Best Practices in World-Class Sales Forces

World-Class Sales Force Benchmark Research Jason Jordan Washington, DC

Mercer Co-Sponsored Research with H.R. Chally

In 2006, Chally interviewed 2,500 B2B buyers

Collected data on 4,500 salespeople from 1,500 companies

Identified only 4 companies who were deemed ‘World-Class’ by their customers

Chally and Mercer interviewed dozens of people from each winner (Sales, IT, HR, Executives, etc.)

Mercer wrote the 2007 research report

Industry Rankings

2007 Winners Global Imaging Systems Applied Industrial Technologies Corporate Express Insight Computing

2007 Best Practice Categories

Customer-Focus

Recruiting and Selection

Training and Development

Sales Process

Information Technology

Organizational Integration (new entrant)

Customer-Focused Culture

Common Practice: Hire Industry Experience

Best Practice: Ensure that Your Salespeople Know Their Customers’ Business WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO TRAIN ON CUSTOMER ISSUES

Common Practice: Create Value for Your Customers

Best Practice: Demonstrate the Value You Create for Your Customer WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES EXPLICITLY QUANTIFY THE VALUE OF THEIR PRODUCTS

Recruiting and Selection

Common Practice: Recruit and Hire Natural-Born Sellers

Best Practice: Recruit and Hire Specialists WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES REALIZE THAT SELLING IS A SPECIALIZED PROFESSION

Training and Development

Common Practice: Train Extensively at Onboarding

Best Practice: Provide Just-In-Time Training that is Easily Digestible WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES PROVIDE TRAINING AS SPECIFIC SKILLS ARE REQUIRED

Common Practice: The Best Salespeople Make the Best Managers STEP 1 Train On Selling Skills STEP 2 Promote

Best Practice: Teach Managers How to Manage WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES RECOGNIZE THAT ‘MANAGING’ SKILLS ARE DIFFERENT THAN ‘SELLING’ SKILLS, AND THEY TRAIN ACCORDINGLY STEP 1 Train On Selling Skills STEP 2 Promote

Sales Processes

Common Practice: Measure Inputs and Outcomes

Best Practice: Measure and Manage Inside the Pipeline WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF LEADS THROUGH THE PIPELINE TO I.D. OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT

Information Technology

Common Practice: Buy ‘Best-of-Breed’ CRM Tools and Methodologies

Best Practice: Customize Technology to Your Business … Not Visa Versa WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES BEGIN BY DESIGNING THE PROCESSES THEY NEED, THEN THEY DEVELOP INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO ENABLE THE TASKS

Common Practice: Implement Large-Scale CRM or SFA

Best Practice: Avoid ‘Big Bang’ System Development WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES SHY AWAY FROM LARGE-SCALE CRM PROJECTS IN FAVOR OF MORE ORGANIC TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Organizational Integration

Common Practice: Seek Assistance from Other Functions (or not)

Best Practice: Imbed Functional Resources Inside the Sales Organization and Field Offices WORLD CLASS SALES FORCES BRING OTHER FUNCTIONS INSIDE THEIR ORGANIZATION TO LEARN THEIR BUSINESS AND BETTER SERVE THEIR NEEDS

In Sum …