Mood Of Sales Leaders Report Reveals Hope

New Zealand is an interesting market with a first world economy where many competitors are battling for customers. It is representative of larger markets with mature buyers and informed buyers. Special thanks to Mike Stokes and Miles Valentine from Indicator for making their research freely available.

There were 138 selling organizations that contributed and they represented nearly 3,000 salespeople generating in excess of $6 billion in revenue. Click on the image above to see the full report but here are some highlights.

Although 19% of those surveyed had a watershed year with significant gains, competition was the most common challenge in 2017 and is expected to rise in 2018. Recruitment was the second most common challenge but set to decline in 2018.

As you did deeper into the report, only 37% of contributors said that 75% or more of their sales teams hit their targets in 2017. The report makes the point that sales leaders were happy with sales performance in 2017 although a large percentage of sellers fail to hit targets. 

The Outlook for 2018 is Optimistic

Only 1% of those surveyed were pessimistic about 2018 and 63% of those survey suggested that in 2018 they will increase the size of their sales team. 88% of Sales leaders are planning for a growth year which is at odds with recent Business Confidence Surveys which report a 9 year low. The report asks whether sales leaders overly optimistic or whether they are in a unique position to judge how the economy will perform in 2018?

Only 1% of those surveyed were pessimistic about 2018 and 63% said they will increase the size of their sales team in 2018. 88% of Sales leaders are planning for a growth year which is at odds with recent Business Confidence Surveys which report a 9 year low. Yet amidst the optimism there is a brutal reality about the rate of failure with salespeople achieving sales targets.

63% of companies have three-quarters of there slespeople failing to hit target

The good news is that companies are investing in their salespeople to improve performance and 25% spent more than $5000 per team member on training and development in 2017. It has never been more important to invest in the technology, tools and training that enables salespeople to be successful.

The Biggest Challenges in 2018

Mike Stokes and Miles Valentine Founded Indicator in 2015. They partner with companies and individuals to achieve improved B2B sales results and you can visit the Indicator website here. I am curious about what think concerning sales sentiment in your own company or industry. Please comment below.

I discuss the future of sales in my new book, COMBO Prospecting, published by The American Management Association (AMACOM) and you can purchase it here on Amazon. 

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