variables that can be improved
• Rapport-building is different
• Pace is often slower than in United States/North America
• Continue to focus on need development, a universal strategy once
business goals/problems are shared
Conclusions & Recommendations
•
•
•
•
Recognize significance of “understanding
buyer needs”
Strategize when selling to large organizations
Target key players in all new and renewing
sales opportunities
Fully understand the culture of firms you’re
selling to
Questions?
MORE INFORMATION
•
Understanding Buyer Needs Report
•
http://blog.customercentric.com/blog
http://bit.ly/1QJMUiQ
•
Understanding Buyer Needs Infographic
•
Understanding Buyer Needs Video
•
Industry Insights at Primary Intelligence
•
Primary Intelligence
http://www.primary-intel.com/
CustomerCentric Selling® Books
http://www.customercentric.com/thoughtleadership
http://bit.ly/1QG2uLB
•
CustomerCentric Selling® Coaching
http://www.customercentric.com/coaching
http://bit.ly/1L6yLhJ
•
CustomerCentric Selling® Workshops
http://www.customercentric.com/workshops
http://bit.ly/1Wj1iT0
•
CustomerCentric Selling® Blog
•
CustomerCentric Selling®
http://www.customercentric.com
Connect with us!
linkedin.com/company
/primary-intelligence
linkedin.com/company
/customercentricselling
@PrimaryIntel
@Official_CCS
primary-intel.com/blog
blog.customercentric.com/blog
Thank you!