Sales Enablement and Outcome Selling, Forrester Research

© 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited1 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Sales Enablement and Outcome Selling

Brad Holmes

VP and Practice Leader

June 3rd, 2011

© 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited2

1) Fastest growing role for

Forrester in 2011 – 1,800

clients

2) Team of 20 analysts,

consultants, and client

engagement professionals

3) Helping SE Professionals

drive change and deliver

results

Sales Enablement is an emerging leadership role


SE defined (collaboratively with clients)

Sales enablement is a strategic, ongoing process

that equips all client-facing employees with the

ability to consistently and systematically have a

valuable conversation with the right set of

customer stakeholders at each stage of the

customer's problem-solving life cycle to

optimize the return of investment of the selling

system.


SE in practice

To accomplish this goal, portfolio, marketing, and sales teams must work cross-functionally to create effective sales content and programs that map to a holistic customer model and that are delivered on a common platform.


Forrester analysts have been in the trenches

Scott Santucci

Brian Lambert

Dean Davison

Outcome selling SE StrategiesModeling customers The hidden costs of sales support

Establishing brand value in the trenchesEnsuring adoption of sales enablement initiativesLeading the sales training and development function

Leveraging a defined and shared view of customer business problemsEngineering portfolio solutions for simplicity at the point of saleInfusing customer-focused business intelligence into portfolio messages


Why Sales Enablement now?


CEOs React To Colliding Market ForcesNovember 2008 “Engineering Valuable Sales Conversations”


Senior level executives are looking for answers


Random Acts Of Sales Support Create Unneeded Complexity, Overwhelming Sales ForcesOctober 2010 “A SIMPLE Sales Enablement Framework”


Hidden Costs And Inefficiencies Lurk In Sales And Marketing BudgetsApril 2009 “Uncovering The Hidden Costs Of Sales Support”


13.4%2009

200018.1%

What is the implication of the bottleneck?

As a

% of

2000

Relative growth of revenue and SG&A, normalized to 2000. Not adjusted for inflation

Revenue

SG&A


What do buyers think?


Product-First Engagement Model Promotes Commodity PerceptionNovember 2008 “Engineering Valuable Sales Conversations”


What do buyers perceive?


What do buyers want?


What do buyers experience?


The selling system is not adapting quickly enough to accommodate our

changing business strategy

CEOs conclude


Where are we headed?


Design An Engineered Approach To Sales ConversationsNovember 2008 “Engineering Valuable Sales Conversations”


Why Outcomes?


Disaster Recovery Service Providers


IT Asset Lifecycle Mgt


Outcome Selling represents a change in “state”


Value transfer is what we all do


Focus on the value communication system like a supply chain

Basic value communication system

AudienceMessengerMessage +

Vender Customer


The value you communicate is the "know how" your clients need to achieve an outcome

AudienceMessage(s) Messenger(s)+

Pattern

Outcome selling is a go-to-market approach in which you design your value communications system to optimize the

value your customers realize.


Problem

Pattern

Path

Proof

Product

Place

Promotion

Price


Thank you

Brad Holmes

[email protected]

617 613 6037

mailto:[email protected]

Sales Enablement and Outcome Selling, Forrester Research

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