2. Changing customer expectations and continuous sales cycles are creating a stark reality: The
sales practices of many businesses are nearing the breaking point. A shift toward “agile selling”
can help companies build the capabilities they need to achieve growth and profitability. Recent
Accenture-sponsored research lends support to the argument that focusing on five agile selling
imperatives could make all the difference.
2
3. The game has changed
Chief sales officers (CSOs) have always faced an uphill battle when it
comes to growing their revenues and, more importantly, profitable growth.
That’s because shareholder demands, competitive threats and customer
expectations never decline. They only rise. Complicating matters even more
are three trends that are now redefining the art and science of sales:
Nonstop customers
The deal is never done. Customers now
have access to more knowledge and
opinions, through more channels, than
ever before. This information—much of
which is beyond a company’s control—
plays a significant role in shaping
customer preferences and expectations
for personalized experiences. In this
“always-on” environment, the traditional
linear buying process, which begins with
awareness and ends with purchase and
loyalty, has lost its relevance and is simply
too slow, too static and too generic to
address the needs of today’s buyers.
With the advance of digital technologies,
buyers are always in a dynamic and
multi-directional channel, where they
can constantly evaluate (and re-evaluate)
whether a promise made by a supplier is
a promise delivered. (Learn more about
Accenture’s Nonstop Customer model).
The digital revolution
IT no longer encompasses a set of tools
that enable sales processes. Digital
disruptions and cloud-based technologies
have become important catalysts for
business transformation. For example,
digital selling—which applies digital tools,
online and social media to enable digital
relationships and drive sales across multiple
channels—is fast emerging as a primary
driver of market differentiation, business
growth and profitability. When selecting
technologies to support or improve their
organizations’ sales performance, CSOs
need to realize that the true value of those
investments will lie in their ability to drive
broader transformation programs.
3
The evolving role of the CSO
Not long ago, CSOs had a singular focus:
optimizing sales performance. Executing
against that goal is still a fundamental
component of their jobs. However, success
today is increasingly measured in terms
of profitability. This means that CSOs
must identify and act upon a host of
opportunities to streamline sales processes,
target and engage with high-value
customers, and boost the performance of
every sales agent. In other words, the CSO
role has become more multi-dimensional
and CSOs are expected to wear many
hats—among them, chief profitability officer,
chief transformation officer, chief coaching
officer and even chief customer officer.
Each of these trends has strategic
implications, not just for the sales
organization and the CSO, but also for
marketing, customer service and any other
functional area that touches the customer.
For all of them, agility, hyper-relevance,
personalized interactions, and the ability
to move from insight to action are new
hallmarks of high performance.
2014 Sales Performance Optimization Study
Accenture, in collaboration with CSO Insights, a leading research
and benchmarking organization, conducted in 2014, the 20th annual
study on sales performance optimization. We surveyed 1,200+ sales
executives from different industry groups around the world to assess
current sales performance, challenges facing sales teams, and what
organizations are doing to address those challenges. In this year’s
study, 95 respondents represented organizations with more than
$1 billion in sales.
4. 4
The old playbook no longer applies
As world economies began rebounding
from the latest global recession in 2009,
businesses understandably believed that
they would see a concomitant improvement
in their sales performance. That sentiment
was reflected in CSO Insights’ most recent
Sales Performance Optimization Study,
conducted in conjunction with Accenture.
By 2012, chief sales officers (CSOs) had
become apparently optimistic about their
organizations’ sales potential; 74 percent
were targeting a greater than 5 percent
jump in revenue for 2013. And why
wouldn’t they be hopeful? Deal sizes and
revenue targets were growing, as were the
percentages of sales reps achieving their
sales quotas.
One year later, the positive outlook of CSOs
appeared to remain strong. 99 percent
of CSOs indicated their intention to raise
their revenue targets for 2014, with 72
percent setting those targets at more than
5 percent higher than the previous year.
However, a look at the confidence with
which CSOs feel they can achieve their
revenue goals tells a very different story.
Only about one-quarter of CSOs most
recently surveyed expressed no doubts
(or minimal doubts) about achieving their
new goals (see Figure 1). That’s about half
as many as had expressed that level of
confidence the year prior.
Figure 1. While 99 percent of CSOs have higher revenue targets this year, only 14 percent are very confident they can achieve it.
