State of Sales 01Rethinking Success 9 Customer Experience Is Now the Top Sales Benchmark Skeptics of the new sales paradigm Sales Teams Shift Priorities to the Customer Relationship need look no further than the shifting Sales teams are becoming more customer focused — six out of the top eight objectives over objectives of sales teams across industries, the next 12—18 months are customer-centric. geographies, and sizes. Although bread- and-butter priorities such as customer Percentage of Sales Teams Who Rate the Following as One acquisition and hiring more reps aren’t of Their Most Important Sales Objectives Over the Next 12—18 Months* going away any time soon, evolving objectives reflect the pivot to a customer- Grow number of leads/new customers 56% first mindset. These newly elevated aspirations include increasing retention Increase customer retention through through deeper relationships (51%), deeper relationships 51% becoming trusted advisors to customers (39%), and providing customers with a Become a trusted advisor to customers (i.e., go more personalized experience (37%). beyond a sales rep to be consultative to customers) 39% Sales teams are adapting to their Provide customers with a customers’ behaviors by emphasizing the more personalized experience 37% customer experience and focusing on enabling personalized consultants rather Increase average order size (e.g., upsell/cross-sell) 36% than traditional product or service reps. Increase face time with customers 35% Improve customer and sales data quality/accuracy 33% Improve use of sales technology 33% Customer-related sales objectives Other sales objectives Salesforce Research * This chart is a partial list. For the complete list, see page 41.