Assessing Roi In Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence Within Tech Companies

2. Table of Contents
Background & Objectives to the Survey 02
Chapter 1: Sales & Marketing Activities 03
1.1 Activities Strategy 04
Chapter 2: Sales Intelligence 05
2.1 Types of Reports generated / bought & Turn around Time’s (TAT’s) 05
2.2 Sales Intelligence Tools & related Spends 07
Chapter 3: Inside Sales 08
3.1 Dynamics of the Inside Sales function 08
3.2 Key Metrics of the Inside Sales teams 09
3.3 Use of Salesforce Automation 10
3.4 Opportunity Identification Findings 11
3.5 Inside Sales Rep Remunerations 12
3.6 Inside Sales Challenges 12
Chapter 4 13
4.1 ROI Calculation across Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence 13
Appendix 1: Abbreviations 14
Appendix 2: Charts 14
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3. Background & Objectives of the Survey
2010 brings with it hope of a recovery in global markets. This hope increases the onus on the Sales & Marketing
organizations of Technology companies to penetrate markets at a much faster rate than before. Given this scenario, Inside
Sales and Sales Intelligence as activities gain criticality to the overall effectiveness of the Sales & Marketing strategies of
technology companies.
Our first report; i.e., “Sales & Marketing Best Practices 2009”, focused on the macro level indicators of a Sales & Marketing
organization of a technology company. We found that the report served as a very good benchmark for the overall structure
of a Technology company’s Sales & Marketing organization; however we felt that we needed to dwell deeper into these
activities.
As a part of deep diving into the Sales & Marketing activities of a technology company, QEDbaton embarked on this survey;
the first in a series of Sales & Marketing activity surveys, with the objective to have an insight into the following
The established metrics around Sales Intelligence & Inside Sales
activities in Global Technology companies
The types of Sales Intelligence reports that Technology companies
need, tools subscribed to create them and subscription spends
The role the Inside Sales team plays in achievement of the
overall Revenue Goal
The quantity & quality of the leads generated by the Inside
Sales team
The challenges that global technology companies face wrt
Inside Sales
Sales Intelligence is extremely critical to Sales & Marketing organizations as it is this activity that helps technology
companies understand market sentiment and position services while differentiating from competitors all the time.
Inside Sales is typically the first contact with every prospect and excelling in this activity gives Technology companies that
extra edge over competitors. Right from identifying opportunities before competitors to getting invited to participate in a
RFP, Inside Sales is the activity that is the heart of the Sales pipeline of a technology company.
Whether you are outsourcing these activities or you are running them in house, we at QEDbaton intend on giving readers of
this report the right benchmarks to align their Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence activities.
02

4. Survey Demographics
We surveyed a total of 122 Technology companies which included professionals
across the Sales, Inside Sales & Marketing functions within these organizations.
Technology Companies Split by Size
Large (US $251 Mil +)
Medium (US $51 to $250 Mil)
Small (Upto US $50 Mil)
Pie Ch t P
Chart- Percentage R
t Respondents split b Size of Company
d t lit by
Technology Companies Split by Type
IT Services
IT Products
IT Consulting
Engineering Services
Pie Chart- Percentage Respondents split by Size of Company
03

5. Chapter 1: Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence
Activities Strategies
Indian Tech Companies vs. Global Tech Companies
* Bar Graph- Percentage Respondents that leverage Outsourcers for their Inside
Sales & Sales Intelligence functions
Over 40% of Global Technology Companies leveraged specialist
vendors to manage either parts of, or the complete Inside
Sales function
30% of Indian Technology Companies leveraged specialist
vendors to manage their Sales Intelligence function
47% of Global Technology Companies leveraged specialist
vendors to manage their Sales Intelligence function
IT Product Companies (ISV’s) predominantly preferred keeping
the Inside Sales function in house
04

6. Chapter 2: Sales Intelligence
2.1 Types of Intelligence reports sought after & Turn around Time’s
Sales Intelligence- Types of Reports
g yp p
* Bar Graph- Percentage Respondents that generate these Sales Intelligence reports
Competitor Intelligence & Analysis comes across as the single largest intelligence need for
Global Technology Companies
On an average it takes 9.25 days for the Sales Intelligence team to turn around a
Competitive Intelligence & Analysis report
Credible and Deep Competitor Intelligence could be a significant differentiator for
Sales & Marketing strategies
Key Account Profiles & Market Intelligence reports emerge as the next two intelligence reports
that are critical to Global Technology Companies.
On an average it takes 9 days for the Sales Intelligence team to turn around a Key
Account Profile
On an average it takes 10.2 days for the Sales Intelligence team to turn around a
Market Intelligence Report
05

7. Chapter 2: Sales Intelligence
2.1 Types of Intelligence reports sought after & Turn around Time’s
Average TAT(Turn around Time) In Number of Days
Surprisingly only 30% of respondents were leveraging ‘CIO/ Outsourcing Decision Maker Surveys’ as a lead generation/
intelligence tool. Such surveys have emerged as a very strong tool to engage prospects in sharing intelligence, gauging
outsourcing appetite and identifying opportunities.
06

8. Chapter 2: Sales Intelligence
2.2 Sales Intelligence Tools & Spends
Indian Technology Companies Top Sales Intelligence Tools
Indian Technology Companies Use of
Sales Intelligence Tools
Forrester & Gartner emerge as the
top 2 tools that are subscribed to by
Indian Technology Companies
On an average a Mid Size Indian
Technology company spends US $1500
a month on these reports
* Bar Graph- Top Sales Intelligence Tools Indian Tech Companies
Global Technology Companies Use of Gartner & IDC emerge as the top
Sales Intelligence Tools 2 tools subscribed to by Global
Technology companies
On an average a Mid Size Global
Technology company spends US $2000
a month on these reports
Large Technology Companies (Indian & Global) were found to spend
over US $5000 a month on these reports
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9. Chapter 3: Inside Sales
3.1 The Inside Sales function as seen by Technology Companies
Key account mapping emerges as the single most important activity that an Inside Sales rep undertakes
within an Indian Technology Company
What types of account maps do Inside Sales reps generate?
How do they go about engaging clients through the intelligence captured?
“Lead Qualification” was seen to be the second most important activity by Indian technology companies
Do In-house Inside Sales teams have a mature scoring mechanism to
determine Sales ready leads?
Do In-house Inside Sales teams give different treatments to different buckets
of leafds by the scores they achieve?
“List Building& Contact Discovery” with “Appointment Setting” were tied as the third most important
activity by Indian Technology Companies
What levels of sophistication do Outsourcers bring to the table vis-à-vis In-
house teams because of their specialization & ability to deploy assets, tools
or techniques across multiple clients?
In-house teams seem to be more focused on above 2 points as against
Appointment Setting in case of companies leveraging Outsourcers
When compared to their Global counterparts…
“Appointment Setting” was seen as the
most important activity, followed by Lead
Qualification and Key Account Profiling by
Global Technology Companies
Surprisingly, only 37% of Indian Technology
companies & 48% of Global Technology companies
felt the need for Inside Sales teams to Nurture
leads.
Industry benchmarks suggest that over 70% of
all leads go on to make a “Buy” decision in 8-12
months thus enhancing the need for effective Indian Technology Companies
nurturing of leads by Inside Sales teams.
Global Technology Companies
08

10. Chapter 3: Inside Sales
3.2 Definition of Key Metrics for the top Activities undertaken by Inside Sales Teams
Understand the Decision Making & Influencing tree
within Diverse Target Companies.
Key Account
Procure hard to get information like IT Budgets, Current
IT Landscape and Vendor Landscape & Satisfaction
Levels.
Maps Generate multiple meetings with Decision Makers &
Influencers with Target Companies.
Use Technology to mine and cross leverage account
maps over a period of time
Devise comprehensive scoring mechanisms which
Lead facilitate a high level of classification of all leads.
Create programs that apply differential treatment to
leads by the score they achieve
Qualification Move prospects across the scoring categories
eventually creating a mechanism to consistently
deliver “Sales Ready” leads.
Meeting
Come up with the right mix of different categories of
Leads; i.e., Level 1, BANT, RFP’s.
Move prospects from one bucket to the other; i.e,
Generation Level 1 to BANT, BANT to RFP
Keep the prospect engaged using the right mix of
collaterals, case studies, white-papers, etc.
09

11. Chapter 3: Inside Sales
3.3 Use of Salesforce Automation
Salesforce Automation Tools/CRM’s
24
.5%
27%
0% 3%
8.5
7.5
0%
60%
3% 10.
6.40%
* Pie Chart- Use of Salesforce Automation/ CRM’s
Salesforce.com is the undisputed leader when it comes to Salesforce automation of a
technology company
Microsoft CRM is emerging as a competitor to Salesforce.com but still has a long way to go.
Surprisingly Zoho ranks on par with Oracle on Demand and we feel that over the next few
quarters Zoho CRM is going to start catching up with the likes of Microsoft on the CRM front.
Over 80% of respondents from Small companies indicated the non use of a SFA/ CRM tool
giving the high costs of acquiring and managing a tool.
10

