1、22/09/2022INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY#0829R AC O N T EU R.NE TYou cant sell like you used to.We can help.Deep Sales.A25013_2d_LI_LSS_LondonTImes_FrontPageBanner_264x50_ISONews26v4.indd09.20.2022EPSONRQDA25013x03D_Blue_Grad_12x22_ISONews26v4.tifA25013x01E_BI_LinkedIn_Chicago_Shot67_Bernies_R

2、esturant_077_ISONews26v4.tifREVENUE&GROWTH STRATEGIESTHE SECRETS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS04HOW TO THRIVE IN A FALTERING ECONOMY03WHY ITS TIME TO DROP THE SALES FUNNEL12R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S0302hen Dame Angela Ahrendts was CEO of Burberry from 2006 to 2014,her

3、tenure at the FTSE-100 fashion house coin-cided with the global financial crisis and the so-called great recession that ensued.Despite two years of economic turmoil,the companys valuation more than tripled while she was at the helm.Ahrendts said later that she had been“taught never to waste a good r

4、ecession”.Her spin on Sir Winston Churchills wartime quip,“never let a good crisis go to waste”,goes against the conventional wisdom that economic downturns are uni-versally bad for business.History has shown that they can present opportunities for growth.But how can companies best identify and expl

5、oit those opportunities?As another recession looks inc-reasingly likely in the UK,the first move for business leaders should beto conduct a thorough check on their firms fundamentals.Thats the view of Ben Parry-Jones,COO of CFPro,a consultancy advising busi-nesses in a wide range of sectors.“Put bac

6、k-up lines of credit in place,bring down aged debtors and ensure that you have a strong rela-tionship with your shareholders,”he recommends.“Get to grips with your cost structure and run a what-if?sensitivity analysis to look at how changes in variables such as unit costs would affect your profits.T

7、hen get your senior team thinking about what they would do in each of those scenarios.”The quality of your companys finance department is key,because the accounts team will provide the foundational data on which all commercial decisions will be based.More crucially,it has oversight of the whole ente

8、rprise and can there-fore contribute to processes ranging from reallocating staff to renego-tiating contracts with suppliers.“Getting these decisions right will free your business to invest just as your competitors are pulling up the drawbridge,”Parry-Jones says.The first instinct of most compa-nies

9、 when a recession is looming is to focus on cutting their costs.Often,one of the first casualties is expenditure on marketing.This is despite a body of historical studies indicating the advantages of main-taining or even increasing advert-ising budgets during a downturn.As Dr Irute Karanicholas,asso

10、ci-ate professor of marketing and rep-utation at Henley Business School,points out,marketing is an invest-ment,not a cost.She recalls the words of Professor Peter Drucker widely viewed as the father of modern management thinking who said:“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer,the b

11、usiness enterprise has two and only two basic functions:market-ing and innovation.Marketing and innovation produce results.All the rest are costs.”Karanicholas says:“This message seems to be lost when bad times hit.Yet half of the Fortune 500 were created in crisis.If you can survive acrisis,there i

12、s only one way to go and that is upwards.If you are advertising when no one else is,you are simply becoming more visible.Ifanything,a recession is probably the best time in which to advertise.”Nonetheless,the instinctive reac-tion from business leaders when facing a recession is to batten down the h

13、atches,become very opera-tional and focus on the downside risks.Instead of thinking opera-tionally,they need to think differ-ently,argues Phil Jones,managing director of Brother UK,a provider of IT hardware and advisory services.“A downturn is a good time to in-vest in your brand,”he says.“The price

14、 of services becomes more com-petitive when the market tightens,which means that you could achieve your goals at a much lower cost.”Jones also recommends studying trends in other industries and look-ing out for innovations that your firm could adapt for its own use.After the pandemic struck,Brother

15、UK started providing subscription services for its print products in what has proved a successful tweak to its business model,Jones notes.“The changes you make dont have to be transformative,”he stresses.“There will be small things you can do to add value for your customers at little cost.”Businesse

16、s should beware of try-ing to diversify in search of a quick sales boost.If they arent thought through carefully,such moves often prove unsustainable and costly in the longer term.Instead,the lead-ership team should remain focused on the companys core areas of expertise and on adaptation and innovat

17、ion within those areas,with a clear understanding of the needs of the main customer base.Mark Wilson is managing partner and CEO of Wilson Fletcher,a busi-ness innovation consultancy that specialises in designing digital en-terprises.He recommends moving customers towards more self-service experienc

18、es online.“This can offer businesses greater price flexibility and enable them to reduce their costs,”Wilson ex-plains.“Almost everyone under-stands that DIY takes more effort but costs less than it would if some-one were doing it for them to achieve broadly the same result.”One of the simplest ways

19、 to attract and retain customers in a recession is to offer them greater payment flexibility,he adds.“As cash flow is critical,for con-sumers and businesses alike,reces-sions quickly encourage an aversion to commitment and inflexible con-tracts fixed-price subscriptions,for instance,”Wilson says.“If

20、 you can offer customers the same ser-vice on more flexible terms,it gives them a greater feeling of control.A good number may even end up spending more with you as a result.”One thing that the Covid crisis has taught businesses is the importance of being agile,which should stand them in good stead

21、for dealing successfully with other challenges,including a recession.There is no disputing that downturns are gen-erally bad for business.Indeed,they put an end to many companies.The key to surviving and,potentially,thriving as the economy falters is toavoid knee-jerk reactions such as slashing the

22、ad budget,as such moves are likely to prove counter-productive in the longer term.A leader who can stay calm and focused,yet flexible,with an eye for opportunity amid the gloom,stands a far better chance of keeping and growing their business while all around are losing theirs.Opportunity from advers

23、ity:how to prosper in a recessionREVENUE&GROWTH STRATEGIESFears about the return of stagflation to the UK are prompting firms to consider cutbacks.Yet growth is still possible for those bold enough to invest,rather than retrench,during a downturnDistributed inAlison ColemanPublished in association w

24、ithAlthough this publication is funded through advertising and sponsorship,all editorial is without bias and sponsored features are clearly labelled.For an upcoming schedule,partnership inquiries or feedback,please call+44(0)20 3877 3800 or email Raconteur is a leading publisher of special-interest

25、content and research.Its publications and articles cover a wide range of topics,including business,finance,sustainability,healthcare,lifestyle and technology.Raconteur special reports are published exclusively in The Times and The Sunday Times as well as online at The information contained in this p

26、ublication has been obtained from sources the Proprietors believe to be correct.However,no legal liability can be accepted for any errors.No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the Publisher.Raconteur MediaE C O N O M I C SSimon BrookeA freelance business journali

27、st with 25 years experience of covering topics including finance,marketing and sustainability for a wide variety of outlets.Alison ColemanA writer and editor working as a senior contributor to Forbes,with bylines in The Guardian,Employee Benefits and Business&Management magazine.Morag Cuddeford-Jone

28、sA business journalist withmore than 20 years experience of covering major commercial matters and delving into evolvingtopics.Charles Orton-JonesAn award-winning freelance journalist and the former editor of EuroBusiness.His specalisms include the fintech sector and high-growth startups.Cath Everett

29、A business journalist with30 years experience.She specialises in workplace,people and leadership issues,including what it means to be an ethical business.ContributorsWPublishing manager Jean-Philippe Le CoqDeputy editorFrancesca CassidyEditorSarah VizardChief sub-editorNeil ColeSub-editorChristina R

