In sales today we all say we are customer-centric. That would imply that we have access to the right quantity and quality of Customer Intelligence, to be in a position to know what challenges our customers are facing, what is causing those problems to exist, how our solution might align with their needs in order to help them achieve gain or remove pain, etc.
Yet CSO Insights’ sales performance study data shows that is often not the case. Of the 1,600+ companies surveyed in our 2008 study, 49.5% of the participating firms reported that they needed improvement at thoroughly researching their customers and prospects.
Is that a real problem though, does being ineffective at this aspect of selling have real cost associated with it? Considering that the ability of reps to convert leads to first conversations (in person or on the phone)and the ability to close forecast deals (not pipeline, deals reps said for sure would close) are both at all time lows this...

