Trending
In some recent research from ebsta, you can get the benchmark data here
They say
"With 78% of sellers missing quota last year, delayed deals aren’t just frustrating, they represent lost revenue as the more deals slip the lower the win rate
Slippage happens due to poor qualification, and weak stakeholder engagement
The finance persona is now scrutinizing every investment
This makes vague value propositions from sellers a deal killer
Top performers qualify early, engage multiple stakeholders, and focus on RoI-driven selling to keep deals moving
Instead of relying on bloated pipelines, top performing sales leaders run disciplined, data-backed sales motions, ensuring predictable revenue and faster deal velocity"
Here at DLA Ignite we totally agree
Many years ago, I was working at a big tech company and researched the things that top performing salespeople had in common
There were a number of trends – investing in ongoing professional development, spending time on health and wellbeing, innovating and, crucially, being active on LinkedIn in the accounts they were selling to
Today we know that the buying process is more complex than ever.
We know that there is a MINIMUM of 12 people involved in the decision-making process for large purchases (and in most cases many more) and we know that there are many other people who have the ear of those making the decisions (having influence rather than authority you might say)
If the buying team has 12+ people and there may be another 20 or 30 people who are influential in the decision (and we often don’t know who these people are) the salesperson should have a lot of connections in the company
I mean A LOT
In order to sell successfully you need to convince (at least) 12 people that you are the best option
This means that if you are only known to 6 people you are reliant on them selling you in to the others (which is unlikely) or them introducing you to the others which is (also unlikely and) very time consuming
If you are selling in this why you are building and mobilising sales consecutively
If your research the client (2 months) you identify your entry point (1 week), you make contact and build a relationship (2 months) then get an introduction and then make contact and build a relationship (2 months) etc this is a very long process and is asking for problems
Sales is always a race against the clock, now more than ever, and many deals are lost because between being the front runner and losing the deal something unforeseen happens
Perhaps one (or more) of your champions is laid-off, moves on or is promoted to a different role with different deliverables
If this is a problem for you, then talk to us, we have a fast and simple solution
Related: LinkedIn Domination: 5 Proven Hacks to Make Your Profile Pop