30、yderCommercial content editorsLaura BithellBrittany GolobReports editorIan DeeringDeputy reports editorJames SuttonDesign/production assistant Louis NassDesignKellie JerrardHarry Lewis-IrlamCelina LuceyColm McDermottSean Wyatt-LivesleyDesign directorTim WhitlockIllustrationSamuele MottaHead of produ

31、ctionJustyna OConnellAssociate commercial editorPhoebe Borwellraconteurraconteur.storiesraconteur-media/revenue-growth-strategies-INFLATION HITS THE BOTTOM LINEThe UK producer price index a comparative measure of input prices and output revenue for domestic producers20320017201

32、82002275125InputOutputOffice for National Statistics,2022whitemay via iStockR A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S0504Commercial featureNegotiate and executePropose and quoteCreating a seamless revenue lifecycle experienceEfficient revenue lifecycle management

33、can improve back-end efficiency while delivering a better customer experience he enemy of predictable rev-enue growth is complexity.Organisations often get bogged down by manual paperwork and administrative tasks,only for this to hinder productivity and harm the customer experience.Similarly,operati

34、onal siloes develop that make it harder to collect data,stopping firms from gaining vital insights about their businesses that leaves money on the table.A legacy mindset can make it hard to break out of this mould.But what if you could automate and streamline your core processes?What if you could ma

35、ke the sales management journey smoother,freeing up valuable time to focus on opportunities that drive your business forward?Better revenue lifecycle manage-ment is key to meeting these goals,helping firms achieve a smoother sales management journey from the back office through to the front end.By a

36、utomating its core systems and processes,a company can more effec-tively sell its products and services,manage cashflow and contracts,main-tain good customer relationships and stay on top of compliance and risk.By deploying a holistic enterprise resource planning(ERP)solution rather than using multi

37、ple standalone ones that firm can avoid data siloes and gain proper oversight of their com-panys inner workings.Seamless experience One of revenue lifecycle management firm Congas clients is global insurer Allianz,which uses Conga to enhance productivity in its health divi-sion,Allianz Care.The busi

38、ness was growing fast,but after about a year of working in Salesforce it realised it needed a more efficient way of trans-ferring the data it collected into documents.The process it had been using was manual and cumbersome,wasting time and resources that would have been better spent on higher value

39、activities such as building customer relation-ships.“It was very important that we be able to absorb the growth of our busi-ness by enhancing our tools and a key element in that was Conga,”says Alexander Bender,global head of cus-tomer relationship management at Allianz.The team integrated Conga Com

40、poser into Salesforce,using it to reconcile documentation between new proposals and business proposals in various languages in order to enhance the customer experience.It also used Conga Grid to provide searchable insight into data,quickly and efficiently.Overall,Allianz Care was able to avoid addin

41、g to its headcount and instead reallocated resources to more valuable tasks.It was a similar story at the global news and information business Thomson Reuters,which used Conga to enhance sales efficiency and the customer experience.Thomson Reuters provides content,expertise and technology solutions

42、to help lawyers,bankers and accounting pro-fessionals make critical decisions.However,its customers were frus-trated by the companys slow response rate to sales queries and long quoting cycles.To tackle the problem,Thomson Reuters used Conga CPQ to auto-mateand streamlineits quoting pro-cess.Now,the

43、 firm can process a much larger volume of products and pricing rules,enabling it to handle complex quotes more quickly.It has achieved a 90%reduction in order configuration time,a more consistent sales experi-ence for customers,and reduced held orders by 95%.“We needed something thats nimble,agile,a

44、nd best in breed,”says Craig Eiter,vice-president of sales enable-ment at Thomson Reuters.“After assessing all the vendors,we felt Conga CPQ was by far the best enterprise order capture solution;it would enable a seamless experience for our sales team while automating much of the quote process.”Fron

45、t and centreTransforming revenue lifecycle man-agement may seem like an overwhelm-ing task,but Congas chief executive,Noel Goggin,recommends approach-ing it in steps.“Start with the big picture of what you want to do in your business.How can you automate the processes you have today within the defin

46、ition of your rev-enue lifecycle?Next,look at how you can start integrating those processes into the upstream and downstream systems.How can you build momen-tum within your organisation by proving concrete,tangible deliverables that bring meaning to the business?”When it comes to revenue lifecycle m

47、anagement,the biggestrisk to busi-ness is complacency.In a more com-petitive landscape,companies must be nimble and optimise every aspect of their core processes.Those that dont face being left behind when it comes to data insights,processing and mainte-nance,invoicing and payment and cus-tomer supp

48、ort.“There are too many unpredictable external factors today with supply chain,economy,politics,that we cannot control but running a more effi-cient business is one we can,”says Goggin.“Companies need to move to a customer lifetime value mindset and managing revenue as a lifecycle puts that front an

49、d centre.”Revenue lifecycle revolutionFor over 15 years,Conga has helped its clients to enhance their revenue lifecy-cles,serving some 11,000 businesses in sectors such as financial services,high tech,health and life sciences and man-ufacturing.Founded by software industry veterans,the Colorado-base

50、d company began life by offering a tool to automate business quoting and pric-ing,a problem its directors had strug-gled with personally in the past.Since then,it has grown to encom-pass a suite of tools that help simplify complex business problems,from con-figuration to execution,to fulfilment and

51、the contract renewal process.“We know from experience that businesses cannot afford to be slowed down by cumbersome,inac-curate manual processes,”says Goggin.“But the level of automation we provide gives a business insight and predictability of income,a rather uncommon but highly sought-after aspect

52、 of the solution.We like to say we crush complexity and simplify your path to revenue.”For more,please visit Congas Revenue Lifecycle Management Solution unifies,automates and standardises revenue lifecycle processes,giving a business full visibility of its operations.It comprises several platforms

53、that work in unison,including:Conga CPQ(Configure,Price and Quote),which allows businesses to sell more easily and more effectively.Teams can configure pricing,discounting and carts,as well as build out complex proposals,contracts and other critical business documents.Conga CLM(Contract Lifecycle Ma

54、nagement),which helps businesses achieve efficiency and gain strategic insights while streamlining both internal and external communication and collaboration on contracts.Conga Sign API allows customers to embed Sign in any of their current processes that require electronic signature,while Conga Com

55、poser API allows document generation to be seamlessly integrated into any business process or experience.Companies need to move to a customer lifetime value mindset and managing revenue as a lifecycle puts that front and centreTRenew and expandManage and fulf llTerminateConfgurePriceCartGenerate quo

56、teApprove&sendManage clausesGenerate/import contractsNegotiateApprove&signStore&amendForecastReceiveBillManage ordersObligations,services and supportManage churnRenewUpsell&cross sellAnalyse utilisationOUR MISSION-CRITICAL SOLUTION GENERATES CONCRETE VALUE&INCREASES REVENUE PREDICTABILITYConga,2022R

57、evenue lifecycleFRONT OFFICESalesLegalCustomer successFinanceBACK OFFICE-25%+36%+26%+23%+25%+25%+27%+31%ContractaccuracyOrder-to-cash cycleOverall salesrevenuedeal-sizewin-rateRevenue per contractProcessingtimeInvoiceaccuracyCongas Revenue Lifecycle Management SolutionM A R K E T I N Gproduct,how th

58、e customer engages with it and whether it delivers what theyre hoping for”,he says.“Find-ing a way of measuring all that can be challenging.”The key point,Bowers notes,is to make a link between marketing and business intelligence without los-ing human decision-making as a re-sult.He warns specifical

