SiriusDecisions Sales Content Secrets - Aligning to Customer Needs and Challenges

1. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. SiriusDecisions Sales Secrets: Aligning to Customer Needs & Challenges 1 Tom Pisello CEO / Founder tom@alinean.com @tpisello @AlineanROI http://www.alinean.com Heather Cole Service Director, Sales Enablement Heather.Cole@siriusdecisions.com @SiriusDecisions http://www.siriusdecisions.com

2. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved2 2016 Sales Content Survey: Demographics SiriusDecisions gathered sales interaction data from a panel of qualified b- to-b buyers, across industries, enterprise size, and role. 23% 22% 23% 17% 15% Less than $50 million $50 - 499 million $500 million - $999 million $1 - 3 billion More than $3 billion Buyer Role Types Decisionmakers………………….....43% Influencers……………………………..57% Purchase Occurrence <30 Days………………………………..57% <90 Days………………………………..21% <180 Days………………………………11% <365 Days……………………………...11% Previous Experience Novice……………………………………. 17% Experienced……………………………83% Buyer Company Size

3. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved3 Reps need two distinct content types: external-facing content to activate with buyers and internal-facing content to empower success. EMPOWERACTIVATE Sales Content: Defined

4. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved4 The Influence of Sales Content in a Won Deal 79% of b-to-b buyers report that the content provided by a rep is very to extremely influential in their selection of one vendor over another. Content 79% 16% 5% Interactions 68% 23% 10% Slightly or not at all Moderately Very to extremely

5. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved5 Education Solution Selection The Path to Purchase Is Paved in Content Throughout the decision-making process, buyers are receiving and consuming content from marketing and sales. 6.3 Average # of sales assets consumed by buyer, per rep 6.1 4.9

6. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved6 Activation Content: Anatomy of a Win Buyers received/consumed 22% more content overall from winning reps, and the content they provided was more likely to be perceived as high impact. Education Solution Selection Deal Winners Runners-Up 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

7. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved7 Activation Content: Education Stage Winning organizations understand and leverage influencers, and foster relationships early on with relevant thought leadership content. Static brochure/ sales Sales demo presentation Promotional video Interactive brochure/ web page Sales intro presentation Case studyIndustry articles (vendor) Industry articles (3rd party) Analyst report Blog post (3rd Party) Education Δ 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Δ Δ Δ Deal Winners Runners-Up

8. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved8 Activation Content: Education Stage Winning organizations understand and leverage influencers, and foster relationships early on with relevant thought-leadership content. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Static brochure/ sales Sales demo presentation Promotional video Interactive brochure/ web page Sales intro presentation Case studyIndustry articles (vendor) Industry articles (3rd party) Analyst report Blog post (3rd Party) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 Education Deal Winners Runners-Up

9. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved9 Activation Content: Solution Stage Winning reps are more likely to provide custom solution content and informative collateral materials to intuitively bring customer and offering together. Industry articles (vendor) RFP response Sales Proposal presentation Case study Sales demo presentation DemoIndustry Articles (3rd Party) Sales intro presentation Discovery findings document Static brochure/ sales sheet 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ Solution Deal Winners Runners-Up

10. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved10 Solution Activation Content: Solution Stage Winning reps are more likely to provide custom solution content and informative collateral materials to intuitively bring customer and offering together. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 4 2 3 5 8 6 7 10 Industry articles (vendor) RFP response Sales Proposal presentation Case study Sales demo presentation DemoIndustry Articles (3rd Party) Sales intro presentation Discovery findings document Static brochure/ sales sheet Deal Winners Runners-Up

11. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved11 Activation Content: Selection Stage Winning reps develop strong personal relationships with prospects, but also enable that prospect to be an extension of the seller internally. Selection RFP response Personal email Analyst report Sales demo presentation Sales proposal presentation Sales intro presentation 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% DemoProposalContract Deal Winners Runners-Up Δ Industry articles (vendor)

12. SiriusPerspective: © 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved12 RFP response Personal email Analyst report Sales demo presentation Industry articles/ (vendor) Sales proposal presentation Sales intro presentation Activation Content: Selection Stage Winning reps develop strong personal relationships with prospects, but also enable that prospect to be an extension of the seller internally. 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Selection DemoProposalContract 21 3 8 9 7 4 6 5 Deal Winners Runners-Up

13. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. Sales Content Challenge #1: Uncovering Needs 13 80% say uncovering buyer needs is critical to success 2/3rds of solution providers struggle to understand those needs

14. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. Sales Content Challenge #2: Not More, But More Personalized 14 32% more solution provider communications than 2 years ago Too many look-alike white papers? Death by slide deck

15. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. Sales Content Challenge #3: Articulating Unique Value 15 #1 reason sales reps didn’t achieve quota = Inability to articulate unique value 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 71% Inability to Communicate & Quantify

16. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. Education Solution Selection Roadmap for Uncovering Needs & Articulating Unique Value Capture Interest Diagnose buyer needs Cost of “Do Nothing” Align proposed solutions Quantify benefits Tally ROI Advantages Proven outcomes 3rd party validation PAIN Reptilian Brain, Emotions Pathos NOT SAME Middle Brain, Credibility Ethos GAIN New Brain, Logic Logos

20. Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. SiriusDecisions Sales Secrets: Aligning to Customer Needs & Challenges 20 Tom Pisello CEO / Founder tom@alinean.com @tpisello @AlineanROI http://www.alinean.com Heather Cole Service Director, Sales Enablement Heather.Cole@siriusdecisions.com @SiriusDecisions http://www.siriusdecisions.com

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