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State of Sales 2018Introduction: A human touch at scale spent on training sales employees $ 15B spent on incentives to retain sales talent $ 800B growth in sales reps since 2012 5.7x is the median annual pay for sales managers $ 121K of workforce will be millennials by 2020 46% people make up the average buyers circle 6.8 The third annual LinkedIn State of Sales report studies this new landscape, including the expectations of todays B2B decision makers and the modern selling strategies and technologies employed by B2B sales professionals to scale their impact, outperform their peers and close more deals. Read on for the Key Findings from this years LinkedIn State of Sales reportand how you can use these insights to boost your sales performance. 2 As a sales professional, your skills are in demand more than ever. Thats because sales continues to be a top investment priority for businesses. In the U.S. alone, companies spend $15 billion each year training sales employees and $800 billion on incentives to retain sales talent. This investment is also opening up new opportunities for sales professionals at every stage of their career. Sales development representative roles have grown 5.7X since 2012, and the compensation for experienced sales professionals is also on the risethe median annual pay for sales managers is $121,060, plus bonuses. And as more organizations appoint a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), sales professionals have a path to advance to the C-suiteCRO titles on LinkedIn are up 82% since 2015. Despite this momentum, B2B sales has never been more challenging. Highly personalized services like Netflix and Amazon are driving customers to expect more from the brands they interact with, including those with B2B sales teams. Millennials, who have especially high expectations for personalization, are gaining influence in the workforce and will make up 46% of professionals by 2020. Sellers today must meet these heightened expectations while building consensus among a larger group of stakeholders: the average buyers circle is now 6.8 people. They must also team up with their marketing counterparts to reach each of these individuals at every stage of the path to purchase. To be successful in modern sales, you need to build relationships at scaletapping into advanced sales technology to engage with the right contacts faster, while fostering human connection and trust. of CRO titles on LinkedIn are up 82%Executive Summary: 5 key findings 1 2 3 4 5 Technology gives sales professionals a competitive edge. Almost three- quarters of sales professionals (73%) use sales technology to close more deals. Top sales performers see networking platforms as “very important” to help close deals at a 51% higher rate than their peers. Decision makers expect understanding and human connection. Virtually all decision makers (96%) say theyre more likely to consider a brands products or services if sales professionals have a clear understanding of their business needs. Marketing and sales orchestration helps close deals, but data silos remain. The top sales professionals are working more closely with marketing and seeing better results, but theres room for improvement. Only 20% of sales professionals report a significant overlap in the data used by marketing and sales to target leads. Millennial sales professionals tap into marketing insights at higher rates. Millennials (ages 21-38) are quicker to implement new strategies like marketing and sales orchestration, which is contributing to their success as the highest-performing age group. Without trust, fewer deals close. Sales professionals rank trust as the No. 1 factor in closing deals (40%)above ROI and priceand 51% of decision makers rank trust as the top factor they desire in a salesperson.CHAPTER 1 Sales technology is the x factor for closing dealsHow important are these sales technology platforms in closing deals? Sales technology is the x factor for closing deals Three-quarters of sales professionals (73%) use technology to close more deals. Of this group, 97% consider sales technology “very important” or “important.” The majority of sales professionals (59% overall and 65% of top performers) say theyre spending more time using technology, too; 93% are using sales technology just as much or more than in 2017. CRM adoption alone has grown 113% since 2016, with 64% of sales professionals reporting that they use CRM applications. With sales tech on the rise, its no surprise that companies are pouring more resources into equipping their salesforces with these tools. Since 2016, planned investment in sales technology has grown by 53%. Over half (55%) of sales professionals expect this trend to continue next year. Businesses are increasingly investing in sales technology. Sales teams are turning to cloud-based software, in particular, to accelerate productivity, gather contextual details about customers and automate tedious tasks. Networking platforms Top sales professionals 89% Others 79% Collaboration tools Top sales professionals 94% Others 91% Sales intelligence solutions Top sales professionals 98% Others 94% Email tracking tools Top sales professionals 92% Others 91%5 Sales professionals who rely on sales technology outperform their peers. Heres how top sales professionals differ from their peers when rating the technology platforms they consider “very important” or “important” to closing deals.Technology usage is up across multiple platforms: Social platforms are table stakes for the modern seller 70% of sales professionals say theyre most active on LinkedIn for business purposes, compared to social media platforms like Facebook (64%), Twitter (43%), YouTube (41%), and Instagram (39%). More than half of sales professionals (64%) use CRM applications like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamicsup 28% from 2017 62% use collaboration tools like Box, Google Docs, Microsoft Office and Dropboxup 6% from 2017 59% use networking platforms like LinkedIn and Facebookup 5% since 2017 40% use enterprise communication platformsup 8% since 2017 64% 62% 59% 40%6CHAPTER 2 Sales technology is ineffective without a human touch As a result, decision makers are more likely to consider a brands products or services when the experience is personalized, for instance if a sales professional has a clear understanding of their business needs (96%) or their role (94%); shares content relevant to their role (93%); provides personalized communications (93%); or targets the appropriate people at their company for initial discussions (92%). Decision makers are more likely to engage with sales when introduced through a mutual connection, particularly if the sales professional represents a strong brand. The influence of a strong brand increased by 37% since last year and is the No. 1 factor cited by decision makers when choosing to engage with sales. Sales technology is ineffective without a human touch Personal connection matters. As beloved B2C brands have conditioned everyone to expect highly personalized recommendations, content and personalized interactions, decision makers have embraced similar expectations of the B2B path to purchase. Conventional sales approaches dont stack upbuyers now find them cold, impersonal and obviously automated. Which factors most influence decision makers in an initial engagement? 