Does life seem a blur to you right now? The leaves outside my window are starting to change colour and we’re all about to go into Q4 of one of the strangest years ever! “Song 2” by Blur fits perfectly in this unusual time. So enjoy a bit of escape and listen as you read…

Here is what the experts are saying, and some takeaways from the past week:

Salesforce State of Sales Report

The 2020 State of Sales report was recently released by Saleforce.com. Not surprisingly, since the pandemic, 58% of sales reps think their job has changed forever.

Some high level results from the study:

  • 85% of sales professionals agree that sales operations have become increasingly strategic
  • 77% of sales leaders say that digital transformation has accelerated since 2019
  • VPs are 1.3 times more likely to be confident in their organization’s ability to close deals compared to managers/directors. Is this because VPs/execs are too distanced from the day-to-day, or should we all be following suit and feeling confident in improving market conditions?

The early days of sales operations included forecasting, progress reports and financial outcomes. But as many sales become more complex in B2B, I find that sales operations are becoming more strategic by staying ahead of problems to help the team focus on selling. This offers more time for sales professionals to do the heavy lifting of closing.

How Many Target Accounts Do Reps Handle in ABM Programs?

We talk Account-Based Marketing (ABM) with our clients on a daily basis. A common question is, how many accounts should a sales representative be handling? According to a report from Demandbase:

  • Companies claiming the best ROI from ABM tend to have their individual reps handling more accounts than the average company engaging in ABM
  • Across all companies, the largest share (34%) reported 0-10 target accounts per rep, but among companies with the strongest ROI just 9% reported 0-10 accounts per rep
  • The largest share (36%) of companies with the strongest ROI reported reps having 11-50 target accounts
  • Companies with the strongest ROI were far more likely than average to report giving their reps 101-500 accounts each (18% vs. 8%)

Are you executing an ABM program? What is the right balance between quantity and quality?

Customer Engagement Lessons in Music

New research into how music was taught during lockdown found that almost two thirds of music teachers and tutors did not feel adequately prepared for the transition to online teaching. But despite the misgivings, the research found that “when students had access only to upload materials, engagement levels were 30-40%. This increased to 70% when students had access to audio-only. When audio and visual was available, this rose to 80-85%.”

Despite music teachers’ initial skepticism, online learning often resulted in higher engagement! How can you increase YOUR levels of engagement with your B2B customers? Have you been able to deepen your relationships?

I’m not so sure the sales role has changed forever. It’s still about helping customers solve their problems and building a trusted relationship. So we can ultimately close the sale and get to the Woo-hoo!

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or ask how I can help.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat | President | Virtual Causeway | 519.866.1600 x622

P.S. “What Do B2B Marketers Do Now?” is an ongoing weekly email. Want to be the first to receive these weekly insights? Sign up now to join the mailing list!