AGI Software Sales Benchmarking Overview 062310

0© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.® 2777 Summer Street Suite 505 Stamford, CT 06905 203.975.9344

High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative

Understanding and Optimizing Sales ROI

Marc Metzner, Vice [email protected]





Linda Mahoney, Vice PresidentAccount Manager for CA [email protected]


High-Tech Sales Benchmarking

Thank you for your interest in our Software Sales Benchmarking Initiative. We are confident you will find great value

in understanding the approaches your peers are taking to enhance sales coverage, productivity, compensation, andselling/support roles. While each company’s data is kept confidential, you will receive a detailed Gap Analysis of your

data against an aggregate view of participants, including trends, benchmarks and best practices.

This analysis will cover a range of specific sales metrics, including 20 different sales cost components, 7 support-to-seller ratios, 15 sales time/activity categories, key sales productivity dimensions, and compensation designs,. For

each metric, we will compare your personnel to peer companies and determine your best opportunities to improveproductivity and execution.

It is our experience that your Findings Report, along with your in-person Readout Session, will contribute significantly

to such key sales objectives as:1. Increasing sales productivity and growth2. Building activity/time allocation “success profiles” for your key selling roles

3. Driving growth from new customers and new products4. Maximizing cooperation across: Field Reps, Specialists, SEs, Renewal Reps, Inside Sales, and Partner

Managers

5. Identifying and sharing winning coaching practices internally6. Understanding which sales coverage approaches are most successful in the market

We look forward to working closely with your team on this important initiative!

Best Regards,

Marc Metzner Vice President

The Alexander Group, Inc.®

203-905-5584

[email protected]


Who Is The Alexander Group?

We specialize in goWe specialize in go--toto--market consulting and sales market consulting and sales benchmarking…. Helping leaders improve sales strategy, benchmarking…. Helping leaders improve sales strategy, structure, and execution.structure, and execution.

We bring experience, insights, frameworks, and best practice We bring experience, insights, frameworks, and best practice data… to collaboratively help executives make objective data… to collaboratively help executives make objective decisions and deploy programs that work.decisions and deploy programs that work.

The majority of our consultants have sales or marketing The majority of our consultants have sales or marketing experience…and must also achieve onexperience…and must also achieve on--going certification going certification across key goacross key go--toto--market disciplines.market disciplines.

Founded in 1985, AGI has worked with over 50% of the Founded in 1985, AGI has worked with over 50% of the Fortune 1000….and conducted more sales transformation Fortune 1000….and conducted more sales transformation engagements than any other consultancy. engagements than any other consultancy.


What Services Does The Alexander Group Offer?

Defining Best in ClassConsultingConsulting

ResearchResearch EventsEvents

� Over 1000 clients in 25 years

� >70% of the Fortune 500

� Client work globally

� Focused on high margin businesses

� Sales Cost BenchmarkingTM

� Sales Time BenchmarkingTM

� Sales Pipeline

� Sales Alignment

� Sales Productivity & Enablement

The Alexander Group, Inc.

The Leadership Exchange

� The Chief Sales Executive Forum

� Regional Forums & Summits

� Executive Roundtables� Sales Operations Clinics� Peer-to-Peer Connections

Our Primary Business


What Is High-Tech Sales Benchmarking?

Today, many Hi-Tech sales forces are overwhelmed by information:

� Metrics exist for just about everything

� But many raise more questions than they answer

� Without a best practice context, most metrics aren’t actionable

AGI’s Sales Benchmarking provides these key actionable insights and benchmarks:

� Detailed Gap Analysis, comparison of your sales data (eg: on productivity, cost, time, and comp) against thousands of job-matched rep and manager profiles at 35+ leading companies

� Findings Report, identification of your best opportunities to close gaps vs. best practice and vs. your strategy, as well as internal analysis of your data by region, top performers, and rep tenure

� High-Value Readout, in-person Readout to share data, insight, and your best opportunities with your team, including high-impact materials to drop into your management presentations

� Business-Case Ready Data, your Findings Report provides the powerful productivity and ROI building blocks for you to build compelling sales coverage business cases

Unless your sales productivity analytics are “comparative” - put into context against

