THE YEAR OF VALUE 2021 Predictions for Sales Leaders: Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value: Strategies for Navigating New Challenges and Changing ...
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2021 Predictions for Sales Leaders:
THE YEAR OF VALUE
Maximizing Customer Lifetime Value:
Strategies for Navigating New Challenges
and Changing Expectations
2021
INTRODUCTION
In the early 2000s, businesses began to shift their organizational structures – from having a Chief
Revenue Officer with oversight for all go-to-market activities, field marketing, sales, indirect channels and
customer relationship management, to fragmenting the organization where each department existed
independently. This created silos between departments and the overall sense of account centricity and
accountability for customers began to fade. Businesses were more focused on organizational charts and
respective P&Ls than the customer experience and building deeper relationships.
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF THE CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER ROLE
In 2020, the pendulum started to swing again. With COVID-19 and the growth of the SaaS economy, where
contracts are up for renewal every year, organizations realized that maximizing Customer Lifetime Value is a
critical component for growth and success. This has positioned the Chief Revenue Officer as a linchpin to the
business. Today’s CRO is more than simply an expansion of the CSO or VP of Sales role. A CRO’s role is to look
at ways to generate and retain revenue across multiple channels with a long-term perspective, rather than the
short-term horizon usually embraced by sales departments. Their focus is on three key pillars of the business:
1. Customer Acquisition
2. Customer Retention
3. Customer Expansion
Traditionally, B2B companies pull one or more levers to drive growth: investing more in sales and
marketing resources to target new offerings in new markets, existing offerings in new markets, going
deeper in existing markets with new offerings, or just cross-selling and upselling existing offerings
into existing markets. Generally, these decisions are based on total opportunity size, competitiveness,
time to market, profitability, cost of acquisition, and more, as illustrated in the Super Quadrant*, next
page. This type of planning allows enterprises to either add new logo accounts to gain market share, or
to go deeper into their existing markets/customers to grow wallet share, or a blend of both.
2 THE YEAR OF VALUE
I N TR ODU CTI ON
GROWTH LEVERS & PRIORITIZATION GRID
EXISTING SOLUTIONS
Med-High Cost of acquisition $$$ Lowest Cost of acquisition $
Competitiveness
Competitiveness
Time to Market / Years Time to Market / Years
GOOD MARGIN GREAT MARGIN
NEW MARKET EXISTING MARKET
Highest Cost of acquisition $$$$ Low Cost of acquisition $$
Competitiveness
Competitiveness
Time to Market / Years Time to Market / Years
LOWER MARGINS VERY GOOD MARGIN
NEW SOLUTIONS
*Super Quadrant™ is a proprietary methodology of JCurve Digital Partners, LLC.
With the pendulum swing companies are experiencing today, the customer experience and touch points along a
customer’s journey, have become a critical means of growth across all 3 of the CRO’s pillars of business. In today’s
SaaS economy, if a business can incorporate digital into the mix to develop new and highly accretive service
models and if they will offer flexible, subscription pricing buyers enjoy an “as-a-service” consumption model,
with generally lower entry points, continual support, and a less capex-intensive approach overall. On the
supply side, this enables businesses to create differentiation based upon service, increase margins, improved
customer experiences, and the ability to create long term stickiness — if customer value is realized.
It’s a win/win for both sides of a service-based economy, but there are some risks around “stickiness”
and the need to prove the economic impact of a buyer’s investments is critical for success.
3 THE YEAR OF VALUE
I N TR ODU CTI ON
The Five Basics for Sales Success
Companies operating in the service-based economy quickly learn that business success and true
profitable growth depends on the full adoption and stickiness of their solutions, especially including
THErenewals
FIVE BASICS
and
The Five FOR
expansion,
Basics SALES
forasSales
The Five Basics for Sales Success
opposed toSUCCESS
Success just winning net new customers.
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ecosystem business success
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athat
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message that ultimately determines an organization's
all customers.
ability to achieve process maturity and improve win rates. Working to a common methodology also
ensures that sales leaders can measure progress along the sales cycle and promote a consistent
message to all customers.
CRM adoption. Initially, CRM adoption was a challenge as many sellers (the primary users) viewed
CRM adoption. Initially, CRM adoption was a challenge
first-generation Customer asRelationship
many sellers Management(the(CRM)
primary
systems users)
as a burdenviewed
rather than an aid.
CRM adoption. Initially, CRM adoption was a challenge as many sellers (the primary users) viewed
first-generation Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems as a burden rather than an aid.
