Best Practices for World-Class Sales Performance Released in New Report

MHI Research Institute report identifies key behaviors that drive sales performance metrics, including acquiring new customers, average account billing, and forecast accuracy.

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MHI Global

Jun 27, 2014, 02:18 ET

RENO, Nev., June 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- MHI Research Institute, the worldwide research and advisory firm and a division of MHI Global, released today the results of its eleventh annual study of sales performance from the MHI Global Sales Best Practices Study, in an executive summary of findings. The summary includes key findings about the behaviors that define superior sales performance.

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Collaboration is Key (PRNewsFoto/MHI Global) (PRNewsFoto/MHI Global)

As the largest global study of selling and sales management best practices in business-to-business (B2B) selling environments, the study analyzes a range of customer management activities and organizational efforts such as operations and management execution to define the activities that most significantly contribute to growth.

"As market conditions constantly change, sales leaders need the latest, most reliable information from experienced sources to help support their decisions," said Joe Galvin, Chief Research Officer, MHI Research Institute. "The findings from this study provide a critical resource for sales leaders to make more informed decisions about where to focus their time and resources in the pursuit of world-class performance."

The latest results came from data collected globally during the fall of 2014 and included more than 1,100 professionals at companies in B2B selling environments regarding the sales activities and performance practices in their organizations.

Highlights from this year's analysis connect the attributes of World-Class Sales Organizations to the behaviors that drive World-Class Sales Performance:

1.	Provide Perspective: How sales teams connect with their customers by providing a unique perspective
2.	Conscious Collaboration: How collaboration is enabled across the organization to win business
3.	Performance Accountability: What is measured, recognized, and rewarded to drive performance

The study findings confirm that World-Class Sales Organizations have outperformed all others by more than 22 percent in key metrics, including new account acquisition, quota achievement and forecast accuracy. Sales leaders can gain additional insight from the 2014 study to aid their benchmarking and planning, including:

The impact of sales and marketing alignment in increasing qualified opportunities
How social selling can be used to connect and engage with prospects
How sales professionals can achieve a knowledge advantage to be perceived as a key resource for buyers
What World-Class sales management teams do to advance opportunities
The link between business objectives and income opportunity in driving sales performance
Results for organizations that leverage the best practices of top performers to improve others
Areas where sales organizations are struggling and succeeding with technology

The executive summary report, The Pursuit of World-Class Performance, is available for download. A 10-minute recorded overview of study findings is also available. To schedule an interview regarding the findings, contact the MHI Research Institute at [email protected].

About MHI Research Institute

The MHI Research Institute, formerly known as the Miller Heiman Research Institute, is a research organization dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B2B sales organizations. Through extensive research into the best practices, strategies and decision frameworks that drive World-Class Sales Performance, we help sales leaders develop and hone sales strategies to improve sales performance. Our clients leverage the thought-leading research we publish, our World-Class Sales Performance Studies and customized insight into their strategic issues through our Advisory Services. For more information, visit www.millerheiman.com/research_institute.

About MHI Global

MHI Global works with organizations across all verticals around the world to build and sustain customer-focused, high-performance organizations that can drive profitable, predictable top-line growth. Our unrivaled capabilities, dedicated to customer management excellence, come from the combined expertise of powerhouse brands that make up MHI Global – Miller Heiman, AchieveGlobal, Huthwaite, Channel Enablers and Impact Learning Systems. For more information, visit www.MHIGlobal.com.

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SOURCE MHI Global