Sales Enablement Benchmarking Report

1. Sales Enablement Benchmarking Report Benchmark Report Sales Enablement in 2013: Benchmarks, Insights & Advice Sponsored By: © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Executive Summary 13 Who Owns Sales Enablement 5 Research Methodology 14 Sales Enablement Maturity 6 Presence of Sales Enablement 15 Sales Enablement Strategic Orientation 7 What Sales Enablement Does 18 Sales Enablement Budget & Staffing 9 Effectiveness of Sales Enablement 19 Measuring Sales Enablement 11 How Sales Enablement is Understood 21 The Future of Sales Enablement 13 Who Owns Sales Enablement 22 Analyst Bottom Line 13 Sales Enablement Maturity 23 Acknowledgements TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Executive Summary 13 Who Owns Sales Enablement 5 Research Methodology 14 Sales Enablement Maturity 6 Presence of Sales Enablement 15 Sales Enablement Strategic Orientation 7 What Sales Enablement Does 18 Sales Enablement Budget & Staffing 9 Effectiveness of Sales Enablement 19 Measuring Sales Enablement 11 How Sales Enablement is Understood 21 The Future of Sales Enablement 13 Who Owns Sales Enablement 22 Analyst Bottom Line 13 Sales Enablement Maturity 23 Acknowledgements

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sales Enablement seems to suffer from an identity crisis. This study paints a picture of a function that for many organizations presents a paradox, and for others, a panacea. A marketer from a high-tech firm with over $100 million in annual sales shared, “I have not heard of Sales Enablement.” Similar comments came from a number of others who participated in this benchmarking study. Other survey participants, however, have a very clear vision for Sales Enablement, and their organizations report that it contributes significantly. From a research perspective, the varying views and contributions of Sales Enablement revealed in this study bring to mind the fable of the blind men and the elephant. Each man examined a different part of the elephant – the tail, trunk, ear, side and leg – and drew a completely different conclusion from the others as to what an elephant was like. In the fable, none of the men were able to develop a correct, composite view of the whole animal. There are certainly some parallels between this fable and Sales Enablement, but this study makes it clear that plenty of organizations have figured out exactly what Sales Enablement is, and are using it to their advantage. There are also differing definitions for Sales Enablement. The most universal one discovered in this study defines it as a function that “develops strategy to help improve the sales process.” This is a logical definition, but the study reveals that this definition isn’t often supported by process orientation, measurement, a level of staffing or budget that would adequately support a function identified as “strategic.” Despite the variety of views and reported effectiveness of Sales Enablement, a clear picture emerges from the study of what this function looks like where it is working well. This picture provides a source of best practices to help any organization leverage Sales Enablement to facilitate achieving revenue goals. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Sales Enablement seems to suffer from an identity crisis. This study paints a picture of a function that for many organizations presents a paradox, and for others, a panacea. A marketer from a high-tech firm with over $100 million in annual sales shared, “I have not heard of Sales Enablement.” Similar comments came from a number of others who participated in this benchmarking study. Other survey participants, however, have a very clear vision for Sales Enablement, and their organizations report that it contributes significantly. From a research perspective, the varying views and contributions of Sales Enablement revealed in this study bring to mind the fable of the blind men and the elephant. Each man examined a different part of the elephant – the tail, trunk, ear, side and leg – and drew a completely different conclusion from the others as to what an elephant was like. In the fable, none of the men were able to develop a correct, composite view of the whole animal. There are certainly some parallels between this fable and Sales Enablement, but this study makes it clear that plenty of organizations have figured out exactly what Sales Enablement is, and are using it to their advantage. There are also differing definitions for Sales Enablement. The most universal one discovered in this study defines it as a function that “develops strategy to help improve the sales process.” This is a logical definition, but the study reveals that this definition isn’t often supported by process orientation, measurement, a level of staffing or budget that would adequately support a function identified as “strategic.” Despite the variety of views and reported effectiveness of Sales Enablement, a clear picture emerges from the study of what this function looks like where it is working well. This picture provides a source of best practices to help any organization leverage Sales Enablement to facilitate achieving revenue goals.