59、ly against relying too much on measuring things just because you can,espe-cially on the digital side.“Knowing whether someone went into an app or not gives you some little indication,but it doesnt nec-essarily give you the inside story of whats really going on,”he says.Data and business intelligence

60、 lie at the heart of effective CS.Rubel reveals that such insights are avail-able to employees across Currys,enabling them to adjust their ap-proach accordingly.“Stores can see and analyse cus-tomer satisfaction themselves,via a digital platform,and colleagues can look at the scores given by the ind

61、i-viduals theyve served,”he says.The strategies that emerge from insights derived through CS meas-urement need not be overly com-plex.For organisations such as Nuffield Health,WeightWatchers and Currys,it seems to be a matter of fine-tuning proven formulas to ensure that they can adapt to new trends

62、 and challenges as they arise.Miller observes that value for money becomes ever more impor-tant to consumers when times are tough financially.As the UK econo-my falters,WeightWatchers“really has to ensure”that its members can see evidence that its offering is sig-nificantly more effective than a DIY

63、 weight-loss programme.Rubel concludes that,in essence,effective CS is about helping the firm make the right choices for the cus-tomer,and itself,at the right times.“Big improvements in big busi-ness often rely on complex process transformations or tricky tech changes,”he says.“Some of that can be e

64、xpensive,so its important to choose where youre focusing your energies carefully,especially when customer expectations are constantly on the rise.”an accurate picture of how much it costs to acquire and keep custom-ers,how they feel about the compa-nys performance,how long they are likely to remain

65、customers and what will happen when they leave.Widely applied metrics include first-contact resolution rate,cus-tomer acquisition cost and net promoter score(NPS).Churn rate is widely seen as one of the most important ones to track,as its the ultimate signifier of whether cus-tomers are happy or not

66、.Holly Ainger,marketing director at Nuffield Health,explains that the metrics can be classified into“two buckets:acquisition and retention.For acquisition,youd be looking at he Customer Success Asso-ciation a membership body comprising more than 55,000 specialists in the field describes customer suc

67、cess(CS)as“a long-term,scientifically engi-neered and professionally directed business strategy to increase sus-tainable,proven profitability for the customers and the company.”In essence,effective CS entails building good relationships with customers,understanding their needs and ensuring that what

68、 your business offers them meets those needs so well that they keep coming back for more.Most companies will apply a whole range of CS measures to get RicardoImagen via iStockMorag Cuddeford-Joneslong-term requirements.There has to be a balance,”Miller warns.He adds that NPS is an important indicato

69、r and it seems to be a key consideration for many other sen-ior marketing professionals.Dan Rubel,brand and marketing direc-tor at Currys,reports that its his companys most important meas-ure,indicating whether the sum of its efforts has translated into cus-tomers whod recommend Currys to their frie

70、nds and relatives.The firm has received particularly strong approval for its ShopLive service,for instance.Currys started enabling customers to consult tech-nical experts using video calls when the UKs Covid lockdowns obliged them to shop online.This service has become a fixture,con-sistently attrac

71、ting good reviews.“The single biggest thing our brand-lovers rave about is the hu-mans who work so hard every day to help customers choose their tech,”Rubel says.NPS,then,can take the intangible and subjective individual elements of customer service and customer experience and translate them into in

72、sights that become actionable and,crucially,repeatable.It sounds simple enough in theory.“When youre getting things right,you see that flowing into your com-mercial metrics,operational per-formance KPIs and customer perception metrics,”says Rubel,although he adds:“Achieving that success is a far har

73、der task.”Dan Bowers,chief strategy officer at creative agency TMW Unlimited,is responsible for delivering CS strategies through customer rela-tionship management,communi-cations and more for companies such as Vodafone and McLaren.The crucial factors in CS are“the service,the communications,the Reci

74、pes for successThe marketing world has moved on from mere CX management.Customer success is becoming theonly game in town,butwhat exactly does that entail and more crucially how is it best measured?THE MANY NEEDS OF THE MODERN CONSUMERProportion of UK consumers who list the following among the top t

75、hree aspects of customer service that companies need to improvethe return on investment against various above-the-line and below-the-line media channels,including econometric modelling and looking at test and learn.For retention,its very much based on churn,NPS and activities that keep your cus-tome

76、rs sticky.”WeightWatchers is another com-pany that uses“a variety of metrics,as they are not all created equal”,according to its vice-president of growth and performance market-ing,Tony Miller.“We tend to focus on those that drive longer-term business out-comes for instance,customer lifetime value a

77、gainst customer ac-quisition cost and overall sign-up numbers balanced with those that drive lifetime value and the ratio of new to returning custom-ers,”he says.Millers comments are timely in light of a research report published recently by the Data and Marketing Asso ciation and Salesforce,which h

78、as found deficiencies in the meas-urement tools and methods widely applied by marketers.Meaningful Marketing Measurement 2022 re-veals that organisations have been using as many as 170 metrics to articulate the effectiveness of their campaigns,41%of which are“digi-tal vanity”measures,such as the num

79、ber of clicks and social engage-ments.Such numbers contribute little to their understanding of CS.“People can get stuck on these short-term metrics,because things changed so drastically when Covid struck that they felt they had to make an immediate impact.But,in so doing,they can easily forget the W

80、e use a variety of metrics,astheyre not all created equalInstitute of Customer Service,2022TMore friendly and/or helpful staffEasier to contact the right person to help meBetter website navigationMore knowledgeable staffQuality of product/serviceSpeed of response/resolutionReliability of product/ser

81、viceAvailability of product/service15.0%13.2%13.7%8.9%8.3%13.7%8.5%7.7%R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S0706Commercial featureCommercial featureTheres no time like the present to get started on building a deep sales strategy that enables sellers to help buyers buy th

82、e way they want to buyresults by expanding their tech stacks or increasing the volume of their out-reach are likely unsustainable.From Gartner to Forrester to McKinsey,thought leaders are asking sales man-agement to rethink the status quo.The data provided to most sellers is not providing them with

83、a complete picture of their target accounts and their prospects.They may know cer-tain aspects of their accounts of their prospects,such as the who and the what.But do they know the when,why,and how as they conduct out-reach to prospects?Answering these questions is what a deep sales plat-form does,

84、and it is how deep sales represents a positive change for B2B sales teams.A deep sales platform processes data and learns from it,ultimately making predictions and recommendations to sellers on a scale and with a speed that is impossible for humans to replicate.LinkedIn refers to deep sales as noth-

85、ing less than“a superpower.”Deep sales has the power to turn every seller into a top performer.It automates some of the key behav-iours that separate top performers from the pack,uncovering actionable insights in a sellers book of business in three essential areas:Account insights Locating accounts

86、with the highest likelihood of success Relationship intelligenceTargeting decision makers and fi nding the most effective pathways for outreach Buyer intentIdentifying the most opportune moments for outreach based on data signals,such as organisational growth and prospect role changesShaping the fut

87、ure of sales strategyDeep sales data and insights that lead to outcomes is by far the best way to close the buyer-seller gap f youre starting to feel that,somehow,youre not getting through to your sales pros-pects as well as you used to,youd be right.The buyer-seller divide is wider now than ever be

88、fore.Some lay it at the door of the trend towards working remotely,others,a growing cynicism from buyers because they feel relent-lessly sold to,buyers are harder to reach than ever.Faced with the clam-our from the sheer number of pitches that swarm inboxes day in,day out,is it any surprise buyers t