Industry ‘best practice’ – they aren’t actionable

Unless your sales productivity analytics are “comparative” - put into context against

Industry ‘best practice’ – they aren’t actionable


Participants: Leading Companies Across Key Segments

IllustrativeParticipants


AGI Sales Benchmarking Will Enable You To…

2) Apply Industry Best Practices To…

• Drive more SaaS and Cloud revenue

• Execute Vertical Strategies

• Leverage SW/HW Convergence

• Manage C-Suite Buying

• Optimize Generalist vs. Specialists

• Re-align your Sales Channel Mix

• Increase your Solution Selling

1) Identify Your Best Opportunities To…

• Increase revenue without headcount

• Reduce sales costs

• Increase selling time

• Improve focus on growth products

• Reduce customer service time-traps

• Improve sales manager coaching

• Improve collaboration across roles


AGI High-Tech Sales Benchmarking

The Alexander Group, Inc. is pleased to invite you to participate in the following initiatives:


DETAILED BENCHMARKING of where you stand against key

SW sales productivity and effectiveness benchmarks:

■ Sales Coverage Approaches

■ Sales Cost levels for 20 areas, adding to E/R

■ Sales Productivity levels by role and channel

■ Sales Time Analysis by role, geo, and performance levels

■ Sales Compensation Design trends

WHY PARTICIPATE?

■ Side by side Gap Analysis Report, with Customized

Findings and Recommendations

■ In-house Workshop to present and discuss findings with

your Executive Team

■ Complimentary pass to the Chief Sales Executive Forum,

November 8-10

AGI High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative

Key Financial Drivers for Sales Incentive Planning

MARKET STUDY of SW compensation and quota data:

■ Trends in Actual and Planned Comp Expense Over Rev

■ Sales Incentive Budgeting processes

■ Quota Setting approaches

■ Actual quotas for 6 platform roles

■ Productivity Initiatives – what’s working?

■ Sales force turnover

WHY PARTICIPATE?

■ No cost for participation (IBM sponsored) but needs prompt

commitment due to timeline

■ Exclusive, invitation-only study

■ Quick turnaround summary report for planning

IBM Sponsored Market Study Module


IBM Sponsored Software Industry Study

Why Participate?

� No cost to participate, invitation-only survey

� Receive difficult to obtain actionable information related to sales force productivity including:

� Aggregate planned versus actual compensation costs (Base, incentives and SPIFFS)

� 2009 data will be collected and compared with revenue generated

� Actual quotas for 8 platform roles with a geographic breakdown (Americas, EMEA and AP)

� Basis for quota i.e., new business, renewal and total

� Distribution of performance relative to quota for the front line seller

� Layers of management; manager to seller ratios

� Actual and targeted turnover (voluntary and involuntary)

� Secure industry practices for the following:

� Sales incentive budget funding and process

� Sales quota allocation processes

� Relative to company goal – degree of over assignment

� Year over year increase / timeframe – 6 or 12 months

� Sales productivity initiatives – what worked / didn’t work

� Investment in new account acquisition

� Training expenditures


Topics: Comparisons To Peers In Four Key Areas

� Key sales strategy trends

� Specialized roles (e.g., Specialists, Hunters,

KAMs)

� Headcount ratios across key roles

� Role of channel partners

1. Sales

Coverage and

Structure

2. Sales

Investment /

Cost

� Cost structure across 20 line items

� Cost of key sales support roles

� Sales investment gaps vs. industry

� Rep turnover & career pathing costs

3. Sales

Productivity

� Sales productivity compared to peers

� Sales time compared to peers (2 roles)

� Internal and external best practices

� Quota levels, % of reps achieving quota

� Your high impact improvement opportunities

Cost Analysis

Productivity Analysis

Coverage Review

� Comp Plan approaches & measures

� Commission vs goals/quotas

� Mechanics – threshold, caps, etc.

� Quota allocation processes

� Overlay/specialist crediting

4. Sales Comp

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Threshold

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300%

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0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175%

Threshold

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Attainment of Goal

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Compensation Practices


Process: Quick And Non-Disruptive Series Of Steps

Sales Ops completes benchmarking questionnaire

Sales Rep completes time survey

Sales Leader conducts short

interview on key issues

Deliverable:

In-house, interactive, read-out with

leadership team


Benchmarking Process (cont.)