CRM adoption. Initially, CRM adoption
But was
modern a
CRMchallenge
systems haveas many
better sellers
sales user (the primary
interfaces, integrateusers)
with viewed
other systems, and
first-generation Customer Relationship Managementinclude (CRM) systems
popular as a burden
sales enablement rather
features. thansystem
The CRM an aid.
allows sellers and executives to
But modernfirst-generation
CRM CRM systems Customer
adoption.have Relationship
Initially,better
CRM sales
adoption
measure
Management
user
was aas interfaces,
challenge
progress as (CRM)
many
and success,
systems
integrate
sellers
while
as a burden
with
(the primary other
users) rather
systems,
viewed thanand an aid.
2.
ButCRM adoption.
modern Initially,
CRM systems CRM
have adoption
better sales wasuser ainterfaces,
challenge many
integrate sellers
with (thecapturing
other primary
systems, important
users)
and customer
viewed data in one place.
first-generation
But modern CRM systems
first-generation Customer have better
Relationship sales user
Management interfaces,
(CRM) systems integrate
as a burden with other
rather than systems,
an aid. and
includeinclude
Customer popular popular
Relationship sales enablement
sales enablement
Management features.
(CRM) features.
The CRM
systems assystem The allows
a sales
burden CRMrather system
sellers
than anallows
and sellers
executives
aid. But modern toand CRM executives
systems have to better
includeButpopular
modernsales
CRM enablement
systems have features.
better userThe CRM system
interfaces, integrate allows
with sellers
other andand
systems, executives to
measure
sales measure
user progressprogress
and
interfaces, integrate and
success,
include success,
while
with other
popular whileimportant
capturing
systems,
sales enablementcapturing
andfeatures.
include important
customer
The popular data
CRM system customer
inallows
sales onesellers
place.
enablement data in oneThe
andfeatures.
executives place.
to CRM system allows
measure progress and success, while capturing important customer data in one place.
measure progress
sellers and executives to measure progressandand
success, while while
success, capturing importantimportant
capturing customer data in one place.
customer data in one place.
Sales and Marketing Collaboration. The last five years have seen the rapid adoption of digital
marketing, sales enablement, and social selling programs. Marketing has learned more about the
needs of sellers, while sales has learned how to do their own one-to-one marketing, leveraging
resources of their marketing colleagues, where possible. Most companies have integrated their
marketing automation system to their CRM, enabling executives to observe and measure the
Sales and Marketing Collaboration. The lastlead-to-revenue
complete five years have seen the
process and rapid adoption
recognize of digitalcontributions from Sales and
and distinguish
Sales and Marketing Collaboration.
marketing, salesThe last five and
enablement, years have
Marketing.
social seen
selling the rapid
programs. adoption
Marketing of digital
has learned more about the
Sales and Marketing Collaboration. The last five years have seen theabout
rapidleveraging
adoption of digital
Salessales
marketing, andenablement,
Marketing Collaboration.
and
needs of social
sellers, selling
while The
programs.
sales has last
learned five
toyears
Marketing
how have
do theirhas seen
ownlearned the
more
one-to-one rapid
marketing, adoption
the of digital
4 needs marketing, marketing,
of sellers, while sales sales
has
resources enablement,
learned how to
of their marketing and
do social
their
colleagues, ownselling
where programs.
one-to-one Marketing
marketing,
possible. Most has learned
leveraging
companies have more about the
integrated their
THE YEAR OF VALUE
salesmarketing
enablement, and social selling enabling
programs. Marketing has learned more about the
resources of theirneeds of sellers,
marketing while sales
automation
colleagues, has
system
where learned
to howcompanies
their CRM,
possible. Most to doexecutives
theirhave
own one-to-one
to observe marketing,
and measure
integrated their the leveraging
ensures that sales leaders can measure progress along the sales cycle and promote a consistent
message to all customers.
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3. Sales and Marketing Collaboration. The last five years have seen the rapid adoption
of digital marketing, sales enablement, and social selling programs. Marketing has learned more
about the needs of sellers, while sales has learned how to do their own one-to-one marketing, leveraging
CRM adoption. Initially, CRM adoption was a challenge as many sellers (the primary users) viewed
resources of their marketing colleagues, where possible. Most companies have integrated their marketing
first-generation Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems as a burden rather than an aid.
automation system to their CRM, enabling executives to observe and measure the complete lead-to-revenue process and
But modern CRM systems have better sales user interfaces, integrate with other systems, and
recognize and distinguish contributions from Sales and Marketing.
include popular sales enablement features. The CRM system allows sellers and executives to
measure progress and success, while capturing important customer data in one place.
