BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 8, 2010) - As top-performing selling teams continue searching for ways to reduce their sales cycles and increase their win/loss "batting average," the use of selected business processes and enabling technologies such as configure/price/quote (CPQ), contract management, sales playbooks and electronic signature capture tools hold significant promise for better sales team performance in 2010, according to a new research study published by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (
Lead-To-Win: Shrinking the Sales Cycle and Focusing Closers on Sealing More Deals, which examined 472 organizations deploying CPQ solutions, contract management technologies, sales playbooks and electronic signature capture tools, found that sales teams in top performing companies currently achieve 44% average lead conversion/win rate compared to 11% for sales teams in other companies.
"The idea behind "lead-to-win" is to enable closers, channel partners and anyone else tasked with "sealing the deal" to make the most of what they are handed within the larger cycle of identifying, nurturing and closing sales opportunities," says Peter Ostrow, Research Director, Sales Effectiveness, Aberdeen Group, the report's author. "In terms of future acquisition of lead-to-win technologies, despite the recent recession, companies are definitively planning to make continued investments in sales-related solutions that will help them control or shrink their sales cycles, and increase their overall win rate."
The report reveals what leading companies have been able to achieve through deployment of CPQ solutions, contract management solutions, sales playbooks and electronic signature capture tools, such as:
- 9.1% average annual improvement (increase) in proposal/RFP volume; compared to 3% decrease for other companies
- 8.4% average year-over-year improvement (decrease) in the sales cycle time; compared to 3% increase for other companies
A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Apttus, CIC, Selectica, and SIGNIX. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6449&camp=2.
Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Customer Management Research.
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.
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