52% Representing a well- known company with a strong professional brand 47% Providing specific information relevant to their current job 41% Mentioning the sales professionals company and product solutions 39% Referencing a colleague they both know 32% Having good charisma844% of decision makers say websites are a companys top asset influencing purchasing decisions Decision makers are least likely to engage with sales professionals who lack knowledge about their company (79%) and whose products or services are irrelevant to their company (76%). Online first impressions matter. Forty-four percent of decision makers say a companys website is the top marketing asset influencing their purchasing decisions; 70% say its in their top two considerations. 5% eBooks 6% blogs 8% webinars 10% videos 28% events 44% website9 Which top marketing assets most influence purchasing decisions?CHAPTER 3 The sales and marketing divide diminishesTo what degree does marketing and sales data overlap to target leads? The sales and marketing divide diminishes Top sales professionals have a stronger relationship with their marketing counterparts. They are 13% more likely to say they work “very closely” or “closely” with marketing in prospecting efforts than their peers. On a scale of one (a very small role) to 10 (a very big role), 57% of the top sales professionals rate marketings importance in closing deals at an eight or above, while 41% of their average counterparts say the same. Still, the data divide remains. While many sales and marketing teams are keen to partner more closely, data is often siloed in the technology platforms used by each function. Only 20% of sales professionals say they see significant overlap in the data used by marketing and sales to target prospects. Sales and marketing are starting to work more closely together, benefiting both sales professionals and decision makers alike. Forty-four percent of sales executives say they work more closely with marketing than in past years. Overall, those who say they work “very closely” or “closely” with marketing has grown 35% since the 2016 survey. This misalignment could contribute to the quality of leads sales professionals say they receive from marketing. Only 22% say leads from marketing are excellent and 42% say theyre good. Marketing and sales misalignment impacts brand perception. Eighty-nine percent of decision makers say consistent marketing and sales language about a product is “very important” (50%) or “important” (39%). Nearly half (48%) say they often or always experience different messaging from sales and marketing when learning about a solution. Lots of overlap 20% Some overlap 59% Little overlap 17% No overlap 4%11CHAPTER 4 Millennials are eager to orchestrate marketing and sales effortsHow did 2017 sales performance compare by generation? Millennials are eager to orchestrate marketing and sales efforts A tight-knit relationship with marketing is paying off for millennials, who tend to outperform Generation X and Baby Boomer sales professionals. Top performing millennials are 23% more likely to say they work “very closely” with marketing than Generation X and 73% more likely than Baby Boomers. This partnership has strengthened over the past year. Millennial sales pros are 12% more likely than Generation X and 24% more likely than Baby Boomers to spend more time working with marketing than in past years. In turn, millennials say they see excellent leads from marketing at 56% higher rates than Generation X and 115% higher than Baby Boomers. Millennials are quicker than other age groups to use new strategies and technologies. These younger sales executives mirror the technology usage of the most successful sales professionals at the highest rates. Sixty-two percent of millennials (and 65% of top performers) say they anticipate spending more time this year using sales technology. On the other hand, 56% of Generation X and Baby Boomers say they anticipate investing more time this year compared to last year. Exceeded their 2017 projected revenue by over 50% Millennials are on the fast track to sales success. In comparison to Generation X and Baby Boomers, 46 percent more millennials exceeded their 2017 projected revenue target by more than 50 percent. Baby Boomers. Similarly, almost one-third (30%) of millennials think sales intelligence solutions are extremely critical, compared to 22% of Generation X and only 7% of Baby Boomers. Millennials 19% Gen X 13% Baby Boomers 13% Exceeded their 2017 target revenue by over 25% Millennials 54% Gen X 36% Baby Boomers 41%13 Millennials also credit a larger portion of their success to sales technology. Twenty-eight percent of millennials think CRM applications are “extremely critical” to their success, compared to 18% of Generation X and 9% of CHAPTER 5 Trust is the top indicator for sales successTrust is the top indicator for sales success Its more important than ever for sales professionals to earn and maintain trust as consumer skepticism of big brands peaks. Ninety-nine percent of sales professionals say trust is “very important” or “important” to winning new business. Forty percent rank trust as the most important contributor to closing a deal even above ROI of the product or service (28%) and price (18%). An additional 24% rank trust second. Trust has led as a priority factor influencing deals since our first survey in 2016. Fifty-one percent of decision makers rank trust as the No. 1 factor they desire in a salesperson, followed by responsiveness (42%), expertise in the field (42%), problem solving (37%) and transparency (34%). Sales professionals earn high marks from buyers. When asked how they perceive sales professionals they work with, decision makers “strongly agree” or “agree” sales professionals are: Professional 93% Consultative 91% Well informed about their industry 91% Trusted advisors 88% Well informed about their company 90% Focused on building relationships 87% Two-thirds (66%) of decision makers feel the sales professionals they work with are essential partners all or most of the time (22% and 44%, respectively). 15 66%Conclusion Todays selling landscape comes with heightened consumer expectations and skepticismwithout a personalized purchasing experience, youll quickly lose buyers interest. Thats why its important to implement a modern selling strategy: tap into technology to scale, lean into marketing to align insights, but dont forget real human connections are irreplaceable. Top sales professionals are closing more deals on a foundation of trust; relationships are still at the heart of selling. This approach will enable you to better target prospects, personalize experiences and meet buyers expectations, today and in the future. Methodology Market Cube, a research panel company, conducted two online surveys from August 7-15, 2018. For 2018, two sample groups were surveyed representing both sales professionals and decision makers. The first was a sample of 507 professionals from the United States who primarily work in B2B sales. The second was a sample of 502 business decision makers from the U.S. who have influence over purchasing decisions at B2B companies. Both samples includes respondents over 21-years-old who are employed at companies of different sizes and functions. The report a
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