Focus on Customer Success. Most businesses now invest heavily in Customer Success programs like
onboarding and implementation services and Customer Support resources to ensure customer
satisfaction and a strong renewal rate. Instead of growth factors such as the number of new
Focus on Customer Success. Most businesses now invest heavily in Customer Success programs like
accounts, the focus has moved to new executive KPIs like Customer Lifetime Value and Net Dollar
onboarding and implementation services and
Focus on Customer Success. Most businesses now invest Customer Support resources
heavily in to ensure customer
Customer Success programs like
Retention
satisfaction and a strong renewal rate. Instead of growth factors Rate.
such as the number of new
onboarding and implementation services and Customer Support resources to ensure customer
Sales andand
satisfaction
Marketing
accounts, the focus has Collaboration. The last five years have
moved to new executive KPIs like Customer Lifetime Value and seen the rapid adoption of digital
Net Dollar
Retention aRate.
strong renewal rate. Instead of growth factors such as the number of new
4. Focus on Customer Success.
marketing,
accounts, sales
the focus Most businesses
hasenablement,
moved nowsocial
and
to new executive invest
KPIs like heavily
selling
Customer in Customer
programs.
Lifetime Success
Marketing
Value and programs
has
Net Dollar likemore
learned onboarding
about the and
Retention Rate.
needs of sellers, while sales has learned how to do their own one-to-one marketing, leveraging
implementation services and Customer Support resources to ensure customer satisfaction and a strong renewal rate. Instead
Focus on Customer Success. Most businesses now invest heavily in Customer Success programs like
resources
of growth factors such
Focus as
on Customer of Success.
the number theirofmarketing
newbusinesses
Most colleagues,
accounts, now the where
investfocus
heavily has possible.
moved
in Customer toMost
Success
onboarding
new companies
executive
programs
and like
implementation
KPIshavelikeintegrated
Customer Support
services and Customer
their
Lifetime resources to ensure
Account-Based Marketing Programs. ABM is a long-established marketing/sales methodology at customer
marketing
onboarding and
Value and Net Dollar Retention Rate. automation
implementation
Account-Based Marketing system
services
Programs. and
ABMtois atheir
Customer CRM,
Support
long-established enabling
resources to
marketing/sales
business services executives
ensure
satisfaction
methodology
companies, customer
andwhere to
a strong
at observe
renewal
success and measure
rate. Instead
depends so muchofon
growth the
personalfactors such as
empathy andthe
thenumber of new
satisfaction business servicesrenewal
and a strong companies, where
rate. successof
Instead depends
growth so much on such
personal empathy andthe
the
complete lead-to-revenue
relationship. trend towards anprocess and factors
recognize
relationship. asThe
the
and number
accounts, offocus
distinguish
trend towardsnew anhas moved tobusiness
contributions
as-a-service new executive
from KPIs
Sales
has now likeand
raised Customer
a new needLifetime Value and Net Dollar
for all B2B
accounts, the focus hasThemoved as-a-service business
to new executive KPIs like has now raised a new
Customer
businesses Lifetime need
to adopt
for all B2B
Value
Retention
an ABMand
Rate. Net Dollar
strategy based on the collection of behavioral and profile data about
Marketing.
Retention
businesses to adopt an ABM strategy based on the collection
Rate.
Account-Based Marketing Programs. ABM decision
individual buying
of behavioral and profile data about
is a long-established marketing/sales individual methodology
makers. buying at decision makers.
business services companies, where success depends so much on personal empathy and the
relationship. The trend towards an as-a-service business has now raised a new need for all B2B
businesses to adopt an ABM strategy based on the collection of behavioral and profile data about
individual buying decision makers.
5. Account-Based Marketing Programs. ABM is a long-established marketing/sales Account-Based Marketing methodology
Programs. ABM atisbusiness services
a long-established marketing/sales methodology at
Account-Based Marketing Programs. ABM is a long-established marketing/sales
business
companies, where success depends so much on personal empathy and the relationship. The trend towards an as-a-service methodology
services at
companies, where success depends so much on personal empathy and the
business services companies, where success depends so much on personal empathy and
relationship. Thethetrend towards an as-a-service business has now raised a new need for all B2B
business has now raised a new
relationship. need
The trendfor all B2B
towards businesses
an as-a-service to adopt
business has now anraised
ABM strategy
abusinesses
new forbased
need to anon
all B2B
adopt thestrategy
ABM collection ofthe
based on behavioral
collection ofand
behavioral and profile data about
Opportunities in a New Decade
businesses to adopt an ABM strategy based on the collection of behavioral and profile data about individual buying decision makers.
profile data about individual buyingdays
The fragmented decision makers.
of sales, while disaggregated and matrixed, did have some positive impacts. Many
individual buying decision
new tools were introduced to the disparate groups, as mentioned above – CRM, marketing automation,
makers.