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Don’t see
how 2%
Minimal
doubts
12%
No doubts
14%
16-25% More11-15% More6-10% More1-5% More
0%
4%
6%
8%
11%
12%
39%
42%
22%
27%
18%
10%
1%
5%
10%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
Less than/
same as
Revenue Target Revenue Achievement Confidence
>25% More
2013
2014
Some
concerns
53%
Clear
concerns
19%
5. 5
CSOs’ skepticism of achieving their targets is reflected in sales quota achievement. For five consecutive years, the percentage of sales
representatives achieving their annual quotas climbed—culminating in 2013 at a level of 67.2 percent. In 2014, nearly 10 percent fewer
sales reps are expected to achieve their quotas (see Figure 2). What makes this drop particularly noteworthy is the fact that both revenue
targets and sales quotas have also been set lower in 2014 (see Figures 3 and 4). Specifically, quotas have been re-allocated from the $2.5-
$4 million to the $.5-$1 million range. Even at these lower target levels, CSOs do not expect their reps to reach their goals.
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Figure 2. Sales quota achievement has declined for the
first time in years.
Figure 3. Revenue target achievement has also declined for
the first time in years.
0%
67%
59%
64% 64%
20%
100%
80%
60%
40%
2011 2012 2013 2014
80%
92%
87%
89%
90%
100%
90%
2011 2012 2013 2014
6. Figure 4. Average annual sales quotas have been decreased.
0%
5%
10%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
< $500,000
$500,001 - $1,000,000
$1,000,001 - $1,500,000
$1,500,001 - $2,500,000
$2,500,001 - $4,000,000
> $4,000,000
2011 2012 2013 2014
6%
14%
16%
17%
18%
29%
13%
8%
12%
14%
16%
38%
32%
6%
11%
12%
17%
22%
32%
24%
16%
12%
7%
9%
Together, these statistics present a grim
reality: sales performance is dropping.
This calls into question the value of
companies’ past efforts to improve their
sales effectiveness. Prior to 2014, several
initiatives had gained considerable traction,
year over year. These included aligning
sales tools to customer behaviors, revising
channel strategies, and improving sales
representatives’ access to information. Yet,
the lackluster outcomes of those (and many
other initiatives) suggest that CSOs have
not been building the right process, talent,
technology and customer capabilities to
drive high performance. Rather, they have
been investing in programs that yield little
value. And, because they have done so
over a period of years, sales systems and
processes have grown more complex and
less effective. Today, these processes and
systems are at their breaking point.
It is time for CSOs to rethink their
investments and, more broadly, the
effectiveness of old sales models in a
dynamic, always-on and always-connected
environment. The message is clear: CSOs
can no longer rely on their old playbooks. An
entirely new approach to sales is required.
6
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Sale processes and systems are
at their breaking point.
7. Companies today need to be smarter
about enhancing their returns on sales
investments. They need to capitalize on
emerging trends to create a more dynamic
sales capability that will grow revenue and
build loyalty. And they need to transform
their traditional sales approach to meet the
needs of an always-connected customer
who expects to be served and sold to in
a completely different way. In short, they
need to adopt an agile selling approach. At
its core, agile selling is about:
• Architecting the sales experience to
serve the Nonstop Customer—interacting
with customers on their terms
• Streamlining the buying process by using
data to gain insights and prioritizing
digital and cloud investments
• Strategically aligning working sales spend
with an intense focus on ROI to power
profitable growth
• Investing in price strategy adoption and
deal level governance
• Crushing the silos that slow down the sales
process, as well as embracing the evolving
role of retail and channel partners.
The case for agile selling
Accenture’s research and experience has
shown that an agile selling approach
can be a primary source of competitive
differentiation and sustainable growth. It
can also produce significant improvements
in sales force performance, which
translates into bottom-line savings.
The case for agile selling has never been
stronger. Yet, most companies have not
adopted the agile selling principles that
are now required. In some cases, the lack
of action is due to CSOs’ refusal to let go
of the traditional selling approaches they
have developed over the years. In others,
the value of agile selling has not been
achieved because CSOs simply don’t know
where to invest. Accenture’s research
and experience suggests that tremendous
opportunities exist for those companies
willing to throw out their old playbooks
in favor of five new sales imperatives. We
believe each imperative has the potential
to be transformative in terms of its
potential impact on sales performance
and profitable growth.
A new “agile selling” playbook comprises five imperatives
for achieving sales transformation and growth at S-P-E-E-D.
Spend optimization
Price and profit optimization
Execution and operations excellence
Enablement of sales talent
Digital selling and dynamic channels
7
8. 8
Imperative #1: Put your money where your profitability is
Spend optimization
Companies spend a huge portion of
their sales and marketing budgets on
efforts aimed at generating qualified
customer leads and driving profitable
sales. Expenditures fall into four general
categories: advertising, channel incentives
(such as partner promotions and
rebates), sales incentives (such as sales
representative commissions and bonuses),
and price discounts. For large companies,
the cost of channel and sales incentives
can total hundreds of millions—if not
billions—of dollars every year.
As CSOs are increasingly charged with
boosting an organization’s profitability, it is
critical that they understand the impact of
their spending. Surprisingly, only two-thirds
of billion-dollar companies analyze the
returns of their investments. Nearly one-
quarter of sales executives do not track
returns at all. And nearly 10 percent do not
know if their sales compensation, incentive
or promotional spending is analyzed.1
Without those insights, it is very difficult
to know what’s working, what’s not, and
where to prioritize future investments.
