Ringmaster Selling – Who Is Leading Your Sales Cycles?

Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 7.9% in 2025

· Significant Growth in IT Spending: Gartner forecasts that worldwide IT spending will grow by 7.9% in 2025, indicating a strong recovery and increased investment in technology .

· Increased Focus on Digital Transformation: The growth in IT spending is driven by organizations' increased focus on digital transformation initiatives to enhance their digital capabilities and improve customer engagement .

· Adoption of Emerging Technologies: The forecast highlights that a significant portion of the IT spending will be allocated to the adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing .

New Research Reveals Sales Reps Need a Productivity Overhaul – Spend Less than 30% Of Their Time Actually Selling - Salesforce

Sales reps spend less than 30% of their time actually selling: The research highlights that a significant portion of sales reps' time is consumed by non-selling activities, which impacts their overall productivity
Sales organizations plan to consolidate their tech stack: A large majority (94%) of sales organizations intend to streamline their technology tools within the next 12 months to improve efficiency and reduce the burden on sales reps
AI gives reps more time to sell: An overwhelming 97% of sales leaders and sales operations professionals believe that AI tools help sales reps by freeing up more time for selling activities

Building the Next-Generation Sales Capabilities

· Sales leaders worldwide recognize that driving B2B revenue growth will require significant reskilling among their teams. Of more than 400 sales leaders surveyed, 55 percent said that only about half of their sales force has the required capabilities.

· Equipping sales with next-generation capabilities takes effort, but the payoff is significant. Top-quartile teams can deliver four to five times higher sales growth than bottom-quartile players.

· B2Bs with the fastest rates of revenue growth are approaching customers sooner and with a more consultative mindset. Approximately 85 percent of sales leaders said they believe solution selling will be a core sales capability, requiring strong product knowledge and solution design as well as account-planning skills

Gartner:A Step Beyond the Challenger Sale

· Significant Reskilling Required: Sales leaders worldwide recognize that driving B2B revenue growth will require significant reskilling among their teams. Of more than 400 sales leaders surveyed, 55 percent said that only about half of their sales force has the required capabilities

· High Payoff for Top-Quartile Teams: Equipping sales teams with next-generation capabilities takes effort, but the payoff is significant. Top-quartile teams can deliver four to five times higher sales growth than bottom-quartile players

· Importance of Solution Selling: Approximately 85 percent of sales leaders believe that solution selling will be a core sales capability, requiring strong product knowledge, solution design, and account-planning skills

A Quick Breakdown of Ecosystem-led Sales and How AEs Are Closing Deals 46% Faster (crossbeam.com)

· 23% of GTM leaders said their primary focus for 2H (Second Half) was Ecosystem-Led Sales (or partnerships) to co-sell with partners who already have existing relationships with their prospects.

· 53% more likely to close when a partner’s involved

Sam Jacobs & Bob Moore: The Future of an Ecosystem-led World | Supernode 2023 (crossbeam.com)

· 73% of SDR teams are under quota

· Ecosystem deals

· -53% more likely to close

· -46% faster

· -58% less likely to churn

How to Improve Sales Productivity | Gartner

· 49% of sellers feel overwhelmed by tech required to do their job

· Overwhelmed sellers are 43% less likely to attain quota

Sales Statistics Show How Teams Adapt to Tough Times (salesforce.com)

· 72% of sales professionals don’t expect to hit their annual quota.

· 70% of sales leaders say their company takes fewer risks now than before the pandemic

· 55% of sales leaders say they’re prioritizing low-risk initiatives with modest guaranteed growth.

· 28% of their week selling, down from 34% in 2018

· 66% of sales reps say they’re drowning in tools

· 94% of sales organizations plan to consolidate their tech stack within the next 12 months

· 97% of sales leaders and sales operations pros say AI gives reps more time to sell

· 90% of sales reps on high-performing teams say their leadership encourages them to prioritize long-term customer relationships over short-term wins

· 81% of sales representatives say team selling helps them close deals

· 85% of sales leaders say they’re struggling to get budget for headcount

· 81% of sales reps say they get valuable coaching from their manager

· 28% of sales professionals expect to meet or exceed quota in the upcoming year — but sales organizations are offering support

5 Capabilities Sellers Must Have to Be Top Performers (salesandmarketing.com)

· 58% of their sales meetings are not valuable.

Top-performing sellers are more likely to:

· Lead thorough needs discoveries (58%)

· Influence buyer thinking about what to buy (57%)

· Collaborate with buyers deeply across the buying process (59%)

· Make effective differentiation cases (55%)

· Overcome price pressure and maintain margins (81%)

· Overcome objections (29%)

· Lead highly effective finalist presentations (65%)

We found that top-performing sellers excel here. They are more likely to:

· Execute and implement growth plans (65%)

· Create compelling ideas to bring to accounts (62%)

· Find unexplored opportunities for account expansion (60%)

Top-performing sellers inspire buyers to reach out for advice and ideas, build long-term relationships, and collaborate more deeply than their peers. They are more likely to:

· Develop enterprise-level relationships (91%)

· Inspire buyers to reach out for advice (88%)

· Build long-term, value-based relationships with buyers (63%)

· Connect personally with buyers (53%)

For example, top-performing sellers are more likely to:

· Remain focused on their agenda and avoid distractions (73%)

· Maximize their time in a way to consistently deliver results (62%)

· Hold themselves accountable for their commitments (46%)

The research is clear: top-performing sellers are significantly more capable in five critical categories of selling:

· Achieving the outcome of value

· Winning the sale (opportunity management)

· Driving account growth

· Succeeding with people

· Maximizing personal effectiveness

Building the Next-Generation Sales Capabilities (mckinsey.com)

· 400 sales leaders surveyed, 55 percent said that only about half of their sales force has the required capabilities.

· 62 percent of B2B decision makers are now willing to spend $50,000 or more in online purchases—and one in five would spend more than $500,000.

· But with different stakeholders involved at different purchasing stages, sales leaders will need granular data and AI analytics capabilities to discern what information and which interactions are most helpful to reach specific audiences.

· Sellers need to develop 3 top capabilities

· 80% of sales leaders surveyed ranked analytical and quantitative skills amount the top capabilities to develop

· 85% believe solution selling will be a core sales capability, requiring strong product knowledge and solution design as well as account-planning skills

· 85% believe that adopting agile working practices will be critical in coming years

· 85 percent believe that adopting agile working methods will be critical for success in the coming years

Maximizing Seller Capability to Engage Modern Customers (salesenablement.pro)

· When just one individual bears the responsibility, he or she has an 81% likelihood of taking action. However, this likelihood drops to 55% with the addition of a second buying group member due to the increased probability of clashing opinions and friction slowing the process.