Opportunities in a New Decade
and customer success tools, to name a few – and organizations who realized the strain on the business
The
have come a long way in integrating them technologically. Butfragmented days of
there’s still a missing linksales, while
to all of themdisaggregated
– and matrixed, did have some positive impacts. Many
and that is real data based on true customer value. new tools were introduced to the disparate groups, as mentioned above – CRM, marketing automation,
It’s time that in addition to pulling things together underand customer
the CRO and being success
focused tools, to name a few – and organizations who realized the strain on the business
on customer
Opportunities in a New Decade
lifetime value, we must have a way to measure that valuehave come
and have a long wayininallintegrating
it omnipresent our systems them technologically. But there’s still a missing link to all of them –
The fragmented
and at ourdays of sales,
fingertips whenwhile
we need disaggregated
it. Only then willand matrixed,
and
all of that
these is did have
realand
systems, data
your some
based positive
trulyimpacts.
on true
businesses, customerMany value.
new toolsdeliver
wereonintroduced to the disparate groups, as mentioned above – CRM, marketing automation,
their promises.
and customer success It’s time that in addition to pulling things
the business under the CRO and being focused on customer
together
Read on to learn tools, to name
more about a few – and
our predictions organizations
will be who realized
for B2B sales leaders in 2021 and the strainand
beyond, onwhat
have come a long technologies
resources, way in integrating themwill
and capabilities be needed tolifetime
technologically. value, we
win.But there’s stillmust have alink
a missing way to to
allmeasure
of them –that value and have it omnipresent in all our systems
and that is real data based on true customer value. and at our fingertips when we need it. Only then will all of these systems, and your businesses, truly
Opportunities in a New Decade
5 THE YEAR OF VALUE Opportunities in ainNew Decade deliver on their promises.
It’s time that addition to pulling things together under the CRO andThe being fragmented
focused on days of sales, while disaggregated and matrixed, did have some positive impacts. Many
customer
Thelifetime
fragmented days of sales, while disaggregated
value, we must have a way to measure that value and matrixed,
Read andondid
tohave
have itnew
learn some
more
omnipresentpositive
toolsabout impacts.
wereinour
introduced Many
all predictions
our systemsto the
willdisparate groups,
be for B2B as mentioned
sales leaders in 2021above – CRM, and
and beyond, marketing
what automation,
I N TR ODU CTI ON
OPPORTUNITIES IN A NEW DECADE
The fragmented days of sales, while disaggregated and matrixed, did have some positive impacts. Many new tools were introduced
to the disparate groups, as mentioned above – CRM, marketing automation, and customer success tools, to name a few – and
organizations who realized the strain on the business have come a long way in integrating them technologically. But there’s still a
missing link to all of them – and that is real data based on true customer value.
It’s time that in addition to pulling things together under the CRO and being focused on customer lifetime value, we must have
a way to measure that value and have it omnipresent in all our systems and at our fingertips when we need it. Only then will all of
these systems, and your businesses, truly deliver on their promises.
Read on to learn more about our predictions will be for B2B sales leaders in 2021 and beyond, and what resources, technologies
and capabilities will be needed to win.
6 THE YEAR OF VALUE
PREDICTION 1
THE LONG TAIL PROBLEM WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE
FOR SALES LEADERS, WITH 20% OF THEIR SALES REPS
CLOSING 80% OF THEIR COMPANY’S BUSINESS.
REPS WHO STRUGGLE LACK CORE
VALUE MANAGEMENT SKILLS
What are theWhat
key skills thatkey
are the your top sales
skills that performers have performers
your top sales that are lacking
in the reps who are struggling? Choose all that apply.
In a study led by Dimensional Research of 200+ SaaS Sales leaders, have that are lacking in the reps who are struggling?
78% reported that at least half of their sales organization was
Ability to ask deep and thoughtful questions to understand problems 55%
struggling to achieve quota. When asked what key skills that top
Able to connect our value proposition to our prospect's key initiatives 54%
performers have that the underachievers lack:
Selling the value our solutions deliver to customers 51%
One common theme is that reps who are failing to hit their quota feel Ability to connect with the C-suite 49%
uncomfortable discussing the concept of value, i.e. being able to
Strong technical understanding of product 47%
understand a customer’s strategic goals, being able to connect the
Effective at leveraging internal support to close deals 45%
seller’s value proposition to their buyer’s initiatives, and as a result,
failure to connect with the C-suite. Years of experience 43%
Other. Please specify: 1%
In 2021, this issue will continue to be a challenge for sales leaders, as a
0% 20% 40% 60%
year of virtual selling has limited the sales team’s ability to collaborate
face-to-face, both with their peers and their prospects and customers. Other Personality and ability to connect with clients; Charm and EQ
Although sales teams often have value consulting resources to assist in 29
calculating the economic value their products can deliver, these
headcounts are often small compared to the size of the entire sales force. With limited resources and analysis that can take weeks to
execute, these dedicated value resources are often reserved for the most strategic sales cycles.
