bain pov on the future of b2b sales full
TRANSCRIPT
1GXC 131204-Zebra SFE Discussion
Four fundamental structural changes affecting sales
Salesprocess
complexity
Customer empowerment
Focus on Sales & Marketing ROI
• Sales & marketing budgets under greater scrutiny for productivity/ ROI
• Expectation for increased effectiveness given technology investments
• Demand forcustom solutions
• Demand for value vs. price
• Proliferation of choices
• Preference for self discovery
• Ubiquitous access to information on product/vendors
• Expanding offering portfolios (vs. laser focused competitors)
• Proliferation of marketing &
sales channels
• Distributed customer buying process
2GXC 131204-Zebra SFE Discussion
Data supports these structural changes are affecting sales and demand attention
Source: eMarketer, Google/Compete Survey, “The Evolving Path of Today’s Tech B2B Customer” (top left); Bain analysis (top right); CSOInsights, 2012 Impact of Big Data on Sales Performance, N=218 Senior sales executives across wide industry range (bottom left); BMA and SPSS, “B2B Customer engagement: high priority, low marks”, N=230 Senior marketers across wide industry range (bottom right)
Physicians
Payors/Health insurance
Regulatory bodies
Group Purchasing Organizations/ Private chains
C-suite/Hospital administration
Shor
ter
sell cy
cles
Win rat
es
of for
ecas
t
deals Av
erag
e
deal size
Mar
gins
on dea
ls
Pros
pecting
effectiven
ess
% of sa
les re
p
time de
voted
to sellin
g
Lead
to fir
st
mee
ting
conv
ersion
rates Fi
rst ca
ll to
pres
entatio
n
conv
ersion
rate
s
Customer empowerment Sales process complexity
Focus on Sales &Marketing ROI
Data everywhere
Ubiquitous access to
information on product/
vendors
Right data at right time & place to fine tune sales process
Expectation for increased effectiveness given tech
investments
HEALTHCAREEXAMPLE
and…
and…
and…
and…
Distributed customer buying process
3GXC 131204-Zebra SFE Discussion
What does this mean?Predictions for sales realities in the next 5 years
• Your customers will spend more time analyzing your product than you will on analytics to understand their buying behavior
• The line between sales and marketing will disappear; an integrated “smarketing” function will emerge to synchronize coverage models/ resources with target customers and segments
• A competitor will offer your customers better, more seamless service through lower touch, lower-cost channels, winning share & loyalty
• # of quota carrying reps without a specialization will approach zero
• Selling costs will grow faster than revenue without a deliberate effort to reverse creeping complexity and administrative burden
• 90% of the sales process will happen online before one of your reps engages with the customer and a significant percentage of your products will be sold without a live rep interface
• You will be forced to either retrain or turn over 50%+ of reps to keep up with competitor sellers who truly add value vs. just communicating features and taking orders
4GXC 131204-Zebra SFE Discussion
However most sales organizations are not yet ready for new realities of sales
Source: Bain Future of Sales Survey, Sep 2013 (N=553)
Do not do a good job aligning offer to target segments60%
Believe at least half or more of their
sellers do not have requisite skills30%
75%Have made significant investments in technology but
only 30% have realized marked improvements
in sales effectiveness based on those investments
only 40%Have sellers with a strong understanding of their differentiation vs. competitors
only 35%Have strong alignment between marketing and sales
5GXC 131204-Zebra SFE Discussion
Six imperatives tomorrow’s sales leaders are adopting today
• Stay on target – develop a sales system that not only brings the right offer at the right time to meet target customer/segment needs but also delivers unexpected delight based on a deep understanding of each customer’s values
• Know customer values and value – enable your front line to understand their customers’ power base and how they make decisions at every stage of the sales cycle and their value to your growth and profitability
• Reimagine channel mix– invest in a mix of low and high-touch channels to match sales capacity with market opportunity and customer preference; then double down on self-service/digital channels to help customers help themselves, earning loyalty & ROI
• Raise the bar on sales talent – elevate expectations and strengthen capabilities to build the next generation of sellers. Train sellers to make the most of the time with customers. Examine incentives and compensation plans. Redesign recruiting and training to attract, onboard and develop your future front line
• Get the wiring right to unlock sales capacity – invest in data/analytics, system linkages, and tools to reinforce new behaviors. Arm sellers with right information and tools at the right time; develop KPIs and dashboards to track effectiveness
• Truly align resources across marketing & sales – seamlessly integrate marketing priorities with sales channel mix & capacity; rethink where marketing “ends” and sales “begins” as buying processes begin earlier than ever
11
22
33
44
55
66