January 18, 2009
IDC 2009 Tech Sales Barometer
Despite the turmoil in the economy, tech sales executives are cautiously optimistic regarding 2009. However, success in 2009 will require some very different tactics, including substantially increased investments in demand generation, lead qualification, sales enablement and inside sales. The good news is that the funds for these investments will come from cutbacks in direct sales, sales training and T&E. This presentation provides further details.
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2 comments:
Fantastic, I'm so glad you guys came out with this report. Please feel free to contact me if you want more trend info on inside sales as my book, Smart Selling from the Inside Out is due Fall of 2009. Your wonderful study is exactly what I'm writing about.
Thanks,
Josiane
www.tele-smart.com/blog
Right on target! I'd like to underscore a few points:
Slide 24 -- Sales training. Some leading (large and smaller) sales training companies really understand the challenges sellers are facing along with their budget constraints. They have innovative products and services that get the training job done with less risk and less (to no) travel.
But (Slide 29) don't train those who aren't suited for the sales job they're in. If the skill gaps are too wide or they don't have the right DNA (empathy, persuasiveness, motivation, etc.) redeploy them.
Don't train on disconnected skills. Adjust your methodology and processes to meet the new reality (Slide 39) and train salespeople on how to effectively use those processes.
And measure! Leading indicators that enable you to see that a salesrep isn't complying with the sales process with enough time to correct is much better than experiencing yet another bad quarter in the rear view mirror.
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