12. Chapter 3: Inside Sales
3.4 Opportunity Identification: Findings
It was observed that 2-3 Level 1 meetings were generated by every Inside Sales rep in a
month
It was observed that 2-3 BANT level meetings were identified by every inside sale rep in a
month
Over 50% of Indian technology companies indicated that an Inside Sales rep generated 1
RFP every two months. In case of Global technology companies the average number of RFP’s
identified by Inside Sales reps was 1 RFP every month.
Engineering Services companies have a low ratio (7.5%) of Level 1 to BANT level opportunities
conversion. It is noted that this is probably due to the complexity of the sale (high Customer
Retention rates, Deal Sizes, etc)
Large Indian IT Companies with diversified services (5bn+) had over 50% conversion ratio
from Level 1 to BANT level opportunities. This is probably because their lead scoring
mechanisms and definition of a Level 1 lead is more stringent.
Across Service categories, it was observed that the average conversion ratio from Level
1 to BANT stands at 31% for Indian Technology Companies. In case of Global Technology
companies this conversion ratio goes up to 42%.
Across Service categories, it was observed that the average conversion ratio from BANT
to RFP stands at 30.75% for Indian Technology Companies. In case of Global Technology
companies this conversion ratio goes up to 34%.
Companies that outsource the Inside Sales function to specialist vendors were seen to have a
marginally better conversion ratio from Level 1 to BANT level opportunities and BANT to RFP
level opportunities. It is noted that this is probably due to the fact that specialist vendors
have structured Lead Nurturing programs in place to maximize their return from a campaign.
11

13. Chapter 3: Inside Sales
3.5 Inside Sales Rep Remunerations
Indian Technology Companies
It was found that salaries inclusive of commissions range from 25k to 55k INR monthly
It was found that the average fixed salary for an Inside Sales rep was 30.5k INR per month
and the average variable (incentive) was 13k INR per month
It was observed that Inside Sales reps make an average of 30% of their income through
Incentives & Commissions.
Global Technology Companies
It was found that salaries inclusive of commission range average around USD 45k a year
It was found that the average fixed salary for an Inside Sales rep was USD 27k a year and the
average variable (incentive) was USD 18k a year
It was observed that Inside Sales reps make an average of 40% of their income through
Incentives & Commissions.
3.6 Inside Sales Challenges
70% of respondents felt that Quantity & Quality of leads were challenges that could be
managed
-Do Inside Sales teams have clearly defined metrics to measure the Quality of a lead
All respondents in the Indian IT Service Companies segment felt that “Alignment to Revenue
Goals” was a challenge that could be managed.
Hiring, Training & Retaining Inside Sales reps was seen as a challenge that could be managed
by over 70% of respondents
12

14. Chapter 4: Assessing ROI
As anticipated, Large Technology Companies have
better salary & compensation structures (55k+)
when compared to Medium sized technology
companies (37.5k+)
However, the Inside Sales teams of Medium sized
tech companies generated a higher number of L1
Opportunities (4.7 meetings per rep per month) and
a higher number of RFP’s (2.55 RFP’s per rep per
month) as compared to Large technology companies
which generated 4.5 Level 1 opportunities and 2
RFP’s per rep per month.
We did not find evidence of higher sales intelligence
spends resulting in better RFP conversion or more
BANT opportunities. It is our assessment that Sales
Intelligence spends beyond a particular limit does
not result in better ROI.
In our view the ROI is not only a direct function
of spends on Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence but
the process maturity, use of specialized technology
and continuous skills development of specialists
executing your Inside Sales & Sales intelligence
strategy. Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence as
activities needs to be aligned to the Sales pipeline
for a technology company to derive maximum ROI.
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15. Appendix 1
RFP- Request for Proposals
ISV’s- Independent Software Vendors
TAT- Turn around Times
CIO- Chief Information Officer
Level 1/ L1 – Introductory Meetings where the primary purpose is to exchange information
BANT- Meetings with Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe of Opportunities identified
ROI- Return on Investment
Appendix 2
Figure 1 Pie Chart: Survey Base by Size of Companies
Figure 2 Pie Chart: Survey Base by Type of Companies
Figure 3 Bar Graph: Percentage Companies leveraging specialist
vendors for their Inside Sales & Sales Intelligence functions
Figure 4 Bar Graph: Types of Sales Intelligence reports that
Technology companies generate
Figure 5 Line Graph: Average Turn around Times for Sales
Intelligence Reports that Technology companies generate
Figure 6 Bar Graph: Sales Intelligence Tools that Indian
Technology Companies use
Figure 7 Bar Graph: Sales Intelligence Tools that Global
Technology Companies use
Figure 8 Bar Graph: Responsibilities of an Inside Sales rep.
Global Tech companies vs Indian Tech companies
Figure 9 Pie Chart: Use of Salesforce Automation/ CRM
14