DUBLIN, IRELAND and SEATTLE, WA — (Marketwired) — 04/13/16 — , the global leader in sales transformation, today announced its inaugural Buyer/Seller Value Index, a one-of-a-kind study developed from the simultaneous input of both buyers and sellers. The study of 1,245 participants from 66 countries examined the gap between buyer and seller perspectives and the economic cost of misalignment. The study was published by Altify Knowledge, a knowledge and research resource for Altify–s customers and the broader sales community.
Buyers are coming to salespeople earlier than believed w companies wasting $591B annually, according to @AltifyInc Buyer/Seller Index
The study was a collaborative initiative between Altify and — a strategic procurement consulting company — and was sponsored by InsideSales.com and Xactly Corporation. It brought buyers and sellers together for the first time to help buyers better understand the seller–s perspective and guide sellers to deliver more value to the buyer by fully appreciating the buyer–s point-of-view.
: 67 percent of buyers engage suppliers early in their buying process, according to the buyers surveyed in the study. Assuming that a buyer has gone through most of the buying process before engaging a supplier is both dangerous and expensive, since early engagement increases a seller–s win rate.
Finding buyers who engage early, or finding ways to bring value to the buyer early in buying process is critical. When engagement happens at the –Requirements– stage of the process, the win rate is 30 percent higher than average.
: Pursuing too many meetings without applying appropriate discretion is costing sales organizations and their companies. The cost of meetings that do not result in a follow-up meeting is $591 billion in the US alone, and $1.4 trillion globally.
Even including expected cost and quality of the solution, the overwhelming factor that buyers look at when selecting a supplier is their previous experience with that supplier. 53 percent of buyers put that as their number one criterion for making a purchase.
An average salesperson has a win rate of just over one in five deals — 21 percent. This means that for every opportunity they win, they lose four. The study shows that for a seller who closes $1 million, the cost of pursuing those lost sales is $218,000.
“On the buyer–s side there–s a lot that we can do together to deliver value to our companies beyond just cost savings,” said Ingrid De Doncker, CEO of IDD Consult. “The Altify study is replete with insights for both buyers and sellers to help us drive more value as well as save costs for both parties. When we work sooner and closer together with suppliers, we improve our decision intelligence to match internal growth to external value differentiation. How well any buyer extracts value out of the supply market is a strategic opportunity. How and when any seller delivers value to the buyer results in improved sales. Both parties at the negotiation table have a pivotal role to play in this value translation towards improved results for their companies.”
“It–s always better to have the perspective of those you are looking to do business with, and the in-depth findings from the Altify Buyer/Seller Value Index 2016 are very exciting,” said Donal Daly, CEO of Altify. “The level of alignment between buyers and sellers is striking in some areas, but there is a huge opportunity for growth for sales professionals who want to bring more value to their customers and take a customer-first perspective.”
The Altify Knowledge study also explored the perceived value-add in the buying cycle of the salesperson, business stakeholder and procurement function, as well as the perspectives of Millennials versus Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. It looked at the differences between simple and complex sales processes, big and small transaction values, the future role of salespeople, the number of decision makers involved in purchase and the efficacy of salespeople in gaining access to those decision makers.
The company also today announced to reflect a higher standard of customer-first selling and a flagship new solution — , the world–s first Augmented Intelligence Sales Platform.
The study–s findings were based on quantitative analysis of the submissions of 1,245 respondents between February 16, 2016 and March 24, 2016. Comparative analysis of each of the data points for both buyers and sellers was undertaken to establish absolute and relative perspectives. The analysis was also expanded to consider demographic, firmographic and geographic factors to establish further insights. Where mathematical calculations were conducted based on ranges, the median point of the range was used. All amounts were calculated in US dollar currency. Where outliers existed in any of the data submitted, outliers were subjected to qualitative assessment for inclusion or exclusion. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics was used to determine the number of sellers (15,000,000) and professional buyers (961,000) in the US. LinkedIn was used to determine indicative global numbers for sellers (35,000,000) and buyers (3,700,000).
To receive your copy of the Altify Buyer/Seller Value Index 2016 please visit
For progressive B2B sales organizations, Altify helps sales teams make their customers more successful, so they win the deals that matter, increase wallet share in existing customers and manage overall sales team performance. With applied knowledge and insight we make it easy for your customer to buy from you, making it easy for salespeople, managers and executives to accelerate revenue growth consistently.
Customers include: Autodesk, BMC, BT, GE, HP Enterprise, Johnson Controls, Optum, Salesforce, Virgin Media Business and more.
Michael Salmassian
BOCA Communications
+1 408-655-0832
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