7 THE YEAR OF VALUE
82% REPORT THEIR CUSTOMERS ASK THEM FOR VALUE
TOOLS BEYOND WHAT THEY ARE ABLE TO DELIVER
PREDICTION 1 Do prospects or customers ever ask your
organization
Do prospects for
or customers tools
ever to establish
ask your value
organization for tools
to establish
thatvalue
you that you are unable
are unable to provide?
to provide?
No, we are always
able to deliver
on requests
This leaves the remaining salespeople without quantified value to leverage in their pipeline or
16% Yes, frequently
No, they never ask
driving them to do the analysis on their own with bespoke tools or cumbersome spreadsheets. 2%
It’s no surprise that the vast majority of salespeople struggle to satisfy customer demand 36%
appropriately. In fact, the same study by Dimensional Research showed that 82% of salespeople
are being asked for value management analysis that is beyond what they can deliver and 36% of 47%
respondents report this happening on a frequent basis. 82%
Yes, occasionally
More than likely, the top 20% of sales reps who are closing the majority of the business already
understand the impact of leading with value over features and functions – it’s how they’ve
managed to be so successful quarter after quarter. Because of this success, they often are given access to the precious value resources,
16
perpetuating the cycle of a small group of quota-achieving reps against the majority who fail to hit their number.
With the long tail that many sales organizations struggle with, combined with an inability to provide those who are struggling the resources
they need to overcome their pipeline challenges, to lift the long tail of the sales organization, CROs need to invest in a powerful new lever
that scales across the organization to empower every member of the team – one rooted in enabling economic value-based conversations.
TOP TAKEAWAY: Giving all customer facing teams an easy, self-service way to quantify and articulate the
value that your company delivers empowers them to make every customer interaction one that is based on
outcomes and results. This, in turn, will allow them to reach higher into organizations by speaking the language
of executives, and will lift the long tail, ensuring everyone on the team is a winner.
8 THE YEAR OF VALUE
PREDICTION 2
CUSTOMERS WILL EXPECT CONVERSATIONS TO BE
CENTERED ON THE ECONOMIC IMPACT DELIVERED
FROM YOUR SOLUTIONS.
In 2020, CFOs got more involved with every purchase being made and every dollar of spend was scrutinized. Those who were able to
quantify the outcomes associated with their spend were able to get their projects completed. Those that were not able to articulate value
saw their projects overlooked by those who had a higher level of perceived value to the business.
In 2021, expect the financial scrutiny to continue. Now that finance has taken a more rigorous look at the spend of their organizations,
comparing projects, alternate solutions and vendors, moving forward, they will expect this level of detailed analysis for justifying both
new and renewing costs.
Buyers in 2021 will continue to seek ways to justify and feel confident in their purchases. To overcome this, CROs need to empower their
sales teams to provide a framework for buyers to build business cases hand in hand with the seller. Not only does this create trust, it
empowers the internal champion to co-sell the project, even when the seller isn’t around.
“Every investment that a business makes has a business case behind it. Did you write it, did they, or did your competitor? We want to be
the ones that are bringing that to the forefront early on in a sales cycle. If a customer is not willing to invest the time it takes to really talk
through their challenges, what’s hurting them in their business, they’re either just researching and kicking the tires, or they’ve already
found somebody. It’s not you and they needed a competitive quote.” — Mike Maxey, Senior Director of Worldwide Sales for VMware.
9 THE YEAR OF VALUE
VALUE MAPPING Connects Your Program
PREDICTION 2 to Company Strategy & Objectives
Shareholder
Expectations
ROE, ROIC, ROC,
etc.
