IDC Sales Enablement Jan 2009

Copyright 2009 IDC. Reproduction is forbidden unless authorized. All rights reserved.

Don’t Understand Sales Enablement? You’re Not Alone!

Don’t Understand Sales Enablement? You’re Not Alone!

Lee LevittDirector, Sales Advisory Practicewww.SalesAdvisoryPractice.com

© 2009 IDC 2

AgendaAgenda

• What is Sales Enablement?

• Key Research Findings

• Sales Enablement Maturity Model

• IDC Executive Guidance & Next Steps

© 2009 IDC 3

SalesSalesProductivityProductivity

SalesSalesManagementManagement

Sales Sales EnablementEnablement

CustomerCustomerIntelligenceIntelligence

SalesSalesMethodologyMethodology

Talent Talent ManagementManagement

Source: IDC 2009

Staff Planning Recruit Hiring On-boarding Training & Development Retention, Repurposing

& Replacement

FLSM & Coaching Strategy & Planning Performance Management Quality Improvement &

Change Management/ Governance

Account Planning Channel Strategy & Optimization Coverage Model

Content Creation Customer Intelligence Product Content Vertical Marketing Content Solution Content

Content Management Content Governance Content Delivery Role Based

The IDC Sales Productivity Framework

Purchase & Relationship History

Share of Wallet Role-based Intelligence Company-based Intelligence Industry/Vertical Intelligence

© 2009 IDC 4

Buyer – Seller AlignmentBuyer – Seller Alignment

Buyer • Business opportunity/problem• Multiple, conflicting priorities• Ability to make informed decision• Organizational challenges• Time limitations• Budget constraints• Financial pressures• Information Needs

Product/Service Offering

Seller

• Revenue targets• Share of wallet growth• Ability to Communicate Value• Organizational Challenges• Profitability/Productivity• Budget constraints• Financial pressures• Information Resources

Org

aniz

atio

nal N

eeds

Market O

pportunities

Shareholder Value

© 2009 IDC 5

What is Sales Enablement?What is Sales Enablement?

© 2009 IDC 6


Sales Enablement is Often Thought to Include:

• Resource Planning

• Recruiting

• Hiring

• Onboarding

• Training

• Coaching

• Mentoring

• Marketing Collateral

• Sales Engineers

• SFA

• Executive Support

• Employee Retention

• Lead Generation

• Territory Planning

© 2009 IDC 7


This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's qualitystandards.

Sales enablement at its core is maximizing the sales organization’s ability to communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways.

Or without quite as many buzzwords, it is...1. ... a collection of disciplines and best practices that give your sales people the power

to more effectively communicate why your solutions are better than your competitors 2. ... the ability to keep all of your sales people on the same page when different people

in your organization talk to different buyers at each of your clients 3. ... ensuring that your marketing material that proves your clients can not live without

your services and products makes it from your marketing department to your clients

Another way to look at this is that it facilitates the communication and interaction between your marketing and sales departments so they are each able to do what they do best without stepping on each other's toes.

More recently, the concept has been expanded to the idea that any individual in the company may have information that might be valuable to a sales team. While not all material may be appropriate to show to the client, white papers on products and case studies on other clients or competitors may assist in selling at the next sales call.

© 2009 IDC 8


IDC defines Sales Enablement as:

“The delivery of the right information to the right person at the right time and in the right place to assist in moving a specific sales opportunity forward”

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 9


Where does sales information come from?

• Sales People

• Other Sales People

• Other Field People

• Marketing

• Finance

• Product Management

• Peers in Other Companies

• Operations

• Tech Support

• Email

• Content services

• Customers

• Prospects

• The News

• Google

© 2009 IDC 10


Where should sales information go?

• Global Account Manager

• Inside Sales

• Field Sales Engineer

• Implementation Specialist

• Product Specialist

• Services Overlay

…anyone that touches the account

© 2009 IDC 11

The Buyer’s Perspective

Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January 2009Number of respondents = 296

© 2009 IDC 12


Q: Thinking of your initial meeting, what percent of reps were:

Source: IDC Customer Experience Panel, January, 2009

© 2009 IDC 13


Q: What percent did not win your business primarily due to:


© 2009 IDC 14


Q: Are vendors in general doing a good job at “solution selling”?


© 2009 IDC 15


Q: Which one of the following areas do sales reps need to know better about you and your company in order to improve the value of your relationship with the vendor they represent?


© 2009 IDC 16


Q: Which of the following is the #1 thing a rep can do to improve the value of your relationship with the sales team and the vendor they represent?


© 2009 IDC 17

Sales Enablement:What does “Good” Look Like?

Source: IDC Sales Enablement Study, November 2008Number of participants = 48

© 2009 IDC 18

Sales Enablement RealitiesSales Enablement Realities

Q: How would you rate the overall sales productivity of your sales organization?

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 19


What keeps your sales productivity from ranking higher? Systems and processes Tools Organizational structure, complexity and strategy Lack of leads or unqualified leads Knowledge of the sales teams regarding company’s

products/services

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 20


What do we mean by a“High-performance Sales Organization?”

