Qvidian Content Automation Trends Report Uncovers Top Objectives & Challenges Facing Sales Organization

Reducing sales complexity & increasing productivity by improving content quality, accuracy, & accessibility while personalizing the buyer journey is key for today’s sellers

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Qvidian, the innovator in sales execution solutions, today released the findings from its 2015 Content Automation Trends Report, revealing thought-provoking trends on the state of sales content today. The report takes a first-time look into how organizations perceive sales content leveraged as a key asset as shifting buying patterns impact company growth and shape how sales reps sell.

Summary

• Content is a critical tool for sales to be effective and communicate value, but the process of managing, updating and distributing it is cumbersome at best. Automating content processes promotes collaboration and the ability to personalize content quickly for every unique buyer in a particular selling situation. Of course, true success lies in creating and implementing an overarching selling strategy to guide your sales execution.
• This Content Automation Report comes at a trying time in the selling ecosystem, marked by rapidly changing buying patterns and shifts in the way sales reps sell. Utilizing the most relevant content is imperative to virtually any sales and marketing initiative, and effective content is a key piece for sales to close deals. This report finds, however, that the best content takes a good deal of time to create, store and update in such a way that it is easily accessible and useful across an organization.

Findings:

• General
  • Over 78 percent of respondents feel sales content is very important to the effectiveness of their sales reps. However, at the same time, close to 50 percent say that their data and content in sales assets is only somewhat accurate.
  • Eighty-three percent of respondents have trouble easily accessing messaging and related content “just-in-time” based on the selling situation. Conversely, only 17 percent say it’s easy for sales reps to locate relevant messaging and content they need in each selling situation.
  • The top three most-used pieces of content include:
    • Proposals – 67 percent
    • Presentations – 63 percent
    • RFPs – 60 percent
• Aligning with Buyers is Key
  • Forty-nine percent of respondents cite that their data and content in sales assets is only somewhat accurate, while nearly the same percentage of respondent (48 percent) say content is reviewed and updated on an as-needed basis.
  • Over 75 percent of survey respondents say their frequency of reviewing and updating sales content is only somewhat sufficient to have timely and relevant material available and aligned with today’s savvy buyers.
• Finding & Accessing Content Remains Elusive
  • Building on the difficulty of finding created content, the majority of survey respondents cite that sales content creation and distribution is managed by more than 3 people, with 17% selecting 20 or more people playing a major hand in the process.
  • While 78 percent of respondent feel that sales content is very important to the effectiveness of their sales reps, 60 percent say that their content only somewhat impacts their sales team’s ability to close deals.
  • Seventy-one percent state that their content somewhat or does not help sales teams have more effective conversations with their buyers.
• Content Management is Not The Enemy – a Lack of It Is
  • Seventy-seven percent of respondents cite that the frequency of reviewing and updating sales content is only “somewhat,” “not very” or “not at all” sufficient.
  • Sixty-one percent say that the size of their team will stay the same, reinforcing the need to create more valuable content with the same or fewer resources.

Key Takeaways

• Distribution and access to sales is critical
• Team workflows and collaboration for managing content is key
• Accuracy and quality in content needs to be priority
• Effective content is a key piece to the selling process

Supporting Quotes

• Christopher Faust, Chief Marketing Officer at Qvidian:
  • “Understanding your buyers and knowing where they are in their process, aligning with them quickly in order to deliver the most relevant and personalized content assets, is key for sellers to deliver the most compelling value proposition to buyers.”
  • “Content Automation is not just about right content, right time. It’s about making it that much easier and faster for sales teams to find, access, assemble, and deliver a personalized buyer experience that provides greater value. Deals are not won with a piece of content. They are won because sellers aligned with their buyer and had better conversations with the most relevant assets at hand to support the process.”

Download the complete Content Automation Trends Report here.

Report Methodology

Qvidian surveyed over 300 professionals in various sales and content management roles from a range of organizational sizes, industries, and global regions with 28% outside the US.

To learn more about Qvidian and see how innovative organizations are achieving sales execution success, visit - www.qvidian.com

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About Qvidian

Qvidian provides cloud-based sales execution solutions that enable companies to accelerate sales ramp up time, capture new business, and optimize sales performance by closing the gap between strategy and sales execution. The company’s innovative software and advisory services offer real-time insight to ensure sales teams do what’s needed to win, by driving repeatable methodologies and making the sales organization more agile. With over 1,200 global customers including Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Citi (NYSE: C), ADP (NASDAQ: ADP), CA (NASDAQ: CA), and Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK), Qvidian is helping organizations significantly increase their profitable revenues while eliminating waste and reducing costs. For more information, visit www.qvidian.com or call 1-800-272-0047 or +44 (0) 870-734-7778.

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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150730005965/en/

PAN Communications
Matthew Briggs, 617-502-4357
[email protected]

Source: Qvidian

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