Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. 1Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.

SiriusDecisions Sales Secrets: Aligning to Customer Needs & Challenges

Tom PiselloCEO / Founder

tom@alinean.com@tpisello@AlineanROIhttp://www.alinean.com

Heather ColeService Director, Sales Enablement

Heather.Cole@siriusdecisions.com@SiriusDecisionshttp://www.siriusdecisions.com

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

2

2016 Sales Content Survey: Demographics

SiriusDecisions gathered sales interaction data from a panel of qualified b-to-b buyers, across industries, enterprise size, and role.

Less than $50 million

$50 - 499 million

$500 million - $999 million

$1 - 3 billion

More than $3 billion

23%

22%

23%

17%

15%

Buyer Role Types Decisionmakers………………….....43%Influencers……………………………..57%

Purchase Occurrence<30 Days………………………………..

57%<90 Days………………………………..

21%<180 Days………………………………11%<365 Days……………………………...

11%

Previous ExperienceNovice…………………………………….

17%Experienced……………………………

83%

Buyer Company Size

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

3

Reps need two distinct content types: external-facing content to activate with buyers and internal-facing content to empower success.

EMPOWERACTIVATE

Sales Content: Defined

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

4

The Influence of Sales Content in a Won Deal

79% of b-to-b buyers report that the content provided by a rep is very to extremely influential in their selection of one vendor over another.

Content

79%

16%

5%Interactions

68%

23%

10%

Slightly or not at all Moderately Very to extremely

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

5

Education

Solution Selection

The Path to Purchase Is Paved in Content

Throughout the decision-making process, buyers are receiving and consuming content from marketing and sales.

6.3Average # of sales assets consumed by buyer, per rep

6.1 4.9

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

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Activation Content: Anatomy of a Win

Buyers received/consumed 22% more content overall from winning reps, and the content they provided was more likely to be perceived as high impact.Education Solution Selection

Deal Winners Runners-Up

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Discov

ery fi

ndings doc

u...

Sales i

ntro p

rese

ntatio

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ry ar

ticles

(3rd

pa..

.Dem

o

Sales d

emo p

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ntatio

n

Case s

tudy

Sales p

ropos

al pre

senta

...

RFP re

spon

se

Static

bro

chure/

sales

s...

Industry

artic

les (v

endor)

Solution Selection

Discov

ery fi

ndings doc

u...

Sales i

ntro pre

sentat

ion

Indust

ry ar

ticles

(3rd

pa...

Demo

Sales d

emo p

rese

ntatio

n

Case s

tudy

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ropos

al pre

senta

...

RFP re

spon

se

Static

broc

hure/sa

les s.

..

Industry

artic

les (v

endor

)

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

7

Activation Content: Education StageWinning organizations understand and leverage influencers,

and foster relationships early on with relevant thought leadership content.

Staticbrochure/

sales

Salesdemo

presentationPromotional

videoInteractive brochure/web page

Sales intro

presentationCase studyIndustry

articles(vendor)

Industry articles

(3rd party)

Analyst report

Blog post(3rd Party)

Education

Δ

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Δ Δ

Δ

Deal Winners Runners-Up

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

8

Activation Content: Education StageWinning organizations understand and leverage influencers,

and foster relationships early on with relevant thought-leadership content.

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Staticbrochure/

sales

Salesdemo

presentation

Promotionalvideo

Interactive brochure/web page

Sales intro

presentationCase studyIndustry

articles(vendor)

Industry articles

(3rd party)

Analyst report

Blog post(3rd Party)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 1314

Education

Deal Winners Runners-Up

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

9

Activation Content: Solution StageWinning reps are more likely to provide custom solution content

and informative collateral materials to intuitively bring customer and offering together.

Industryarticles(vendor)

RFP response

SalesProposal

presentation

Casestudy

Salesdemo

presentationDemoIndustry

Articles(3rd Party)

Salesintro

presentation

Discoveryfindings

document

Static brochure/

sales sheet

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Δ

Δ Δ

Δ Δ

Solution

Deal Winners Runners-Up

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

10

Solution

Activation Content: Solution StageWinning reps are more likely to provide custom solution content

and informative collateral materials to intuitively bring customer and offering together.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

16 4 2 3 5 8 6 7 1011Industryarticles(vendor)

RFP response

SalesProposal

presentation

Casestudy

Salesdemo

presentationDemoIndustry

Articles(3rd Party)

Salesintro

presentation

Discoveryfindings

document

Static brochure/

sales sheetDeal Winners Runners-Up

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

11

Activation Content: Selection StageWinning reps develop strong personal relationships with

prospects, but also enable that prospect to be an extension of the seller internally. Selection

RFPresponse

Personalemail

Analystreport

Sales demo

presentation

Salesproposal

presentation

Salesintro

presentation

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

DemoProposalContract

Deal Winners Runners-Up

ΔIndustryarticles(vendor)

SiriusPerspective:

© 2016 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

12

RFPresponse

Personalemail

Analystreport

Sales demo

presentation

Industryarticles/ (vendor)

Salesproposal

presentation

Salesintro

presentation

Activation Content: Selection StageWinning reps develop strong personal relationships with

prospects, but also enable that prospect to be an extension of the seller internally.

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Selection

DemoProposalContract

2 111 3 8 9 7 4 6 5

Deal Winners Runners-Up

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.13

Sales Content Challenge #1: Uncovering Needs

80% say uncovering buyer needs is critical to success2/3rds of solution providers struggle to understand those needs

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.14

Sales Content Challenge #2: Not More, But More Personalized

32% more solution provider communications than 2 years ago

Too many look-alikewhite papers? Death by slide deck

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.15

Sales Content Challenge #3: Articulating Unique Value

#1 reason sales reps didn’t achieve quota

= Inability to articulate unique value2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015,

2016

71%

Inability to Communicate & Quantify

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.

Education

Solution Selection

Roadmap for Uncovering Needs & Articulating Unique Value

Capture InterestDiagnose buyer needsCost of “Do Nothing”

Align proposed solutionsQuantify benefits

Tally ROI

AdvantagesProven outcomes 3rd party validation

PAINReptilian Brain,

Emotions

Pathos

NOT SAMEMiddle Brain,

Credibility

Ethos

GAINNew Brain,

Logic

Logos

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.17

ValueStory® - A Better Tool for Uncovering Needs & Articulating Unique Value

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.18

Tell your ValueStory long after your Engagement

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.19

Where to Start? A Solid Value Matrix™ Foundation

Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc. 20Copyright © 2001-2016 Alinean, Inc.

SiriusDecisions Sales Secrets: Aligning to Customer Needs & Challenges

Tom PiselloCEO / Founder

tom@alinean.com@tpisello@AlineanROIhttp://www.alinean.com

Heather ColeService Director, Sales Enablement

Heather.Cole@siriusdecisions.com@SiriusDecisionshttp://www.siriusdecisions.com