The same challenges are facing everyone: B2B sales are hard, and getting harder. And as hard as sales are, buying is even harder. Online research has not simplified or expedited the buyer’s journey. More people are engaged in the buying processes, more steps are involved, and the sheer volume of information is getting out of control.

It’s a tough selling environment, and only a few sales organizations are really excelling, while the majority are lagging behind. What’s the secret to achieving breakaway velocity? The 2013 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study found that world-class performance was not the result of any single tactic or change. Rather, it was a combination of a small decay in performance among the “good” and small but significant improvement among the “great.”

Specifically, the study identifies three defining attributes of World-Class Sales Organizations that have enabled them to separate themselves even further from the pack of good-but-not-great sales organizations they compete with every day in their respective markets:

1. Customer core

World-Class Organizations focus on their customers Getting closer to customers, becoming connected to their strategic issues, and recognizing that each customer is unique are defining characteristics of the best of the best. “World-Class Sales Organizations know why their customers buy from them,” the study notes. “In complex buy-sell decision making, every customer makes every decision differently—every time.”

2. Collaborative culture

The second difference-making best practice is to foster and maintain a collaborative culture. This goes beyond the widely perceived need for sales and marketing alignment. Every resource within the company must be ready and willing to engage with sales on behalf of the customer. Some specific aspects of collaboration highlighted by World-Class Sales Organizations are:

• Allocating the right resources to pursue large deals.
• Management helping the sales team advance opportunities.
• Leveraging the best practices of top salespeople to improve everyone else.

3. Calibrated success

World-Class Organizations know why they are successful. Fact-based strategic analysis allows companies to know why they are successful and how they can improve. Naturally, technology plays an essential role.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems integrate customer data; knowledge management and collaboration applications store content and other knowledge assets; and Sales Force Automation (SFA) systems enable salespeople to manage, track and report on their sales activities.

Does your company fall in with the “great” top performers or are you just languishing with the other companies that are just “good?” If the answer is the latter, the three traits listed above could help you move your performance to the next level. 

Joe Galvin is Chief Research Officer and EVP at Miller Heiman. Joe’s mission is to continuously research, measure and analyze the best practices, innovations and emerging trends for complex B-to-B sales organizations providing clients with on-demand access to the most compelling research and insight required to make strategic decisions.