To succeed in virtual B2B sales cycles in the coming year and beyond, it’s
Executiv Executiv Executiv
critical that CROs work with their sales leadership to ensure that their teams are e KPIs e KPIs e KPIs
Topline 20%
intentional in discussing and quantifying value early in buying conversations and +
EPS 10%+ FCF 20%+
that every opportunity is substantiated with the strongest business case possible
REV COST CAP
based on true economic impact and outcomes. To thread the value conversion
through the full customer journey and ensure retention and expansion remain
Strategic Strategic Strategic Strategic
positive, sales leaders will also need to work with the customer success leaders Initiative 1 Initiative 2 Initiative 3 Initiative 4
to ensure that the company is proactive in communicating the outcomes of their Product to Digital Asia Product X
Solution Transformation Expansion Innovation
solutions in order to maintain renewals NRR remains high. Transformation
Sales Sales Product Product Marketing
Initiatives Initiatives
Team Team Team
Value Training
Initiatives Initiatives Initiatives
Selling Academy
Your Goals
X # of BVA’s per
quarter
YYM in influenced
Business
© DecisionLink 2020 Confidential, not to be disclosed to 3rd parties without written consent.
TOP TAKEAWAY: Embed conversations focused on expected and achieved outcomes across all stages of your
customer journey – the market expects it. If you start this shift in dialogue now, you’ll have a leg up on your
competition. If you wait, you’ll find yourself neck and neck with your competitors and will be hard-pressed to
articulate your differentiation.
10 THE YEAR OF VALUEPREDICTION 3
AS THE LAST MILE IN THEIR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION,
CROs WILL INCREASE THEIR INVESTMENT IN THEIR
SALES TEAMS AND THEIR FOCUS ON ROI.
Many buyers tend to work virtually and autonomously, using self-service methods to analyze vendors and doing their own research with
little interaction with salespeople until further down the sales cycle. When the opportunity does arise of a personal conversation, even
virtual, companies now expect sellers to act less as a salesperson and more empathetic as a brand ambassador, presenting key messaging,
and being useful to customers in each interaction.
Yet, despite all the investments made by sales leaders, there is little visible ROI within sales enablement in the tools, processes,
methodologies and people. While leaders have invested heavily to make sure everyone follows the same process, has access to materials,
and tracks data consistently, they still lack the tools to link them all together and create that ‘a-ha’ moment for their decision makers.
For example, with every new meeting, sales people everywhere still scramble around the organization looking for the most recent and
relevant case studies. And with every RFP, there’s a race to find comparable business cases to leverage. Customer success teams end
up spending time re-calculating the value their customers have achieved to use for proof points. Despite all the investment in sales
enablement platforms, has the effort truly been streamlined for individual contributors?
In 2021, CROs will look to weave their sales enablement portfolios together to create a seamless experience for their teams. Sales teams
have become a critical, last mile personal contact in what is now the new normal of overriding digital interactions. One of the most common
requests from customers and their finance teams is around value – what are the results and expected outcomes that this purchase will help
11 THE YEAR OF VALUERenew/Expand
& Advocate
PREDICTION 3 Value Achievement
Engage
Value Hypothesis
Validate
Case Study Builder
us realize and how can we ensure we achieve that? Sellers, the frontlines
of your organization must be enabled to provide an answer, and answer
it quickly. Implement
Value Realization
To demonstrate and validate their investments in empowering their
sales teams, and to prove the impact of value selling on the organization,
CROs will begin to track a new KPI, Return on Value Management. This Win
Business Case Developer
Attract
KPI will ensure that companies are improving in their value selling efforts over Web Calculator
time, and also tie the investment in value-based conversations all the way up to
the key strategic initiatives of the organization. By tracking the improvement across the
number of business cases developed, pipeline generated, close rate improvement, revenue growth and EPS and cash, CROs will be able
to easily articulate to both company leadership and the Board of Directors the economic impact of their investments in their sales teams.
TOP TAKEAWAY: Ultimately, it’s the companies that are taking the time to shift towards enabling a collaborative
selling motion that will see the greatest change. By quantifying the impact of the heavy investment in the
sales team with a Return on Value Management KPI, CROs will be able to show continuous improvement and
ever-growing impact to their company’s strategic initiatives. By giving customer facing teams the tools they
need to reach higher in organizations and provide buyers with numbers and proof points in real-time, you will
elevate the perception of your sales team in the market to true trusted advisors.
12 THE YEAR OF VALUEPREDICTION 4
TECHNOLOGY WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY
IMPORTANT IN A COVID-SELLING MOTION.
Unlike in the beginning of 2020, sellers can no longer take clients to hockey games or dinner to build rapport. Instead, all information
sharing happens digitally, via email or a web conference. You have minutes, not hours, to make an impact. According to McKinsey, “digital
self-service and remote rep interactions are likely to be the dominant elements of the B2B go-to-market going forward, when selling to
both SMBs and large enterprises.”1 And 89% of companies expect these changes to stick, anticipating they will need to sustain these
virtual go-to-market models for 12+ months, per McKinsey2.
