Data access and use of analytics increase sales success

Greater access to data, frequent use of analytic tools and the adoption of data at higher levels of the organisation lead to better sales performance, according to the findings of a global study by the Economist Intelligence Unit. According to the study, 97 per cent of companies which indicated they were very good at executing on sales objectives had real-time, self-service access to customer or account data. Of those, three in five of these firms said they access sales reports one or more times per day.

The study, which surveyed 550 global sales leaders, finds that sales performance is a priority for companies, with nearly 80 per cent of companies indicating that managing sales performance was 'somewhat important.' However, companies lack a degree of sales confidence with only a quarter of respondents citing they were 'very good' at executing on sales objectives. Insufficient or poor quality data was one of the top barriers to better sales performance, finds the report.