SPOTIO surveyed more than 250 B2B outside sales professionals and leaders to uncover:
- The top challenges in the field
- How reps and leaders spend their time
- The biggest opportunities for increasing efficiency
- Market trends
Drawing upon detailed responses study participants from SMB and Enterprise organizations to create a picture of B2B outside sales as it is today, the State of Field Sales 2019 report highlights the nuanced elements of an outside sales team and areas where companies should invest for greater success.
Top Challenges Facing Reps and Leaders
According to the study, more than a quarter of outside sales reps reported that their number one challenge in the field is building a pipeline of quality leads. On the other hand, sales leaders are more concerned with getting the most from their investment in training and onboarding.
While the hard and soft costs of turnover is well documented, the fight to retain talent continues for today’s outside sales leaders.
The study reveals one struggle they have in common: the need to acquire and adopt better tools and technology to support the business. Although this issue presents itself in various ways, poor technology implementations are failing to promote communication, collaboration, and transparency.
Key Issues
Potentially related to the poor adoption of technology, data accuracy is also identified as a pervasive issue for sales organizations, with incomplete and inaccurate data muddying the water. In fact, sales reps report that they spend as much time manually entering data (13 percent of their time) as they do connecting with customers.
This is only one ineffective administrative burden taking reps away from selling. The findings imply that ineffective technology is not only providing inadequate value; it is taking up too much valuable time for sales reps.
For the second year in a row, the study reveals that reps are spending way too much time on non-selling activities. The inside sales industry has seen an explosion in technology to minimize administrative burden while improving insights and efficiency.
But the outside sales industry has not seen the same kind of investment. Paving the way for outside sales team that are serious about improving the efficiency of the sales efforts.
How Outside Sales Rep’s Spend Their Time
To Conclude
The State of Field Sales report drew on insight from the sales reps, sales managers, and executives alike. The one thing they all agree on: Poor quality leads, lack of tools, and ineffective technology implementations are inhibiting growth and success for sales organizations.
Even though outside sales teams make up 71% of the sales force, outside sales’ CRM adoption is lacking. Without mapping tools, comprehensive lead nurturing, pre-qualified leads, and enhanced communication capabilities, outside sales teams are missing major opportunities.
Access the full report here.
About SPOTIO
SPOTIO is the leading field sales enablement solution for sales managers and reps to facilitate unprecedented productivity, increased revenue, and shorter sales cycles. The platform provides managers with real-time visibility into their team’s activities for improved sales development. Sales reps receive access to the mobile application with targeted prospect data, historical knowledge of each account, and document management functionality.
Thousands of customers rely on SPOTIO to accelerate growth with their sales teams such as Vodafone, Renewal by Andersen, and Oak Street Health.