89、une out?The problem isnt that theyre switching off altogether,its just that theyve run out of patience.In a dig-ital-fi rst world,the balance of power has shifted signifi cantly to the buyer.First of all,cold-calling is all but dead.According to LinkedIns State of Sales,2022 research report,only 14%

90、of buyers welcoming a phone call from a salesperson they dont know;worryingly,a third of salespeople persist regardless.Instead,for the majority(61%)email is the preferred method of outreach,meaning they get to start the process on their own terms.However,this is not carte blanche to spam the buyers

91、 inbox.“Spray and pray is still all too common in B2B selling,”says LinkedIns senior director,head of enterprise sales EMEA&Latin America,Paul Terry.“Its based on the misapprehension that the laws of probability will kick in,from thousands of templated emails and cold-calls,one or two interested pro

92、spects is all you need.Thats why some chief reve-nue offi cers believe its still a success-ful plan after all,what does it matter if,ultimately,a sale is made?”Its clear this strategy will rapidly run out of road.Not only does it create a poor impression of your company(if you get noticed at all),ev

93、entually those lists will run dry,targets get fed up and talented salespeople dispir-ited,hung up on for the nth time that week.Thats if they hit the right target at all Hubspot recently estimated that nearly a third of sales databases go bad every year.Sales needs to changeTerry says:“This means tu

94、rning cold calls into warm contacts,using data and insight to inform outcomes,to gain rich learnings around a honed target list that builds supplier brand and buyer trust,all in the same action.”Technology still has a central role to play in deep sales,with top perform-ers 16%more likely than standa

95、rd salespeople to use sales technology at least once a day.However,Terry adds:“Just not the same type of technol-ogy that got B2B salespeople into this mess in the fi rst place.”How todays buyers buySpam email aside,sales technology has transformed how buyers and salespeople interact.Contact by emai

96、l,for example,means the buyer can begin the process on their own terms and has the chance to do their due diligence.Theyve got a wealth of tools at their disposal.First,buyers check the company web-site or use Google Search.The next port of call is LinkedIn,with 40%of buyers checking the company pag

97、e,39%viewing the salespersons pro-fi le,31%looking for company con-nections and 29%reviewing the salespersons content history.“Great sales professionals are pres-ent where their clients gather.That used to be at conferences,trade shows or offi ces.Now,theyre con-gregating online,often on LinkedIn.Ce

98、rtainly,there are other,sec-tor-specifi c platforms Pinterest for interior design,for example but with 850m members and 57m compa-nies,LinkedIn is where the decision makers are,”Terry says.Sales organisations also use their tech stack to fi nd prospects and bridge the buyer-seller gap.All too often,

99、relying on more technology has had the unintended effect of causing more problems for sellers and sales organisations.Only 53%of sellers say the sales tech stack helps boost productivity and affects results posi-tively,according to Forrester.The bottom line seems to be that more tools may not necess

100、arily mean better data.Despite larger tech stacks,the same data problems per-sist.Theres too much reliance on stale data,on imprecise buyer intent signals,and on data that falls far short of cover-ing the universe of potential prospects.How sales organisations can thrive with deep sales The most eff

101、ective sellers use technology in intelligent ways.Counterintuitively,LinkedIn data indicates that top-performing sell-ers spend 10%less time selling than the average seller.Instead,top per-formers spend their time research-ing prospects.This preparation helps top performers map the buying com-mittee

102、 and understand the right moments for delivering outreach that is customised and personalised.Terry says that these behaviours neednt be the preserve of the elite.“Its possible for any sales organisation to build programmes that help rep-licate habits of top performers in average sellers.”He adds th

103、at,to arm their sales teams with the means to streamline effective research,sales organisations must give their sell-ers access to accurate data and real-time insights derived from predictive signals.Equipped with this valuable information,sellers can focus on the accounts and the leads most likely

104、to become customers.LinkedIn has termed this approach deep sales,with the new approach bridging the buyer-seller gap.Deep sales helps sellers focus on high prob-ability accounts.“Deep sales helps sellers reach out to buyers with infor-mation that is relevant and welcome.It helps sellers close deals

105、and drive better outcomes,”he suggests.Deep sales:Changing the game Sales organisation that maintain IHow deep sales got Softcats sales engine purringEven before the pandemic landed,IT infrastructure has been a hot topic for every company looking to grow and exploit the opportunities brought by digi

106、tal transformation.But,to build that perfect tech stack requires insight and expertise,something an organisation like Softcat has in spades.However,with the arrival of the pandemic,Softcat found its usual routes to building connections and fostering relationships simply cut off.Forced into remote wo

107、rking,Softcat needed a virtual selling solution around which all of its activities could revolve.A central tool that would help build those critical relationships that give its customers the confi dence that they are making the right investment for the future.Getting hold of its customers was just t

108、he fi rst hurdle as the volume of email exploded and sales teams struggled for visibility.That was when the company turned to a deep sales strategy and,specifi cally,LinkedIn Sales Navigator.Using the tool,Softcat was able to identify accounts that werent already in the companys CRM system.By using

109、LinkedIn to identify key contacts within the targets crucial buying committee,the account manager was able to start a conversation over InMail,sustaining it until it reached the point where the target was ready to welcome meetings.Today,they are an established Softcat customer.Because the sales envi

110、ronment is so fl uid LinkedIns own research has discovered that the buyer turnover rate in the UK has clearly increased over the past 12 months its vital to stay on top of developments at the target organisation in as near to real time as possible.For Softcat,this meant using the LinkedIn Sales Navi

111、gator dashboard to see what might be most relevant to key accounts,as well as what they themselves might have been doing over the past 24 hours.Search has also proven to be a sales winner,providing account managers with detailed information about their buyers that helps them make sure their approach

112、 is always relevant and appropriate.Perhaps most importantly,a sales tool is only as good as the team that is using it,and with Softcat,the proof is very much in the pudding.LinkedIn Sales Navigator has proven to be a vital support to the sales team,with 300,000 profi les viewed and 20,000 leads sav

113、ed.It is widely used and promoted across the organisation,with the companys head of corporate sales stating:“It has become a natural part of everyones day-to-day routine.”THE PROCESS OF SELLING HAS CHANGEDWHAT BUYERS WANT FROM SALES PROFESSIONALSTHE SIZE OF BUYING COMMITTEES HAS CHANGEDDATA CONFIDEN

114、CE HAS INCREASEDof top performers say they“always”perform research before reaching out to prospectsThe small amount of sales professionals who make cold calls without prior researchof sales professionals prefer email as their primary mode of outreachof buyers say they are more likely to buy from a s

115、alesperson who is able to change how they thinkof sales professionals are placing more emphasis on building their LinkedIn networksLinkedIn,2022LinkedIn,202233%30%38%40%53%Product reviewsDemos and free trialsPost-sale supportPricing transparency100%60%20%80%40%0%Considerations determined to be very

116、important by buyers Mean size of buyer committees over timePercent of sellers confi dent in their dataTerry is unequivocal in his belief that deep sales is the way forward:“Deep sales represents a massive shift in B2B selling.Using data,deep sales will help sales organisations uncover growth opportu

117、nities.Already,deep sales plat-forms are delivering faster deal cycles,high win rates,and revenue growth to the sales organisations using this technology that is transforming the world of sales.”He adds:“Sales has reached a water-shed moment.Theres no time like the present to get started on building

