Preparing for 2013 Sales Growth

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2012 Chief Sales Executive Forum: Luncheon Panel Discussion and Survey How are you preparing for 2013 sales growth?

© 2012 The Alexander Group, Inc.® 2

In Conference Survey On the first day of Alexander Group’s 2012 Chief Sales Executive Forum, approximately 75 top sales executives participated in an interactive discussion around some of the 2012 Sales Pulse Survey questions. A panel of four leading executives provided their perspective on the answers to each question. The panel consisted of:

Carl Strenger VP Sales Ops & Compensation

UPS

Hilarie Koplow McAdams VP Global SMB salesforce.com

Jeff Duchemin VP of Life Sciences Becton, Dickinson

Arthur Rassias VP of Global Regulatory Group

Thomson Reuters

The following pages summarize top line findings from this in-conference survey and the ensuing discussion


The Challenge

• For most companies, 2013 sales growth expectations will exceed both GDP and industry growth forecasts

• In such an environment making the numbers will require sales executives to take share from their competitors

What should sales executives do to prepare for the 2013 growth challenge?


What Are Your Growth Objectives for 2012?

• In 2012, nearly 75% of respondents expect to achieve sales growth well in excess of GDP growth in the US

• However, almost 40% indicated that they will miss their number in 2012

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Flat 1% - 4% 5% - 9% >10%

“success in 2012 was a function of their ability to rapidly shift sales resources to high growth segments in the US and regions throughout the globe”

Panelists say:


What Are Your Growth Expectations for 2013?

In 2013 nearly half respondents expect sales growth at or above 6%. To achieve this growth executives are considering which investments will yield the best return. One thing is clear; despite continuing spending austerity, companies that expect to grow are investing in their sales organizations.

A range of investment alternatives was mentioned: • Sales training on new products • More rapid onboarding of new sellers • Inside sales • More back office support and sales ops • Customer loyalty and up-selling programs • New channels to more efficiently sell

mature/commodity products • Training on value selling

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5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

<0% 0% - 2% 3% - 5% 6% - 10% >10%


What Differential Advantage Should Sellers Stress?

Offering better solutions was considered key. But having sufficiently keen business insight to teach customers how to leverage solutions was the clear winner to this question.

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Better Prices Better Products Better Solutions Better Insights

% o

f Aud

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Differential Advantage

0% 6%

17%

77%

“Customers have forgotten how to buy; they have been focused too long on cutting cost. We need to give them sound reasons to break the non-buying habit.” “Insight begins with a deep

understanding of how the customer runs his business. Point is, we need to help them run it better.”

Panelists say:


What % of Customers Really Care About Solutions?

A third of respondents indicate that no more than 25% of their customers consider solution quality in their buying decisions. 84% of respondents say no more than half their customers care about solutions. Why so low? Where price is the primary factor you have to deploy highly efficient selling resources and processes.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

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60%

<25% 25% - 50% 51% - 75% >75%

Percent of Survey Participants

50%

34%

13%

3%

“with the rise of sophisticated procurement departments price has been elevated in the decision making process.”

“When you deploy expensive value selling resources you have to know where to focus them or that investment will be wasted.”

Panelists say:


Where Will Your Growth Come From In 2013?

While participants indicate that solution centric customers comprise only about a third of the market, three quarters identified it as “the segment we will focus on most to achieve our growth objective.”

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

Price Centric

Product Centric

Solution Centric

Cus

tom

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Segm

ent

“this is an opportunity to focus our most expensive resources on fewer, higher potential customers.”

Panelists say:


The Best Way To Promote Growth In the Solution Segment Is To… Panelists agreed with the importance of training but emphasized that:

Sellers can “max out” on what they can handle even with excellent training. Pushing some marketing resources into field can deepen expertise and broaden band width. Despite the cost, more process or vertical expertise should also be considered. Always look for ways to maximize the amount of time sellers can devote to real selling; minimize or off-load non essential tasks.

6%

72%

19%

3%

Engage more channel partners

Launch new and better solutions

Hire experts to deepen expertise

Train sellers on available solutions

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What Must the Sales Leader Do To Meet the 2013 Challenge?

Two words stood out in the dialog around this question:

Ensure that the right resources are armed with the right messages and are

focused on the right customers.

Get your sales resources to believe in and align with the growth strategy. Metrics, goals and pay matter - but competitive spirit and the will to win matter too.

Inspire

Strategize


To hear more sales growth related insights, join other top sales leaders at Alexander Group events in 2013. Our theme for 2013 is VALUE… Starting with the Regional Forums in April (New York) and May (San Francisco) where the question will be: How can you inject VALUE into your sales organization? …followed by the 2013 Chief Sales Executive Forum, November 11 – 13 in Monarch Beach, CA, where we will showcase: VALUE CREATION – the people, companies and processes that live and breathe customer value, every day. Learn more at www.alexandergroup.com/events

http://www.alexandergroup.com/events/overview?utm_campaign=2012ForumLuncheonPanelDiscussion&utm_source=Slideshare&utm_medium=AnnualForum

Preparing for 2013 Sales Growth

Business

Transcript of Preparing for 2013 Sales Growth