Elevate Every Decision with Digital Inside Sales

From insights to action, the path to extraordinary value starts here.
Elevate every
decision with
digital inside
sales
Fast-Track to Future-Ready Performance

Elevate every decision with digital inside sales Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 2
Today’s B2B sales function isn’t
just competitive, it’s extremely
complex.
COVID-19 exacerbated this
complexity. Our clients have to
be smarter to sell faster and
meet buyers on their terms in
today’s digital world.
Elevate every decision with digital inside sales

More than ever, sales is critical for:
• Fueling and achieving operational growth
• Achieving operational maturity
But to have a future-ready organization, you
need a future-ready sales function—one that can
lead the entire enterprise forward.
The journey begins here and now.
Sell smarter and faster
with digital inside sales

Our research reveals there are four levels of maturity:
Of all respondents
identified Sales and
CRM as a top-3 focus
for operating model
transformation, along
with IT/Security and
Customer Service.
44%
Future-ready organizations
need future-ready sales teams
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 4
Every organization should focus on being future-ready. The select
few organizations already in this tier are more efficient and more
profitable. But future-readiness in the sales function is, in itself, a
goal worth striving toward.
Predictive
Stable
Future-ready
Efficient

1.7x
Higher efficiency
levels for future-
ready organizations.
More efficient
Advantages of being
future-ready
2.8x
Boost in corporate
profitability for future-
ready organizations.
More profitable
It takes work, but it’s worth it: Superior outcomes
are a direct result of becoming—and remaining—
future-ready.

Of sales leaders said
customer experience
is their top business
goal, up from 21%
three years ago.
How future-ready sales teams
drive exceptional business
and customer outcomes
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 6
They have:
• Overall agility and scalability
• Data orchestration that
enables relevant,
personalized customer
experiences
• Real-time sales results that
inform product innovation
that drives repeat business
• Extensive, integrated applied
intelligence that drives better
experiences
• Real-time sentiment analysis
that notifies salespeople for
instant interventions
28%

Sales teams are well positioned to achieve
operations maturity
77%
77%
73%
73%
73%
72%
61%
61%
60%
65%
67%
68%
71%
74%
74%
75%
Analytics
Business-technology collaboration
Data
Agile workforce
Leading practices
Automation
Stakeholder experience
AI
Currently in wide use or use at scale (Sales Leaders)
Currently in wide use or use at scale (All Leaders)
Since many sales organizations have
the teams and tools in place, they’re
uniquely positioned to leapfrog
maturity levels—into future-ready.
The sales function already
embraces several technologies
key to operational maturity;
where sales is behind, it’s not
by much.

Don’t sell yourself short
03
02
01
Position sales to
leapfrog maturity
levels
Know the
key steps
Know the
ultimate goal
Becoming future-ready is simply a matter of will. Here’s how to do it:

Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved.
Know the
ultimate goal
Think big, with sales strategy
at the forefront
01
9

Salespeople should focus on matching the right
solutions with the right buyers at the right times.
Strategically minded sales executives are ahead
of the game in three key ways.
01 Know the ultimate goal
Of sales leaders say
speed of product and
service innovation has
significantly improved;
49% say it’s somewhat
improved.
24%
They:
Don’t sell the
solution to the
customer, they
match the customer
to the solution
01 02 03
Are quicker
to market,
understand
customers better
and close faster
Have the right
solutions that support
the enterprise’s
transformational
journey

A multinational software company needed
to develop a pipeline of qualified sales
opportunities in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Using an expert sales team of native Spanish
speakers and an outbound sales program
with standardized process and management
structures, the pipeline grew and conversion
rates increased.
The program adopted inbound opportunity
qualification and real-time chat support—and
expanded throughout Central and South
America.

8% 44%
Of sales executives say
business-technology
collaboration is being
used at scale.
the collaboration will be
used at scale in three
years’ time.
Collaborate across business
and technology
Eliminating barriers between IT and
sales fuels innovation.

A multinational technology company
launched a Global Demand Center, which
monitored customers’ digital activity,
triggered Inside Sales interactions and
delivered timely messaging relevant to each
step of the buyer’s journey.
Identified and qualified opportunities moved
quickly through the pipeline. In just one
quarter, sales doubled, and sales goals
exceeded 110%+ for three consecutive years.

Know the
key steps
Automate at scale to augment
human talent
02

Foster a human + machine workforce. Smart sales technologies
to start with include:
02 Know the key steps
Advanced lead-
generation
technologies that
allow companies to
identify, enrich and
qualify better leads.
Customization
technology that
enables sales agents
to customize and
adapt to client
needs in real time.
AI-based feedback
technology that
records sales calls
and provides real-time
performance feedback
so salespeople can
improve future
interactions.
Comprehensive
solutions that identify
better leads, optimize
targeting, predict
customer desires and
reimagine business
processes to yield
faster results.

An industry leader in IT, network and
cybersecurity needed a unified view of the
customer. By integrating AI and machine
learning platforms with the company’s
existing tech stack, sellers gained real-time
information during customer conversations.
The platform provided continuous business
intelligence and ensured each interaction
was meaningful and valuable for customers.
The company is seeing extraordinary growth
in interactions and revenue, particularly with
key accounts.