Among sales executives that do track ROI,
approximately 60 percent believe their
compensation and incentive programs are
motivating their agents to retain existing
business, sell new products, or pursue
cross- and up-sell opportunities. This is
encouraging, since each of these activities
is important for sales growth. However, far
fewer executives are looking at how well
their sales spending drives profitability.
For example, only 41 percent feel that
their incentive programs are adequately
encouraging the sales of higher-margin
products. And less than a third use
incentive programs to encourage their reps
to avoid excessive discounting.2
It’s time for CSOs to optimize their sales
spending. This imperative calls for CSOs
to align the costs that they control and
influence—namely, sales and channel
incentives, rebates and discounts—to
the activities that are most likely to
power profitable growth. In other words,
they must simultaneously optimize their
spending and enhance their returns.
Agile sellers strategically align
their working sales spend to
power profitable growth and
bolster returns on investments.
Pricing prowess
A global oilfield services provider lagged its peers in terms of profitability.
Its subpar margin performance was due to several factors, including the
company’s “gut-feel” approach to pricing and the limited visibility it had
into the true costs of serving each customer. By segmenting its products
and customers (and then aligning new pricing strategies to each), the
company achieved a $1.2 billion boost in margins. It also eliminated many
of its price-execution errors and gained a much better understanding of
how to serve its most profitable customers.
9. 9
Price and profit optimization
Imperative #2: Master the art of the deal
Pricing is a key driver for customer
decision-making and one of three key levers
(along with asset productivity and cost
containment) that impacts shareholder
value and stock price. Often described as
a process, pricing really encompasses a set
of capabilities that enable companies to
optimize yield, maintain (or gain) market
share, retain (or attract) customers,
and minimize (or eliminate) unmanaged
discounting. Achieving these benefits
requires most organizations to transition
from basic cost-based pricing models to
dynamic, data-driven approaches that
employ customer-centered and contextual
pricing approaches.
Agile sellers use analytics to develop a customer-centered and
contextual pricing approach to increase profits. They also provide sales
teams the insights and tools to know when and how to negotiate.
Two areas of pricing, in particular, hold
promise for CSOs, since both are under the
direct control of the sales organization.
The first is deal pricing, which focuses on
bundling offers and aligning those bundles
to customer segments, thereby optimizing
deal profitability via better margins and
higher win rates. The second is negotiation/
execution. By mastering this pricing
capability, companies can more effectively
manage risks and capture contract leakage,
and also carry out complex negotiations
with greater confidence. The results include
better responsiveness to volatile market
conditions and a reduction in discounting,
as well as administrative expenses.
CSOs can directly drive profitability by
addressing the following: First, they need to
create awareness and consistently reinforce
the importance of profitable sales, not just
topline revenue (i.e., every deal cannot be
a “must win” deal). Secondly, CSOs should
monitor and measure the expected value
of respective sales (i.e., CSOs should use
analytics to evaluate what’s in the pipeline
and the potential profitability of each
deal). Thirdly, they should work with Talent
executives to incorporate sales training
modules on data-driven and contextual
pricing as well as consider changing rep
and third-party compensation structures
to incent on deal profitability, not just
revenues.
10. 10
Imperative #3: Focus on experience and insights
CSOs have long recognized that sales
playbooks, sales processes and supporting
technologies all play critical roles in
optimizing the customer buying process
and bolstering sales productivity. Yet most
have found it difficult to implement on-the-
ground solutions that do more than make
their existing capabilities more efficient. By
“changing the rules,” companies can develop
entirely new capabilities, redefine their sales
approaches, and create “insight engines” that
drive sustainable growth and profitability.
Accenture advocates that companies pursue
execution excellence in three areas.
Write a new process playbook—
one based on customer
expectations and experiences
In 2014, the number of companies achieving
their revenue targets and individual sales
quotas dropped significantly as compared to
prior years. One of the reasons for this drop
may be the fact that sales representatives
are spending less time selling and more time
focused on administrative tasks. In 2014,
sales reps are spending only 34 percent of
their time selling.
0% 10%
Increase sales effectiveness
Increase existing account penetration
Other
Increase reoder/renewal rates
Reduce new rep ramp-up time
Improve team selling
Reduce sell cycle time
Increase win rates
Optimize lead generation
Improve margins/Reduce discounting
Optimize deal size
Improve customer loyalty
Capture new accounts
20% 60%50%40%30%
38%
39%
36%
32%
26%
19%
18%
14%
13%
12%
8%
3%
57%
In response to this trend, CSOs have two
options. They can make organizational
changes that free their reps to spend more
time with customers. Or they can implement
changes to ensure that their sales teams have
the capabilities and insights they need to
make the most of their limited selling time.
