Productivity Initiatives Distracting Sales Teams and Stifling Business Performance, Accenture Strategy Study Finds
September 27 2016 - 7:57AM
Business Wire
A shift to ‘outcome selling’ can help sales
leaders win in the age of distraction
Organizations have invested billions in sales productivity
solutions to enhance performance by giving sellers more time to
sell—but the investment strategy is not paying off. According to
new research from Accenture (NYSE:ACN) and CSO Insights, the
research division of Miller Heiman Group, 59 percent of global
sales executives say they have access to too many sales tools and
are bombarded by too much disaggregated customer data to be
effective. Another 55 percent say their sales tools are an obstacle
to selling. Consequently, ‘sales distraction’ is hindering business
performance, causing more than half (56 percent) of global
organizations to miss annual sales forecasts.
The Accenture Strategy report, ‘Selling in the Age of
Distraction,’ examined the challenges impacting sales performance
of global organizations with revenues of more than $1 billion,
featured in CSO Insights’ 2016 Sales Performance Optimization
Benchmark Study.
“Current productivity investment strategies are overwhelming
sales executives with too many sales tools, too much customer data
and siloed insights, which have become a distraction. Many are
inundated with more information than they can effectively use or
absorb, and are tied up with unproductive administration,” said
Jason Angelos, Managing Director, Advanced Customer Strategy,
Accenture Strategy. “Pivoting from productivity to ‘outcome
selling’—which helps sellers to hone in on the insights and actions
that matter most—can help them regain focus and deliver the
tailored solutions and experiences customers expect.”
The high cost of distraction
The era of productivity has given rise to ‘the age of
distraction.’ Many sales enablement programs intended to boost
productivity have instead contributed to diversions that pull
sellers off course. According to the research, just 22 percent of
sellers’ time is taken up with lead generation, and only 36 percent
of their average work week is spent selling. Sales productivity has
also decreased from 41 percent five years’ ago, to 36 percent
today. Another 58 percent of sales executives are concerned about
achieving this year’s sales targets.
“To help sellers deliver the experiences customers crave and the
offers they find meaningful, organizations can leverage technology
to deliver predictive and prescriptive insights to sales,” said
Berkeley Warburton, Managing Director, Advanced Customer Strategy,
Accenture Strategy. “Analytics, big data and machine learning
capabilities can bring the right insights to sales representatives,
at the right time, empowering them with the information they need
to deliver stronger customer experiences.”
Boosting sales performance
Organizations that want to boost their sales performance can
shift to ‘outcome selling’ by connecting customer insights and
actions that matter the most, and giving sales executives the best
opportunity to deliver more tailored solutions.
Organizations can move to this approach by:
- Connecting customer insights:
Crush the silos that slow efforts to capture and share customer
insights across touch points – from call centres, kiosks, social
media networks to sales and post-sales service channels. Also push
past static profiles to understand customer behaviors and
preferences, and identify the best opportunities for sellers to
advise and influence customers.
- Predictive insights: To help
sellers deliver the experiences customers value the most,
organizations should look to build predictive sales insights and an
execution model to deliver them. Central to this vision is a sales
intelligence hub, which delivers forward-looking recommendations to
sales executives. The blueprint calls for next-generation analytics
tools and data collection methods, predictive analysis, and
detailed sales guidance for executives.
- Top performer seller insights:
Organizations need to understand what differentiates the top
sellers in their own business, and in the organizations of their
channel partners. To help position the right talent with the right
opportunities, sales leaders need to understand as much about their
top sellers as their customers. The research shows that when sales
leaders leverage these insights through coaching sessions on how to
implement an outcome-driven sales process, sellers perform 10
percent better than the peer average.
Please visit www.accenture.com/DistractedSelling to read the
full report. Join the conversation at @AccentureStrat #CSO.
About the research
Accenture Strategy, in collaboration with CSO Insights, a
leading research and benchmarking organization, completed the 22nd
annual study on sales performance optimization. The survey of 500
sales executives from different industry groups around the world
assessed current sales performance, challenges facing sales teams,
and what organizations are doing to address those challenges. In
this year’s study, conducted in February 2016, 65 respondents
represented organizations with more than $1 billion in sales.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 375,000
people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business and
technology. We bring together our capabilities in business,
technology, operations and function strategy to help our clients
envision and execute industry-specific strategies that support
enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues related to
digital disruption, competitiveness, global operating models,
talent and leadership help drive both efficiencies and growth. For
more information, follow @AccentureStrat or visit
www.accenture.com/strategy.
About Miller Heiman Group
Miller Heiman Group has historically been recognized as one of
the largest training companies in the world, but is quickly
becoming one of the most prolific business solutions provider in
sales and service performance development. Built on legacy brands
such as Miller Heiman, AchieveGlobal, Huthwaite, Impact Learning
Systems, Channel Enablers and CSO Insights, Miller Heiman Group is
backed by more than 150 years of experience and performance. Our Be
Ready solutions offer more sales- and customer service-based
solutions than anyone in the industry, and empower people across
the entire organization to perform at peak potential by bringing
game-changing insight to sales performance and customer experience.
This allows you to build and sustain a successful, customer-focused
organization that drives profitable revenue and top-line growth on
a global scale. To learn more, visit our website. Follow us on
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google+.
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AccentureJustyna Gnyp, + 44 750 012
4567justyna.gnyp@accenture.comorLucy Davies, + 44 777 3044
808lucy.d.davies@accenture.com
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