Evaluating Sales Coverage and Cost Levels

1. During a phone-based survey interview, we

collect your initial coverage and cost data in

the survey template

2. Once the remaining data is collected in the

survey template, we review the final version

together in a one-hour call…so AGI can make

detailed notes to facilitate precise comparisons

3. AGI tabulates and evaluates the findings, data,

and prepares your Gap Analysis and

Benchmarking Report.

Evaluating Sales Time and Productivity

1. You choose which two sales roles will be

evaluated based on your sense of the

challenges they face

2. Together with you, we adjust the survey

wording to reflect your terminology as

necessary

3. You send out the survey announcement to

your sales reps (AGI provides a pre-formatted,

editable, memo) with a link for reps to take the

survey

4. Reps take the 12-minute web survey during

the week that it’s open; we provide nightly

participation updates

AGI collects and evaluates the data, develops the report, and then provides your team with an interactive Findings Read-Out


Deliverables: Interactive Readout And Comprehensive Report

� Changing trends in sales coverage strategies and roles

� An accurate baseline of your current sales time, productivity, costs and sales capacity

� A detailed Gap Analysis, comparing you to industry best practices, and to your own sales strategy

� where you are ahead or behind on key metrics

� your best opportunities to improve sales execution and results

� Industry trends in sales compensation strategies

� Talent retention strategies and benchmarks

� Proven approaches to increase sales productivity

A comprehensive report will be prepared and presented to each

participating company in an interactive Readout. It will include:

Only aggregate information will be shared; all company-specific information will be held in the

strictest confidence


Benchmarking participants receive a complimentary seat to the 2010 Forum…

… and to a Special Break-Out Session: Best Practices In Implementing Your Benchmarking Insights

Complimentary Seat For The Chief Sales Executive Forum


Timeline: To Improve Both Planning And Sales Execution

May June July August

Recruit Participants

Data Collection and Analysis

Report Development

Readout Scheduling

Deliver Reports


Benchmarking Initiative: Scope Options

Option 1: Assessment-Focused Option 2: Planning-Focused

(Add-On Features To Option 1)

1. Gather data remotely through conference calls with Sales

Ops and on-line Sales Rep time survey (10 min)

2. Compare client data to peer companies, across the four key Sales data categories (see p. 5)

3. Conduct Gap Analysis vs industry benchmarks, vs best practices, and vs your sales strategies

4. Define and evaluate key industry trends in sales coverage and tactics that impact your success (see p. 4)

5. Develop detailed Findings Report, covering industry

trends, Gap Analysis, and your best opportunities for improving productivity

6. Deliver In-Person Readout to your Sales Leadership Team, and drive Interactive discussion of findings and

actions

1. Enhance benchmarking data with key stakeholder perspectives… through rep “Ride-Withs”, Focus Groups,

and interviews with important executives/stakeholders

2. Develop the “story behind the numbers”….ie: the Rep’s view of the key productivity constraints & best improvement

ideas

3. Evaluate your Reps’ understanding of, and Rep commitment to key sales strategies and necessary sales

behaviors

4. Quantify and map out your internal Best Practices so they can be shared and coached across all your reps

5. Create customized Recommendations to enable you to address your priority Sales execution challenges and productivity improvement opportunities

6. Develop a prioritized Implementation Roadmap,

leveraging key survey findings, and change management best practices for speeding the adoption curve of desired sales behaviors


Benchmarking Initiative: Scope Selection

The Sales Benchmarking Initiative - Customizable Parameters:

Roles Segments � Regions �

1. Sales Reps � 1. Enterprise � 1. US/North America �

2. Key/National Accounts Reps � 2. Mid-Markets � 2. EMEA �

3. Product Overlay Specialists � 3. SMB � 3. APAC �

4. Inside Sales � 4. Global Accounts �

5. Partner Managers � 5. Other �

6. SEs �

7. Sales Managers �

8. Renewal Reps �

9. Other �

�

Documents

AGI Software Sales Benchmarking Overview 062310