In the latter case, our research has shown
that organizations that have achieved their
sales goals more consistently than their peers
prioritize their sales objectives differently.
Specifically, they focus more on improving
margins and retaining existing customers.
Their counterparts, in contrast, place more
emphasis on increasing customer share and
new customer acquisitions (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. Executives’ top three objectives for the next 12 months includes increasing sales effectiveness.
Execution and operations excellence
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
11. 11
CSOs are taking notice of what can happen
when sales investments are reprioritized.
They are following the example of their
leading-edge peers by rethinking how they
can create a more dynamic sales operation.
For the first time in years, they are planning
to pay more attention to realigning team
structures and sales processes than to
implementing new CRM technologies
(see Figure 6). There’s more good news.
Sales executives we surveyed are finally
Figure 6. Sales effectiveness initiatives reflect structural and process issues.
recognizing the need to implement
systemic changes to sales processes and
behaviors. For example, 58 percent want
to improve their ability to take advantage
of cross- and up-sell opportunities. And
65 percent want to improve their ability
to penetrate other business units. Perhaps
most tellingly, leaders generally agree
on the growing need to improve their
sales planning and sales management
capabilities (see Figure 7).
Revising sales team structure
Improving rep access to information
Revising sales rep hiring strategy
Revising compensation
Revising channel strategy
Analyzing buying process
Revising sales tools
Aligning sales and marketing
Enhancing lead generation
New CRM tools
Revising sales process
Enhancing sales team communications
0% 10% 20% 50%40%30%
2013
2014
38%
438%
50%
42%
39%
42%
27%
33%
37%
32%
35%
30%
34%
29%
25%
27%
18%
26%
29%
26%
28%
24%
13%
14%
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
12. Effectively incubating promising leads
for the future
What Needs Improving in the Area of Sales Planning? What Needs Improving in the Area of Sales Management?
Properly qualifying and prioritizing
opportunities
Developing sales strategy plans for
major opportunities
Prioritizing accounts to focus selling
efforts
0% 20% 40% 80%60% 0% 20% 40% 80%60%
2013 2014
63%
65%
51%
64%
44%
53%
50%
40%
Accurately forecasting business
Continually adapting business
process for market changes
Giving sales managers timely,
accurate sales metrics *
Effectively sharing best practices *
46%
54%
40%
53%
49%
44%
*New metrics
Figure 7. Sales leaders recognize that sales management and sales planning capabilities are lacking in discipline and effectiveness.
These changing attitudes reflect a
willingness among sales leaders to view
their sales capabilities (and the relevance
of those capabilities in a nonstop customer
environment) through a new lens. This is a
critical first step toward creating an agile
sales approach. Moving forward, sales
leaders should build on this new thinking
and develop a new playbook that:
• Focuses on value-based and outcome-
based selling. “Fixing” existing sales
processes will produce only mediocre
results. What’s needed is a new focus
on different processes that will produce
different outcomes.
• Designs processes in a way that
addresses customer expectations
and delivers satisfying customer
experiences at every turn. To create a
customer-centric process design engine,
companies need to first apply analytics to
really know their customers. They need to
identify and assess their customer touch
points, and then ensure that interactions
are seamless among them.
• Prioritizes capabilities that directly
affect the performance of sales
representatives and channel partners.
One such capability involves lead
identification. Currently, 63 percent
of businesses do not have a formal
definition of a qualified lead. More than
half (58 percent) believe their ability
to identify decision makers and their
ability to cross-sell or up-sell needs
improvement. And only 15 percent
indicate that three-quarters or more of
their qualified leads result in a customer
discussion. Another set of capabilities
that warrant attention include
forecasting and account planning.
Account planning is mandatory for only
39 percent of companies (a 17 percent
decline from 2013). Fewer than half of
forecast opportunities result in “wins.”
And only 7 percent of companies have
75 percent or more of their deals close
as per their initial forecast. In fact, the
ability to accurately forecast business
has been declining for years (see Figure
8).
Agile sellers make their new process playbooks so valuable
that sales teams eagerly adopt them.
12
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
13. Figure 8. The ability to accurately forecast the business has deteriorated.
Figure 9. Companies with formal or dynamic sales processes outperform their peers.
