TeleTech Uncovers Opportunities for Sales Leaders to Create Culture of Success
Research Reveals Sales Organizations at Financial Services Firms Need More Clarity; Only Five Percent Surveyed Say Their Sales Strategy is Very Effective
DENVER, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a tumultuous time for the financial services industry. Economic uncertainty rules worldwide, scandals have eroded consumer trust, and the industry is under increasing regulatory, technological, and social demands to change. New research commissioned by rogenSi, now part of
Only five percent of those surveyed agree that their sales strategy is very effective. The large majority—83 percent—say theirs is effective, but could be improved and another 12 percent say their strategy is ineffective. Overall the survey uncovered a number of opportunity areas for sales leaders, including a clearly communicated strategy, alignment across the business, and creating a culture of success.
Effective sales strategy starts with a clear message
Nearly half those surveyed lack a clearly articulated strategy. Only 53 percent of respondents have a fully documented sales strategy, 15 percent admit to having no sales strategy at all, and 32 percent say that they have an undocumented sales strategy. Even those with a sales strategy report that it is not communicated properly. While 92 percent of management teams and 85 percent of sales teams say they can accurately describe the sales strategy, only 31 percent of management and 29 percent of sales teams can perfectly describe it. Outside of the sales organization, only 55 percent of non-sales employees can somewhat accurately describe the strategy and only 10 percent can perfectly describe it.
The "Bubble Boy" effect
Most survey respondents cited people factors such as relationships and customer service as leading differentiators in their success, but this external factor on people does not translate internally. Almost half appear to be operating 'blind' (i.e., in a bubble) with no buy-in from the people they rely on to deliver results. A large majority (80 percent) of respondents involves senior management in developing sales strategy, yet 58 percent don't even consult their own sales teams and 44 percent of sales leaders are not being consulted to develop the strategy.
Great culture = Great sales effectiveness
Nearly all of those surveyed—96 percent—say culture is important and 50 percent say it is critical to creating a successful sales team. The bigger the team, the more important culture becomes. Eighty-five percent of those teams with over 20 say culture is critical, compared to 48 percent in teams of 11-20, and 44 percent in teams under 10. However, only 30 percent say their current team's culture is a very close fit to a high performing sales team so there is a clear need to improve.
"Our research shows that in general, sales teams feel they 'know best.' As a consequence, they can often make decisions in a vacuum, relying on past success and their guts, even when those decisions impact other parts of the business," said
Full results from the survey can be found in the latest issue of
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