Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Executive Summary 5

The Sales Process 7

Sales Tool Inventory 10

Sales Tool Integration 14

Importance, Satisfaction 20
and Challenges with Tools

Impact of Tool Integration on Revenue 23

Analyst Bottom Line 27

Acknowledgements 29

Appendix: Survey Background 31

HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Introduction
Sales Tools HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | INTRODUCTION 4
Integration

This Sales Tool Integration study had a simple goal: to determine if integrating
multiple sales tools that support different parts of the buying journey result
in greater efficiencies and better outcomes.

B2B sales and marketing professionals are very aware of the presence of
organizational silos. They know that when they exist, they work against
alignment and impede success.

Sales tools can also exist in silos, with no integration or awareness of

complementary tools that are part of the technology stack.

This study’s goal was to determine if sales tools work better when they
are integrated with each other and participate fully in the technology stack
that supports marketing and sales.

To find out if integration matters, CallidusCloud and Demand Metric part-

nered to field a survey and ask marketing and sales professionals about
the current state of tool integration, and what benefits come when tools
are integrated.

This report shares the data and analysis from this research effort,
providing insights on how to optimize the flow of leads through the
funnel.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Executive Summary
Sales Tools HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Integration
The analysis of this study’s data provides these key findings:
Almost 90 percent of this study’s participants were from primarily B2B or
mixed B2B/B2C organizations, with two-thirds reporting revenue growth
during the past fiscal year.
The respondents come from a diverse set of industries, with the largest
segment coming from the technology sector, with a sizeable segment also
in financial services/insurance.
About one-fourth of the organizations in the study have less than five
full-time sales representatives, and over 10 percent have 500 or more.
Just over 40 percent of the study participants come from companies with
less than $10 million in annual revenue, while 14 percent are with firms
reporting revenues of $500 million or more.
This report details the results and insights from the
analysis of the study data. For more detail on the survey
participants, please refer to the Appendix.
6
The sales cycle length for organizations in this study aver-
aged 8.2 months.
Sales tools in the customer experience monitoring/feed-
back category topped the list of tools in use. 28 percent of
study respondents use just a single category of sales tool,
while just over 15 percent are using five or more of the tool
categories.
Integration between sales tools has a big impact on sales
process effectiveness: it is almost seven times greater when
there is significant to complete integration between tools.
Achieving better alignment between sales and marketing
was the top motivator for sales tool integration.
Time, resource or staffing constraints was the top barrier to
integration between sales tools, cited by 83 percent of study
participants.
Tools that don’t support integration was the top barrier to
integrating tools with CRM, cited by 60 percent of study
participants.
The top two challenges in the use of sales tools both relate
to integration.
By almost 30 percentage points, significant or complete
integration between sales tools makes revenue significantly
easier to generate.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

The Sales Process

The Sales HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES PROCESS 8
Process

This study asked participants to assess the overall effectiveness of their

sales process, and the results of this assessment are displayed in Figure 1.
figure 1
Study participants were asked to rate their sales process effectiveness based Sales Process Effectiveness
on how consistently it produces the desired outcome. Using this data, a
Self-assessment of sales process effectiveness by study participants.
“Low” effectiveness segment was created by combining the “Very low” and
“Low” responses. Likewise, a “High” effectiveness segment was created
by combining the “High” and “Very high” responses from Figure 1. These
segments will enable some useful comparison later in this report.

48%
study participants evaluate
sales effectiveness
as Neutral
The Sales HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 9
Process

Virtually all of the study participants were from B-to-B organizations, and figure 2
they shared the complexity of configuring, proposing and selling their
Complexity of Configuring, Proposing
primary solution, which Figure 2 shows. The data from Figure 2 was
segmented into “Simple” and “Complex” segments by combining the & Selling Primary Solution
“Very simple” and “Simple” responses, as well as the “Complex” and “Very Self-assessment of sales process effectiveness by study participants.
complex” responses to enable comparisons elsewhere in this report.

