2007-2008 Global Sales Perceptions Report
Is the Sales Force Delivering Business Value?

By Simon Mitchell, Bradford Thomas, and Paul Hughes

In order to understand how people responsible for corporate buying decisions feel about their interactions with salespeople, DDI has conducted a major Global study.

We specifically wanted to know how these people view their buyer-seller relationships:

• What qualities do they value in a salesperson?
• Have their expectations of salespeople changed?
• What value do salespeople provide to buying organisations?

Highlights of the study include:

• Often negative view of the sales profession. 46% percent of buyers would not be proud to call themselves a salesperson.
• Buyers have increasingly high expectations of sales people and these are not being met.
• Trusted business advisor or just order-taker? Just 54 percent of buyers said they view their sales contacts as business partners. Only 31 percent said that "Relationship Building" is a top quality they value in salespeople.
• Loyalty – Who owns the customer relationship? 43 percent of buyers feel more loyal to the salesperson than the company.

Survey respondents included 2,705 corporate buyers across six countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and U.S.

Click here to read the 2007-2008 Global Sales Perceptions Report in Europe.

Click here for more information on the 2007-2008 Global Sales Perceptions Report in the United States & Canada

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