The glass ceiling in sales is real
Here are 3 ways that women in sales leadership break through
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The habits, technologies, and practical advice to help you crush your quota.
For International Women's Day, we found that the glass ceiling in sales is real. Get infographic.
Deep sellers are nearly 2x more likely to exceed their quota than shallow sellers.
We analyzed 104 seller behaviors to identify the 3 habits, that are the real needle movers — the ones that are most highly correlated to your chances of exceeding quota. Sellers who exhibit most, if not all, of these behaviors routinely excel within their sales organizations as top performers, or what we call deep sellers. The sellers who do the least of these behaviors are low performers or shallow sellers.
Here's the good news. Becoming a deep seller is as easy as adopting some new habits and you will become nearly 2x more likely to crush your quota.
Here are the three habits — comprised of 10 behaviors — that are proven to impact B2B sales success.
Habit 1: Prioritize high-potential accounts
Research customers and prospects, and use sales intelligence tools to prioritize high-potential accounts.
Habit 2: Identify and build key buyer relationships
Establish and build a high number of contacts within an account, create warm paths through connections, identify and research key people using social networks, and spend more time nurturing relationships.
Habit 3: Find hidden allies and timely intel for relevant outreach
Gather intel from hidden allies and monitor social networks and the news, to reach out with timely and relevant information.
Deep sellers embrace AI and sales intelligence technologies
We found that deep sellers overwhelmingly use AI to save time, conduct research, and engage in account planning. They are also using sales intelligence tools, such as Sales Navigator, to glean information to supercharge all 3 deep sales habits.
Top performers are primarily using AI to save time
The bigger question is how they are using it: nearly 2 in 5 sellers using AI are creating efficiencies and automating tasks, which frees up more of their time to do more of the human parts of selling.
75% of B2B salespeople globally who exceeded quota use AI.
Sales intelligence tools are game changers for deep sellers
62% of deep sellers utilize sales intelligence solutions to prioritize high-potential accounts — based on signals that suggest that they have a higher likelihood of closing. That’s significantly higher than shallow sellers (15%).
Sellers using sales intelligence tools to identify whitespace within current customer accounts.
“Although we use the term artificial intelligence, nothing about the buyer-seller relationship should be artificial. It should be genuine. The key question is, “How can generative AI help our account teams become more effective and productive, so they can double down on their relationship skills?”
Barney Brown
Global Head of Sales Enablement at Amazon Web Services
We demystify the buyer-seller relationship
We asked B2B buyers what they expect — and think — about B2B sellers. We found that what B2B buyers want from their sales partners is supported by the deep sales approach.
Expected change in purchasing budgets in the next 12 months
Despite market uncertainty, buyers and sellers both believe that budgets will increase in the next 12 months. While sellers are more bullish, both sellers (76%) and buyers (64%) globally expect budgets to increase in 2024, with most expecting increases from 1%-24%. Interestingly, the percentage of both buyers and sellers who expected purchasing budgets to decrease was in the single digits.
#RelationshipsMatter and lead to revenue, over and over again.
Moreover, more than half of buyers say that they bought from the same seller even after they moved to another company (54%). Similarly, 50% of buyers report that they maintained their purchasing relationships with the same salesperson, even after they changed companies. For sellers who invest in buyer relationships, it pays off in spades.
Half of buyers maintain long-term relationships with sellers — and over half purchase from them again.
Almost 3 in 5 buyers say they have purchased from the same salesperson at least twice.
Nearly 2 in 3 sellers say that they have sold to the same decision maker at least twice.
“B2B buyers at all levels operate with a simple philosophy — understand how I work, what I care about, and my role in the organization. My advice to salespeople is to really take the time to dig deep because sales is never about the sale itself. Instead, it’s about the relationships you build along the way.”
Neil Patwardhan
Senior Vice President, Sales, Accenture
Here's your deep sales playbook, a practical guide to proven success
Based on our analysis of 104 selling behaviors, we identified the 10 most impactful ways that you — and your team — should invest your time for the highest chance of payoff.
Deep sellers multithread more often than their peers
46% of deep sellers have relationships with 7 or more decision makers in an account and only 13% of shallow sellers say the same. We see a similar pattern regarding the number of contacts in the buying committee and purchase influencers. the more relationships in an account. That means that the more relationships that sellers have within an account, the higher the chance of closing.
Sellers that have 7 or more key decision-maker contacts within an account
Deep sellers tap into hidden allies for inside intel
Deep sellers (68%) strongly agree that connecting with people outside of the buying committee to learn what is happening at a company helps them move a deal forward. That’s significantly higher than shallow sellers (10%). In fact, according to insights from Sales Navigator, hidden allies can shorten the path to deal closing an average of 17% faster.
68% of deep sellers strongly agree that connecting with people outside of the buying committee to learn what is happening at a company helps them move a deal forward.
“The people in your network — allies — can give you a window into use cases, decision-making circles, and challenges among cross-functional teams, to arm you with even better insights and allow you to be more consultative with your buyers.”
Samantha McKenna
CEO + Founder, #samsales
Additional deep sales research
Explore more insights beyond the global report + relevant product news.
The glass ceiling in sales is real
Here are 3 ways that women in sales leadership break through
Watch a replay of LinkedIn Studio sessions from Feb. '24
LinkedIn and Ipsos execs discuss the research findings and the future of Sales Navigator.
How to boost your revenue and crush your quota in 2024
LinkedIn and Ipsos teamed up to uncover the behaviors that lead to sales success right now.
What's the ROI of Sales Navigator?
Forrester found that Sales Navigator would pay for itself in less than six months.