The complexity of configuring, proposing and selling solutions is 7% 3%

reflected in the length of the sales cycle, which in this study averaged Very Complex Very simple

8.2 months. Table 1 shows how the sales cycle length varies based on the
complexity segments derived from the data in Figure 2.
15%
Simple
table 1
Relationship between sales cycle length and 38%
solution selling complexity. Complex

Simple Neutral Complex

Average sales cycle

6.5 7.2 9.8
length in months

Figures 1 and 2, along with Table 1 provide a high-level view of the study 37%
Neutral
participants’ B2B sales environment. The next section of this report will discuss
the tools inventory, the benefits they provide and the tool integration level.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Sales Tool Inventory

Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 11
Inventory

Figure 3 shares the categories of sales tools that study participants figure 3
currently use to support their sales process.
Tools in Use to Support the Sales Process
Keeping in mind that within each tool category it is possible to use more Sales Tool Inventory.
than one sales tool, 28 percent of study respondents use just a single
category of sales tool. On the other hand, just over 15 percent are using Customer Experience
Monitoring / Feedback 45%
five or more of the tool categories listed in Figure 3.

Sales tools provide a range of benefits, and one of the study’s goals was Coaching or training 43%
to understand the relative benefit the set of sales tools in use provide. To
accomplish this, study participants were provided with a comprehensive Sales Enablement /
36%
Content Management
list of benefits that sales tools are expected to provide which they rated
using the following scale: Contract Management 32%

1
Configure,
Unknown / No benefit Price and Quote
28%

2
Sales Compensation
Slight benefit 26%
Management

3
Territory / Quota
22%
Moderate benefit Management

4
None 13%
Significant benefit
Other tools 6%
Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 12
Inventory

Figure 4 shows the results of this benefit assessment. figure 4

The top benefit area in Figure 4 – “Improve sales team productivity” – Degree to Which Sales Tools Deliver Benefits
correlates to the tool inventory shown in Figure 3. Benefit categories for sales tools.

Improve sales team

productivity 59%

Enhance our credibility 57%

Provide a competitive
advantage
53%

Improve the win rate 53%

Produce better customer

engagement 53%
Improving sales team
productivity is mentioned Shorten the sales cycle 44%
by study participants
41%

1.3x
Help increase deal size

Lower our IT costs 33%

more than shortening
the sales cycle. Other benefits 33%

% Moderate to Significant Benefit

Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 13
Inventory

Figure 5 presents the tool category usage data again, this time comparing
the overall usage from Figure 3 to the usage by those study participants
who rated “Improve sales team productivity” as a moderate or significant
benefit.
The firms in this study that report a moderate to significant sales produc-
tivity benefit from using sales tools show a greater overall use of tools, and
a greater use of four tool categories in particular:
figure 5
Tool Use Comparison: Overall to Sales Productivity
Benefit = Moderate to Significant
Those experiencing improved sales team productivity as a
benefit show a greater use of certain tool categories.
Overall
Sales Productivity benefit: Moderate to Significant

Customer Experience 45%

Contract management Monitoring / Feedback 51%

Coaching or training 43%

Coaching or training
51%
Sales enablement / Content management
Sales Enablement / 36%
Customer experience monitoring / feedback Content Management 43%

32%
Simply having the tools listed in Figure 5 in the technology stack does not Contract Management 41%
guarantee that they are effective. Integration is believed to play a major
Configure, 28%
role in enabling sales tools to deliver their full value. Price and Quote 30%

The next section of this report explores the status and impact of sales tool Sales Compensation 26%
integration. Management 28%

Territory / Quota 22%

Management 25%

13%
None 3%

6%
Other tools 5%
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Sales Tool Integration

Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 15
Integration

The conventional wisdom about integration is that it is beneficial, and figure 6

helps to make sales tools more effective because they are either inte- Sales Tool Integration Levels
grated with each other, or with CRM systems.
Sales tool integration
The study survey collected data about both levels of integration, and the
status is shared in Figure 6.

5% 11%
Complete None

22% Between tools

Significant
Moderate integration is
27%
7x
bigger than complete
35%
Moderate
Minimal

integration between tools.

