Transforming Your Reps From Pitch Men to Problem Solvers

Transforming Your Reps From Pitch Men To Problem Solvers New Rules for Sales Enablement Success

Peter O’Neill, Vice President & Research Director, Forrester Lisa Clark, Vice President, Qstream May 12, 2016

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Hashtag#ditchthepitch

Peter O’Neill Vice President, Research Director

© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5

B2B Buyers Are More Empowered

Source: “Winning In The Age Of The Customer,” Forrester Research, Inc., April 6, 2015

“Two years ago we coined the term ‘new age seller.’ The buyer’s journey has changed for the sales rep. Control has shifted away from the sales person, as sales is no longer the sole provider of information.”

– Linda Connly, VP Global Inside Sales, EMC

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• Your sales people

• Google • Your website

• Peers/colleagues • Experts • Your customers

• Brand perception • Features/benefits

• Brand perception • Features/benefits

• Alternatives • Comparisons

• Brand perception • Features/benefits • Alternatives • Comparisons

• Reputations • Customer opinions • Prices

Sources of information

What buyers

know in advance

Pre-Web

More Information Puts Buyers in Control

Web 1.0 AOTC

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B2B Buyer Behavior and Attitudes

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B2C B2B

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B2B Buyers Conduct Research Online

Source: “The B2B Sales Force Digital Reboot” Forrester Research, Inc., October 19, 2015. Graphic Source: SalesforLife, “The Resurrection of the B2B Salesperson [Infographic]” (http://www.salesforlife.com/infographics/the-resurrection-of-the-b2b-salesperson/)

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12% of U.S. B2B Sales Will Be Digital

Source: Forrester Research B2B eCommerce Forecast, 2015 to 2020 (US).

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When and Why Do B2B Buyers Want to Talk?

Source: Forrester/Internet Retailer Q1 2015 US B2B Buyer Channel Preferences Online Survey.

When expensive

When complex

When negotiating

price

Requires installation

67% 82%

91%

67%

Requires service

64%

Base: 224 U.S. B2B Buyers and Sellers

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Guiding

Consulting

Educating

Informing

Promoting

Pitching

Bidding Onboarding

Engaging

Leveraging

Marketing (and Sales!) Roles During The Customer Life Cycle


Execs No Longer Want Pitch Men

Source: Forrester’s Q4 2013 North America And Europe Executive Buyer Insight Online Survey

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What It Means? A Digital SF Reboot

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1M Less Sales Jobs in 4 Years

Source: “The B2B Sales Force Digital Reboot” Forrester Research, Inc., October 19, 2015. Graphic Source: SalesforLife, “The Resurrection of the B2B Salesperson [Infographic]” (http://www.salesforlife.com/infographics/the-resurrection-of-the-b2b-salesperson/)

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Number of B2B salespeople/$1MM of GDP has declined steadily in the last 20 years •  2.08 in 1995

•  1.79 in 2002

•  0.99 in 2013 Source: Race Against The Machine By Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee


B2B Seller and Buyer Archetypes

Source: “The Death of A (B2B) Salesman” Forrester Research, Inc., April 13, 2015

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B2B Seller and Buyer Archetypes


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Displacement Impact: By Industry (2012-2020)


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High Tech

Healthcare

Insurance

Building & Construction

Financial Services

Travel & Hospitality

Wholesale & Distribution

Brand Manu & CPG

Consultants LOW

LOW

LOW LOW

LOW LOW LOW LOW

Navigators LOW

MED

LOW LOW

MED MED HIGH

MED

Explainers MED MED MED MED

HIGH HIGH HIGH

MED

Order Takers HIGH MED MED HIGH

HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH


Consultant Salesperson Attributes

Source: “The B2B Sales Force Digital Reboot” Forrester Research, Inc., October 19, 2015

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Salesperson Assessments Needed

Source: “The B2B Sales Force Digital Reboot” Forrester Research, Inc., October 19, 2015

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Empower Sellers To Become Problem Solvers For The Buyer

“In the past two years, there has been a return to outbound calling. The transparency to get to the right person, through various data sources and social media, has made it really easy.”

– David Stillman, CEO, Vorsight

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Can You Ever (Re)Train a Sales Force?

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Switch Focus To Customers, Not Products

Source: “Why Buyers Don't Want To Meet Your Salespeople And What To Do About It” Forrester Research, Inc., September 9, 2015

“We have a strong product and that is both a strength and weakness. Five years ago the product sold itself. Now we need to be more market- and customer-centric.”

– Gilbert Gaeta, Head of APAC Brand Solutions, Google

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Sellers who are ubiquitous and customer obsessed –

Problem Solvers!

“Help customers buy, whenever, however and wherever they want.”

– Neil Ringel, VP of Staples

Advantage”

A Win–Win

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Managing Sales Capabilities at the Speed of Change

Case StudyThink like a CXO

Act like a CXO

Speak like a CXO

Mobile Sales Reinforcement!Notification! Challenge! Results! Explanation!1 2 3 4 Leaderboard!5

Data-Driven Dashboards and Sales Fluency Heatmaps!

Managing Change at Scale“The whole experience was eye-opening. Never before have we had this level of granularity and measurement for a change management initiative. We were able to provide visibility all the way up to the board level on how well we were doing in the transition to value-based selling.”

Global Sales Enablement Director

Top Performers are Proficient!In All Aspects of Their Job !

Competition!

Marketing Materials!

Compliance!

Industry!

Sales Process !& Tools !

Product!

Messaging!

Selling !Skills!

One-third of reps are not ready…But which ones are they?

Time

Motivation Important Considerations

Insights

Convenience

Please use the!chat window to

submit your questions or comments !

Presentation Title Subhead Goes Here

Peter O’NeillForrester Research+49 69 959298 [email protected]@poneillforr

Thank youLisa [email protected]@Qstream

Transforming Your Reps From Pitch Men to Problem Solvers

Sales

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