118、 a deep sales strategy that,in the end,enables sellers to help buyers buy the way they want to buy.”Learn more about LinkedIn sales solutions at sales professionals are present where their clients gather.That used to be at conferences,trade shows or offi ces.Now,theyre congregating online,often on L

119、inkedInKetut Subiyanto via Pexels70%61%82%34%87%Recommending alternative/complementary providers80%83%87%20222022120229.58.412.9R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S0908REVOPS LACKING A CLEAR IDENTITYPercentage of global sales leaders who say their companies c

120、all the revenue operations function by the following namesWHAT REVOPS CAN DO FOR A BUSINESSPercentage of senior leaders from global organisations who say they saw the following after a Revenue Operations function was introducedHOW REVOPS CAN BOOST GROWTH Expected versus realised revenue growth befor

121、e and after implementing RevOps,as stated by global decision-makersINVESTING IN REVOPSPercentage of global revenue leaders who say they will be hiring the following number of people to manage operations in the coming yearTREND FOR REVOPS SET TO GROW Percentage of senior leaders from global organisat

122、ions who state they do or do not have a current RevOps function in their businessHOW TO GAUGE REVOPS SUCCESSPercentage of global sales leaders who say the following are the top 3 most important metrics RevOpsUNDERSTANDINGIn a world of innovation and technology,organisations are always looking for ne

123、w ways to find customers and make money,and professionalising your sales strategy is one clear way to accomplish these goals.So what can a great RevOps strategy do for a business and what are the clear signs that its working?Revenue operationsSales operationsBusiness operationsSales/sales excellence

124、Growth marketing/marketingClient services/Customer successSales&MarketingGrowth&Customer successFinance29.5%25%16.3%11.4%6.8%4.5%4.5%2.3%2.3%Oppgen,2021Revenue.io,2022Revenue.io,2022 SmartBug,2021Oppgen,2021ProductivityAlignmentPerformanceRevenue growth0Yes1-24-10NoNo,planned for 202210+Not sure21%2

125、1%15%13%ExpectedRealisedWHY REVOPS MATTERSPercentage of global decision-makers across a range of functions who say revenue operations is important in helping the following entities to meet their goals Figures may not total 100%due to rounding.Forrester and Salesforce,2021Your companyYour teamYour de

126、partmentYou1%2%2%1%3%4%4%4%9%17%12%14%26%31%35%34%60%47%46%46%Very important Important Somewhat importantNot very importantNot at all importantPre-RevOpsPost-RevOps8%7%5%5%19%48%45%9%41%11%5%22%Forrester and Salesforce,2021say average deal size83%say average win rate76%say renewal or retention rate7

127、4%R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S1110ur valuation and size are much more based on our energy and spirituality than they are on a multiple of rev-enue,”Adam Neumann,co-founder of WeWork,told Forbes magazine in 2017.It was an unconventional state-ment for a business

128、leader to make,but then WeWork wasnt promoting itself as a conventional business.In its heyday,the provider of co-working office space expanded at breakneck speed.The number of WeWork locations increased from just over 400 in 2018 to about 750 in 2019.Over that period,its member-ship grew from 400,0

129、00 to 650,000,while its annual revenue shot up from$1.82bn(1.56bn)to$3.5bn.But throughout 2019 the year of Neumanns controversial departure as CEO it was also losing about$220,000 every hour.When WeWork finally floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021,it was valued at a mere$9bn,rather than th

130、e$47bn price tag it had attracted in 2019.In the second quarter of this year alone,the business still lost$635m.WeWork has followed a classic startup strategy of seeking growth at all costs:grab as much market share as possible and quickly estab-lish yourself as a leading player in your field.Only o

131、nce youve scaled up to a position of power do you start worrying about profitability.This sort of approach has worked for companies such as Microsoft and Amazon,after all.Why didnt it do the same for WeWork?The main reason,several analysts noted at the time,was that Focusing exclusively on grabbing

132、market share has proved a successful gambit for several tech startups in the past,but should most young businesses be more concerned about achieving profitability?Marginal decisionsthe company was not a tech startup.Whatever its maverick former CEO might have claimed about the business,fundamentally

133、 it was just another commercial real-estate firm,they said.For other startup leaders pursuing an aggressive growth strategy,de-ciding when to prioritise profit over market share can be a tricky matter.“When you have big ideas and solve big problems,sometimes you need to scale up at a faster pace,”sa

134、ys Harry Hurst,CEO of Pipe,a flexible financing platform that he co-founded in 2019.“It is vital to grow quickly enough to have an impact and gain a foothold in your market,especially when youre creating a new category,but the key is not forgetting to build it sustaina-bly along the way.”He adds:“If

135、 you focus on growing the impact,brand and value of your business,not just its size,its very hard to go wrong.After that,you can concentrate more on reducing the customer-acquisition-cost pay-back period and making a profit.”Pipe has attracted a valuation of$2bn,even though it employs only about 100

136、 people.“Whats worked for us is maintain-ing our focus on efficiency and exe-cution to ensure that everything we do has an impact fail fast and learn even faster,”Hurst explains.“One way we do that is by tracking revenue per employee.”Maciej Workiewicz is associate professor of management at the ESS

137、EC Business School in Paris.He points out that,“in general,profits trump revenues.A company can easily increase its revenues simply by pricing its products below their production costs.Such an approach is clearly unsustainable.Setting sales revenue targets with-out accompanying profit goals is fooli

138、sh,therefore.”But Workiewicz accepts that there are“legitimate reasons for which a company may temporarily sacrifice profits.For example,it may choose to secure a bigger market share initially to reach a more efficient scale in terms of production,mar-keting and distribution.Having a larger manufact

139、uring capacity means that the average cost of each product will be lower,because the fixed costs are spread over a bigger production volume.”Even long-established businesses will change tack in this respect as their markets evolve and consum-ers tastes change.Before Martin Winterkorn resigned as CEO

140、 of Volkswagen as a consequence of the emissions-test cheating scandal in 2015,had set the company on the path to becoming the industrys biggest player as measured by vehicles sold.This April,Dr Arno Antlitz,the groups chief financial officer,revealed that the business would be concentrating on prof

141、ita-bility more than sales.“The key target is not growth.We are more focused on quality and on margins,rather than on volume and market share,”he told the FT,as the company announced that it would be reducing its range of petrol and diesel vehicles by up to 60%in Europe by 2030 to help it devote mor

142、e attention to the relatively profitable premium end of the market.When Oliver North became CEO at Venari Group UK in early 2020,the firm the nations largest manufacturer of ambulances and fire engines was under private equity ownership.It had a 30m turnover target,but little focus on profitability,

143、resulting in a loss of 4.6m.Today,while still hitting this turnover figure,Venari Group has recorded a profit of 2m.“Profitability was the only mech-anism that could renourish the company and bring it back to life,”North says.“Social,environmental and economic factors are always taken into considera

144、tion,together with my own thinking about busi-ness strategy,but profitability is the fuel that keeps the engine running.Without it,its hard for any business to flourish in other areas for exam-ple,staff welfare and R&D.”The growth-versus-profit question is especially relevant in the current commerci

145、al environment.Given the explosion of digitisation,a high level of uncertainty in many mar-kets and the increasing demand from consumers for cheaper and more accessible goods and services,the opportunities for disruption have never been greater.Under such circumstances,many people in business would

146、say that the need to gain market share outweighs the need to make a profit,at least in the short term.On the other hand,in a faltering economy,investors may well re-quire companies to achieve profita-bility sooner than might otherwise be expected.Its a dilemma that will focus minds and stimulate deb

147、ate over the next few years.Samuel Regan via UnsplashIf you focus on growing the impact,brand and value of yourbusiness,not just its size,its very hard to go wrongSimon BrookeS TA R T U P S“OPROFITS ON THE HORIZON?The latest annual net earnings of selected high-profile businesses that have yet to re

148、port a profitRevolut-$194mMonzo-$138mDeliveroo-$346mPeloton Interactive-$189mAirbnb-$352mFinancial reports and company websites,2022Commercial featureusiness has always been about gaining an edge over competitors.And compa-nies sales and marketing teams are some of the most vital cogs in helping bus

149、inesses eke out that advantage,bringing in new customers and find-ing new seams of growth to tap into.But the process isnt without its issues.Though both functions are highly skilled,theres a large amount of guesswork that goes into crafting a suc-cessful sales and marketing strategy for a business.