9%
of study participants
8%
Complete
9%
None
have no integration
between tools and CRM. Between tools
26% and CRM
Significant
23%
Minimal

34%
Moderate
Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 16
Integration

The incidence of sales tool integration with CRM is higher than is integra- figure 7
tion between sales tools.
Impact of Integration Between Tools on Sales
Both kinds of integration correlate to sales process effectiveness, Process Effectiveness
and Figures 7 and 8 show the degree to which integration impacts
Integration between sales tools has a big impact on sales process
effectiveness. effectiveness

Overall
Low 26%
Neutral 48%
High 26%

$ No or minimal integration between sales tools

Low 47%
Neutral 45%
High 8%

Significant to complete integration

52% Low
Neutral
High
7%
41%
52%
of study participants
believe that complete Sales Process Effectiveness
integration has a high
impact on sales
process.
Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 17
Integration

When sales tools have significant or complete integration with each other, figure 8
the impact on sales process effectiveness is profound: compared to no or
minimal integration, sales process effectiveness is almost seven times
Impact of Integration of Tools with CRM on Sales
greater when there is significant to complete integration between tools! Process Effectiveness
Integration of sales tools with CRM has a big impact on sales process
The relationship between tool/CRM integration and sales process effec- effectiveness.
tiveness looks similar, as Figure 8 shows.

Both types of integration are important, and the effect they have on the Overall
sales process is too compelling to ignore. Low 26%
Neutral 48%
Sales tools that exist in technology silos are of limited value. High 26%

Firms that use sales tools should put a heavy emphasis on completing
No or minimal integration between sales tools
these integrations.
Low 53%

High levels of integration between sales tools is a good predictor that inte- Neutral 28%
High 19%
gration also exists for tools with CRM systems: 88 percent of firms in the
study with significant to complete integration between tools also have
them integrated with CRM at that same, high level. Significant to complete integration
Low 6%
The same is true in reverse, but to a lesser degree: 68 percent of firms Neutral 41%
in the study that have their tools integrated with CRM also have signifi- High 53%

cant to complete integration between tools.

Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 18
Integration

figure 9

Improving the effectiveness of the sales process is more than enough

Motivation for Integrating Sales Tools
No single motive for integrating tools is dominant.
motivation to pursue complete tool integration.

The study survey respondents who also have some degree of tool inte- We needed better sales
gration provided more detail about their motivation to integrate their tools, & marketing alignment 27%
as Figure 9 shows.
Sales process to
inconsistent or error prone
16%

We did it to improve
sales productivity
14%

We did it to better

27%
measure & manage our 11%
sales process

We did it to compete
of participants more effectively 10%
integrated sales tools to
achieve better sales & We did it to improve the
Participants mentioned quality/professionalism 8%
marketing alignment. of sales interactions
improving sales
productivity We wanted to
lower IT costs 5%

2.8x We felt it could help

grow revenue 3%
more than lowering
IT costs. We needed to improve
3%
our responsiveness

We were missing some

opportunities 3%
Sales Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 19
Integration

Perhaps more important than understanding the motivation for sales tool figure 10
integration is understanding what has prevented others from completing
Reasons for Lack of Sales Tool Integration
their sales tools integration. Figure 10 shares this insight.
Barriers for inter-tool integration are higher than for integration with CRM.
To the credit of CRM solution providers, they understand that CRM
systems serve as central hubs for information and data, and they generally Between tools
have made integration with their platforms as simple as possible. Of the With CRM

reasons for lack of integration with CRM systems listed in Figure 10, the Time, resource or 83%
average number of participants citing any one reason is 49 percent. It’s staffing constraints 42%

a very different picture for integration between sales tools, where any
75%
single reason is cited by no less than 55 percent of participants, and the We don’t know how 58%
average for all reasons is 70 percent. Integration between sales tools is
We don’t have a 73%
clearly a steeper hill to climb. need to 27%

Study participants offered other reasons why they have not yet integrated Our tools don’t 70%
their sales tools: support integration 60%

We don’t perceive 64%

“We have some outdated tools that don’t support integration.” a benefit 46%

55%
“I understand the benefit [of integration]. Management does not.” It’s a low priority 55%

