What are the biggest challenges that salespeople will face this year—from prospecting through closing and account management?
To find out, Richardson surveyed more than 400 salespeople who work for companies in a wide range of industries: 85% of respondents are employees of B2B companies, 58% work for businesses with more than $500 million in revenue, and 75% have annual quota goals of over $1.25 million.
Below, key findings from the report.
Prospecting
Identifying sales signals ranks as the top prospecting challenge of 2016, cited by 16% of respondents; that's the same percentage as in last year's survey by Richardson.
The number of respondents citing qualifying leads as their top prospecting challenge doubled from 5% in 2015 to 10% in 2016.
Negotiating
Not surprisingly, salespeople say gaining higher prices for their products/services is their top negotiating challenge (29% say so).
Closing
Almost half (48%) of salespeople say their biggest closing challenge is competing against a lower-priced competitor.
Account Management
Some 27% of respondents say adding value for stakeholders is their biggest account management challenge; 25% cite balancing their sales and account maintenance responsibilities.
About the research: The report was based on a survey of more than 400 salespeople who work for companies in a wide range of industries: 85% of respondents are employees of B2B companies, 58% work for businesses with more than $500 million in revenue, and 75% have annual quota goals of over $1.25 million.
