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Business Case for Sales Methodology Training Tamara Schenk

Strategic Decision Sales enablement must always back up their sales

enablement strategy and services with a comprehensive

business case linked to their executive sponsors’ desired

outcomes. Our latest research shows that significant sales

performance improvements require higher levels of

methodology maturity as well as sales methodology training

services that exceed expectations. In this Research Note,

we’ll dig deeper into these results to help you build your

business case.

The Definition and Purpose of a Sales Methodology

To clearly understand the importance of sales methodology

training, we first need to understand what we mean by sales

process, sales methodology and related skills and how these

terms relate to one another.

Process – A defined set of activities in a sequence, based on

the customer’s path, that enables sales professionals to create

business with new prospects and existing customers

efficiently and effectively. The focus is on the sequence of

activities. It’s about the “when.”

Methodology – Adds details to the sales process, describing

exactly “what” to do and “why” to do it for each step. A sales

methodology shows how to connect the sales process to the

customer’s path.

Skills – Capabilities sales professionals need to develop to be

able to follow the steps of the sales process and apply the sales

methodology successfully.

The purpose of sales methodology training services is to help

salespeople understand what to do and how to do it at each

step. Understanding and learning should be followed by

practice in the field, using real opportunities, guided by

coaching from sales managers. This helps salespeople develop

the situational fluency they need to assess a customer’s

particular buying situation, the business problems they are

trying to solve and their solution preferences. Only then are

salespeople able to provide the required insights and

perspectives, tailored to the buyer’s context, to come up with

a tailored solution that shows how to achieve or even

overachieve their desired outcomes.

Strategic Issue: How can sales enablement

leaders create a comprehensive business case for sales

methodology training to drive overall sales performance?

Strategic Issue: A complex question that

requires research, data, perspective,

knowledge and context to answer

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In this Research Note, we address the current state of sales

methodology maturity in organizations as well as the impact

of maturity, adoption and training quality on sales

performance. Together, this rich data set will equip you to

develop your own business case for sales methodology

training.

Why Sales Methodology Maturity Matters

In our 2018/2019 Sales Performance Study, we asked study

participants about the current state of their sales methodology

maturity. Maturity in this context equals the state of their

sales methodology implementation.

As we examine the data at a high level, we see that less than

half of the organizations (45.1%) reported a low level of sales

methodology maturity or a complete lack thereof, whereas

54.9% of organizations follow a formal or dynamic approach.

A bit more than one-tenth (11.4%) of organizations

have no sales methodology implemented; although,

random may mean that some salespeople are using

methodologies they learned elsewhere.

One-third of organizations (33.7%) reported an

informal state of their sales methodology

implementation. That means there is a sales

methodology available, but it’s not formally

implemented. Efforts to develop the sales force are

often inconsistent.

Another third of organizations (34.3%) have a

formally implemented sales methodology, which

means they have integrated the methodology into

their selling process. Furthermore, they have

developed their sellers and sales managers with the

related training and coaching services to drive

adoption and reinforcement.

One-fifth of organizations (20.6%) have added the

dynamic element to their formal approach, which

includes measuring the business impact on key

performance indicators and leading indicators along

the sales pipeline.

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The Performance Impact of a Sales Methodology

Integrating sales methodology into your sales process is like

adding a soul to the sales process body. As such, your level of

sales methodology maturity also plays a vital role when it

comes to sales performance.

As shown in the chart, those who followed a random and

informal sales methodology approach didn’t achieve even

average quota attainment levels.

In other words, the 45.1% of organizations that follow a

random or informal approach are not leveraging the

performance potential of a fully implemented sales

methodology. But they aren’t the only ones missing out.

A formal approach correlates with the study’s average quota

attainment rate, but only a dynamic approach showed a

significantly better result: +4.5 points compared to the study’s

average for an actual improvement of 8.3%. The results for

win rates are similar.

Training Quality Matters, Too

One of the primary values of a sales methodology is the

common language it provides. When a sales methodology is

effectively implemented across the sales force, sellers,

managers and executives all speak the same language, use the

same terms and, most importantly, have the same

understanding of these terms. Achieving a common

understanding requires the related training services to meet,

or even better, to exceed expectations. For the fourth year in a

row, we asked our study participants to rank the effectiveness

of various training services, from “needs major redesign” to

“exceeds expectations.”

Those training services that are centered around product,

process or methodology are consistently ranked more

effective than those training services that are either relatively

new or centered around the customer, the customer’s path or

industry.

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The following chart shows how the participants of the 4th

Annual Sales Enablement Study ranked sales methodology

training services.

Salespeople and sales managers ranked their overall

perception of sales methodology training similarly. However,

for sales managers, this was the most effective training

service; whereas salespeople ranked sales methodology

training as the third best training, right after skills training.

Refer to the 4th Annual Sales Enablement Study for further

details.

