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IDC’s Sales Enablement Overview: Guidance for 2013
IDC Executive Advisory Group
Updated 1-7-13
Prepared by Michael Gerard
www.idc.com/cmo
www.idc.com/salesadvisory
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission.
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We Need to Change How we Enable Sales & Channels. . .
Today. . .
Buyer Interaction: Reps are unable to sustain a dialogue with prospects
Demand Gen.: 650 targets -> 1 deal; 19 months mktg. and sales cycle
Cost of poor sales enablement for a ‘typical” $1 B firm:
– $14 M in sales and marketing expenses
– $100 M in lost revenue opportunity
Tomorrow’s Vision. . .
Sales Enablement:
Mktg. & Sales
New Org. Structure New Processes New Technology New Metrics
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IDC defines Sales Enablement as:
“The delivery of the right information to the right person at the right time in the right format and in the right place to assist in
moving a specific sales opportunity forward”
What is Sales Enablement?
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Agenda: IDC’s 2013 Sales Enablement Strategy
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Voice of the Customer – The Buyer Speaks
Current State of the Industry
14 Attributes for a Best-in-Class SE Strategy
Case Studies
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Voice of the Customer
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Today’s Marketing and Selling Environment – What’s Different?
Larger buying teams means
more people to “sell” to – 2010: 5 People
– 2011: 6 people
– 2012: 7 people
Longer Buying Cycles – 2010: 5 months
– 2011: 5.2 months
– 2012: 5.4 months
Buyers are more
knowledgeable, more
connected - and busier!
45% of the enterprise level buying decision is made before
your potential buyer even says “hello” to your sales rep.*
Refer to The 2012 IT Buyer Experience Survey (IDC #237207) *Ave. respondent: $870K in total IT purchases in past 12 months
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0 10 20 30 40
Other
Interaction with vendors' corporate executives (e.g., CEO, COO)
Interaction with sales representatives
Consumption of vendor content*
Interaction with vendors' technical teams (e.g., engineers, CTO)
Distribution of a pool of 100 points
Buyer Insight: Most Valued Vendor Resources When Making IT Decisions
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Q: As part of your pre-purchase IT product or solution-related activities, please indicate the relative
importance of the following on your decision-making process by using a pool of 100 points.
n = 204 * Vendor Content: e.g., Collateral, white papers, case studies, webcasts, product information, other info. available on their web site
**Refer to IDC’s Sales and CMO Advisory Research
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Buyer Insight: Most Valued Vendor Content When Making IT Decisions
0 10 20 30
Other
Customer Case Studies
Vision/Thought Leadership
Competitive Comparisons
Industry Trends
Peer/Customer References
Product/service Reviews and Test Results
Product Demo or Proof of Concept
Product features
Financial Justification/ROI
% of Participants
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Q: What types of vendor content do you most value during the IT investment decision process?
n = 204
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How are we doing today?
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Sales Enablement
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How are we Doing to Enable Sales Reps with the Most Valued Resources?. . .
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Product Information
Customer Purchase & Service History
Best Fit Pre-Sale Individual
ROI Related Sales Assets
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
% of Respondents
1 week + 1-5 days 4-8 hours <1/2 day
Q: On average, how long does it take for a sales rep to find the following types of information
within your organization? Check 1 for each category.
Source: IDC's Sales Productivity Benchmarks Database
The 2 things that
buyers value most!
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The good news?. . .
How are Sales Folks Doing with Buyers in this New Environment?
Over ½ of buyers who switched
vendors during the past year did
so as a result of their newer
vendor being more diligent and
reliable to their needs.
Our best vendors help us solve problems. . . . “Interact
more with our internal teams at a functional level to
understand where our pain points are, and provide
solutions to improve our revenue & profitability."
Buyers are inundated: “Much
of my commute home is
“delete, delete, delete,…”
There is opportunity to differentiate and move ahead of
your competition
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Steps for improvement?
Sales Enablement
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IDC’s 14 Attributes of a Best-in-Class Sales Enablement Strategy
Accountability SE function in marketing
Relevant and
Valuable Intelligence
Content and asset lifecycle
Sales Readiness
Sales process integration
Deployment strategy
Regional enablement
Content management
system
Sales enablement
platform(s)
Social for sales
Feedback Sales and customer
feedback process
Sales
Enablement
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Performance measurement Next generation sales
operations team
Staff: SMEs, curators,
moderators
Content review board
Customer intelligence for
sales
Technology
Contact IDC for a Full
Review of Each Area
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Accountability: Sales Enablement Spans Across Sales & Marketing
Marketing Sales Operations Sales
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Marketing-Generated
Insight
Process Management &
Governance
Delivery, Usage, and
Feedback
Marketing Content and
Asset Management:
Content & IP Development
Materials and Offers
Management of Assets
Intelligence and Support:
Customer Knowledge
Industry Knowledge
Product Knowledge
Overall Project
Management
Requirements Analysis
SE Process Development
& Management
Coordination With Other
“Productivity Lever”
Owners (e.g., mktg., L&D)
Usage Management
Metrics & Reporting
Content Development
Best Practice Sharing
Collaboration
Consumption & Delivery to
Customer
Feedback to Other
Content Owners
CMO & Sales Advisory Service clients, contact us to schedule
your free, on-site sales enablement strategy session
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Case Studies
Sales Enablement
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Sales Enablement Case Studies
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Contact IDC, [email protected], for a full review of each case study
Leveraging social to
support 1,000+% growth
Nurturing a mobile
mindset and driving
productivity with
>15k iPads
Establishing a “living
community” to optimize
adoption and value
• 20-person cross-functional
team
• Threw out 10,000+ pieces
of content
• Sales takes a leading role
• Meta-model and SMEs
assure content relevance
and quality
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Executive Guidance
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IDC Essential Guidance for 2013
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Sales enablement must be a strategic initiative,
and not a tactical maneuver
Understand your customers’ buying processes and challenges as well as how your sales channels (direct and indirect) “process” knowledge
Let go of your current paradigm
– Sales enablement is not enterprise content management
– Existing content assets cannot dictate your strategy
Develop a strategy, but don’t stop there. . . Excellence in execution will be the differentiator here
– Assign accountability. . . Collaborate with sales operations, develop cross-functional teams (e.g., content review board)
– Take a structured approach for improvement (e.g., content and asset audit)
– Integrate SE initiatives with other sales productivity improvement steps
Deploy a phased roll-out strategy (e.g., region-specific)
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• Questions?. . . Contact: • Michael Gerard
VP, IDC’s CMO & Sales Advisory Practice
Follow me on Twitter: MichaelGerard
• Additional Resources: • Our Web Sites:
• www.idc.com/cmo
• www.idc.com/salesadvisory
• Our CMO & Sales Blogs:
• www.techmarketingblog.blogspot.com
• blog.salesadvisorypractice.com