Looking to scale sales success at your company in 2019? It might seem like the simple solution is to clone your best sales reps. But even if this was possible, it isn’t a complete answer. Why? Because sales transformation depends on more than the performance of your sales team.
Then perhaps having a great product is the secret to success? Not necessarily. While a great solution is important, it doesn’t guarantee success and growth. According to a study from SiriusDecisions, the majority of buyers (81%) today make purchase decisions based on buying experience, over product or price.
So what will it take to scale sales in 2019? Your entire organization must undergo a transformation in order to meet the expectations of today’s buyers. Transforming your entire organization can seem like a pretty overwhelming (or even impossible) endeavor. But it doesn’t have to be.
Dozens of factors contribute to sales transformation, but the key is to focus your time and resources on the organizational aspects that have the biggest impact on sales transformation. We developed the Showpad Sales Transformation Maturity Model, based on the extensive experience of veteran sales and marketing executives across numerous industries, to help you understand what those key factors are.
6 Organizational Aspects that’ll Drive Sales Success in 2019
To drive sales transformation at your organization in 2019, focus on these six key organizational aspects.
Operational Systems
The key technologies and integrations in place play an important role in driving experiences buyers love. While organizations just starting out may rely on simple office productivity tools, companies further along the transformation journey have back- and front-end systems working together to create a smooth buyer journey.
Customer-Facing Experiences
You might have a great product. And it might be priced right. But if a buyer has less-than-stellar experiences during the buying process, they’ll likely pass you up in favor of a competitor. To scale sales, organizations must focus on delivering superior experiences to buyers, both when they’re doing research on their own and once they’ve engaged with a salesperson.
Marketing Organization
The way your marketing team is structured, what team members focus on, and how they measure success plays a key role in your organization’s sales success. While organizations earlier in the sales transformation journey are focused on lead generation, marketing teams at more mature organizations are focused on personalized, interactive marketing experiences.
Sales Organization
Recent Showpad research on the B2B buyer experience found that 70% of B2B buyers still want to interact with sales reps. So it probably comes as no surprise that one of the driving factors behind sales transformation is your sales organization itself. As you progress along the journey of sales transformation, the way your team is structured, its methodologies, and its KPIs will evolve.
Sales-Marketing Alignment
We’ve discussed the important roles both your sales and marketing organizations individually play in sales transformation. But another key driver of sales maturity is how these two teams collaborate. We’ve mentioned the importance of great buyer experiences more than once. And these great experiences are primarily driven by your marketing and sales organizations. These two teams must work together as one to focus on the right customers with the right messaging and content, invest resources where they’ll have the biggest impact, and deliver experiences buyers love.
Sales Enablement
The goal of sales enablement is to ensure sales is prepared to deliver great experiences to buyers. As an organization progresses through the transformation journey, sales enablement evolves from random acts to an established team that delivers real-time, personalized coaching that helps salespeople become trusted advisors.
Transform Your Organization’s Sales Maturity in 2019
Want to learn more about what you can do to transform your organization to meet buyer expectations? Download our new eBook, The Showpad Sales Transformation Maturity Model. You’ll learn more about the stages of sales transformation and walk away with practical next steps to drive sales transformation in 2019 and beyond.