150、“People hear guesswork and at first think,thats so rude,”says Latan Conant,chief market officer at 6sense,a technology company that helps business-to-business organisa-tions improve revenue growth by uti-lising big data and AI.“But the reality is when youre looking at small sample sizes of data,its

151、like taking two points and extrapolating a trend.”Thats by necessity:the data sets that marketing teams have access to are often limited,and first-party data sets that businesses may collect in the course of their operations arent always that useful.“Were only look-ing at around 10%of the picture,”s

152、ays Conant.Its what 6sense calls the dark funnel,where buyers often remain anonymous through a large proportion of the purchase journey,only surfacing when theyve already continues.“Its not a bad thing to do,but its broad.Of course,thats going to create a lot of waste.”Its a waste that executives ar

153、e keen to tamp down on at a time when uncertainty rules the market.But squeezing out the extra advantages doing more with less isnt as easy as it seems.“Your first blush is to say:Well,its not like Ive been doing less with more,”says Conant.“Were already maxed out,and people are already burned out.”

154、She suggests that a fundamental change is needed in the sales and marketing functions of businesses.“The good news is that when people start to understand and unpack where that waste is,all of a sudden you think:hell yeah,I can do more with less.There are a lot of easy areas,but it takes a change.”T

155、hose easy areas to pick off as a business include focusing sales pri-oritisation to do things smarter,rather than broader.Sales headcount is a huge expense for businesses,and putting them to the right tasks is a quick and easy way to tackle ineffi-ciencies in your company.Another area to tackle is h

156、andling website budgets and driving traffic to them more tightly.6sense conducted a study across multiple industries that showed just 3%of website traffic fills out a form.“All that time,all that money and all that energy are spent to know about 3%of users,”says Conant.“What about the 97%?”Learning

157、about them is tough but can be done.Big data and the deploy-ment of AI allow businesses to peek into the decisions that go into a busi-ness purchase.“One of the starkest differences between B2B and B2C is the number of people involved in a buying decision,”says Conant.“Its not just one buyer or one

158、person.”Businesses purchase decisions go through teams and layers of bureau-cracy that big data can help cut through.“All of a sudden you can optimise your complete go-to-mar-ket motion based on timing,”says Conant.“Truly where the journey is.Not where you think the journey is,but where it actually

159、is.”For some businesses,the idea of dabbling in big data and AI seems daunting,but 6sense takes out the complications.“Weve built our com-pany on making it easy,”says Conant.Customers who approach 6sense often worry their data is so bad and so disparate that it cant be trans-lated into meaningful in

160、sights.“If our company relied on people having decent data,wed have no busi-ness,”she jokes.“Weve perfected the onboarding process of bringing their data in,and marrying it with our data.”6sense fills in the gaps in knowledge,providing better insight into purchasing decisions.For some companies,it c

161、an be a struggle to win over their sales team to a new,data-led way of work.“We found the key to sales adoption is showing the why,she says.6sense presents the data into users workflow and adds context so sales and market-ing staff understand why decisions are made and where.“Thats critical for buil

162、ding trust,”says Conant.The company studies its cus-tomer data every quarter,and sees increases in the sales velocity for-mula the average selling prices,win rates and cycle times.“That is so tremendously mindblowing,”says Conant.“We see it over and over and over again.”To find out more,visit made u

163、p their mind to buy or not and from whom.To try and plug that knowledge gap,businesses extrapolate,assume and guess.They picture idealised cus-tomers and try to target them with marketing messages in the hope of hooking in customers they think will want their products or services,doing so from the s

164、cant amount of data they do have.But its not always accurate,and it often is wasteful.As belts tighten and budgets become more constrained,theres a pressing need for companies to get smarter about their businesses.Increasing revenue and pursuing strong growth strategies is the goal of any business b

165、ut the challeng-ing conditions in which we live today make that more pressing than ever.“I guarantee that every single CMO and CRO recently had a board meeting where they were directed to do more with less,”says Conant.Companies are losing$2tn in poten-tial revenue by using outdated sales and market

166、ing processes,accord-ing to Boston Consulting Group.“Its from things like guesswork,a lack of alignment and poor data quality,”says Conant.“Because you dont really understand the patterns in the dark funnel,you end up spending a lot on things like advertising,”she How to increase revenue by eliminat

167、ing guessworkWasted efforts result in$2tn of lost revenue in sales and marketing.Heres how to fix thatBOne of the starkest differences between B2B and B2C is the number of people involved in a buying decisionThe small percentage of visitors to corporate websites who actually fill out a form.The rema

168、ining 97%of interested buyers are wasted because companies dont know how to capture,analyse and use the data their buyers leave behind6sense,20223%R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S1312Burns says.If they remain recep-tive,ensure that theres an offer ready for them to

169、snap up.Another replacement model for the sales funnel is the bow tie,which is favoured by WorkForce Software,a US-based specialist in HR applications.Its chief market-ing officer,Sandra Moran,explains that the firm uses a software-as-a-service bow-tie model.In effect,this adds another funnel that c

170、ov-ers customers who are committed to a subscription.It tracks these repeat buyers as they stay with the brand,maybe upgrade and expand their purchasing choices.(The two funnels,when facing each other on their sides,vaguely resemble the shape of a bow tie.)This is a popular model in software as a se

171、rvice,where to buy is to enter a long-term relationship with a vendor.Moran can track these customers activities at every point,using machine-learning algorithms to provide them with relevant content.She explains:“As more individu-als join ongoing sales cycles,were able to identify newly engaged con

172、-inosaur reconstruction is a tricky business.If they werent fortunate enough to find the fossilised skeleton of an unknown species intact,the early palaeontologists had to work out which bone should go where from the pile they had collected.Edward Copes first stab at piecing together the leviathan e

173、lasmosaurus in 1868 placed its head on its tail he simply couldnt believe that any creature would have such a long neck.Copes great rival,Othniel Marsh,revelled in his error,stirring up a feud that became known as the bone wars.brand may catch the eye of an anonymous browser on TikTok or Instagram.O

174、nce in a while,that person may visit the brands web-site and make a purchase.From the sellers perspective,a transaction of that sort seems like a leap out of the dark into the bottom of the funnel.Then there are repeat customers,who are missing from the model.“Sometimes the biggest wins arent repres

175、ented by the sales fun-nel,”McDougall says.“Turning a customer into a repeat customer and/or advocate can often have more impact than piling more pros-pects into the top of the funnel,given that more than 90%of these will never make a purchase.”She argues that any sales team thats focused on feeding

