Interesting B2B Sales Research that Inspires You to Take Action

By Michael J Griffin

We have started a ELAvate Sales Success Podcast with our senior consultant Abhilash Sivaramam and the podcast we recorded today discussed the evolution of the Asian B2B customer and the impact it has on your salespeople’s productivity. This discussion with Abhi motivated me to scour the web and AI platforms to garner significant research on how B2B sales environment is changing across the globe. Let’s look at what I found and a solutions for each to improve your sales team success.

1. It takes an average of 8 cold call attempts to reach a prospect (source: Salesforce.com) Solution: Make sure you train and measure your salesperson prospecting activity and success.

2. Integrating AI tools in the sales process can increase sales leads by 50%. This suggests that leveraging AI can significantly enhance lead generation efforts (source: fitsmallbusiness.com) Solution: collaborate with your IT and  marketing to learn how to leverage AI to generate more leads to boost prospecting success.

3. Two insights here. Salespeople who actively seek out and exploit referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t (Source: Top Sales World). 96% of businesses are likely to trust a service or product recommendation from someone they know over content provided by the brand, emphasizing the importance of building relationships and trust in B2B sales. Solution: Train salespeople how not to be shy to ask for referrals. The worst that can happen is a “No!”

4. Two insights here. 30-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first. (source: Inside sales) Solution: ensure your salespeople move quick on enquiries.80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after the meeting. 44% of sales reps give up after 1 follow-up. (Source: Inside sales). Solution: Ensure your pipeline and CRM tracks lead to close and the activity that leads to a sale by your salespeople. 

5. Companies that utilize Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems experience a 41% increase in sales productivity, showcasing the effectiveness of technology in streamlining sales processes.(source: you.com) Make CRM support your sales culture and not be a drag on sales productivity.

6. B2B buyers are typically 57% to 70% through their buying research before they even contact a sales representative, highlighting the importance of providing valuable content early in the buyer's journey. (source: you.com)

7. Because of the research found in point 6, Korn Ferry has found B2B customers are only spending 17% of their buying decision time with salespeople. Solution: Employ pre meeting planning and coaching to ensure your salespeople are adequately prepared. They may only have one chance to move sales to a second sales meeting.

8. An average of 6.8 people are involved in most B2B buying decisions (Source: Korn Ferry) Solution: Train your salespeople in “RQ” – nurturing relationships and trust with different personalities and buyer needs in this world of buying committee selling.

9. Linked to this point 8 is the need to have your salespeople excel in presentation skills to buying committees. (source: ELAvate experience)

10. Two insights here. Only 13% of customers believe a sales person can understand their needs (Source: Josiane Feigon) Customers believe that salespeople are 88% knowledgeable on product but only 24% on business expertise. (source: Corporate Visions) Solution: Pre meeting research by salespeople is a must. In-house role playing can also sharpens probing skills and “RQ” to identify and empathize with customer needs.

11. Only 24.3% of salespeople exceed their quota. This statistic indicates that many sales teams may struggle to meet their targets, suggesting a need for better training and support. (source: Clevenio) Solution: Make sure your sales managers are well-trained and equipped to interview and attract high potential salespeople. Let your competition hire the rubbish. Secondly, make your sales training process driven and not “flip a switch” event-driven.

12. Retaining current customers is 6 to 7 times less costly than acquiring new ones (source: Bain alerts) This fact has been obvious for years. Solution: Make sure your salespeople can “farm” accounts by being opportunistic in looking for new business in existing accounts. This could involve incentives for account expansion.

13. Two insights here. Top-performing salespeople receive an average of 11 manager-led coaching sessions per month, compared to just 3 sessions for average performers, indicating the impact of coaching on sales success. (ELAvate and Chally)

A structured coaching program can lead to a 28% higher win rate and 88% increase in productivity. (source: Quilr.com) Solution: Hire and train sales managers who are motivated to coach then set up sales manager scorecards that measure the leading indicators of effective sales coaching.

Eye-opening statistics here. I give credit to youleadcompany.com for stimulating my interest in sourcing sales productivity research – thanks!

My suggestion is to identify one or two areas or gaps from this research in your sales team and focus on improving their sales productivity. ELAvate can assist your organization in all thirteen research areas by our sales training, process improvement consulting, and acclaimed sales coaching. Contact me if you want to have a brainstorm or no-obligation chat.

Michael J Griffin
ELAvate CEO and Founder
Global Sales Productivity Coach across 19 Nations
Maxwell Leadership Coach
Korn Ferry Sales Training Associate
Gitomer Certified Sales Advisor
michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
+65 -91194008 (WA)

Tune in to Our ELAvate Asian Sales Podcast on YouTube here.