2013 Sales Enablement Strategy - For Marketing & Sales1. IDC Executive Advisory Group
IDC’s Sales Enablement
Overview:
Guidance for 2013
Prepared by Michael Gerard
mgerard@idc.com
www.idc.com/cmo
www.idc.com/salesadvisory
Copyright 2013 IDC. Reproduction is forbidden unless authorized. All rights reserved. Updated 1-7-13
2. We Need to Change How we Enable
Sales & Channels. . .
Today. . .
Buyer Interaction: Reps are unable to sustain a dialogue with prospects
Demand Gen.: 650 targets -> 1 deal; 19 months mktg. and sales cycle
Cost of poor sales enablement for a ‘typical” $1 B firm:
– $14 M in sales and marketing expenses
– $100 M in lost revenue opportunity
Tomorrow’s Vision. . .
New Org. Structure New Processes New Technology New Metrics
Sales Enablement:
Mktg. & Sales
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 2
3. What is Sales Enablement?
IDC defines Sales Enablement as:
“The delivery of the right information to the right person at the
right time in the right format and in the right place to assist in
moving a specific sales opportunity forward”
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 3
4. Agenda: IDC’s 2013 Sales Enablement
Strategy
Voice of the Customer – The Buyer Speaks
Current State of the Industry
14 Attributes for a Best-in-Class SE Strategy
Case Studies
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 4
5. Voice of the Customer
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 5
6. Today’s Marketing and Selling
Environment – What’s Different?
Larger buying teams means
more people to “sell” to
– 2010: 5 People
– 2011: 6 people
– 2012: 7 people
Longer Buying Cycles
– 2010: 5 months
– 2011: 5.2 months
– 2012: 5.4 months
Buyers are more
knowledgeable, more
connected - and busier!
45% of the enterprise level buying decision is made before
your potential buyer even says “hello” to your sales rep.*
Refer to The 2012 IT Buyer Experience www.idc.com/EAG
*Ave. respondent: $870K in total IT purchases in past 12 months Survey (IDC #237207) mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 6
7. Buyer Insight: Most Valued Vendor
Resources When Making IT Decisions
Q: As part of your pre-purchase IT product or solution-related activities, please indicate the relative
importance of the following on your decision-making process by using a pool of 100 points.
Interaction with vendors' technical teams
(e.g., engineers, CTO)
Consumption of vendor content*
Interaction with sales representatives
Interaction with vendors' corporate
executives (e.g., CEO, COO)
Other
0 10 20 30 40
Distribution of a pool of 100 points
n = 204
* Vendor Content: e.g., Collateral, white papers, case studies, webcasts, product information, other info. available on their web site www.idc.com/EAG
**Refer to IDC’s Sales and CMO Advisory Research mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 7
8. Buyer Insight: Most Valued Vendor
Content When Making IT Decisions
Q: What types of vendor content do you most value during the IT investment decision process?
Financial Justification/ROI
Product features
Product Demo or Proof of Concept
Product/service Reviews and Test Results
Peer/Customer References
Industry Trends
Competitive Comparisons
Vision/Thought Leadership
Customer Case Studies
Other
0 10 20 30
% of Participants
n = 204 www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 8
9. Sales Enablement
How are we doing today?
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 9
10. How are we Doing to Enable Sales Reps
with the Most Valued Resources?. . .
Q: On average, how long does it take for a sales rep to find the following types of information
within your organization? Check 1 for each category.
ROI Related Sales Assets
The 2 things that
buyers value most!
Best Fit Pre-Sale Individual
Customer Purchase & Service History
Product Information
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
% of Respondents
1 week + 1-5 days 4-8 hours <1/2 day
www.idc.com/EAG
Source: IDC's Sales Productivity Benchmarks Database mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 10
11. How are Sales Folks Doing with
Buyers in this New Environment?
Buyers are inundated: “Much
of my commute home is
“delete, delete, delete,…”
Over ½ of buyers who switched
vendors during the past year did
so as a result of their newer
vendor being more diligent and
reliable to their needs.
Our best vendors help us solve problems. . . . “Interact
more with our internal teams at a functional level to
understand where our pain points are, and provide
solutions to improve our revenue & profitability."
The good news?. . .
There is opportunity to differentiate and move ahead of
your competition
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 11
12. Sales Enablement
Steps for improvement?
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 12
13. IDC’s 14 Attributes of a Best-in-Class
Sales Enablement Strategy
Feedback Accountability
Sales and customer SE function in marketing
feedback process Next generation sales
Performance measurement operations team
Sales Relevant and
Enablement Valuable Intelligence
Technology Content and asset lifecycle
Content management Content review board
system Customer intelligence for
Sales enablement sales
platform(s) Staff: SMEs, curators,
Social for sales moderators
Contact IDC for a Full
Sales Readiness
Review of Each Area Sales process integration
(mgerard@idc.com) Deployment strategy
Regional enablement www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 13
14. Accountability: Sales Enablement
Spans Across Sales & Marketing
Marketing Sales Operations Sales
Marketing-Generated Process Management & Delivery, Usage, and
Insight Governance Feedback
Marketing Content and Overall Project Content Development
Asset Management: Management
Best Practice Sharing
Content & IP Development Requirements Analysis
Materials and Offers Collaboration
SE Process Development
Management of Assets & Management Consumption & Delivery to
Intelligence and Support: Coordination With Other Customer
Customer Knowledge “Productivity Lever” Feedback to Other
Industry Knowledge Owners (e.g., mktg., L&D) Content Owners
Product Knowledge Usage Management
Metrics & Reporting
CMO & Sales Advisory Service clients, contact us to schedule www.idc.com/EAG
your free, on-site sales enablement strategy session mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 14
15. Sales Enablement
Case Studies
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 15
16. Sales Enablement Case Studies
• 20-person cross-functional
team
Nurturing a mobile • Threw out 10,000+ pieces
mindset and driving of content
productivity with
>15k iPads
• Sales takes a leading role
• Meta-model and SMEs
assure content relevance
and quality
Establishing a “living
community” to optimize
Leveraging social to
adoption and value
support 1,000+% growth
www.idc.com/EAG
Contact IDC, mgerard@idc.com, for a full review of each case study mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 16
17. Executive Guidance
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 17
18. IDC Essential Guidance for 2013
Understand your customers’ buying processes and challenges
as well as how your sales channels (direct and indirect) “process” knowledge
Let go of your current paradigm
– Sales enablement is not enterprise content management
– Existing content assets cannot dictate your strategy
Develop a strategy, but don’t stop there. . . Excellence in execution will be the
differentiator here
– Assign accountability. . . Collaborate with sales operations, develop cross-functional
teams (e.g., content review board)
– Take a structured approach for improvement (e.g., content and asset audit)
– Integrate SE initiatives with other sales productivity improvement steps
Deploy a phased roll-out strategy (e.g., region-specific)
Sales enablement must be a strategic initiative,
and not a tactical maneuver
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 18
19. • Questions?. . . Contact:
• Michael Gerard
VP, IDC’s CMO & Sales Advisory Practice
mgerard@idc.com
Follow me on Twitter: MichaelGerard
• Additional Resources:
• Our Web Sites:
• www.idc.com/cmo
• www.idc.com/salesadvisory
• Our CMO & Sales Blogs:
• www.techmarketingblog.blogspot.com
• blog.salesadvisorypractice.com
www.idc.com/EAG
mgerard@idc.com
© 2013 IDC. For Internal Use Only. Not for Distribution without IDC Permission. 19