176、 the fun-nel from the top could be ignoring the rich potential of consumers who have gone through it before.“Your existing customers have the potential to be a selling army.If you lead them correctly,theyre capable of driving new customer purchases beyond your wildest dreams,”McDougall stresses.“Loo

177、k at Apple,Monzo and Uber,for instance.”The funnels linearity has also been criticised for being too simple.After all,a customer may show interest in a product,forget it,come back with the intention of buying yet fail to complete the purchase for whatever reason,but then return again later.Theres no

178、thing much linear about that.In July 2020,Google UK published a research paper on how buying choices are made.Introducing the report,two of its authors,Alistair Rennie and Jonny Protheroe,wrote:“The way people make decisions is messy and its only getting mes-sier.We know that what happens is not lin

179、ear.There is a complicated web of touchpoints that differs from person to person.”The term they coined to describe this morass of chaotic cogitation is the messy middle.This model adds some new dynamics to the mix.Rennie and Protheroe wrote:“People look for information about a categorys products and

180、 brands and then weigh all the options.This equates to two different mental modes in the messy middle:explo-ration,an expansive activity;and evaluation,a reductive activity.Whatever a person is doing,across a huge array of online sources,such as search engines,social media,aggregators and review web

181、sites,can be classified into one of these and action).At each of these points,a proportion of potential buyers will walk away hence the narrow-ing shape that gives it its name.“The sales funnel was invented for simpler times more than 100 years ago,”says Shiona McDougall,global chief strategy office

182、r at creative agency RAPP.“It doesnt account for the sophistication of todays digitally savvy,marketing-resistant consumers.Nor does it account for the proliferation of sales channels and the complexity of modern marketing.”Take social media,for instance.A alisbalb via iStockAs a representation of t

183、he customer journey,the sales funnel appears to have passed its sell-by date.Potential replacement models include the messy middle,the bow tie and the flywheelJurassic pathCharles Orton-JonesMarketing is in a similar,albeit less fraught,place today.The sales funnel,a model of the customer journey th

184、ats been core to the pro-fession for decades,is under attack from all sides for being the wrong shape.The best replacement for this outmoded concept?Take your pick from the following:the messy middle,the content ecosystem,the bow tie or the marketing flywheel.So what is going on?At first glance,the

185、funnel seems logical enough.It tracks consumers along a route summarised by the acronym Aida(awareness,interest,desire Kibo,2022THE SALES FUNNEL IN ACTIONConversion rates of online shoppers worldwide in 2021,by regionOut of 100 prospects,perhaps between two and five will convert to a sale.What about

186、 the other 95 to 98 youre paid to reach?The answer is usually to retarget themtwo mental modes.”Their recommendation to sales and marketing teams is to support consumers as they explore and evaluate.Give them all the infor-mation they need to complete their research.Ensure that your online recommend

187、ations on Google Reviews for instance are strong to boost social proof.Help customers to understand your product with brief,accurate descriptions.There is a clear parallel between the messy middle and another model thats gaining popularity:the content ecosystem.This con-cept is favoured by strategis

188、ts such as Isobel Burns,the founder and director of the Digital Marketing Engine consultancy.“Unlike the linear sales funnel,the content ecosystem is designed to capture people at various stages of their buying journeys,”she explains.“It can take someone who knows nothing about your offering through

189、 a process of education,instilling desire for that offering,reducing scepticism with social proof and allowing them to become familiar with it at their own pace.”The content ecosystem is effective at retargeting that is,marketing to consumers who have fallen out of the sales funnel according to Burn

190、s.She adds that the path to a sale is often far more complex and circuitous than that represented bythe funnel.The content ecosys-tem offers a more flexible approach that makes allowances for less pre-dictable consumers.“Out of 100 prospects,perhaps between two and five will convert toa sale.What ab

191、out the other 95 to 98 youre paid to reach?The answer is usually to retarget them,”she says.“Favouring a content eco-system,rather than a linear sales funnel,enables you to show people content thats relevant to their buying positions.”If they want education,provide it,Explore Turn Datainto Actionabl

192、e Insights Turn Insights into Personalised ExperiencesTurn Experiences into Real ResultsMoEngage is an Insights-led Customer Engagement platform that enables consumer brands to craft delightful experiences which increase loyalty and lifetime value.Scan MeS A L E SDGreat Britain1%5%3%2%4%Q1USEMEAOthe

193、rQ2Q3Q40tacts.We can learn with each suc-cessful sales cycle which buying signals are indicative of deals that close,providing sales teams with recommended actions to keep those accounts on track.”The flywheel model,proposed by US software firm HubSpot,is a more radical departure from the funnel.The

194、 antithesis of the hard sell,it abandons any attempt to shuffle potential buyers down the path to a purchase.Instead,there is a broader focus on helping consumers in what-ever they try to do.The flywheel cov-ers three areas of activity:the attract phase,as people learn about a brand;the engage phase

195、,as they buy;and the delight phase,as they are given post-purchase support.Red Evolution,a marketing agen-cy,is an advocate of the flywheel.The firms digital strategist,Alex Bussey,says:“The funnel is a bro-ken and outdated concept.We need a model under which we continually engage and delight people

196、 at vari-ous stages of the buying journey.”This means accepting that such a journey wont be a simple straight line for many potential customers,he says.“Rather than producing content designed to appeal to peo-ple at certain stages of the funnel,we tend to create large pillar pages,which are useful t

197、o anyone seeking an overview of a given topic,plus supporting micro-content such as blog posts or an FAQs section.”So where does this war of models leave the customer?Ideally,in a world with less of the hard sell.Brands are giving up on the idea of pushing potential punters down a path and are more

198、relaxed about losing prospects.The new thinking is that theyll be back,even if its not clear when.Life is not a straight line.Market-ing is evolving as it tries to track how consumers truly behave.The conventional sales funnel,there-fore,is surely facing extinction.R A C O N T E U R.N E TR E V E N U

199、 E&G R O W T H S T R AT EG I E S1514How would you describe the prevailing trends in buying and procurement?There is a growing trend among buyers of all kinds to distance salespeople from the pro-curement process.This trend has been going on for a while,but it cer-tainly has been accelerated by the p

200、andemic.Essentially,buyers are trying to get further through the process without talking to potential suppliers.Theyre arriving at a shortlist before suppliers even real-ise theyre on the longlist.The primary reason for this is knowledge has become commod-itised.Modern buyers are more informed than

201、theyve ever been,so they feel comfortable progressing further through the process without the influence of a sales professional.In some ways they do have a better understanding of products and ser-vices than they have in the past,but what a good salesperson offers is only partly differentiated on th

202、e basis of products and services.How has this trend impacted selling strategies?The traditional buying journey starts with a position of status quo:potential buyers dont perceive the need to change.Then there is some disruption that motivates a desire to change.Sometimes the dis-ruption comes from m

203、arket forces or initiatives within a company,but sometimes a salesperson will proac-tively engage a client with ideas to support growth or innovation in ways the client doesnt yet realise are possible.An increasingly remote buying journey is limiting possible catalysts for that disruption.This creat

204、es two key challenges for sales professionals.First,they must find a way to get in front of custom-ers early in the buying process so they can be that catalyst for change.Second and this is the long game they must position themselves as an authority in their marketplace,so the customer believes thei

205、r involve-ment adds value at the very begin-ning of the buying journey.Its important to recognise the cus-tomer is often two-thirds of the way to making a purchasing decision before they engage with a salesper-son.So if in the first engagement a salesperson is trying to take them back to square one,

