Sales Optimism Is High Despite Market Turbulence
Despite a rocky start to the year that is forcing companies to focus on sales and marketing efficiencies, sales leaders across the country remain optimistic about sales growth, new research reveals.
More than 75 percent of sales leaders predict steady or accelerated growth in 2016, according to the Business Growth Index.
Overall, sales leaders project a 31 percent increase in year-over-year sales growth for 2016, up from 23 percent in 2015.
The Business Growth Index, published by XANT Research, is a comprehensive research report covering sales growth, sales leader confidence, priorities and the impact of technology on sales performance.
Researchers analyzed sales pipeline data from InsideSales’ HD Forecast™ pipeline and forecast database and surveyed sales leaders for additional insights. The report highlights important trends in pipeline health that you can’t find anywhere else.
Key findings
Here’s a quick summary of some of the most significant findings:
- Software companies reported the highest 2015 sales growth (36.3%) and projected the largest 2016 growth (44.7%).
- Tech companies are moving upmarket to chase larger deals (9.7% increase in average deal size), even though these deals take longer to close (7.5% increase in sales cycle length).
- Sales teams across all industries experienced a 2.1% decrease in average close rates in 2015, while sales pipelines continued to show healthy growth at 4.5%.
All things considered, 2016 looks to be a strong year for sales. For additional insights, take a look at the full Business Growth Index report.
