New InfoTrends study examines best practices of top print sales organizations

The study titled Best Practices of High-Performance Print Sales Organizations identifies the best sales practices used by companies of all sizes in the U.S. and Western Europe (France, Germany and the U.K.), assess future challenges, and provides recommendations for sustainable sales growth. When it comes to the challenges that print and marketing service providers face today, increasing sales consistently sits at the top the list, said InfoTrends. The company added: “Although marketers continue to shift spending from print to other channels, companies still report that offset, digital, and wide-format are the most profitable parts of their businesses. The industry has struggled to profitably sell value-added services despite hardware and software advancements designed to streamline processes and increase profitability. While selling practices have evolved over the years, they haven’t kept up with the customer requirements. Today, sales prospects base their purchasing decisions on more than product features and benefits. They’re looking for partners that can articulate specifically how their products and services will improve their operations.”

Through this research, InfoTrends intends to:

• Identify key elements of current sales management practices
• Profile industry hiring practices
• Analyze processes used for new hires
• Document key sales management processes
• Profile current professional development practices for reps and management
• Define existing compensation practices
• Determine key strategic decisions driving the success of sales organizations

“Your sales force is the face to the customer,” said Barb Pellow, Group Director at InfoTrends. “It’s a key differentiator for your business. The most successful salespeople have the ability to teach customers something new or challenge their thinking. The high performance salesperson comes to the table with new ideas for their customers that can make money or save money – often opportunities the customer hadn’t realized even existed. This benchmark study will focus on how to find the best salespeople, essential sales management processes and how to train and compensate them.”