B2B brands are not preparing salespeople for the conversations they value most, according to a new survey by Corporate Visions.
The company surveyed 700 B2B marketers and salespeople from around the world regarding their level of confidence when it comes to customer conversations.
While nearly 40 per cent of respondents said ‘opportunity creation’ helped salespeople achieve their quotas, only half feel adequately prepared to create new sales opportunities with the content and training provided to them by their organisations.
B2B salespeople were most adequately prepared for the conversations they value least: 63 per cent felt prepared to ‘showcase compelling product presentations’, but only 13 per cent valued these conversations.
Meanwhile, salespeople felt most pressured and least prepared for the following conversations: demonstrating financial justification (26 per cent), mastering purchasing negotiations (25 per cent) and having effective executive conversations (24 per cent).
Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer for Corporate Visions, said: “It’s no surprise that salespeople feel most confident in their product presentation skills, since that’s where the majority of companies focus their training initiatives. What is surprising, however, is how grossly unprepared reps are when it comes to having the three most critical conversations in the customer buying cycle.
“In order to be truly successful, companies need to provide their reps with the right messaging, tools and training skills so they can move prospects off the status quo, have effective executive-level conversations, provide financial justification for what they’re selling and negotiate a price that ensures maximum investment.”
