Survey: Sales staff dropping the ball on message delivery

There is an ever-widening gap between what brands intent to tell their client and lead base and what is actually being forwarded to those consumers. According to new data out from Corporate Visions, up to 80% of businesses believe there is a 'gap' between what sales people should tell clients and the message actually being relayed to those customers.

by Kristina Knight

In a survey of more than 400 B2B brands, most businesses (60%) believe fewer than half their sales people are relaying brand-based messages to clients as intended. Only about 22% say sales staffs are required to be proficient in the brand's message before meeting with clients while one-third reported there is 'no structured process' to ensure proper messaging is adopted. Just over one-fifth (27%) say salespeople are 'encouraged to practice' message delivery.

"This quarter's survey results reveal a critical gap where marketing and sales teams need to come together to find a way to roll out new product messaging so it gets the necessary uptake in the field," said Tim Riesterer, chief strategy and marketing officer, Corporate Visions. "Product launch success is critical to a company's success, and sales conversations are the key to making that happen in the market. So both sides need a sense of urgency around making sure that training, role-playing and coaching sessions take place to enable sales reps' proficiency in delivering the messages in a confident and compelling way."

Other interesting findings include:

• Nearly one-third (31%) say coaching sessions for sales staffs are 'never offered'; 32% say these sessions are offered 1-2 times each year
• Fewer than 20% offer coaching sessions on a monthly/quarterly basis
• 38% say formal training is offered to sales staff for new product launches

Those who do offer formal training are most likely turning to virtual training options (41%). Whiteboarding and role-playing training sessions are used less than 5% of the time; these types of trainings have been shown to help workers retain messages because of the interactivity level required to participate.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: business survey, Corporate Visions, online business trends, sales training trends