Increase in lead
qualification productivity
is possible with automated
sales support.
The percent of sales
executives reporting
widespread or full-
scale automation has
increased 3x over the
past three years. That’s
a great start—but sales
organizations need to
pick up the pace.
75%
Of future-ready
leaders are scaling
AI—and pulling ahead
of competitors.
38%

73%
Of sales executives say they
use data at full scale; 100%
expect to have data in wide use
at scale in three years’ time
68%
Say they design their
operating model based
on data
77%
Say that digitization provides
insights and decision-making
for better business outcomes.
Commit to making data-driven decisions with better data
Digitization follows data, and digitized leads are an essential enabler of high-quality customer
experiences, including a seamless end-to-end process.

they’re using cloud at
scale. That’s on par with
other functions, but
there’s still room to run.
73%
Scale cloud investments
Cloud infrastructures enhance data and analytics,
which enable great customer experiences. The
more a sales team can make cloud an integral
part of the process, the quicker top-line revenue
growth will be realized.

Position sales
to leapfrog
maturity levels
Don’t go it alone
03
20

03 Position sales to leapfrog maturity levels
Embrace a fully digital operating model
Every step toward full digitization results in
better interactions and better results. For the
sales function in particular, increased
digitization means greater efficiency and
more top-line growth.

Build ecosystem partnerships
Building ecosystem relationships and
partnerships can:
• Boost performance, talent and innovation
• Send the right message of unique
capabilities to customers
of sales executives rank
ecosystem partnerships
as a top business goal,
while 47% have increased
their focus on this as a
result of COVID-19.
31%

On average, organizations one maturity
level higher between 2017 and 2020 were:
7.6% 2.3pp
More efficient (lower
operating expenses
per dollar of revenue)
More profitable (EBITDA1
as percentage of
revenues)2
Make your move
Sales organizations that raise their
operating-model maturity will see
pronounced benefits almost
immediately, with the ability to capitalize
on opportunities of every size.
The Sales function can only be as
successful as its operational maturity,
and the same goes for the enterprise as
a whole.
Sales can and should set an operational
maturity paradigm that the rest of the
organization can follow, so the future is
defined by accelerated growth.
1 Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
2 Based on Standard and Poor’s Capital IQ 2019 financial data
Source: Accenture Research and Oxford Economics Intelligent Operations Survey, 2020

Learn more at: accenture.com/FutureReadySales
Think Scale Put Enhance Foster Build
big and
go beyond
incremental
change
automation
and analytics,
AI and
integrated
solutions
with leading
practices
a cloud
infrastructure
at the heart
the value
of data with
technologies
that deliver
better insights
faster
a human +
machine,
specialized
workforce
complementary
third-party
and ecosystem
relationships
Now is the time to leverage a future-ready digital inside sales function. Here’s how:

Appendix
Four levels of operations maturity:
Predictive
Concentrate mostly
on core process
improvements and on
improving quality and
compliance controls.
Stable
Future-ready
Efficient
More productive, they
incorporate tested
methods, such as Lean
Six Sigma and process
standardization and
deploy automation
technologies.
Focus on how automation
can support and augment
human ingenuity. They
deploy technologies and
leading practices with
that goal in mind.
See increased efficiency
and profitability, improved
stakeholder experiences and
better business outcomes.
They are more agile and
resilient than others.

DISCLAIMER: This document is intended for general informational purposes only and does not take into account the
reader’s specific circumstances, and may not reflect the most current developments. Accenture disclaims, to the
fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all liability for the accuracy and completeness of the information
in this presentation and for any acts or omissions made based on such information. Accenture does not provide
legal, regulatory, audit, or tax advice. Readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel
or other licensed professionals.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global professional
services company with leading
capabilities in digital, cloud and security.
Combining unmatched experience and
specialized skills across more than 40
industries, we offer Strategy and
Consulting, Interactive, Technology
and Operations services—all powered by
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Technology and Intelligent Operations
centers. Our 537,000 people deliver on
the promise of technology and human
ingenuity every day, serving clients in
more than 120 countries. We embrace
the power of change to create value and
shared success for our clients, people,
shareholders, partners and communities.
Visit us at www.accenture.com
About Accenture Research
Accenture Research shapes trends and
creates data-driven insights about the
most pressing issues global organizations
face. Combining the power of innovative
research techniques with a deep
understanding of our clients’ industries,
our team of 300 researchers and analysts
spans 20 countries and publishes
hundreds of reports, articles and points of
view every year. Our thought-provoking
research—supported by proprietary data
and partnerships with leading
organizations such as MIT and Harvard—
guides our innovations and allows us to
transform theories and fresh ideas into
real-world solutions for our clients. Visit
us at www.accenture.com/research
About Oxford Economics
Oxford Economics is a leader in global
forecasting and quantitative analysis. Our
worldwide client base comprises more
than 1,500 international corporations,
financial institutions, government
organizations, and universities.
Headquartered in Oxford, with offices
around the world, we employ 400 staff,
including 250 economists and analysts.
Our best-in-class global economic and
industry models and analytical tools give
us an unmatched ability to forecast
external market trends and assess their
economic, social andbusiness impact.
Copyright © 2021 Accenture.
All rights reserved.
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registered trademarks of Accenture.

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