CSO Insights 2013 Sales Management Benchmark Report Surveys Selected: Sample Industry These charts represent answers to our 2013 Sales Management survey from sales executives in Sample Industry. From their answers, you’ll get a good idea what other executives are experiencing in today’s business environment. We have included comparisons between responses from Sample CSOs and responses from all companies taking our survey. Some metrics also compare responses from Best in Class Sample Industry. Best in Class companies are those reporting that attained more than 100% of their quota in 2012. As you review the charts, keep in mind what you would have answered to the questions so that you can best interpret our comments. We recommend you use this report alongside our 2013 Sales Management Optimization research report, as best practices and case studies included in the report will help you devise an action plan. We have provided comment on the charts for 10 metrics that we find have the most impact on sales results. The rest of the charts, representing answers to all the questions in our survey, are included without comment. The data used for this benchmark comes from surveys completed by sales executives between January and April 2013. 1 This is a sample benchmark. The numbers included in the charts are random and meaningless. Do not try to use this report to make business decisions. We have provided this report so you can see what a CSO Insights Benchmark report looks like and what metrics are included. The information in this report is for internal use only. Feel free to share the report with colleagues within your company. For any other use of this report, please contact CSO Insights. 2 This metric is here as a baseline to help you interpret the metrics that follow. To provide a Best in Class comparison, we selected companies that made over 100% their 2012 quotas. The Sample Best in Class companies averaged xx of quota last year. The combined Sample companies beat xx, while the overall survey takers average xx. So, the rest of these charts will compare all the Sample survey takers with a group of Sample Industry who beat their 2012 numbers. 3 We see a correlation between how managers are measured and compensated and overall results. The top two management performance metrics for the Sample industry respondents are the same as our overall survey, with the sales team overall quota first and individual rep quota attainment second. The Best in Class Sample responses showed that individual rep quota attainment was used by xx% more Sample Industry than sales team quota attainment. This shows that many of these companies are focused on sales management. 4 The amount of time managers spend with sales reps is another metric that is a leading indicator of organization’s success. The Sample industry respondents report an average of xx of manager time not spent with sales reps, which is higher than the xx from the overall 2013 survey. The Sample Best in Class companies averaged xx of management time away from the sales reps. This is higher than the total Sample average. We typically find that manager time is consumed by meetings and administration in large companies. This group confirms the trend. It tells us that all organizations should explore ways to increase manager/sales rep time. 5 We have observed from our 19 years of research that the more formal the sales process the more successful the sales organization is. Whether formal or informal, managers play a key part in reinforcing sales process. Xx of the Sample industry respondents report a formal sales process. This is lower than the xx of participants in the overall survey that have a formal process. Xx of the Best in Class Sample companies report a formal sales. These companies are getting the advantages we have seen from a formal sales process. Xx of the Sample companies should strive to achieve a more formal sales approach. Even the ones who made their numbers in 2012. 6 Sales rep ramp up time is critical for sales organizations. Even when the sales managers are good at hiring reps, it is important to ramp them up as quickly as possible, or their presence will not produce results until the fiscal year is over. Xx of the Sample industry respondents report ramp up times over 6 months. This is above the xx of the respondents in our overall 2013 survey. This means a lot of the sales reps hired in 2013 will not produce needed revenues until 2014. Xx of the Best in Class Sample companies report 6+ month ramp up time. This group seems to have made little progress in shortening their ramp up times. The Sample executives should explore ways to shorten the ramp up time, as it is a significant barrier to revenue growth. 7 The number of direct reports for a sales manager is a factor in how much time managers can spend with each sales rep. The Sample company respondents report an average of xx reps per manager. Respondents in our overall survey report an average of xx direct reports per manager. The Best in Class Sample respondents show an average of xx direct reports. This gives the Best in Class Sample companies an advantage over the rest. We cannot always solve our problems by throwing people at them, but it seems clear that first line sales managers are very valuable. 8 Sales rep turnover, as indicated by the ramp-up discussion, is another metric that deserves constant scrutiny. The Sample respondents in 2013 average xx turnover. This is not good, especially with the lengthy ramp up. The overall 2013 survey respondents, with xx turnover, are doing only slightly better than this group. The Best in Class Sample industry respondents report an average of xx. This, all by itself, can make a critical difference in hitting the year’s numbers. 9 The customer buy cycle has changed dramatically in the past 5 years. Although we all have been told this, there are still not enough companies tracking this. xx of the Sample industry respondents pay little or no attention to the buy cycle. xx of the overall 2013 survey respondents do the same. Compare this to xx of the Best in Class Sample respondents who leave the Buy Cycle information untapped. More of the Best in Class companies have recognized how important it is to watch how customers buy, but not enough. 10 Over xx of our survey respondents consider Key Account Planning to be Mission Critical or Very Important. Unfortunately, many of them don’t use the plans they create. Xx of the Sample survey takers review their strategic account plans at least monthly, compared with xx of survey takers in the overall survey who pay account plans this much attention. xx of the Sample Best in Class companies review their plans at least monthly. It looks like the Best in Class Sample Industry are Sample on new customers. 11 Forecast management is another area where most CEOs and CSOs see a great deal of room for improvement. The Sample survey takers say they only close xx of the accounts they forecast when they expected them to close. This is similar to the entire survey population’s average of xx. The Best in Class Sample survey respondents report their number at xx. Forecast management appears to be an area where the Best in Class are getting some results. 12 We are keeping closer track of the metrics that companies use to single out sales reps needing help. Getting this right can bring in the managers sooner to short-circuit problems in sales. Previous sales performance is used by most companies, but it is a rear-view mirror look and not as useful as other metrics. The Sample respondents listed previous sales performance as number one and closing ratio as number two. Neither of these is a forward-looking metric. The general survey population had previous sales performance and pipeline activity as numbers one and two. Pipeline activity is more forward looking than previous sales performance. The Best in Class Sample respondents reported using these metrics as well, but closing ratio has even more emphasis and pipeline activity is a distant third. We think they could do better with leading-indicator metrics. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59