1.
Productivity Series | An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era
Buyer 2.0
3Tips to adapt to
new customer
expectations

2.
3 Tips to adapt to new customer expectations
Today, sales teams must sell to self-empowered, highly informed “super” buyers. These
potential customers are incredibly savvy when it comes to tracking down information
about possible vendors and solutions and vetting their options. They are getting
information about companies and their products from an unprecedented number of
sources: Internet searches, company websites, their social network (e.g., Facebook,
LinkedIn, Twitter), their professional communities, news outlets—you name it!
Put simply, today’s buyers can access virtually any information, easily compare options,
and instantly validate their decisions with the click of a mouse or touch on a screen.
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era

3.
“Today, with buyers now controlling the majority of
the front end of the sales process, sellers must
learn to facilitate a buying process—not conduct
a sales process.”
– Colleen Francis, Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era

4.
Buyers no longer want to be sold to
Along the way, most buyers prefer to keep sales reps at arm’s length
as long as possible. Who can blame them? No one wants a hard sell if they can
avoid it. As a result, because buyers are more in control of accessing information, they no longer depend
on sales reps to narrow down their options and make a shortlist.
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era
1

5.
Digital signals are key
This sea change in buying has altered the nature of engagement and
ways that organizations interact with buyers. That’s not to say traditional
interactions—such as those via email, on the phone or in person—are dead. It does mean, however, that
cold calls and unsolicited emails are less effective than ever at sparking a conversation with potential
customers.
Just look at the stats: a cold call is only 3% effective, according to an IBM preference study.1 Now
compare that to reaching out via a LinkedIn Inmail—recipients are likely to respond to those outreaches
67% of the time.2
So what does this mean for today’s sales reps?
1 http://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/prospecting-tool/cold-calling-tips.html
2 http://www.gmigroup.be/cms/uploads/Presentaties/Klantendag%202013/GMI%20Dynamics%20CRM%202.pdf
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era
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6.
Companies hire salespeople to drive revenue, but it
turns out that the majority of sales reps spend very
little of their time actually doing the jobs they were
hired to do. According to Pace Productivity, just 22% of a typical sales rep’s
week is focused on selling.3 Let’s face it—reps can’t close if they’re hamstrung by
inefficient processes, left out of the conversation initiated by marketing, or simply
distracted by time-sucking administrative tasks.
What’s more, considering that sales reps are often not looped in until buyers are
two-thirds of the way though the decision-making process, sales productivity
matters now more than ever. In other words, salespeople need to free up as
much of their time as possible to focus on selling.
3 http://paceproductivity.com/files/How_Sales_Reps_Spend_Their_Time.pdf
An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era
Typical Sales Reps %
of Weekly Hours
3 Businesses need to let salespeople sell

7.
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An essential guide to sales productivity in the modern era