How sales reps are staying at the top of their game
The Opportunity for Responsible Business:
Ethics, Human Rights, and Technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
As technology transforms every facet of society, there is an increasing focus on societal impact. Today’s consumers shop with their values, and look for companies with ethics at their core.
CONSUMERS SEE HUMAN RIGHTS AS A BUSINESS IMPERATIVE
90% of consumers believe companies have a responsibility to improve the state of the world
87% of consumers believe companies have a responsibility to advocate for human rights
GOOD ETHICS IS GOOD BUSINESS
% of consumers who:
Are more loyal to companies that demonstrate good ethics 86%
Would consider not buying from companies that demonstrate poor ethics 75%
Spend more money with companies that demonstrate good ethics 69%
TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP OR HARM SOCIETY
% of consumers who are concerned about emerging technology’s potential to bring:
Misinformation 93%
Surveillance 91%
Job losses 88%
Threats to democracy 85%
Damage to the natural environment 83%
Increased/widened inequality 77%
67% of consumers say technology is neither good nor bad — how it’s used is what matters
81% of consumers believe emerging technology can make the world a better place
Base: 2,403 consumers in the United States.
Source: Business and technology ethics survey, Salesforce Research, October 2018.
Sales reps: Retooling for the new normal
Adaptation is key in response to COVID
79% of sales reps say they had to quickly adapt to new ways of selling and
58% of sales reps expect their role to change permanently
Changes hit outside reps particularly hard
71% of inside sales reps are confident in their ability to close deals in the current environment vs. 54% of outside sales reps
Leadership wants more alignment and visibility on sales reps’ activity
67% of salespeople say enforcement of activity logging is stricter than 2019
But many reps still operate with a fair bit of autonomy:
56% of organisations: flexibility and autonomy
44% of organisations: defined processes and protocols
Automation is helping some reps pull ahead of the pack
Companies where the following is automated:
Managing admin tasks:
High performers: 66%
Underperformers: 41%
Prioritising leads/opportunities:
High performers: 64%
Underperformers: 30%
Determining what actions to take next:
High performers: 63%
Underperformers: 27%
Insight selling is driving more sales
High performers are
2.4x more likely to monitor customer purchase history
2.9x more likely to monitor competitive behaviour
4.5x more likely to monitor customer staff changes
than underperformers
To find out more, download the fourth edition of the State of Sales.
