State of the Sales RepBenchmarks for the way reps prepare

for, present at, and follow up after sales meetings

A 2013 survey conducted by

Overview: State of the Sales Rep

Think selling in a difficult economy is a challenge? Try doing so without the right sales materials. That’s a struggle many sales reps are facing, according to our 2013 State of the Sales Rep survey. One in 3 sales reps (33%) reports that they’re “often” or “always (on a daily basis)” frustrated by their inability to quickly locate sales materials. How dire is it? More than 1 in 5 (22%) say they’d “need a GPS to find the materials [they] need.”

We collected responses from 416 sales professionals at companies across industries. Results show that providing easy, central access to content might alleviate some struggles. In fact, more than 1 in 4 reps (28%) say their company’s approach to organizing sales materials makes finding the right content chance-driven at best.

Respondents were surveyed about processes and challenges related to how they prepare for, present at, and follow up after meetings. You’ll find the complete results in this exclusive report. Enjoy!

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Prepping for Meetings Comes Down to the Wire

Prepare

En route to the meeting

I improvise (don't prepare in advance)

The night before

The day of the meeting

At least a week in advance

The day before

Several days beforehand

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

1%

2%

8%

10%

16%

21%

44%

How far in advance do you typically prepare for sales meetings?

40% typically start preparing within a day of an impending meeting

12% wait until the day of the meeting

Just 16% are early birds – starting at least a week in advance

Where to Prep for Meetings Gets Creative…

At a kid's eventOn the train

While working outIn the bathroom

On vacationIn the parking lot of a prospect

On your iPad or tabletOn a plane

In the carAt your desk

In a restaurant or coffee shop

0%10%

20%30%

40%50%

60%70%

80%90%

100%

14%22%24%

33%42%44%

53%58%

64%86%

93%

Have you ever prepared for a sales meeting…

Prepare

…And Even More Creative

When asked the most unique place reps have prepared for a meeting, the answers were all over the board.

Disneyworld

Hospital Dentist’s Office Boat Ice Fishing

Running Poolside Hotel HelicopterCooking Beach

Museum Church Mall

Prepare

43% of Reps Spend More Than Half a Day Preparing

13-16 hours

Less than an hour

9-12 hours

5-8 hours

1-4 hours

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

2%

7%

8%

33%

50%

How much time per week do you spend preparing for sales meetings?

materials prepared by

reps51%

materials prepared by

others49%

Where do customer-facing materials come from?

Learn ways to help reps better prepare for meetings. Download the Sales Enablement Ebook

Prepare

76% of Reps Use Materials Saved on Their Hard Drives

Other

They're in a filing cabinet

They're saved to my iPad/Tablet

They're in the cloud (Box, DropBox, etc.)

I ask colleagues to help me find the materials I need

I find them in email attachments

From a central location (Salesforce, intranet, portal, etc.)

They're saved to my computer hard drive

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

10%

19%

27%

34%

36%

39%

74%

76%

Where do you access the materials you need to prepare for sales meetings? Check all that apply.

Find out how to make reps more productive. Download Effective Sales Content: The Key to Sales Success Whitepaper

Prepare

Sales & Marketing Collaboration Could be Better

Other

Sales managers/executives

From other reps

Sales operations/sales enablement

I create them myself

Marketing

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

8%

52%

52%

56%

68%

71%

From whom do you get sales materials? Check all that apply.

Never 13%

Always 14%

Sometimes 24%

Rarely 24%

Often 25%

When creating presentations and customer-facing materials, does marketing make you part of the content development process?

Prepare

Reps Can’t Find Materials Quickly EnoughHow often do you get frustrated at your inability to quickly find sales material?

78% of reps get frustrated on a bi-weekly basis or more frequently with their inability to quickly find material.

3%6%

19%

27%

45%

Never All the time (daily)

Rarely (monthly)

Often (several times a week)

Sometimes (on a weekly or bi-weekly basis)

Prepare

Reps Have Many Content Challenges

I don't have the materials I need

I'd need a GPS to find the materials I need

Materials are in formats that aren't useful to me

The materials I have aren't relevant to my prospect or customer

There are lots of different product lines I need to brush up on

It's hard to know if what I'm accessing is the most current version

There aren't enough hours in the day to sufficiently prepare

Materials are often out-of-date

I have to spend time modifying existing materials

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

19%

22%

24%

28%

30%

39%

41%

41%

51%

What challenges do you face when preparing for meetings? Check all that apply.