“We are married to some tools that are not designed for a sales team… 67%
Other reasons
we are making those tools work in a sales environment.” 56%

The next section of this report will explore how important sales tools are,
the satisfaction that users have with them, and the challenges associated
with their effective use.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Importance, Satisfaction
and Challenges with Tools
Importance, Satisfaction HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE 21
and Challenges with Tools

Sales tools play an important role in helping organizations achieve their figure 11
business objectives, and the study survey collected data to enable a
Sales Tool: Importance & Satisfaction
ranking of tools by importance.
Sales tool satisfaction levels lag importance levels.
The tool importance data is presented alongside satisfaction data,
because looking at importance apart from satisfaction can lead to incor- Importance = Imp. & V. Imp.
rect assumptions. Satisfaction = Sat. & V. Sat.

For example, a certain tool might have tremendous importance, but a low 87%
Coaching or training 64%
satisfaction rating: a troubling combination.
Customer Experience 84%
On the other hand, a tool ranked high in satisfaction may have little impor- Monitoring / Feedback 59%
tance, which is of little concern.
81%
Contract Management 39%
For this reason, Figure 11 presents the importance data alongside the
satisfaction data. Configure, Price 81%
and Quote 54%
The most important sales tool category in this study – Coaching or training
– also enjoys the highest satisfaction level. The third ranked tool in impor- Sales Enablement / 80%
Content Management 54%
tance – Contract management – has the worst satisfaction rating, a delta
of 42 percentage points. Two survey respondents offered this commen- Sales Compensation 79%
Management 50%
tary on the importance of tools:
Territory / Quota 52%
Management 33%
“The reason why coaching is important is because today our sales
Other tools 75%
process is not duplicatable.” 75%

“They usually (especially Quota Management) generate the wrong

incentives for the sales team.”
Importance, Satisfaction HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE 22
and Challenges with Tools

Challenges do exist where sales tools are concerned, and Figure 12 figure 12
summarizes what study participants shared about the ones they face.
Sales Tool Challenges
Ease of use and reliability of sales tools are issues for very few study Sales Tool Challenges.
participants. A far bigger challenge is integration between tools and with
CRM: the top two challenges in Figure 12.
Integrating sales tools
A main goal of this study was to understand what the impact of tool inte- with CRM or Marketing 51%
Automation
gration is, and the next section of this report shares those findings.
Getting better integration
across our set of tools 43%

INTEGRATION Finding time to train or

learn how to better use 41%
our tools

Justifying / acquiring
tools we don’t 40%
have but need

Getting full / productive

use of the tools we 39%
already have

Ease of use of some or

all of our sales tools 21%

Reliability of some or all

of our sales tools 21%

Other challenges 1%
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Impact of Tool Integration

on Revenue
Impact of Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 24
Integration on Revenue

Ultimately, the best indicator of value for integrating sales tools is the figure 13
impact that integration has on revenue. Impact of Integration Between Tools
Figure 13 shows how integration between tools makes revenue genera- on Revenue Generation
tion easier. Impact of integration between sales tools on revenue generation.

3%
0% Much harder
Much Easier

10%
61%
Harder

47% Integration none

of participants Easier to minimal
believe that integration makes
revenue generation easier 40%
40%
No Impact
when it is significant.

of participants
believe that integration has 4%
Much harder
no effect when not applied
or applied to a minimum. 18% 4%
Much Easier Harder

Integration Significant 13%

No Impact
to Complete

61%
Easier
Impact of Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 25
Integration on Revenue

By almost 30 percentage points, tool-to-tool integration makes revenue figure 14

significantly easier to generate. Figure 14 shows how integration of tools Impact of Sales Tool Integration with CRM
with CRM impacts revenue generation.
on Revenue Generation
While the impact isn’t quite as great in Figure 14 as it is in Figure 13, inte- Impact of sales tool integration with CRM on revenue generation.
gration of sales tools with CRM systems makes revenue generation easier
for the firms in this study. 4%
0% Much harder
Much Easier
7%
Harder

