Key Background and Findings of the Industrial Performance Group’s
Study of North American Salespeople, “What Consumes Your Time?”
- Customers are the source of all revenue. But in the day-to-day operations and finances of running a business, companies can lose sight of this basic truth.
- In the business-to-business world, the customer’s main contact is the salesperson. Salespeople spend more time with the customer than anyone.
- But the average salesperson spends only 38 percent of his or her time selling — based on our survey of 1,502 salespeople, in 17 industries in North American manufacturing and distribution.
- Salespeople spend 23 percent of their time — nearly three months out of every year — dealing with problems and mistakes, searching for information and expediting orders.
Much of this could be prevented. Companies have outsourced and restructured customer service and other functions to reduce costs. But when customers don’t get what they need, they turn to their main point of contact: the salesperson. This uses up valuable time for salespeople.
- This has a real impact on revenue, operating expenses and earnings.
- But management generally cannot see this impact, due to the limitations of traditional financial statements.
- With more time to sell, salespeople could bring in more revenue from new and existing customers.
- Freeing up a sales force’s time is more cost-effective than hiring more salespeople — especially when qualified people are hard to find.
- It’s easier than companies realize to start removing the barriers that hold their salespeople back. Companies can start small. Inexpensive steps can bring high returns.
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For more information, contact:
Industrial Performance Group
Robert Nadeau, Managing Principal
800.867.2778
rnadeau@indusperfgrp.com
©1996-2006 Industrial Performance Group
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