4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - continued Demand Metric collected responses from over 380 participants, and the analysis of the survey data provides these key findings:  Sales Enablement is most commonly defined as a function that “develops strategy to help improve the sales process.” Yet 54% of survey participants indicate that the function is either very or primarily operationally oriented as it exists in their organizations.  Half the participants in this study indicated the presence of a Sales Enablement role or function in their organizations. Of those organizations that do not have this function, slightly over half cite lack of understanding as the reason.  Of the organizations that have Sales Enablement, 75% report that it makes a moderate or significant contribution.  Where Sales Enablement is effective in terms of contribution, 76% of survey participants report that it is also well or very well understood. On contrast, where it is not effective in terms of contribution, 74% report that it is poorly or very poorly understood.  47% of organizations where Sales Enablement is not effective in terms of contribution have no measurements in place for the function. This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. We hope you enjoy this study! Jerry Rackley, Chief Analyst Demand Metric EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - continued Demand Metric collected responses from over 380 participants, and the analysis of the survey data provides these key findings:  Sales Enablement is most commonly defined as a function that “develops strategy to help improve the sales process.” Yet 54% of survey participants indicate that the function is either very or primarily operationally oriented as it exists in their organizations.  Half the participants in this study indicated the presence of a Sales Enablement role or function in their organizations. Of those organizations that do not have this function, slightly over half cite lack of understanding as the reason.  Of the organizations that have Sales Enablement, 75% report that it makes a moderate or significant contribution.  Where Sales Enablement is effective in terms of contribution, 76% of survey participants report that it is also well or very well understood. On contrast, where it is not effective in terms of contribution, 74% report that it is poorly or very poorly understood.  47% of organizations where Sales Enablement is not effective in terms of contribution have no measurements in place for the function. This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. We hope you enjoy this study! Jerry Rackley, Chief Analyst Demand Metric

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The Demand Metric 2013 Sales Enablement Survey was administered online during the period of August 9th through August 26th, 2013. During this period, over 380 responses were collected, 330 of which were complete and not duplicates and were therefore included in the analysis. All members of the Demand Metric community received email invitations to participate in the survey, and participation was encouraged through a random draw incentive for an iPad Mini. While respondent email addresses were collected in order to facilitate the prize drawing, no identifying information was retained or considered in the analysis of the survey data. Summarized below is the basic information was collected about survey respondents to enable filtering and analysis of data: Annual Revenues: Type of Organization:         $10 million or less (39%) $11 to $25 million (10%) $26 to $100 million (18%) $101 to $500 million (14%) Over $500 million (19%) Achievement of Revenue Goals:      Fell far short of goals (12%) Just missed achieving goals (24%) Achieved goal (42%) Exceeded goals (18%) Far exceeded goals (4%) Primary Role of Respondent:       RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The Demand Metric 2013 Sales Enablement Survey was administered online during the period of August 9th through August 26th, 2013. During this period, over 380 responses were collected, 330 of which were complete and not duplicates and were therefore included in the analysis. All members of the Demand Metric community received email invitations to participate in the survey, and participation was encouraged through a random draw incentive for an iPad Mini. While respondent email addresses were collected in order to facilitate the prize drawing, no identifying information was retained or considered in the analysis of the survey data. Summarized below is the basic information was collected about survey respondents to enable filtering and analysis of data: Annual Revenues: Type of Organization:         $10 million or less (39%) $11 to $25 million (10%) $26 to $100 million (18%) $101 to $500 million (14%) Over $500 million (19%) Achievement of Revenue Goals:      Fell far short of goals (12%) Just missed achieving goals (24%) Achieved goal (42%) Exceeded goals (18%) Far exceeded goals (4%) Primary Role of Respondent:      

6. PRESENCE OF SALES ENABLEMENT Does your organization have a Sales Enablement role or function? Don't Know, 9% The most basic question this study attempted to answer was how prevalent Sales Enablement is as a role or function in organizations, either as a formal “box on the org chart” or an informal role. More large companies than medium or small ones report having a Sales Enablement function: Company Size Small (≥$25M) No Don’t Know 38% Yes 52% 10% Yes, 50% Med ($26-$500M) 55% 37% 8% Large (<$500M) No, 41% 68% 25% 7% Company size was determined using annual revenue, where small companies were under $25 million in revenue, medium-sized companies between $26 and $500 million, and large companies were over $500 million in annual revenues. 6 PRESENCE OF SALES ENABLEMENT Does your organization have a Sales Enablement role or function? Don't Know, 9% The most basic question this study attempted to answer was how prevalent Sales Enablement is as a role or function in organizations, either as a formal “box on the org chart” or an informal role. More large companies than medium or small ones report having a Sales Enablement function: Company Size Small (≥$25M) No Don’t Know 38% Yes 52% 10% Yes, 50% Med ($26-$500M) 55% 37% 8% Large (<$500M) No, 41% 68% 25% 7% Company size was determined using annual revenue, where small companies were under $25 million in revenue, medium-sized companies between $26 and $500 million, and large companies were over $500 million in annual revenues. 6

