Salespeople say their biggest work challenge this year is spending too much time on administrative/non-selling activities, according to recent research from Richardson.

The report was based on data from a survey of 350 salespeople who work for companies in a wide range of B2B and B2C industries; 59% have annual quota goals of over $1 million.

Respondents were asked to list their biggest work challenges in 2017, including prospecting, negotiating, closing, and productivity issues.

The work challenge cited by the largest share of salespeople (49%) is spending too much time on non-sales activities.

Other productivity issues include finding the right marketing assets to support selling (17% cite it as a challenge) and spending enough time with prospects/clients (14%).

The top prospecting challenges facing salespeople are creating targeted strategies (17% cite it as a challenge), getting quality leads from Marketing (14%), and gaining appointments (12%).

The top negotiating challenges are gaining higher prices (24% cite as a challenge), closing win-win deals (20%), and maintaining profitability (17%).

The top closing challenges are competing against low-cost providers (24% cite it as a challenge), clearly articulating a value proposition (19%), and creating a compelling case to take action (16%).

About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 350 salespeople who work for companies in a wide range of B2B and B2C industries; 59% have annual quota goals of over $1 million.