Find out ways to overcome sales content challenges. Download the Effective Content Strategy Whitepaper

Prepare

Reps Love Presenting with Tablets

Deodorant

Underwear

Directions to the meeting

Matching socks

My business cards

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

32%

47%

51%

61%

68%

When going to a sales meeting, would you rather forget your tablet or the item below?

Yes59%

No41%

Do you ever use an iPad or other tablet during sales meetings?

Find out how industry leaders are using iPads in the enterprise. Download the whitepaper

Present

Reps use a Variety of Tools in Meetings

Smartphone

Whiteboard

Projector

Web conferencing

Tablet

Print-outs

PowerPoint

Laptop

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

28%

31%

36%

38%

47%

51%

61%

66%

What tools do you use to present during meetings? Check all that apply:

Present

50% of Reps Present Without Key Decision Makers

Hard to differentiate my offerings from the competition's

I don't feel well-prepared

My audience isn't engaged

Other technology issues

The customer takes conversation in a different direction

Difficulties connecting to Internet

Key decision makers aren't in the room

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

12%

13%

22%

33%

39%

45%

50%

What challenges do you face at meetings? Check all that apply:

Present

Reps Present at Many Non-Business Locations

At the doctor's office

On an airplane

At a kid's event

At a sporting event

While vacationing

In a bar

At a social event

At a restaurant

Over the phone

In a formal business setting

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

10%

11%

12%

21%

26%

35%

54%

63%

78%

81%

Have you ever given a sales presentation… Check all that apply:

Present

Reps Are Bound to Have Presentation Mishaps

“My iPad, laptop and phone all worked perfectly. Then my pen broke.”

“Instead of giving a prospect my business card, I accidentally gave him the key to my hotel room.”

“The sprinkler system went off in the room.”

“A bird flew in an open window.”

“I forgot to turn off my GPS, and it started talking during the meeting.”

Recalculating!

Present

92% of Reps Follow Up with Emails

With a presentation deck

In person

With sales/marketing collateral

With a phone call

Via email

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

32%

33%

37%

70%

92%

How do you follow up after meetings? Check all that apply:

@

Follow Up

Reps Can Tell Prospects are Interested by their Actions

Follow me on Facebook

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Take my call

Request more information

Contact me directly

Answer my email right away

Set up an additional meeting

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

10%

36%

64%

67%

70%

71%

74%

How do you tell if a prospect is interested? They… Check all that apply:

Follow Up

Reps Face Many Follow Up Challenges

I don't know what additional matierals to send them

I don't have appropriate follow-up materials to send them

It's difficult to know if they're interested

My contact is not a key decision-maker in the organization

I don't know who else is influencing purchasing decisions

It's difficult to reach them

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

10%

17%

26%

38%

49%

55%

What challenges do you face following up with prospects? Check all that apply:

Learn effective ways for reps and managers to follow up. Download the Sales Enablement Ebook

Follow Up

Making the Grade – Room for Improvement

Follow up

Present

Prepare

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

85% of reps gave themselves a “B” grade or worse for their prep work.

78% of reps gave themselves a “B” grade or worse for their presentations skills.

79% of reps rated themselves with a “B” or worse for post-meeting follow-up.

Brainshark enables companies to improve productivity with cloud-based business presentation solutions for sales, marketing and training. With Brainshark’s easy-to-use solutions, customers transform static documents such as PowerPoints into dynamic, mobile-ready content that can be accessed quickly and viewed as on-demand video presentations or presented live – anytime, anywhere. They can also measure the effectiveness of their communications in ways never thought possible and use these insights to take action. Thousands of companies – including half of the Fortune 100 – and millions of individuals rely on Brainshark to increase the impact and reduce the cost of their business communications. Learn more at www.brainshark.com.

About Brainshark

ContactBrainshark Inc.130 Turner StreetWaltham, MA 02453781.370.9020

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