Salespeople say their top 3 prospecting challenges this year are getting appointments with potential buyers/clients, identifying sales triggers, and creating a targeted lead strategy, according to a recent report from Richardson.
The report was based on data from a survey of 372 salespeople from a wide range of business sizes and industries (75% B2B; 25% B2C).
Finding ways to schedule appointments with potential buyers/clients is respondents' top prospecting challenge in 2015 (selected by 18.6%); next is identifying triggers/sales signals/issues that buyers need help with (16.2%); followed by creating a targeted prospecting strategy (15.5%).
The three prospecting challenges that are ranked as least important by respondents are qualifying prospects (only 5% selected it as a top challenge), creating insights (7.6%), and leveraging social media (8.4%).
Respondents say their two biggest obstacles in 2015 to closing new deals are competing against low-cost providers (30.6% say so) and creating compelling cases for change to avoid a "no decision" (16.9%).
The most significant account management challenges cited by respondents are finding ways to add value for multiple stakeholders (25.8%) and balancing new business/relationship management responsibilities (22.9%).
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 372 salespeople from a wide range of business sizes and industries (75% B2B; 25% B2C).
