Sales Research Reports

Sales Knowledge Management Insights Series

• Proactive Sales Intelligence
  

  In this white paper, we explore an area that our research shows holds real promise for optimizing the performance of almost any sales force: providing salespeople with proactive access to Sales Intelligence.
  
  By proactive, we mean that information is .pushed to salespeople at the beginning of an opportunity, versus requiring them to go find it, and then it is continually updated throughout the sell cycle as changes occur that could impact their ability to win deals.
  
  As you will see in this analysis, most companies have been focusing on providing sales teams access to Sales Data: the who, what, and sometimes the when of selling.
  
  Sales Intelligence provides sales teams with proactive access to the why and how of selling (why prospects need your product or service, why your offering is a better alternative than that of the competition, how clients can justify the investment and how they will ultimately be successful meeting their corporate goals using your product or service, etc.).
  
  Our review of the 2007 Sales Performance Optimization survey results reveals that moving beyond Sales Data, to proactively generated, next-generation Sales Intelligence, increases the ability for salespeople to effectively compete in their marketplace as they are able to:

  • Get Into the Game More Often
  • Get Out of Losing Games Earlier
  • Win the Game More Often

• Increasing Sales Effectiveness Through Optimized Sales Knowledge Management
  

  We published a white paper entitled Optimizing Sales Performance with Consistent Message Management.
  
  In reviewing successful CMM-related initiatives at companies such as McKesson, FedEx, Hewlett Packard, and American Express, we discovered that they all had something in common. They excelled at what we call Sales Knowledge Management (SKM): ensuring that sales teams have access to the right information, to do the right thing, with the right prospect, at the right phase of the sales process. To better understand the issues involved in optimizing SKM, we conducted a new research project focused specifically on the challenge of delivering knowledge to sales teams. This white paper highlights the results of this study.
  
  First, we focus on qualifying and quantifying the types of changes companies are dealing with that necessitate continual updates of the information sales and support people need to do their jobs.
  
  Next, we explore alternatives that companies are applying to the SKM task along with their strengths and weaknesses.
  
  Finally, we review how sales knowledge management methods and implementations can be improved by profiling PeopleSoft, Helms Briscoe, and Century 21.
  
  To compile the research data for this project, we solicited input from 112 companies to gain an in-depth understanding of how they were managing the task of SKM. We received complete data from 102 firms which serve as the basis for this report.

• Sales Knowledge Management: Is Progress Being Made
  

  In 2004, CSO Insights conducted a focused study on Sales Knowledge Management. Revisiting the issue of SKM twenty-four months later, this white paper will assess the data recently collected as part of our 2006 Sales Performance Optimization study, and cover three factors:

  • The cost of poor SKM today
  • Where SKM gaps exist
  • What better SKM will look like.

  
  Readers will find of particular interest that:

  • Poor SKM execution is hitting the top line and bottom lines of companies in extremely negative ways: high sales rep turnover, longer sell cycles, lower win rates, etc.
  • Key information that sales people need to sell effectively is still routinely hard to access.
  • However, some companies are finding that significant advances can be realized in SKM, as seen in the SKM in Action profiles of Caremark and Intervoice.

  
  This white paper will delve into each of these areas in detail, and hopefully provide insights into how to optimize your SKM efforts.

$295.00