7. WHAT SALES ENABLEMENT DOES Definitions of Sales Enablement 61% Develops strategy 50% Creates materials and assets 43% System administration and support 42% Provides sales effectiveness training 41% Performs analysis Identifies cross-selling opportunities 36% Helps integrate new channels 36% 35% Offers coarching to members 34% Provides product training 30% Flattens organizational boundaries 26% On-boards sales staff Other 4% 0% 7 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% An important goal of this study was simply to understand how organizations view Sales Enablement. The study survey asked the following question: “Which statement best characterizes your understanding of Sales Enablement?” Participants were allowed to choose any of the provided responses that applied. Furthermore, all participants were asked to respond to this question, regardless of whether they had a Sales Enablement role or function in their organization. The story of this data is that Sales Enablement is multifaceted. When it is defined by the functions it performs, no single functional definition covers all that Sales Enablement encompasses. Ari WHAT SALES ENABLEMENT DOES Definitions of Sales Enablement 61% Develops strategy 50% Creates materials and assets 43% System administration and support 42% Provides sales effectiveness training 41% Performs analysis Identifies cross-selling opportunities 36% Helps integrate new channels 36% 35% Offers coarching to members 34% Provides product training 30% Flattens organizational boundaries 26% On-boards sales staff Other 4% 0% 7 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% An important goal of this study was simply to understand how organizations view Sales Enablement. The study survey asked the following question: “Which statement best characterizes your understanding of Sales Enablement?” Participants were allowed to choose any of the provided responses that applied. Furthermore, all participants were asked to respond to this question, regardless of whether they had a Sales Enablement role or function in their organization. The story of this data is that Sales Enablement is multifaceted. When it is defined by the functions it performs, no single functional definition covers all that Sales Enablement encompasses. Ari

8. WHAT SALES ENABLEMENT DOES At the same time, the view of Sales Enablement is clearly a strategic one: the top choice, “It develops strategy…” clearly casts Sales Enablement in a role that the study reveals it is not playing in most organizations. In other words, the perception and reality differ, as this report will discuss in a later section. Further analysis of the chart on Page 7 was performed to discover if those in sales roles have a different definition of Sales Enablement than those in marketing. This analysis revealed two statistically significant differences:  The Sales Enablement definition, “It creates materials and assets to improve the sales team’s effectiveness” was selected more often by marketers (65%) than members of the sales team (44%). This result is likely a reflection of the marketing team identifying with a function for which they have responsibility.  The definition, “It provides product training” was also selected by marketing (44%) more frequently than by members of the sales team (21%). 8 WHAT SALES ENABLEMENT DOES At the same time, the view of Sales Enablement is clearly a strategic one: the top choice, “It develops strategy…” clearly casts Sales Enablement in a role that the study reveals it is not playing in most organizations. In other words, the perception and reality differ, as this report will discuss in a later section. Further analysis of the chart on Page 7 was performed to discover if those in sales roles have a different definition of Sales Enablement than those in marketing. This analysis revealed two statistically significant differences:  The Sales Enablement definition, “It creates materials and assets to improve the sales team’s effectiveness” was selected more often by marketers (65%) than members of the sales team (44%). This result is likely a reflection of the marketing team identifying with a function for which they have responsibility.  The definition, “It provides product training” was also selected by marketing (44%) more frequently than by members of the sales team (21%). 8

9. EFFECTIVENESS OF SALES ENABLEMENT It’s one thing to understand how Sales Enablement is defined. It’s quite another to examine how effective it is. Half of the participants in this study indicated that their organization had a Sales Enablement role or function. This group was asked: Sales Enablement Effectiveness 45% 40% 42% 35% 33% 30% “How effective is the Sales Enablement role or function at your organization?” “Do the 33% of organizations that report Sales Enablement is making a significant contribution view it differently from those who report it makes a slight or no discernible contribution?” 25% 20% 15% 13% 10% 5% 7% 5% 0% Don't know 9 No Slight Moderate Significant discernible contribution contribution contribution contribution When it comes to effectiveness, there are no statistically meaningful differences for these functional definitions:       On-board new sales staff Provide product training Identify cross-selling opportunities Perform analysis on how well our sale process works Create materials and assets for sales effectiveness Develop strategy to improve the sales process EFFECTIVENESS OF SALES ENABLEMENT It’s one thing to understand how Sales Enablement is defined. It’s quite another to examine how effective it is. Half of the participants in this study indicated that their organization had a Sales Enablement role or function. This group was asked: Sales Enablement Effectiveness 45% 40% 42% 35% 33% 30% “How effective is the Sales Enablement role or function at your organization?” “Do the 33% of organizations that report Sales Enablement is making a significant contribution view it differently from those who report it makes a slight or no discernible contribution?” 25% 20% 15% 13% 10% 5% 7% 5% 0% Don't know 9 No Slight Moderate Significant discernible contribution contribution contribution contribution When it comes to effectiveness, there are no statistically meaningful differences for these functional definitions:       On-board new sales staff Provide product training Identify cross-selling opportunities Perform analysis on how well our sale process works Create materials and assets for sales effectiveness Develop strategy to improve the sales process