Here are some sobering stats from SellingPower.com’s whitepaper entitled: From Sales 1.0 to Sales 2.0.
- According to a recent study by James Oldroyd of the Kellogg School of Management, corporate hiring of outside sales reps has leveled off at 0.5 percent annual growth, while hiring of inside sales reps is growingat a lively 7.5 percent clip annually.
- By 2012, nearly 800,000 more companies will host inside sales teams and they’ll be using the telephone and the Internet to nurture, develop, and close sales opportunities.
- Even the remaining field sales teams won’t be spending as much time meeting F2F. Oldroyd’s study discovered that more than two-fifths of all activities conducted by customer-facing teams were actually handled over the phone.
- According to a recent Cahners survey, 58 percent of buyers report that sales reps are unable to answer their questions effectively. And 40 percent of sale professionals’ time is spent finding the information and knowledge required to do their jobs.
- According to industry research, more than 40 percent of sales representatives are under quota, while year-to-year revenues from existing customers are down sharply across a broad swath of industries.
- More than a quarter of all B2B sales cycles take seven months or more to close. That’s 25 percent longer than just six years ago.
- The number of deals that actually close is declining year over year, with nearly a third of all forecasted deals lost and nearly a fourth ending in no decision.
How correlated are these stats to the economic downturn and will they improve when the economy rebounds?
Do you think that Sales 2.0 processes and technology can improve your sales metrics or is it mostly hype?
Any thoughts out there?
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There is little doubt that the economic failure(s) that accelorated late last year has impacted nearly every business model to include sales organizations both internal and external. What remains to be seen is IF the economy recovers in the face of likely continued meddling of the FED and Treasury in the market place.
The Financial Times of London recently published an article by Martin Wolf, that the current recession that began in April of ’08 is parrelling the Great Depression of June 1929. ” First, global industrial output tracks the decline of industrial output during the Great Depression… Second, the collapse in volume of world trade has been far worse than during the first year of the Great Depression.”
The giveaway that we are in more than a traditional recession is the job market that has collapsed across the board, meaning jobs nationwide, and for the most part all sectors of the economy, disappeared simultaneously! There has been little to no rehiring during this latest bubble upswing of the DOW (look at the profitable companies and match them with recent cuts in staff) and if anything the jobs cuts are accelerating. IF we count the unemployed without all the politically rigged numbers (the way it was calculated in the 80′s) there are about 30 million Americans unemployed—which is about 20% of the total workforce…a long way from the 9.5-9.4% some would have us believe! This alone does not foretell a rebound within the next few years!
With the high umemployed comes a second shock to the housing/banking market, that of a second wave of mortgage defaults driven by the ARM as the rest of the “bill” comes due thanks to the inept leadership of those in our legislature. With all that comes the sharp drop in tax revenues, reduced services, pensions in jeopardy and the only tool left to the FED is to print more money…devaluing what we do have and risking a falure of the dollar not unlike the post WWI Wymar Republic. Treasury Bonds that are sold are then forced to pay ever higher interest to cover our accelorating national debt. The Chinese have already laughed at our Sec of The Treasury (aka Timmy The Tax Cheat) for sugggesting that the dollar is stable.
So in summary the tradional business models for sales, business in general, customer relationships are in jeopardy and not likely to return anytime soon if ever.
I’ve seen these studies, and they all cause one to consider new strategies. I don’t consider it so doom and gloom as some naysayers. Our business is showing that companies that do invest in the top line, even during a down economy, are keeping their heads above water. Are they selling differently? Sure they are. Two interesting facts that come from some studies we’ve done as it pertains to b2b appointment setting:
- 35% of C/VP executives are delegating their first sales meetings down to lower levels
- 58% of execs say they prefer to take their first sales meetings by con call
- 67% say the number of con calls is on the rise
The reality is that prospects are taking more control of the sales process. It’s now a buying process. We need to adapt and be there for them when they are ready, but also search them out and educate them, not sell to them (in my very humble opinion).
More on these stats on our blog, Smashmouth Marketing.
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