96% AGREE THAT VALUE MANAGEMENT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT
FOR SELLING IN A A STAY-AT-HOME WORLD
Sellers are feeling the stress caused by this shift in buying behaviors. Of the 203 companies surveyed by Dimensional Research, 89%
Pleaseor
indicated it is more difficult to discuss value indicate yourwithout
to work agreement with the following
maintaining theirstatements.
usual style of relationships and 73% of respondents
agreed that traditional social-selling skills that salespeople possess will become less important in the future.
3%
3%
In a stay-at-home world, it will 1%
1%
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important that their go-to-market models should derive competitive advantage in the form of more—and
sales reps have the tools and 72% Article: “These eight
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more loyal—customersknowledge
than their slower-moving peers.” — McKinsey,
to clearly present
sales forever” economic value
Strongly agree
In a stay-at-home world,
traditional social-selling skills Agree somewhat
(i.e. schmoozing) will become 30% 43% 15% 12%
Disagree somewhat
less important to sales reps
Strongly disagree
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
13 THE YEAR OF VALUEPREDICTION 4 96% AGREE THAT VALUE MANAGEMENT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT
96% AGREE
FORTHAT VALUE
SELLING IN AMANAGEMENT IS EVEN
A STAY-AT-HOME MORE IMPORTANT
WORLD
FOR SELLING IN A A STAY-AT-HOME WORLD
Please indicate your agreement with the following statements.
Please indicate your agreement with the following statements.
3%
3% 3%
A large majority, 96%,In a stay-at-home world, it will
of 96% AGREE
respondents THATthat
believe VALUE
it willMANAGEMENT IS EVEN MORE
be increasingly important 1%
1%
3%
IMPORTANT
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FOR SELLING IN A A STAY-AT-HOME WORLD 1%
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to clearly articulate and present economic value and the need72%
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for self-service value management tools for sales teams has become critical
knowledge to clearly
sales reps present
have the tools and 72% 24%
in today’s stay-at-home world. economic to
knowledge value Please indicate
clearly present your agreement with the following statements.
economic value
3%
3% Strongly agree
In aInstay-at-home
a stay-at-home world, it will
world, 1%
1% Strongly agree
be increasingly
traditional importantskills
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salesschmoozing)
(i.e. reps have the
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Strongly disagree
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Strongly agree
100%
In a stay-at-home world,
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Disagree somewhat
Selling motions in 2021lesswill look very
important similar
to sales reps to those in 2020. Instilling change is not always easy, but the increased conversion rates, the
Strongly disagree
discount reductions and the increase in customer satisfaction, renewals and expansions, will be worth the effort in the end. Companies
who take the time to invest
32 in the technology0%
that their20%
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40% succeed80%
60% will reap100%
the benefits in the years to come.
32
32
TOP TAKEAWAY: Ultimately, it’s the companies that are taking the time to shift towards enabling a
collaborative selling motion that will see the greatest change. By quantifying the impact of the heavy
investment in the sales team with a Return on Value Management KPI, CROs will be able to show continuous
improvement and ever-growing impact to their company’s strategic initiatives. By giving customer facing
teams the tools they need to reach higher in organizations and provide buyers with numbers and proof
points in real-time, you will elevate the perception of your sales team in the market to true trusted advisors.
14 THE YEAR OF VALUEPREDICTION 5
CROs WILL BE MEASURED ON MAXIMIZING THE
TOTAL CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE.
CROs today are measured on metrics of customer success, renewal rates and, ultimately, lifetime customer revenues. As a result, the more
innovative CROs are influencing colleagues across the whole company with programs to support account managers and other customer-
facing staff in cementing their business relationships, becoming a trusted advisor and a true partner to each client. They expect to be able
to report back to the board or investors using success metrics such as “new sales into existing customers” and “cross sell and upsell”.
Customer Lifetime Value is much bigger than just the initial sales win, it gets into the value that can be generated from a client over a period
of time; it encourages a unified approach and puts customers back at the center of everything. From attracting, to engaging, to winning,
to retaining, to expanding, a CLV approach translates to much more value to shareholders and investors than a singular new logo.
In today’s subscription economy, where contracts are up for renewal every year, value delivery should be tracked, monitored and
communicated regularly. Failure to communicate value throughout the subscription positions the vendor to be on the defensive come
renewal time, having to pull together numbers quickly to justify the value achieved over the last 12 months.
