Sales Intelligence Solution Study

Sales Intelligence:
Insights, Landscape & Vendor Analysis
© 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Solution Study
By: Clare Price, VP Research
With: Kristen Maida, Research Analyst
April 2014

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Executive Summary
What is Sales Intelligence?
Benefits of Sales Intelligence
The Sales Intelligence Solutions Landscape
Sales Intelligence Deployment Lifecycle
Vendor Selection Criteria
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About the Research Analysts
Our Solution Study Methodology
About Demand Metric
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Action Plan
Analyst Bottom Line
Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sales Intelligence: Insights, Landscape & Vendor Analysis
Effective Sales Enablement is a multi-stage process. In our Sales Enablement Solution Study Series, we examine each key stage of Sales
Enablement from initial marketing and sales alignment to the final deal close and revenue capture.
In this report, we focus on the rapidly growing function of Sales Intelligence. We distinguish Sales Intelligence from other types of data, metrics
or analytics including marketing analytics and business intelligence (BI). Sales Intelligence, also referred to as CRM Intelligence, is
information used to accelerate the sales process and to improve the performance and productivity of the sales team.
The insights and analysis presented in this report are given to provide marketers with a comprehensive understanding of the Sales Intelligence
landscape. This Solution Study will cover:
 Definition of the Solution
 The Benefits of the Solution
 The Sales Intelligence Solutions Landscape
If your organization is considering Sales Intelligence software, currently implementing a Sales Intelligence system or providing a
Sales Intelligence-related product or service, this report will provide you with fresh insights on the technology, strategies and vendor
solutions.
 Sales Intelligence Deployment Lifecycle
 Vendor Selection Criteria
 Action Plan & Toolkit

Sales Intelligence, also referred to as CRM Intelligence, is
information used to accelerate the sales process and to improve the
performance and productivity of the sales team.
What separates Sales “Intelligence” from sales “data” is the level of
insight and analysis, both real-time and socially influenced,
integrated into the solution.
At Demand Metric, we define a Sales Intelligence Solution as
comprising the strategies, processes, technologies and tools
that support the collection, integration, analysis, delivery and
presentation of insights and information that increase sales.
Figure 1 highlights the five key components of Sales Intelligence
mentioned above.
WHAT IS SALES INTELLIGENCE?
Sales
Intelligence
Components
Presentation Delivery
Collection Integration Analysis
Figure 1: Sales Intelligence Components

Sales Intelligence solutions offer a myriad of benefits to the
organization. These benefits include applications for “priming
the sales pump,” enabling sales productivity, supporting the
sales cycle, account control and growth and support for
marketing and sales operations to optimize the sales process.
Here, we group the benefits by sales cycle/process as Before,
During and After the sale.
Benefits Before the Sale
Before a sale, Sales Intelligence:
 Improves prospecting in the following areas:
 List Generation
 Contact Profile Creation
 Company/Contact Research
 Increases the quality/quantity of leads
 Improves sales team knowledge of prospects, accounts,
territories and markets
 Increases the accuracy of data in sales (CRM) systems
 Identifies new sales opportunities
 Automates the flow of external information and integrate social
selling insights to prepare for the call
Benefits During the Sale
During a sale, Sales Intelligence:
 Leverages professional networks for relationship building
 Aligns responses and calls with prospect activity
 Increases engagement with relevant information via social
insights
BENEFITS OF SALES INTELLIGENCE

 Tracks customer/prospect level of engagement
 Automates the flow of external information and integrates social
selling insights to nurture the opportunity
 Identifies upsell/cross sell opportunities
Benefits After the Sale
After a sale, Sales Intelligence:
 Enables win/loss and no-decision analysis
 Prevents customer drift (customers drifting away for lack of
relevant attention from sales)
 Improves account retention/renewal
 Includes sales performance assessments
Additional Benefits
Sales Intelligence solutions offer many benefits beyond those
directly related to the sales cycle. Additional Sales Intelligence
benefits include:
 Integration with marketing automation systems for better
campaign targeting
 Contact data enrichment for better lead scoring and nurturing
 Predictive analytics for prioritizing high value targets
 Relationship mapping to monitor account strength
 Competitive and market analysis for aligning marketing and sales
content

ABOUT THE RESEARCH ANALYSTS
Clare Price, VP Research – Demand Metric
Clare is an expert in marketing strategy, branding, strategic communications, sales enablement, social media marketing,
content marketing and leveraging marketing technologies. Clare is a former Gartner Research Director and helped build
their Internet Strategies Services division with clients such as Microsoft, IBM, HP, Cisco, Proctor & Gamble and Wells
Fargo. Her specialties include: brand strategy, brand development, customer acquisition and relationship development,
content and digital marketing strategy, sales enablement and social media marketing.
Kristen Maida, Research Analyst – Demand Metric
Kristen has worked with Demand Metric for the past 4 years, learning about and gaining experience in all aspects of
the organization. She has developed job functions in almost every department to help with Demand Metric’s rapid
growth. Her specialties include: social media marketing, digital marketing, content marketing & management and
business process development.

OUR SOLUTION STUDY METHODOLOGY
The Modern Marketing landscape is an ever changing, ever evolving environment in which new strategies, technologies, vendors and products
appear continually. Demand Metric Solution Studies provide marketers with a focus on a specific technology solution set or focus area so that
they are armed with the knowledge, information and tools they need to development effective strategies and action plans for their organizations.
Each Solution Study involves hours of analyst research, draws information from interviews with vendor executives and established vendor clients
for a specific technology solution and is usually accompanied by a mini Tool-kit of practical resources. Solution Study Tool-kits are designed to
provide marketers with the tools & templates they need to plan for an initiative in a given focus area, analyze the vendor landscape and select the
best vendor for their organization.
Our Sales Enablement report series includes Solution Studies on:
 Enablement Knowledge Management
 Configure, Price Quote (CPQ)
 Sales Intelligence
We provide a comprehensive overview of Sales Enablement in the companion report – Sales Enablement in 2013 Best Practices Report
 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
 Marketing Automation (MA)
 Sales Communications Tools

Solution Study
ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 40,000 marketing professionals,
CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies, consulting methodologies,
training, and a library of 500+ tools and templates.
Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the marketing team and
making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ clients range from start-ups to members of the Global 1000.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
To read the rest of this Benchmark Report, become a Demand Metric member today!

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