Make sales process adoption your
number one priority
For several years, Accenture’s research has
shown that sales teams are ambivalent
about adopting a prescribed sales
methodology. In 2014, only 51 percent
of sales organizations are using a formal
or dynamic sales process. The number of
companies with a greater-than-90-percent
0%
10%
20%
60%
50%
40%
30%
Needs improvement
Meets expectations
Exceeds expectations
Don’t know or N/A
Linear (needs improvement)
2011 2012 2013 2014
2% 3%
4%
39%
54%
9%
44%
45%
41%
50%
6%
3%
1%
8%
45%
46%
Levels of Sales Process Implementation
Reps exceed expectations to understand the buyer’s process
Reps exceed expectations to understand accounts to focus upon
Total sales rep turnover
Outcome of forecast deals: won/lost/no decision
Percent of sales reps meeting/beating quota
Percent annual sales revenue attained
Level 1
Random Sales
Process
Level 2
Informal Sales
Process
Level 3
Formal Sales
Process
Level 4
Dynamic Sales
Process
2% 7% 8% 26%
5% 5% 10% 15%
20% 18% 19% 16%
41%/35%/24% 45%/33%/22% 48%/28%/24% 52%/27%/21%
53% 58% 58% 66%
75% 81% 84% 87%
sales methodology adoption rate is just 8
percent—the lowest in three years.
Since many sales processes, as noted
above, currently focus on encouraging
behaviors that do little to advance agile
selling, the failure of companies to adopt
a consistent methodology may not be
a cause of concern. But we think it
should be. Our research has shown that
companies with formal or dynamic sales
processes outperform their peers on a
number of measures (see Figure 9). One
can assume that as sales processes are
more appropriately prioritized and aligned
to drive sustainable growth, the adoption
of formal methods will become even more
important.
13
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study—Sales Management Analysis
14. There are several things CSOs should do
(or not do) to encourage the adoption
of a consistent sales process. Perhaps
most important, they should not attempt
to mandate compliance to a strict
methodology. This may seem counter-
intuitive. But we’ve found that the primary
reason processes are not adopted is
because sales teams simply do not value
them. When companies establish processes
that are designed to make sales teams
more successful, those teams will naturally
want to incorporate them into their day-
to-day sales activities.
When it comes to designing processes that
sales teams will actively embrace, leaders
should start with a customer-centric
view. Understanding what today’s non-
stop customers want and how they want
to interact with the business can guide
leaders to create processes that place
sales reps at the center of the customer
experience. Aligning sales processes to the
customers’ needs improves the likelihood
that those processes will be adopted, since
those processes will directly support the
activities that will help reps achieve their
goals.
While the relevance of sales processes
largely influences the rate of process
adoption, CSOs should make sure that
sales representatives have the right tools
at their disposal to use those processes
to their maximum advantage. One of the
most important tools is training and, more
specifically, formal coaching. Studies have
shown that sales coaching can greatly
accelerate the rate at which sales reps
learn. Whereas training alone can improve
behaviors and outcomes, training combined
with coaching can yield even stronger
outcomes, especially in complex, dynamic
environments. Our recent research confirms
that formal coaching methods can play a
key role in increasing sales effectiveness
(see Figure 10).
Figure 10. raining and formal coaching, on average, impact sales performance.
Training Investment per Rep
per Year as Related to:
Training Dollars:
<$2500
Training Dollars:
>$2500
Overall revenue attainment
% of reps meeting/beating quota
Average deal size
76% 86%
55% 61%
$80K $150K
Deal Size >$100K and Training
Investment per Rep per Year as
Related to:
Overall revenue attainment
% of reps meeting/beating quota
Outcome of forecast deals: won/lost/
no decision
Reps consistently use sales methodology
>75%
Formal coaching methodology
78% 85% 88%
54% 56% 60%
27% 38% 54%
42%/34%/24% 46%/31%/23% 48%/30%/22%
19% 17% 44%
Training Dollars:
<$500
Training Dollars:
$500-$2500
Training Dollars:
>$2500
14
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study—Sales Process Analysis
15. Use technology as a catalyst for
business transformation
A third way to drive excellence in
execution is to rethink how technology
can improve sales effectiveness. To date,
many investments in common IT solutions
such as customer relationship management
(CRM) and configure-price-quote (CPQ)
systems have not been utilized to their
maximum advantage and are, therefore,
not producing the results many CSOs
expected. For example, fewer than 50
percent of companies report that 75
percent or more of their sales teams
have adopted their CRM technology. That
reflects a 15 percent drop in CRM adoption
over the past year alone. Regarding sales
content management software and CPQ,
54 percent of organizations that have
implemented either solution have not seen
a noticeable impact of sales performance.
Figure 11. Sales “masters” understand the potential of digital technologies and outperform other companies.
Blind trust that these types of technologies
can solve sales problems has commanded
investments that may have been more
wisely directed elsewhere.
Today, sales leaders’ fascination
with technology continues. What is
changing, however, is the appreciation
of the role that technology plays in sales
transformation. The emergence of social,
mobile and cloud solutions has made it
clear that digital technologies and analytics
are disruptors of the status quo and can be
considered key elements of a differentiated
sales strategy. Whereas yesterday’s IT
solutions were intended to enable sales
effectiveness, digital solutions are now
poised to be catalysts and accelerators of
business transformation.
