How New B2B Sales Methodology Trends Might Impact Your Initiatives

The way you launch and implement a new sales methodology is critical to its success. In fact, it may be even more important than the methodology you choose to adopt in the first place. That’s the findings from the latest study from MetaCX. Researchers surveyed 400 revenue leaders within B2B SaaS companies on sales methodology trends. 

Not surprisingly, the research shows that application powers success. Here are our two other major takeaways from the study:

1. Implementing methodology successfully is more critical than choosing the right methodology to pursue

Researchers from MetaCX study write, “How you put new methodologies to practice matters much more than which one you use.” At Force, we’ve found similar trends, which is why customization is key to our approach. 

Any sales transformation, big or small, may be a hefty lift for your sales team, who is actively working on hitting their number. Time spent learning and coaching will be required by sellers and managers to successfully move through the phases of change that the initiative brings. Which means, the more you can align your initiative to what your sellers and managers do every day, the simpler it will be for them to incorporate new methodologies and aligned activities into their current and future opportunities.

Key takeaway: Consistent and effective execution of new methodologies demands that it be both relevant and customized to the everyday activities of each sales role. 

Here are a few ways elite sales leaders have built customization and relevancy into their change initiatives to drive consistent execution and lasting results:

• Draft in: Customize the methodologies and deliverables to draft into your sales team’s daily operation. For example, if custom criteria can integrate into their Salesforce (or other CRM) they’ll be more inclined to use and apply it
• Define outcomes: Attach the role-specific benefits of applying the new methodology to an employee’s motivational triggers (i.e. steadily increase win rates, reduce time spent on each deal, improve your ability to repeat high-performing behaviors and actually pinpoint what leads to success)
• Enable managers to coach: Align sales managers with the new selling methods being developed. Ensure they see the benefits (for themselves and their sales team) of driving consistent application. Here are three ways to get managers to buy-in and drive successful reinforcement and accountability to achieve sales impact
• Promote big AND small wins: A few months after the initial rollout, stay tuned in to what your sales managers are reporting. Empower your team to create and tell their own success stories. This can create a relevancy multiplier and provide a simpler way to promote the benefit of consistent application of new methodologies

2. The larger the organization, the more likely sellers will be left to develop a value-based sales message on their own

The MetaCX study overwhelmingly found that “sales teams and sales engineers are mostly left to their own devices in crafting value propositions, particularly in larger organizations”. Forty-six percent of the 400 leaders who participated hadn't yet formalized (and/or scaled) a mechanism to support their sales team in instilling value in their opportunities. 

We have found that one of the most impactful things you can do as a sales leader is ensure that your entire sales organization is aligned on the key value and differentiation of your solution. Sales leaders who commit to developing and implementing a consistent sales message that’s focused on their buyer are able to increase quota attainment, average deal size and company value. Take ClickSoftware for example. Their sales organization drove 1000% growth in bookings (yes, 1000%, that’s not a typo) by launching a value-selling approach.

Key Takeaway: Equipping a sales team to sell at a premium repeatedly, demands cross-functional company alignment on the value drivers and differentiators that are top-of-mind for the most influential buying audiences.

It’s difficult to change from communicating on features and functions to communicating the business value of solutions to key buyers at different levels within an organization. Shifting to and scaling a value-based selling approach is easier when the entire sales organization is aligned cross-functionally on the high-level business value their solutions provide to buyers. This alignment has to start at the top. 

In our Command of the Message® engagements we work with cross-functional company leaders (in sales, marketing, product, customer success, etc.) to help them generate agreement on the answers to the essential questions that every company should be able to answer.

When sales teams are equipped with a repeatable messaging framework, developed from the essential questions, they can leverage it to have high-level business conversations in a way that has meaning to their buyers, and enables them to instill value in their deals. The result? A team of top performers.

Don’t Forget to Develop Impactful Proof Points:

The MetaCX study goes on to note that (especially for sales teams who regularly work on multi-year, large contracts) there is a higher burden on the salesperson to provide sufficient evidence and proof of ROI. In this day and age, a logo isn’t enough. Buyers want to see measurable proof and hear success stories that are relevant to their situation. As you craft your value-based message ensure you develop a process to support your salespeople in building and leveraging powerful proof points.
 

3. Proving ROI may be easier for bigger companies, but scaling sales methodologies is far more complex

According to the MetaCX study, “Larger companies find it easier to measure value realization, but harder to operationalize their sales methodologies”. Elite sales leaders take on the challenge of overcoming the “forgetting curve”, because they understand that sales transformation doesn't happen overnight. 

A sales transformation that sticks takes a focused and sustained effort on organizational expertise and effectiveness. As a sales leader, you can set the focus on consistent adoption and execution by taking ownership of the initiative, what we often refer to as leading from the front. What does that look like? 

• It’s ensuring your initiative becomes a top priority of the company by aligning it to strategic company-wide goals 
• It’s generating cross-functional alignment, with other company leaders, on the sales strategy to avoid process bottlenecks and draft-in efficiencies
• It’s staying involved in the development and review of the methodologies to ensure you agree with what will be implemented and believe in it 
• It’s getting managers bought-in in a way that breeds action from front-line reps (once the excuses start we all know how difficult it is to get them to stop!)

Key Takeaway: Achieving sales transformation and the lasting outcomes that follow are dependent on company-wide alignment and leadership (from the top, down)

The more buy-in you can get from the company as a whole, behind your initiative, the more resources, support and excitement will go into implementing a well-thought-out initiative. If you want other leaders (not just departmental but front-line managers as well) to care about your initiative, consider how you can actively participate in your own rescue and lead from the front. Like John Kaplan always says, “What you do matters!”

Launch an Initiative that Achieves Lasting Results

Facing up to a new initiative is daunting for sales leaders, managers and reps. Join the conversation based on the Meta CX study. 

Two of our very own, Senior Partner and CSO, Dan Dawson, and Kathleen Schindler, Force Management Managing Director of Customer Success, join leaders from MetaCX and Revenue collective to discuss how sales leaders can successfully operationalize new sales methodologies. Hear common setbacks sales leaders face when launching something new and how to overcome them.