206、buyers will lose interest very quickly.Whats needed is a non-confrontational challenge to the customers paradigm to shed light on new possibilities.Customers are willing to engage with salespeople who will help them gain a competitive advantage in their marketplace.If a customer then makes a decisio

207、n to buy from that salesperson,the product or ser-vice is often secondary in the buying decision to the value brought by the salesperson through their insight.How can sales professionals add value in the modern buying journey?The term consultative selling has been around for years,but the requiremen

208、t for a salesperson to demonstrate a true understanding of their customer,their customers market and their customers cus-tomers is only growing.I did some research showing that buyers number-one requirement in a B2B sales environment is that the supplier understands the customer and their business.I

209、t also showed that 91%of buyers had actively con-sidered changing a key supplier in the previous 12 months,and that was driven by the level of creativity and innovation the supplier offered.In most markets,creativity and innovation will be enabled by con-sultative approaches to selling.Consultative

210、selling shifts the role of a salesperson from fixing a set of problems,to helping clients identify their goals and realise their full potential.Successful sales profes-sionals will decommoditise their products and services and define value propositions for themselves and what theyre selling.But ulti

211、-mately their value is realised by engagement throughout the sales cycle,during which they become deeply familiar with their clients business and aspirations.I N S I G H TPatrick JoinerManaging director,Institute of Sales Professionals(ISP)ll too often in a target-driven profession such as sales,man

212、aging the health and wellbeing of employees plays second fiddle to hitting the num-bers.A common problem is that,while firms may be happy to focus on wellbeing when times are good,“its the first thing to go if teams start underperforming”.So says Ashlie Collins,the founder and CEO of Humane Startup,

213、a con-sultancy that specialises in training and coaching business leaders and sales professionals.“Its a short-sighted approach,but there is an erroneous assumption that sales targets arent being hit because people arent working hard or smart enough,”she says.“Their leaders will ramp up the pressure

214、 to generate immediate results when theyre behind,but the long-term impact of this will be detrimental.”Carl Day,chief sales officer at managed service provider Apogee,agrees.Applying such pressure is rarely effective,he says,but it does generate significant levels of stress,particularly if the obje

215、ctives that have been set are unrealistic.“No matter how successful a sales-person is,they always fear that theyll be out of a job if they dont hit their targets,”Day says.“If the com-pany doesnt create the right oppor-tunities,offer the right support or change the inputs,it can create a lot of anxi

216、ety,because things are sim-ply out of your control.”Other actions that generate an un-healthy sales environment include the consistent application of short-term incentives;the use of language laden with military metaphors and analogies;and publicly praising people who work when they should be on hol

217、iday or sick leave.The upshot of this kind of ap-proach,Collins says,is“an entire generation of folks who just burn out”.Alcohol and drug abuse also tends to be common among teams that are managed in such a way.Another common,if less drama-tic,outcome is that“people simply run out of ideas and becom

218、e stale”,Day adds.This is because“their focus tends to narrow”when they are put under excessive pressure.So what can leaders of sales teams do to create an appropriate balance between pushing for first-rate re-sults and maintaining employee wellbeing in the process?The first thing is to understand t

219、hat the two arent mutually exclu-sive.Indeed,Day believes that en-suring the wellbeing of the team is vital if high levels of performance are to be maintained.“Id argue that its the only way if you want good long-term results,”he says.“Any leader can get sales by applying pressure on their team,but

220、that approach has a short shelf life.Youll never grow the business org anically with it.Indeed,youre more likely to encourage unethical behaviour that way.”But Day adds that“its quite a brave executive wholl support you”in introducing the right cultural changes.This is mainly because a sales teams p

221、erformance will often level off as its members adjust to the shift away from a“carrot-and-stick culture of command and control”.The initial disruption caused in this Doing this will enable their teams to feel heard,understood,valued and supported,he argues.“The crux of it is that managers need to un

222、derstand their people and what motivates them,but too many arent spending enough time on this,as they get drawn into admin work,”he says.“The problem then is that they dont know where their teams are facing challenges.”Day observes that making such a cultural shift will“take time and require resilie

223、nce”.On the one hand,its about encouraging man-agers to change habits that may be deeply ingrained in certain cases.“Some managers believe that the only way to get results is to scream and shout at people.If you want them to adopt a more supportive approach,it can feel very alien to them and make th

224、em feel exposed,”he warns.“Some will actively resist such a change.”On the other hand,creating a more balanced sales team also requires shifting the focus away from one or two superstars.Training and coaching are key to helping every-one make a valued contribution to their teams overall performance.

225、Day believes that the considerable effort required to change the cul-ture of Apogees sales team has been worthwhile,not least in perfor-mance terms.Its profit generation per head has risen by 25%since before the pandemic,for instance.“An element of this improvement has been market-driven,but much of

226、 it is down to the cultural shift in how the team is motivated and suppor-ted,”he says.“While an executive-level understanding of the challenges that sales professionals face is always helpful,I would put wellbeing at the top of the list of factors contributing to the teams success.”It may seem coun

227、terintuitive to some,but running a high-achieving sales team calls for a more holistic approach including a concern for staff wellbeing than maintaining a laser-like focus on the next revenue targetThe search for a healthier sales cultureCath Everetttransitional period,he says,tends to make people“j

228、umpy”.Day speaks from experience,hav-ing led such a process himself.He had the slight advantage of doing so during the UKs first pandemic lockdown,when trading conditions were difficult and expectations were relatively low.His sales managers also had more time available than usual for train-ing and

229、development activities.He focused on teaching them how to get the best out of their team members by adopting more of a coaching role,finding more constructive and per-sonalised motivational methods.Apogee also implemented a scor-ing system that assessed sales team members competence in a range of ar

230、eas,including account manage-ment.The results informed which training and coaching interven-tions were required to help individ-uals develop their skills and work to jointly set improvement targets.The company then engaged a highly decorated former Royal Marine to provide coaching to the teams and t

231、heir managers.This ongoing programme emphasises the importance of mental wellbeing in building resilience.Collins believes that sales profes-sionals and high-performance ath-letes have a key factor in common.She explains:“The secret to success for both lies in unlocking whats standing between them a

232、nd achiev-ing their goals,most of which re-sides in the unconscious.People dont suddenly wake up one morn-ing and forget how to sell,but there are lots of things that can inhibit them,especially if theyre in a con-stantly high-stress environment.”As a result,its crucial that they“become aware of wha

233、t shuts them down and find new ways to respond,rather than reacting with fear andsimply repeating old patterns”,Collins argues.Pete Evans,co-owner of sales training and coaching provider SalesStar UK,stresses the vital role that leaders of sales teams have to play in creating a culture based on trus

234、t and psychological safety.M A N A G E M E N TA52%consider the fear of rejection to be the aspect of their jobs that has the biggest effect on their mental healthRaiys,202273%of UK salespeople say they have considered leaving,or left,an employer owing to work-related mental health problemsManagers n

235、eed to understand their people and what motivates them,but too many arent spending enough time on thisBuyers are arriving at a shortlist before suppliers even realise theyre on the longlistPatrick Joiner,managing director,Institute of Sales Professionals,explains why recent buying trends call for new approaches to B2B salesShallowDeepKnows their team needsnew software.Knows which person makes the call to buy.You cant sell like you used to.Buyers are smarter and expect more.Your sellers need deeper insights and relationships.We can help.Deep Sales.