Accenture’s 2013 B2B Customer
Experience Survey revealed that
sales “masters”—those companies that
consistently outperform their peers—are
particularly keen on the digital potential
(see Figure 11). But even poor sales
performers have taken notice, with roughly
two-thirds acknowledging the value
of digital solutions. The use of mobile
capabilities to improve sales productivity
is particularly appealing. However,
today’s mobile solutions, much like the
technologies that preceded them, are not
being used to their optimal advantage.
For example, sales force usage of tablet
devices increased by 400 percent in the
last year. But these tablets are often used
for simply viewing e-mails or updating
calendars and are, therefore, not creating
the desired outcomes or improving sales
rep productivity. Similarly, only 30 percent
of companies are using analytics. Of those,
more than half are not leveraging their
analytics to understand the needs of the
customer, identify cross-sell opportunities
or reduce customer churn.
29%
34%
Importance vs Performance by profileTechnology seen as “Game Changer” by profile
DIGITAL (web, social)
88%
86%
84%
79%
68%
58%
83%
80%
67%
63%
82%
79%
68%
66%
MOBILE
...will significantly improve
engagement with customers,
employees and partners.
...will provide significant sources
of new revenue for our company.
91%
86%
CLOUD
...will significantly improve
collaboration with customers,
employees and partners.
...will help to become more agile
and flexible like never before.
90%
89%
Masters Strivers:
Confident Seekers
Great Planners
Execution Heros
Trying
hard/
Laggards
(Q24-28, top 2 scores) Importance of selected capabilities Performance of selected capabilities
Masters Strivers:
Confident Seekers
Great Planners
Execution Heros
Trying
hard/
Laggards
50%
34%
51%
47%
72%
61%
74%
66%
74%
67%
89% 87%
87% 87%
89% 85%
...will significantly improve
engagement with customers,
employees and partners.
...will provide significant sources
of new revenue for our company.
15
Source: “B2B Customer Experience: Start Playing to Win and Stop Playing Not to Lose”, Accenture, 2014
16. Agile sellers use technology as a catalyst for business transformation,
while using a strategy-led methodology for technology delivery.
16
17. To make wiser technology investments,
sales leaders need to first embrace digital
technologies as more than enablers of
traditional sales approaches. Technologies
today no longer focus on automating sales
processes; they can be used for a variety of
purposes—from pushing intelligence to reps
to delivering personalized sales coaching.
Because of their broad applicability, digital,
mobile, cloud and analytics solutions are
key elements of agile selling, drivers of
digital selling, and catalysts for digital
relationships.
Secondly, sales executives need to realize
that when they invest in IT, they are
committing to a business transformation.
This is made clear by new cloud-based
solutions that promise to provide plug-
and-play functionality and fast results.
These outcomes are certainly possible—but
only if companies have taken other steps to
advance their transformation agenda.
Third, they need to invest in IT strategically.
This means they should stay focused on
tools that will deliver a distinctive and
connected experience for sales reps to
help meet the evolving expectations of
the nonstop customer. While the fast pace
of the digital revolution requires leaders
to act quickly in selecting the tools that
will enable their agile edge, they should be
rigorous in selecting those technologies
that best meet their needs. Implementing
too many tools—which is tempting because
tools can often be acquired without the
involvement of the IT organization—can
dilute performance and detract from sales
productivity.
17
18. 10
Imperative #4: Apply science to help move the “frozen
middle”
Our latest research confirms what many
CSOs have long known: The talent situation
in sales organizations is in a dismal state.
The trouble spans the entire talent cycle—
from the performance of sales teams to
the lack of skills and analytical capabilities
to issues related to training. Consider the
areas of hiring, onboarding and retention.
Nearly 60 percent of companies are
planning to increase the size of their sales
forces. However, since it takes 80 percent
of companies more than six months to
complete the onboarding process, new hires
will have minimal impact on 2014 revenues
or sales quotas. Also, managers’ track
records of hiring successful reps has grown
much worse in the past year. So has the
ability of companies to retain top talent (see
Figure 12). Together, these factors contribute
to a sales force turnover rate (voluntary
and involuntary) of 19 percent. Many
companies think they can reverse these
trends by providing additional training. With
the poor quality of the training provided
today—evident in multiple areas, including
the declining impact of training on win
rates, lead conversion, average deal size and
forecast accuracy—they simply can’t.
