(This is a guest blog from Charlie Dorrier on the SEC Solutions team. Solutions helps members generate customized insights, tools, and training programs to improve the overall performance of the sales force.)
It’s a constant challenge we hear from members every day: “we’re trying to get our sales teams to spend more time with customers, but there’s SO much other stuff that gets in the way.” Internal reporting, forecasting, order tracking, competitive research, aligning internal resources – there is no end to the list of “stuff” that makes it hard for sales reps to actually spend time meeting with their customers.
SEC Solutions maintains a constant pulse on the areas where sales teams are spending time across the sales cycle. Known as the B2B Sales Index TM , this tracking mechanism allows us to provide clients with clear answers when they ask questions like “how much time do other companies in our industry spend in direct contact with customers?”
And as you might expect, the answer to that question is different today than it was just four or five years ago.
The following bullet points summarize some of the most recent trends in the B2B Sales IndexTM, comparing time spend in 2007 through 2009 with the same data from 2004 through 2006.
- Sales reps spent 20% LESS time conducting initial meetings with customers and presenting the value proposition.
- Time spent following up on sales calls with customers was down 32%. Read More »
Stop for a second and think about the individual sales people on the front line of your organization. Picture their faces and the diverse set of styles and messages that emerge in front of customers. It’s a powerful vision that motivates many of us to be in sales in the first place: the collective voice of a sales force, driven by a single objective but made up of many different parts.
