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© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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Business Case for Sales Methodology Training Tamara Schenk
Strategic Decision Sales enablement must always back up their sales
enablement strategy and services with a comprehensive
business case linked to their executive sponsors’ desired
outcomes. Our latest research shows that significant sales
performance improvements require higher levels of
methodology maturity as well as sales methodology training
services that exceed expectations. In this Research Note,
we’ll dig deeper into these results to help you build your
business case.
The Definition and Purpose of a Sales Methodology
To clearly understand the importance of sales methodology
training, we first need to understand what we mean by sales
process, sales methodology and related skills and how these
terms relate to one another.
Process – A defined set of activities in a sequence, based on
the customer’s path, that enables sales professionals to create
business with new prospects and existing customers
efficiently and effectively. The focus is on the sequence of
activities. It’s about the “when.”
Methodology – Adds details to the sales process, describing
exactly “what” to do and “why” to do it for each step. A sales
methodology shows how to connect the sales process to the
customer’s path.
Skills – Capabilities sales professionals need to develop to be
able to follow the steps of the sales process and apply the sales
methodology successfully.
The purpose of sales methodology training services is to help
salespeople understand what to do and how to do it at each
step. Understanding and learning should be followed by
practice in the field, using real opportunities, guided by
coaching from sales managers. This helps salespeople develop
the situational fluency they need to assess a customer’s
particular buying situation, the business problems they are
trying to solve and their solution preferences. Only then are
salespeople able to provide the required insights and
perspectives, tailored to the buyer’s context, to come up with
a tailored solution that shows how to achieve or even
overachieve their desired outcomes.
Strategic Issue: How can sales enablement
leaders create a comprehensive business case for sales
methodology training to drive overall sales performance?
Strategic Issue: A complex question that
requires research, data, perspective,
knowledge and context to answer
© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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In this Research Note, we address the current state of sales
methodology maturity in organizations as well as the impact
of maturity, adoption and training quality on sales
performance. Together, this rich data set will equip you to
develop your own business case for sales methodology
training.
Why Sales Methodology Maturity Matters
In our 2018/2019 Sales Performance Study, we asked study
participants about the current state of their sales methodology
maturity. Maturity in this context equals the state of their
sales methodology implementation.
As we examine the data at a high level, we see that less than
half of the organizations (45.1%) reported a low level of sales
methodology maturity or a complete lack thereof, whereas
54.9% of organizations follow a formal or dynamic approach.
A bit more than one-tenth (11.4%) of organizations
have no sales methodology implemented; although,
random may mean that some salespeople are using
methodologies they learned elsewhere.
One-third of organizations (33.7%) reported an
informal state of their sales methodology
implementation. That means there is a sales
methodology available, but it’s not formally
implemented. Efforts to develop the sales force are
often inconsistent.
Another third of organizations (34.3%) have a
formally implemented sales methodology, which
means they have integrated the methodology into
their selling process. Furthermore, they have
developed their sellers and sales managers with the
related training and coaching services to drive
adoption and reinforcement.
One-fifth of organizations (20.6%) have added the
dynamic element to their formal approach, which
includes measuring the business impact on key
performance indicators and leading indicators along
the sales pipeline.
© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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The Performance Impact of a Sales Methodology
Integrating sales methodology into your sales process is like
adding a soul to the sales process body. As such, your level of
sales methodology maturity also plays a vital role when it
comes to sales performance.
As shown in the chart, those who followed a random and
informal sales methodology approach didn’t achieve even
average quota attainment levels.
In other words, the 45.1% of organizations that follow a
random or informal approach are not leveraging the
performance potential of a fully implemented sales
methodology. But they aren’t the only ones missing out.
A formal approach correlates with the study’s average quota
attainment rate, but only a dynamic approach showed a
significantly better result: +4.5 points compared to the study’s
average for an actual improvement of 8.3%. The results for
win rates are similar.
Training Quality Matters, Too
One of the primary values of a sales methodology is the
common language it provides. When a sales methodology is
effectively implemented across the sales force, sellers,
managers and executives all speak the same language, use the
same terms and, most importantly, have the same
understanding of these terms. Achieving a common
understanding requires the related training services to meet,
or even better, to exceed expectations. For the fourth year in a
row, we asked our study participants to rank the effectiveness
of various training services, from “needs major redesign” to
“exceeds expectations.”
Those training services that are centered around product,
process or methodology are consistently ranked more
effective than those training services that are either relatively
new or centered around the customer, the customer’s path or
industry.
© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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The following chart shows how the participants of the 4th
Annual Sales Enablement Study ranked sales methodology
training services.
Salespeople and sales managers ranked their overall
perception of sales methodology training similarly. However,
for sales managers, this was the most effective training
service; whereas salespeople ranked sales methodology
training as the third best training, right after skills training.
Refer to the 4th Annual Sales Enablement Study for further
details.