Figure 12. Sales managers’ performance has worsened in two key areas:
Needs improvement
Consistently Hiring Reps Who Succeed
Meets expectations
Do not know
Exceeds expectations
0% 10% 20% 60%50%40%30%
2013 2014
34%
44%
57%
43%
6%
8%
3%
4%
Needs improvement
Retaining Top Talent
Meets expectations
Do not know
Exceeds expectations
0% 10% 20% 60%50%40%30%
2013 2014
18%
29%
54%
52%
27%
17%
2%
2%
18
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Enablement of sales talent
19. 11
What, then, can companies do to create
and sustain a talent management capability
that enables agile selling? For one thing,
they can apply analytics. For example,
companies can eschew across-the-board
annual quota setting in favor of an
analytics-based approach that accurately
(and more realistically) aligns territories
and quotas. Another example involves
using analytics to gain insights that will
improve outcomes across the sales talent
lifecycle. This approach involves:
• Identifying the traits that distinguish
high performing sales reps from those
that may not be as likely to succeed
• Classifying the skills and behaviors that
predict success in agile selling for each
sales role
• Identifying the gaps between current
and desired performance for each role
by segment, geography, business unit, or
variable of interest
• Accurately modeling success and
prioritizing training, management and
onboarding investments accordingly
• Developing insights into what each sales
rep and manager needs for ongoing
training, development and support
• Translating what makes high performers
successful to the hiring process.
Moving the “frozen middle”
The “frozen middle” refers to the large number of sales reps and
managers—typically 65 to 70 percent of the sales force—who
consistently exhibit average performance. With insights into the
capabilities and traits of high performers, companies can begin to
create programs that effectively nudge average performers toward
higher levels of performance. Even shifting their abilities just a few
percentage points along the performance curve can yield significant
benefits. For example, Accenture estimates that a $20 billion company
with 1500 sales reps can generate an addition $420 million by shifting
the “frozen middle’s” performance by just 2 percent. A 5 percent shift
could feasibly translate into an additional $1 billion in revenue.
19
Agile sellers apply science to help
current sales reps deliver better
performance, as well as to make
better hiring decisions.
The insights gleaned from this scientific
approach to talent would enable companies
to not only improve the likelihood of
hiring candidates who will succeed, but
also develop training and development
opportunities that encourage top sales
representatives and managers to stay.
Perhaps most importantly, an analytics-
based profile of desired competencies,
personality traits and behaviors will make
it easier for companies to understand what
it takes to move more sales reps out of
the “frozen middle” and in the direction of
high performance (see sidebar, “Moving the
‘frozen middle.’”)
20. Imperative #5: Build a front-office “engine” for agile selling
An agile selling organization is, by definition,
highly dynamic. It rapidly responds to
fluctuating market demands and engages
with customers and teaming partners in real
time and in differentiating ways. It is able to
get the right opportunity to the right sellers
(including indirect sales agents and online
and offline retail outlets) at the right time.
And it seeks out innovative relationships
to deliver greater value, and is willing to
embrace “coopetition” with rivals as part of
a broader dynamic sales strategy.
The success of agile selling is based largely
on two factors. The first is the use of
analytics—not just to understand the
characteristics, preferences and behaviors
of its customers (and even its sales reps),
but also to create a dynamic network of
external and internal channels committed
to delivering consistently satisfying
experiences, regardless of the mode of
interaction. The second is the willingness to
break down the barriers that traditionally
separate organizations’ sales, marketing
and service functions. Dynamic, customer-
centric approaches to sales will not succeed
among silos. What they need is an open,
highly integrated, collaborative environment
that enables all parties to work in concert to
strengthen customer relationships and drive
profitable growth. The importance of this is
reflected in the fact that customers today
are often more than 50 percent through
the buying process when they meet sales
representatives for the first time.
There is some evidence that agile selling
via a more dynamic channel ecosystem is
now on CSOs’ agenda. The Accenture 2013
B2B Customer Experience Survey found
that 90 percent of sales “masters” view
collaboration across internal functions,
and with teaming partners, vendors and
customers as important. In our most recent
research, 85 percent of companies indicated
that their sales and customer service
functions are now working together, with 16
percent working in a combined organization.
Also, 47 percent of companies indicated
that sales and customer services have a
joint responsibility for minimizing customer
churn. These percentages may increase,
since there is a growing appreciation that
an integrated sales, service and marketing
capability can provide a holistic—and
ultimately more valuable—view of the
customer. This is particularly apparent
when it comes to capturing additional sales
opportunities (see Figure 13).
Figure 13. Sales executives understand the value of integrating sales, marketing and service capabilities. They further recognize
that such integration will help them in two key areas:
Needs
improvement
Ability to Farm Additional Opportunities
Meets
expectations
Do not know
or n/a
Exceeds
expectations
0% 10% 20% 60%50%40%30%
2013 2014
42%
48% +6%
38%
35%
16%
15%
4%
2%
Needs
improvement
Ability to Penetrate Other Business Units
Meets
expectations
Do not know
or n/a
Exceeds
expectations
0% 10% 20% 60% 70%50%40%30%
65%
27%
5%
2%
20
Source: 2014 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Study
Digital selling
21. There are, however, other indications that
a move toward dynamic channels and
agile selling may be stalled (or even sliding
backwards). For example, when asked about
their most important initiatives to improve
sales effectiveness in 2014, only 29 percent
of sales executives indicated they were
planning to align sales and marketing—a
nearly 5 percent drop from the prior year.