January 27th, 2009

© 2009 IDC 21


Q: Do you employ a common sales process or methodology, common SFA environment?

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 22


What’s your biggest concern regarding sales productivity? Sales Processes Sales Skills & Knowledge Sales Support Strategy & Focus Tools and Systems Measurements Governance

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 23


Q: On average, how much time does your typical rep spend on each of the following (in hours per week)?

High Low Average Mode Median IDCBenchmark

Customer Interaction

24 4 12 10 12 10

Prospect Interaction

20 1 8 5 6 10

Territory/Lead Development

10 2 5 2 5 5

Sales Call Preparation

20 1 8 5 6.5 15

Administrative Time

26 1 10 10 10 5

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 24


Q: On average, how much time does your typical rep spend on each of the following sales prep activities (in hours per week)?


Looking for Marketing Collateral

25 .5 5 1 2 .5

Creating Presentations, Documents for Customers/Prospects

30 1 8 5 5 5

Searching for Customer Info Inside Organization

30 0 5 5 4 1

Searching for Customer Info Outside Organization

25 0 4 2 3 1

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 25

Sales Enablement:Organizational Strategies

© 2009 IDC 26

Sales Enablement Organizational StrategiesSales Enablement Organizational Strategies

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 27

Sales Enablement:Information Management

© 2009 IDC 28

Sales Enablement Realities: Information ManagementSales Enablement Realities: Information Management

Q: For all of the marketing collateral and sales tools provided to the sales organization, what percent is…?

High Low Average Mode Median IDCbenchmark

Product-Centric 90% 0% 56% 50% 60% 20%

Industry-Specific

80% 2% 21% 10% 20% 30%

Customer-Specific

50% 0% 16% 5% 15% 35%

Stage of Sales Cycle

25% 0% 10% 20% 10% 15%

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 29


Q: How is information distributed to your sales organization?


Email 80% 5% 49% 50% 50% 5%

Podcast 33% 0% 8% 10% 5% 15%

CRM/SFA 80% 0% 14% 0% 8.5% 20%

*Sales Portal w/Product/Service Hierarchy

70% 0% 25% 20% 20% 5%

Sales Portal w/Industry/Solution Hierarchy

50% 0% 16% 5% 10% 50%

Other 25% 0% 7% 0% 5% 0%

Source: IDC, 2009*Almost half of all respondents had more than one portal,with almost 10% reporting 10 or more portals

© 2009 IDC 30

Sales Enablement:Goals

© 2009 IDC 31


Q: Does your sales portal (or portals) provide the ability to:

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 32


Q: What are the primary goals of your current strategic initiatives?

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 33

Sales Enablement – Why do you care?Sales Enablement – Why do you care?

© 2009 IDC 34

Sales Enablement – Why do you care?Sales Enablement – Why do you care?

10 minutes = $57,000

© 2009 IDC 35

IDC Executive Guidance:Sales Enablement Best Practices

© 2009 IDC 36

The Maturation of Sales EnablementThe Maturation of Sales Enablement

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 37

Key Issues in Sales Enablement GovernanceKey Issues in Sales Enablement Governance

Content Creation& Management

• Internal Development• External Resourcing• Structured Data Analysis• Customer Intelligence• Industry Knowledge• Product Information

Process Management &

Governance

• Requirements Analysis• “Metering” • Prioritization• Delivery Vehicle Selection & Management• Stage of Sales Cycle• Role of User• Usage Management• Behavior Modification• Metrics & Reporting

Usage

• Content Development• Best Practice Sharing• Consumption & Delivery to Customer• Feedback to Other Content Owners

Marketing Sales Operations Sales

Source: IDC 2009

© 2009 IDC 38

Executive GuidanceExecutive Guidance

Critical Success Factors & Best Practices in Sales Enablement Let go of your current paradigm Focus on customer buying processes and issues (i.e., the BUY cycle) Sales enablement is not enterprise content management Existing content assets cannot dictate your strategy Employ a Six Sigma type approach to identifying problems Involve sales, sales operations, marketing, IT & more Set specific goals, milestones & metrics Start small – you can achieve immediate results with simple changes Integrate SE activities with training, coaching & first line sales

management activities Sales Enablement must align with and support your sales methodology Benchmark, evaluate & improve

Sales enablement is a process and governance issue

© 2009 IDC 39

Next StepsNext Steps

For an impact on 2009 revenues: Evaluate your current Sales Enablement environment Benchmark your organization against best-in-class companies Identify the specific Sales Enablement processes that will help

improve your overall sales productivity Start small…but start now!

IDC Resources: Sales Enablement survey & best practices report available now Sales Enablement assessment and blueprint available on

request Sales Enablement expert community available to clients

© 2009 IDC 40

The Sales Advisory Practice TeamThe Sales Advisory Practice Team

Lee Levitt Program Director Sales Advisory PracticePhone: 508-988-7974

Michael GerardResearch Vice President Executive Advisory Group Phone: 508-988-6758

IDC Sales Enablement Jan 2009

Business

buyer seller alignmentq

sales enablement realities

sales enablement realitiesq

typical rep spend

sales enablement

sales productivity

sales organization

sales team