Only Training Services That Exceeded Expectations Led to
Significantly Better Win Rates
The quality of the training services matters because a sales
methodology only provides a return when salespeople and
their managers are engaged and enabled. This makes sense.
The better a training service is perceived by the participants,
the greater the probability that they learned something that
will allow them to be more successful in the field.
When we take a closer look at the research data, the
correlation between quality of training and sales performance
can also be quantified:
Organizations that ranked methodology training
services as needing major redesign saw significantly
lower win rates for forecast deals. These
organizations achieved quota attainment results 13.6
points below the study’s average of 49.5%, which is
an actual decrease of 27.5%.
Organizations that ranked their methodology
training services as “needs improvement” (26.8%)
saw win rates slightly below the study’s average:
47.3% compared to 49.5%.
Those organizations in which methodology training
services were deemed to “meet expectations”
(44.1%) achieved win rates slightly above the study’s
average. Their win rates came in at 50.4%, as
compared to the study average of 49.5%.
© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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Only one-fifth of organizations (20.7%) reported
their sales methodology training services “exceed
expectations.” This one-fifth are the only group that
achieved significantly better results. Their win rates
came in at 55.2%, which is +5.7 points or 15.4%
better than the study’s average.
It’s clear that sales enablement leaders must ensure their
methodology training services exceed the sales force’s
expectations. Some ways to provide real value include basing
examples on real-world cases, giving the sellers the
opportunity to apply the training to their funnel, and
providing insights and practical tips that sellers can
immediately apply in the field. The best training modality
(classroom, eLearning, hybrid models) depends on each
organization’s particular context. In addition to the modality
for the initial training, it’s crucial to success to provide
refresher learning services that remind people, in just a few
minutes, of a specific action.
3 Critical Success Factors
Now that we’ve analyzed the impact of sales methodology
implementation and sales methodology training quality on
sales performance, let’s look at three elements critical to
ensuring the “stickiness” of your sales methodology.
Create a vision and change story to drive
engagement – Many organizations are great at
telling people what to do, how to do it and when to
do it. Fewer organizations are great at providing
their employees with a compelling vision and a
change story that answers the “why” question. This
is a sales leader’s accountability. Sales enablement
leaders should initiate and help to co-develop and
communicate the vision and the change story.
Integrate the methodology into your sales
process – Processes describe the required actions
in a sequence, while the methodology explains, in
detail, how to do it and why. Ideally, the
methodology is fully integrated into the selling
processes, powered by the CRM. It doesn’t make a lot
of sense to initiate an isolated sales methodology
initiative. Integration matters.
© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.
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Initiate sales coaching to drive adoption and
reinforcement – Due to their daily contact with
frontline salespeople, sales managers are the
linchpin to increasing adoption of any sales
enablement initiative, including the implementation
of a sales methodology. In this year’s study,
organizations that took a formal approach to sales
coaching achieved win rates of 54.7%, 5.2 points
higher than the study’s average. Those that added
the dynamic element to their sales coaching
approach raised their win rate to 57.7%, 8.2 points
higher than the study’s average.
A Vital Ingredient We ended our discussion on sales methodology by talking about coaching for
a reason. Many organizations have a defined methodology (even if it isn’t
followed). They may have sales methodology training services that meet
expectations (even if they don’t exceed them). Yet, they can’t really call their
sales methodology a success because salespeople and their managers are inconsistent, at best, at applying the defined
methodology in the field. Sales coaching services to drive reinforcement and adoption is the ingredient many of these
organizations are missing.
To learn more about the importance of sales coaching and to consider how you might apply sales coaching to your sales
methodology approach, refer to the Related Research Notes.
Related CSO Insights Research Notes: The Case for a Coaching Framework Designing a Sales Coaching Framework The Sales Coaching Framework: Account & Territory Laying a Solid Foundation with Coaching Services
About ELAvate Group
ELAvate is one of the world's leader in helping organizations translate sales strategy into results through sales people. For over
35 years we have been on the cutting edge of developing learning-based solutions that focus on skill and attitude training and
consulting services, in Sales Force Productivity Customer Loyalty, Developing Leaders, Teamwork and Measuring Organizational
Effectiveness. Active in more than twenty four countries, ELAvate has worked with organizations in a wide range of industries
including more than 80% of the Fortune 500 in companies and more than 400 of the European Financial Times 500.
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To equip and inspire young people to be the transformational leaders they are called to be as multipliers across Asia Pacific.
ELAvate Group - Strategy to Results Through People
Our consulting services clarify your strategic direction and identify gaps in employee performance. Our skills and process
training fill those gaps in the vital areas of sales performance, customer service, leadership and teamwork.
About CSO Insights
CSO Insights is the independent research arm within Miller Heiman GroupTM, dedicated to improving the performance and
productivity of complex B2B sales. Annual research studies address sales and service best practices, sales enablement and
sales performance optimization.
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