Also, 12 percent of leads come from the
customer service area; however, only
15 percent of firms have a formal lead-
generation process in place for service-
generated leads. Twenty-one percent of
leads come from marketing, but 63 percent
of firms do not have a formal definition
of qualified leads across the organization.
This is perhaps one reason why the need
to improve the quality and quantity of
leads from marketing doubled from 2013 to
2014, from 36 percent to 64 percent.
All of these findings suggest that
companies are in a quandary. They see
the potential value of an integrated, agile
selling capability, but lack the strategy and
tools to accelerate the shift. To create a
front-office engine that powers profitable
growth, companies should do whatever they
can to break down the decades-old barriers
between sales, service and marketing.
They should include sales operations in
the mix, since they no longer enable sales
but rather provide fuel to the front-office
transformation.
For many companies, completely changing
the sales operating model to bring a
dynamic channel strategy to life is a
daunting proposition. It is. But there
are some guiding principles that can
facilitate the change and create a common
vision around agile selling. For example,
initiatives aimed at driving an agile selling
transformation should be assessed against
whether they help achieve one of five
objectives: standardization, consistency,
collaboration, ease-of-use or process
adoption. If they don’t address these criteria,
they should not be pursued. Once a course
of action is determined, companies should
drive the change in multiple ways, via:
Crush the silos: Cross-functional
Communications. Inform and listen to
marketing, service and sales reps and
managers to build understanding and
commitment. Be clear, responsive and
engaging, and take advantage of social
collaboration and networking tools.
Design for digital and analog
interactions: Design roles and
responsibilities to enhance the potential of
new processes and tools. Focusing on roles
within processes is a good place to start.
Connect and collaborate: Empower
stakeholders and put them in control of the
new way they work. Deliver insights and
tools to connect them with the customer
and each other, including indirect channel
partners. Social collaboration forums and
digital technologies can give them a voice.
Finally, companies should rethink their
approach to leadership in a dynamic sales
environment.
Agile selling success is measured by so
much more than closing a deal. It is about
seamlessly managing a complex ecosystem
of dynamic channels, processes, digital
technologies and customer insights. In the
end, it’s all about the customer. Leading
companies are able to orchestrate the
many moving parts across digital and
analog, dynamic channels. Winners deliver
distinctive seller experiences to help drive
profitable growth in the new playing field
of nonstop customers.
Some of these agile sales executives will
likely already occupy traditional sales
roles. But others will emerge from roles
and functions in areas not traditionally
considered to be in the sales domain. In
this hybrid leadership model, leaders may
have distinct roles and levels of authority,
but they must share a common vision for
agile selling and a commitment to creating
an ecosystem that delivers a superior
customer experience as well as profit
contribution for the seller. In short, the
leadership team will need to be as dynamic
as the channels, insights, technologies and
sales processes they oversee.
Agile sellers use technology and analytics to get the right opportunity
to the right sellers at the right time. They rebuild the front office to
truly collaborate around a customer-centric approach.
Agile selling facilitates creating an ecosystem that delivers a superior
customer experience as well as profit contribution for the seller.
21
22. Conclusion
Amid the myriad challenges associated
with achieving growth and profitability,
traditional approaches to sales are simply
no longer adequate. In many cases, they
actually present a formidable barrier
for companies looking to embrace the
responsive, dynamic and agile selling
paradigm that customers now expect and
demand.
What’s needed is an entirely new approach
to sales—an approach that optimizes
sales spending at every turn, satisfies the
expectations of the nonstop customer,
uses technical advances to accelerate
change, and crushes the silo mentality
that slows down sales. Achieving such
a transformation can be a complex
undertaking. High performers take a
holistic but iterative approach, delivering
value quickly and capturing substantial
long-term benefits in sales performance,
customer engagement and profitability.
Contact us
To learn more about how Accenture is
helping companies become agile sellers,
visit accenture.com/customer or contact
one of the authors:
Jason Angelos
Managing director—Accenture Strategy,
Sales Transformation global lead
jason.angelos@accenture.com
Yusuf Tayob
Managing Director—Communications Media
& High Tech, Management Consulting
North America lead
yusuf.a.tayob@accenture.com
Bryan Berumen
Managing director—Communications
Media & High Tech, Sales Transformation
bryan.s.berumen@accenture.com
Join the conversation;
Follow us on Twitter:
@E2ECustExp
22
References
1. CSO Insights. 2013 Sales Compensation and Performance Management
Benchmark study.
2. Ibid.
