By
Simon Hazeldine
In the ever-evolving world of B2B sales, understanding the characteristics that differentiate top-performing sales professionals from the rest is crucial. According to the 2024 B2B Sales Benchmarks report from EBSTA and Pavilion, a comprehensive analysis involving 530 of the world’s best-performing companies and over 4.2 million sales opportunities with a revenue value of $54 billion certain traits and behaviours stand out. Here, we delve into the key traits of high-performing sales professionals based on this insightful research.
1. Pipeline Generation
Top sales performers excel at pipeline generation. They prioritize the right accounts and personas to optimize their time effectively. According to the report, top performers are 218% more likely to self-source their pipeline, demonstrating a proactive approach to finding new business opportunities rather than waiting for marketing leads. This “always be prospecting” mentality ensures a steady stream of potential clients.
Key Takeaway: Cultivate a habit of consistent prospecting and focus on the right targets to maintain a robust sales pipeline.
2. Opportunity Qualification
Effective qualification of opportunities is another hallmark of top sales professionals. The report highlights that top performers are 588% more likely to follow a structured qualification methodology, such as SPICED or MEDDIC once prospects are engaged. These frameworks help in assessing the potential of opportunities accurately, ensuring time and resources are invested in the right prospects.
Compared to average performers, the top performers are 489% more likely to have the “Economic Buyer” engaged before the “Solution Presented” stage.
Key Takeaway: Implement a rigorous qualification process to evaluate and prioritize sales opportunities effectively and focus on early engagement with the economic buyer.
3. Objection Handling
Handling objections efficiently is critical in the sales process. High performers are 843% more likely to overcome objections, most of them occurring early in the sales cycle. They address customer concerns proactively, reducing the likelihood of indecision and stalled deals. Additionally, they are 412% more likely to define the next step or meeting defined after each interaction, ensuring continuous progress.
Key Takeaway: Develop strong objection-handling skills and ensure clear next steps are established to maintain deal momentum.
Subscribe to Simon Hazeldine’s
“More Sales, More Often, More Margin” newsletter.
Simon’s regular newsletter contains powerful and practical sales and negotiation
strategies, tactics, and tips to help you to grow your revenue and bottom-line profits.
4. Relationship Management
Building and managing relationships is at the core of successful sales strategies. The research found that successful deals involved engaging nine contacts within the client’s organization by the solution presentation stage, compared with just two contacts engaged in lost deals. Top performers leverage these relationships to navigate the decision-making unit (DMU) effectively. The research also showed that top performers engage key stakeholders early in the sales process.
Key Takeaway: Engage multiple stakeholders within the client’s organization to build a comprehensive understanding and buy-in for your solution.
5. Deal Management
Top sales professionals exhibit exceptional deal management skills. They regularly update their CRM, reflecting on the necessary steps to advance deals. The report indicates that top performers are more likely to define a next step and keep it up to date as the deal progresses. They are also more likely to update the next steps in the CRM weekly and to reflect on what is required to move the deal forward, demonstrating a more disciplined approach to managing sales opportunities.
Key Takeaway: Maintain a disciplined approach to deal management by regularly updating the CRM and clearly defining the next steps in the sales process.
Conclusion
The 2024 B2B Sales Benchmarks report provides invaluable insights into the traits and behaviours that define high-performing sales professionals. By focusing on pipeline generation, opportunity qualification, objection handling, relationship management, and deal management, sales professionals can enhance their performance and achieve greater success. Embracing these best practices can transform an average sales career into a high-performing one.
Here is the link to the research report: https://www.ebsta.com/2024-b2b-sales-benchmarks/
About the author
Simon Hazeldine works internationally as a revenue growth and sales performance speaker, consultant, and coach. He empowers his clients to get more sales, more often with more margin.
He has spoken in over thirty countries and his client list includes some of the world’s largest and most successful companies.
Simon has a master’s degree in psychology, is the bestselling author of ten books that have been endorsed by a host of business leaders including multi-billionaire business legend Michael Dell and is co-founder of leading sales podcast “The Sales Chat Show”.
He is the creator of the neuroscience based “Brain Friendly Selling”® methodology.
Simon Hazeldine’s books:
- Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
- Bare Knuckle Selling
- Bare Knuckle Negotiating
- Bare Knuckle Customer Service
- The Inner Winner
- How To Lead Your Sales Team – Virtually and in Person
- Virtual Selling Success
- How To Manage Your People’s Performance
- How To Create Effective Employee Development Plans
- Virtual Negotiation Success
