User Review
( votes)Author: congruentX
Understanding and adapting to the evolving landscape is crucial for success in the dynamic world of sales and customer relationship management (CRM). Recently, I was listening to a podcast, and Jacco van der Kooij, Managing Director at Winning by Design, made an appearance, sharing important insights on significant shifts in sales performance metrics and strategies that are reshaping our industry. In this post, we’ll explore these changes and discuss how our approach at congruentX aligns with these new challenges, focusing on outcome realization rather than just product sales.
Shifting Sales Performance Metrics
Van der Kooij’s analysis indicates a worrying trend where the gap between the top and bottom sales performers is widening. The proportion of “bottom performers” has grown from 20% to 28%, while “top performers” have decreased from 10% to just 4.4%. This shift suggests that a smaller group of salespeople are driving a disproportionate amount of revenue, highlighting the need for strategic realignment in sales teams.
This comes amid a landslide of other bad trends on the sales front. But van der Kooij also shared some good news—right now, in sales, the top one-third outperforms the middle group by 1.5x in revenue.
So, what is the secret of the top one-third? They’ve clearly stumbled onto something that works…
The Importance of Outcome-Focused Selling
This is where the gold nugget from the podcast came in. The key to success, as pointed out by van der Kooij, lies in the top one-third of sales teams that focus on understanding and fulfilling what the customer intends to achieve with their purchase. This approach contrasts sharply with the bottom one-third, who remain focused on selling products like SKUs and licenses. This insight underscores the importance of transitioning from a product-centric to a customer-centric selling model.
Here are two key questions you can ask to evaluate your current sales process:
- What are you seeing when being sold to and when selling?
- How can you figure out how to help your clients with outcome realization?
It might mean you have to swim against the current a bit, but it will be worth it when you see the results impact your bottom line.
CongruentX’s Innovative Approach to CRM Implementation
At congruentX, we recognized early on the importance of aligning our CRM services with our clients’ broader business goals.
In our project-based CRM service, we introduced a subscription service in 2021. We did that so we could be with our clients to create a vehicle that not only supports our clients continually but also focuses on achieving tangible outcomes.
Last year, we combined tools from Microsoft Copilot for Sales and our proprietary solution, Dialogue Copilot, to remove friction from the data collection process. We then connected to our client’s go-to-market strategies with Playbooks customized for their best practices. Because Dialogue Copilot integrates seamlessly with the CRM system our clients are already using, and salespeople have seen immediate results with a reduction in admin work (saving five to seven hours per person per week on average), we’ve seen incredible success with user adoption rates. The tangible business outcome for our client is good data that makes their CRM useful without making users “do CRM.”
Outcome-Centric Business Model
Our commitment to client success goes beyond traditional service delivery. By tying our financial success to the outcomes we help achieve, we ensure that our goals are directly aligned with those of our clients. This approach “forces” us to collaborate closely with clients, moving away from merely “turning on tech” to creating lasting business value.
The evolving sales landscape requires a strategic reevaluation of CRM systems’ implementation and use. At congruentX, we are committed to leading this change by focusing on outcome realization and sustained client collaboration.
We are curious to hear about your experiences and challenges in adapting to these new sales dynamics.
How has your journey been, and what steps are you taking to navigate these turbulent waters?
Let’s continue this conversation and work together towards more strategic, outcome-focused CRM implementations. Contact us
The post Evolving Sales Metrics: How Outcome-Focused Strategies Drive Success appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.