Only Training Services That Exceeded Expectations Led to

Significantly Better Win Rates

The quality of the training services matters because a sales

methodology only provides a return when salespeople and

their managers are engaged and enabled. This makes sense.

The better a training service is perceived by the participants,

the greater the probability that they learned something that

will allow them to be more successful in the field.

When we take a closer look at the research data, the

correlation between quality of training and sales performance

can also be quantified:

Organizations that ranked methodology training

services as needing major redesign saw significantly

lower win rates for forecast deals. These

organizations achieved quota attainment results 13.6

points below the study’s average of 49.5%, which is

an actual decrease of 27.5%.

Organizations that ranked their methodology

training services as “needs improvement” (26.8%)

saw win rates slightly below the study’s average:

47.3% compared to 49.5%.

Those organizations in which methodology training

services were deemed to “meet expectations”

(44.1%) achieved win rates slightly above the study’s

average. Their win rates came in at 50.4%, as

compared to the study average of 49.5%.

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Only one-fifth of organizations (20.7%) reported

their sales methodology training services “exceed

expectations.” This one-fifth are the only group that

achieved significantly better results. Their win rates

came in at 55.2%, which is +5.7 points or 15.4%

better than the study’s average.

It’s clear that sales enablement leaders must ensure their

methodology training services exceed the sales force’s

expectations. Some ways to provide real value include basing

examples on real-world cases, giving the sellers the

opportunity to apply the training to their funnel, and

providing insights and practical tips that sellers can

immediately apply in the field. The best training modality

(classroom, eLearning, hybrid models) depends on each

organization’s particular context. In addition to the modality

for the initial training, it’s crucial to success to provide

refresher learning services that remind people, in just a few

minutes, of a specific action.

3 Critical Success Factors

Now that we’ve analyzed the impact of sales methodology

implementation and sales methodology training quality on

sales performance, let’s look at three elements critical to

ensuring the “stickiness” of your sales methodology.

Create a vision and change story to drive

engagement – Many organizations are great at

telling people what to do, how to do it and when to

do it. Fewer organizations are great at providing

their employees with a compelling vision and a

change story that answers the “why” question. This

is a sales leader’s accountability. Sales enablement

leaders should initiate and help to co-develop and

communicate the vision and the change story.

Integrate the methodology into your sales

process – Processes describe the required actions

in a sequence, while the methodology explains, in

detail, how to do it and why. Ideally, the

methodology is fully integrated into the selling

processes, powered by the CRM. It doesn’t make a lot

of sense to initiate an isolated sales methodology

initiative. Integration matters.

© 2019 Miller Heiman Group. All Rights Reserved.

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Initiate sales coaching to drive adoption and

reinforcement – Due to their daily contact with

frontline salespeople, sales managers are the

linchpin to increasing adoption of any sales

enablement initiative, including the implementation

of a sales methodology. In this year’s study,

organizations that took a formal approach to sales

coaching achieved win rates of 54.7%, 5.2 points

higher than the study’s average. Those that added

the dynamic element to their sales coaching

approach raised their win rate to 57.7%, 8.2 points

higher than the study’s average.

A Vital Ingredient We ended our discussion on sales methodology by talking about coaching for

a reason. Many organizations have a defined methodology (even if it isn’t

followed). They may have sales methodology training services that meet

expectations (even if they don’t exceed them). Yet, they can’t really call their

sales methodology a success because salespeople and their managers are inconsistent, at best, at applying the defined

methodology in the field. Sales coaching services to drive reinforcement and adoption is the ingredient many of these

organizations are missing.

To learn more about the importance of sales coaching and to consider how you might apply sales coaching to your sales

methodology approach, refer to the Related Research Notes.

Related CSO Insights Research Notes: The Case for a Coaching Framework Designing a Sales Coaching Framework The Sales Coaching Framework: Account & Territory Laying a Solid Foundation with Coaching Services

About ELAvate Group

ELAvate is one of the world's leader in helping organizations translate sales strategy into results through sales people. For over

35 years we have been on the cutting edge of developing learning-based solutions that focus on skill and attitude training and

consulting services, in Sales Force Productivity Customer Loyalty, Developing Leaders, Teamwork and Measuring Organizational

Effectiveness. Active in more than twenty four countries, ELAvate has worked with organizations in a wide range of industries

including more than 80% of the Fortune 500 in companies and more than 400 of the European Financial Times 500.

ELAvate Group Mission

To equip and inspire young people to be the transformational leaders they are called to be as multipliers across Asia Pacific.

ELAvate Group - Strategy to Results Through People

Our consulting services clarify your strategic direction and identify gaps in employee performance. Our skills and process

training fill those gaps in the vital areas of sales performance, customer service, leadership and teamwork.

About CSO Insights

CSO Insights is the independent research arm within Miller Heiman GroupTM, dedicated to improving the performance and

productivity of complex B2B sales. Annual research studies address sales and service best practices, sales enablement and

sales performance optimization.

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