As Mike Maxey, Senior Director of Worldwide Sales at VMware says it, “in the world of subscription-based software, the world
isn’t flat anymore, it’s round and you’ve got to continue to deliver value. A customer is going to purchase from you many times…
15 THE YEAR OF VALUEPREDICTION 5 Beyond the Transaction - Chief Revenue
Officers Care AboutCustomer Lifetime Value
Customer Lifetime Value is the metric
today’s CRO is watching:
If you don’t deliver on value, they’re not going to buy from you again, but if
Customer Acquisition: huge investments
you do and you’re one of the few companies that do, you’ve got a customer in MarTech, SalesTech, training,
for life.” methodologies & people.
Customer Retention: significant
To shift the conversation between vendors and customers, enterprises are looking investments in people,
to identify sales “superheroes” within their teams who really understand the full process and tools to ensure
implementation, adoption
continuum and importance of value delivery across the customer lifecycle, who and overall satisfaction.
can drive their organization towards commercial excellence.
Customer Expansion:
large investments in
account management
and overall x-sell/up-sell
efforts to expand share
of wallet.
TOP TAKEAWAY: Connecting the customer journey to ensure value delivery requires a way to track value
activity and make the data accessible and actionable for all external-facing teams. In today’s world, every
customer-facing function is responsible for contributing and enhancing value delivery to customers.
16 THE YEAR OF VALUETHE FUTURE OF SALES
WHERE DO CROs GO FROM HERE?
A common thread through each of these predictions is that value management is becoming embedded in all customer-facing
activities, conversations, and programs. One overriding impression being that ‘value’ is going to be the Lingua Franca of
supplier-customer relationships. Why will any customer or user spend any time, money, or resources on a supplier who cannot
advise and support them in their goal of documenting return from their investments?
CROs and sales leaders have done a wonderful job of preparing their teams to sell – through significant investments in CRM
platforms, enablement tools, processes and methodologies, marketing tools, and more – but to amplify their success in
renewals and expansions, a layer of consistency across them all is needed.
And what do buyers care about more today than ever before? Quantified economic value.
Organizations who are proactive in their delivery of expected results and clearly
articulate actual outcomes throughout an engagement will create a powerful
competitive differentiator for acquiring new customers and defending
and expanding existing accounts.
In 2021 and beyond, buyers want to work with suppliers that
support a variety of user roles in business value and best
practice guidance; one that delivers data-driven outcomes that
both sellers and buyers are confident in to use as a factor in
planning investments that supports all three of the sales pillars,
acquisition, renewal and expansion.
CRO
17 THE YEAR OF VALUETHE FUTURE OF SALES
VALUE MANAGEMENT WILL BE A
STANDARD BUSINESS PRACTICE IN 2021
Vendors seeking a placement on the strategic supplier list at their most important clients should now take advantage of modern
value management software offerings, including the provision as a cloud service, and make their value data more transparent
to all parties. Companies that will be the most successful in 2021 will:
Expect value management to be a continuous process. Value management is no longer a one-off forecast based
upon estimates and assumptions, it must be modelled and set up in a system which is able to collect actual data and
provide ongoing reporting.
Consider value management as a customer service. Vendors’ ROI tools proffered from a salesperson’s briefcase,
like a discount, is no longer winning business. Buyers are looking for business partners and successful SaaS providers
are offering a value management process as an accompanying service. Both parties can profit from the data collected
and both companies gain confidence in the partnership when conversations centered on outcomes and economic
impact are present.
Remember that buyers are always competing internally for budgets. The true competitor for any technology
investment is not another vendor, it is “do nothing”. If the reasons to invest are not compelling enough, the responsible
business executive will decide to invest the budget in another project with a higher perception of value. The same goes
for renewals and expansion, reiterating the importance for value to be communicated both pre-sale and post-sale.
SOURCES:
1 Harrison, L. and Stanley, J. (2020, October 20). Survey: US B2B decision-maker response to COVID-19 crisis. Available here.
2 Bages-Amat, A., Harrison, L., Spillecke, D. and Stanley, J. (2020, October 14). These eight charts show how COVID-19 has changed B2B sales forever. [online] McKinsey
Company. Available here.
18 THE YEAR OF VALUEDecisionLink’s ValueCloud® is the first and leading solution for enterprise-class customer value management. The ValueCloud® enhances the value of CRM systems by providing the missing link to elevating conversations and shifting relationships from tactical to strategic by providing value insights from initial sales call all the way through to contract renewals. The ValueCloud® turns customer value insights into strategic assets that can be leveraged across the enterprise, from CXO’s, to line of business leaders, to Product Managers, to Marketers, to sales & sales support teams, to value managers. DecisionLink is trusted by top enterprise businesses, including Adobe, Caterpillar, CrowdStrike, DocuSign, Marketo, VMWare and more. For more information, please visit decisionlink.com, call 800.670.8301 or engage with us on social media
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