20 Shocking Sales Stats (Rethinking Your Sales Strategy for 2018)

Whether you’re a budding amateur in the sales world or a 30-year veteran, these 20 surprising sales statistics can help you learn, grow, and better craft your sales technique. Perhaps even rethink your current process.
In an effort to apply some structure, the 20 stats have been broken down into 7 different categories, from the decision-making process to cold calling.
Here we go.
THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
1. 95% of customers choose solution providers that offer relevant content at every stage of the buying process. (DemandGen Report)
Content matters. It’s a good idea for marketing and sales to work together to create content ideas that lead the buyer along during the decision-making process. Be sure to cover a range of relevant topics and case studies.
2. 82% of customers viewed five or more pieces of content from the winning vendor before making a purchase. (Forrester)
Online research has become an integral step in the buyer journey. Relevant content helps customers make decisions and build trust in your brand.
3. 70% of purchasing decisions are made to solve a specific problem. (Impact Communications)
A majority portion of buyers that need a resolution to an immediate issue or dilemma. You should frame your product or service in a way that will showcase how it will solve your prospect’s problem (i.e. save money/cut costs or remove an obstacle).
SOCIAL SELLING
4. 73% of sales reps who integrate social selling into their process outperform competitors and exceed their quota 23% more often. (Aberdeen)
Salespeople who create and manage their own social media presence have a better channel of connecting with the current and future customers.
5. Sales reps who use social selling are 79% more likely to hit their sales goals than those who don’t. (Aberdeen)
Top performers stated that social selling benefited them in these two ways:
A.) They are able to meet customers and prospects in their own backyard (so to speak).
B.) Social media gives rise to a new and unorthodox means of gathering leads.
6. 96% of sales reps use LinkedIn at least once a week for an average of 6 hours per week. (The Sales Management Association)
Sharing and connecting on relevant content is a great way to nourish leads. LinkedIn is especially valuable for B2B sales.
LEAD NURTURING
7. Nurtured leads typically result in 20% more sales opportunities than non-nurtured leads. (Source: Demand Gen Report)
Participants from 239 B2B companies were questioned about the worth of their nurturing programs — whether they were generating matured leads, if those leads became opportunities, and how much revenue could be credited to their lead nurturing programs.
8. Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. (Annuitas)
Marketing automation plays a huge role in increasing efficiency. The right automation process saves sales reps time (less paperwork and manual data entry) and helps to qualify more leads and automatically disperse those leads to the sales team.
9. Nurtured leads make purchases that are 47% larger than non-nurtured leads. (Annuitas)
This isn’t terribly shocking, but it helps one to keep in mind how integral the lead nurturing process can be when it comes to the bottom line.
FOLLOWING UP
10 & 11.  80% of sales require five follow-ups after the initial contact.
44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up.
(Marketing Donut)
When you consider the data, along with these additional statistical breakdowns from Marketing Donut…:
22% of salespeople stop following-up after 2 rejections
14% stop after 3 rejections
12% stop after 4 rejections
…one can surmise that a majority of salespeople (92%!) are missing out on huge closing opportunities, simply due to lack of follow-through.
12. 35-50% of all sales are won by the vendor that responds first. (InsideSales.com)
This stat emphasis the importance of following up as well as reminding us that first impressions go a long way in forming relationships with customers.
POOR CUSTOMER RETENTION
13. Every year, you’ll lose around 14% of your customer base. (BusinessBrief.com)
Some annual loss is unavoidable.
It’s the customers that leave because of poor customer service or experience that you have control over. Maintaining good relationships with current customers can be more valuable than acquiring new, because…
14. Retaining current customers is 6 to 7 times less costly than acquiring new ones. (Bain & Company)
Customer acquisition has built-in costs, takes time and effort, and can drain resources. Just another reminder to cherish your current customer base and keep them satisfied.
REFERRALS
15. 91% of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. (Dale Carnegie)
Asking for a referral is one small endeavor that can have huge results, especially when so many customers are happy to do it. Consider starting a referral rewards program.
16. Customers referred by a friend are 4 times more likely to make a purchase. (Nielsen)
Word of mouth has been and continues to be a great resource for opening the door to new customers. This has been amplified by social media and online reviews. Just another reason to deliver great service and remember to ask for that referral.
17. Salespeople who actively seek out referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t. (TopSalesWorld)
More referrals mean more sales and greater opportunities.
18. & 19.
The average sales rep spends 25 hours per month leaving voicemail messages. (RingLead)
80% of phone calls go straight to voicemail and 90% of first-time voicemails are ignored. (RingLead)
Sales Hunter says to leaves shorter voicemails (about 15 seconds). This both saves time and has shown to be more effective to having your voicemail returned.
20. Only 2% of cold calls result in an appointment. (Marketing Donut)
This is less about the importance of cold calling and more about warming up your prospect — maybe with a quick email.
20 Shocking Sales Stats
Infographic Source: https://www.propellercrm.com/blog/sales-statistics

Liked it?

0

Rate and Share it!

Please feel free to share this infographic in your blogs, websites and social media!

SAVE AND SHARE THIS INFOGRAPHIC
User Rating: Be the first one !

Check Also

Securing The Perimeter of Your Premises

Securing The Perimeter of Your Premises

Ensuring the comprehensive security of your business is paramount, extending beyond fortifying the physical structure …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *