Sales Enablement Practices and Trends 2012 Survey Report. In response to changing buying behavior, marketing is using thought leadership to generate and nurture leads. However, sales is still promoting offerings and capabilities. The sales force is challenged to communicate thought leadership insights and points of view. Marketing and others responsible for sales enablement must teach sales to how to use thought leadership in selling to open doors and nurture relationships. Based on the results from our online survey, ITSMA has defined four critical success factors that will enable sales: Tight marketing and sales alignment Training on how to use sales tools and thought leadership content Pursuit support and sales “concierge” services Formal processes to measure effectiveness, gather feedback, and adjust as needed This report, Enabling Sales: Four Critical Success Factors, gives details on each of these success factors, as well as information on the best practice model ITSMA has created for sales and marketing alignment. Methodology Online web-based survey Survey invitations were emailed during March 2012 to ITSMA member and select non-member companies 35 representatives from 30 companies responded ITSMA analyzed the data three ways: Comparison to the ITSMA Survey: Sales Enablement, August 2009 Company type (sells products and services vs. primarily services) Sales enablement performance (high performers vs. average or below) Note: High performers reported that their sales enablement programs are having a significant impact on sales performance.

1. ITSMA Online Survey
Enabling Sales:
Four Critical Success Factors
Julie Schwartz
Senior Vice President
Research and Thought Leadership
Abbreviated Summary | April 2012
Note: This Abbreviated Summary highlights some of the significant findings from
Enabling Sales: Four Critical Success Factors.
A more in-depth analysis can be found in the full report.

2. In response to
changing buying
behavior, marketing
has moved on…
… but the sales
team has been
left behind

3. Why has sales been left behind?
Critical The depth and quality of thought 45
leadership is one of the key criteria that
determine which providers make it 23
Important While it isn’t critical, it is 43
considered when evaluating solution
providers and building our shortlist 35
Somewhat important 10
We consider good thought leadership a bonus
but not a deciding factor for our shortlist 26
2
Of minor importance
It’s a small factor in deciding our shortlist 12
Marketing is generating and
nurturing leads with
Of no importance 1
thought leadership
2011
We don’t feel that it contributes at all (N=465)
to our decision 4 2010
(N=486)
88% of buyers of complex solutions report
that thought leadership is important or
critical to their buying decisions*
However, sales is still promoting
offerings and capabilities!
*ITSMA, How B2B Buyers Consume Information Study, 2011; N=465

4. Nearly half the sales people are order takers,
still selling based on feature/function
What percentage of your sales people sell based on…?
Mean % of Sales People (N=32)
Epiphany/thought leadership selling:
Proactively identify opportunities for the buyer to gain competitive
advantage based on a deep understanding of the buyer’s
business and use subject matter expertise/thought leadership to
add value and engage in conversation
13%
Solution selling: Product/services selling:
Identify buyer pain points, map Describe relevant features and
to company’s offerings, and 42% 45% function and take orders
make a solution
recommendation
Source: ITSMA Survey: Sales Enablement, April 2012

5. The sales force is challenged to
communicate thought leadership insights
and points of view
On average, how well do your sales people communicate the following to customers and prospects?
% of Respondents (N~32)
Mean
Rating
Details of your offering 3 31 41 25 3.9
What your company brand stands for 6 41 22 31 3.8
Their understanding of their accounts’
3 10 23 48 16 3.6
business and key business issues
Your company’s differentiation 3 6 34 38 19 3.6
Mapping of buyers’ pain points to the
9 44 31 16 3.5
company’s offerings
Your company’s point of view on key
22 38 38 3 3.2
business topics relevant to buyers
Application of insights and thought leadership
33 40 23 3 3.0
to solve buyers’ business issues
Insights from recent research or thought
leadership initiatives 35 39 23 3 2.9
1 = Not at All Well 2 3 4 5 = Very Well
Note: Mean rating based on a 5-point scale, where 1=Not at all well and 5=Very well.
Source: ITSMA Survey: Sales Enablement, April 2012

6. After the lead hand off, sales must be
enabled to do thought leadership selling
Capture and hold their Create community,
attention with relevant both on- and offline
thought leadership
Build relationships
with
thought
leadership
selling

7. Marketing and others responsible for sales
enablement must teach sales to use
thought leadership to open doors and
nurture relationships
Sales success
1. Tight marketing and sales alignment
depends on:
2. Training on how to use sales tools
and thought leadership content
3. Pursuit support and sales
“concierge” services
4. Formal processes to measure
effectiveness, gather feedback,
and adjust as needed

8. Study Methodology Type of Company
Which of the following best describes your
company? % of Respondents (N=35)
During March 2012, ITSMA used a web-based
survey to gather data from its members and select
non-members about its sales enablement content Primarily sell 49% 51% Sell both products and
and initiatives. ITSMA received responses from 35 services services
representatives from 30 companies and analyzed
the collected data in three ways:
• Comparison to the ITSMA Survey:
Sales Enablement, August 2009 Sales Model
• Company type (sells products and services vs. Which of the following best describes the sales
primarily services) channels you and your organization are
responsible for enabling? % of Respondents (N=35)
• Sales enablement performance (high
performers vs. average or below)
A mix of direct sales
Note: High performers reported that their sales and channel partners/ 46% Primarily a direct sales
enablement programs are having a significant alliances 54% force
impact on sales performance.
For the purposes of this study, Source: ITSMA Survey: Sales Enablement, April 2012
ITSMA defines sales enablement as:
Content and initiatives designed to help individual sales people to increase productivity
by reducing the effort, cost, and time to move a prospect through the buying process.

9. Study respondents answered from both Respondent Titles
marketing and sales perspectives and From which perspective will you be answering
this survey? % of Respondents (N=35)
represented organizations in 6 major Sales Product/
management Other services/
industries with revenue ranging from less 3% 9% solutions
Sales
than $500 million to over $5 billion. operations
management
or marketing
3%
30%
Industry Subsector Field
Which of these categories best describes your marketing
industry subsector? % of Respondents (N=35) 26%
6 Other hardware/software systems and
3 solutions
Corporate
9 marketing
Information management services 29%
17
Computer systems and solutions Organization Size
provider
23 How large is your company’s services business
Software provider (annual services revenue)? % of Respondents (N=35)
Network/telecommunications systems
and solution provider 51
43 Professional services firm
23
Source: ITSMA Survey: Sales Enablement, April 2012 17
9
Less than $500–999.9M $1–5B Greater than
$500M $5B

10. Table of Contents for
Enabling Sales:
Four Critical Success Factors
Slide
Executive Summary 3
Methodology and Respondent Demographics 33
Detailed Findings 42
Appendix:
72
Sales Enablement Performance Assessment
Crosstabs
By Sales Enablement Performance 83
By Company Type 117
For More Information
Julie Schwartz
Senior Vice President
Research and Thought Leadership
ITSMA
jschwartz@itsma.com
+1-407-788-8220