Integration none
to minimal
Integration makes revenue 57% 32%
No Impact

30%
Easier

easier to generate.
0% 4%
of participants Much harder
believe that integration
makes revenue much easier
14% 7%
when not applied Much Easier Harder
or applied to
a minimum. Integration Significant
to Complete
18%
No Impact

57%
Easier
Impact of Tool HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 26
Integration on Revenue

The more complex the sales process – where complexity encompasses figure 15
configuring, proposing and selling goods and services – the bigger the
Impact of Sales Tools on Revenue Generation in
impact that sales tools have on generating revenue, as Figure 15 shows.
Complex Sales Environments
Tools become critically important in helping make revenue easier to As the complexity of the sales process increases, sales tools
generate in complex sales environments. While this relationship between have a much bigger impact on making revenue easier to generate.
complexity and sales tool impact seems intuitive, data from this study
shows the magnitude of the impact. For very simple sales environments, 2%
Much harder
the data from Figure 15 suggests that tools might even get in the way of
the sales process. However, as the complexity of the sale increases, sales 4% 8%
Much Easier
tools become invaluable in making revenue generation easier. Harder

Complexity simple
to neutral

70% 44%
Easier
42%
No Impact
of participants
believe that integration
vs.
makes revenue easier
in complex and very
3%
Much harder
complex sales 0%
environments
40%
in simple to neutral
8%
Much Easier
Harder

sales environments. Complexity complex

19%
No Impact
to very complex

70%
Easier
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Analyst Bottom Line

Analyst HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 28
Bottom Line

This study finds that an integrated sales tool set is a key driver of sales The ability to integrate sales tools with each other and with CRM systems
process effectiveness, and ultimately revenue. The message in the data is not a nice-to-have capability, but a must-have feature.
is clear: the benefits of integrated sales tools are significant, and sales
When sales tools are allowed to exist in their own technology silos, their
organizations should place a high priority on achieving this integration.
ability to streamline complex sales processes and make revenue genera-
Only when inter-tool integration, and integration between tools and CRM tion easier are compromised.
exists, can tools participate in the greater sales-marketing ecosystem by
Sales tools deliver more value when complete integration exists
contributing data to it, and exploiting data from it.
between each other and CRM systems. They are better together.
Because the case for tool integration is so compelling, there are implica-
tions for current tools sets and considerations for future tool purchases:

For current tools that For current tools For planned tools
aren’t yet integrated that don’t support purchases:
but support integration: integration: ensure that integration
complete the integration to consider replacing them with between tools and CRM is
start realizing the benefits. tools that can. fully supported.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 30

Demand Metric is grateful to CallidusCloud for sponsoring this research, and for those who took the time to complete the study survey.

About CallidusCloud About Demand Metric

CallidusCloud is the global leader in cloud-based sales, marketing,
learning, and customer experience solutions.
CallidusCloud enables organizations to accelerate and maximize their
lead to money process with a complete suite of solutions that identify the
right leads, ensure proper territory and quota distribution, enable sales
forces, automate configure price quote, and streamline sales compensa-
tion — driving bigger deals, faster.
Over 5,000 organizations, across all industries, rely on CallidusCloud to
optimize the lead to money process to close more deals for more money
in record time. http://www.calliduscloud.com/about-us/
Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory firm serving a
membership community of over 90,000 marketing professionals and
consultants in 75 countries.
Offering consulting methodologies, advisory services, and 500+ premium
marketing tools and templates, Demand Metric resources and expertise
help the marketing community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer
the difficult questions about their work with authority and conviction and
complete marketing projects more quickly and with greater confidence,
boosting the respect of the marketing team and making it easier to justify
resources the team needs to succeed.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit: www.demandmetric.com.
 HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE

Appendix: Survey Background

Appendix: HOW INTEGRATING YOUR SALES TOOLS CAN ACCELERATE SALES PERFORMANCE | THE SALES TOOLS INTEGRATION 32
Survey Background

This Sales Tool Integration survey was administered online during the period of August 26, 2016 through January 14, 2017. During this period, 155
responses were collected, 139 of which were qualified and complete enough for inclusion in the analysis. Only valid or correlated findings are shared in
this report.

The representativeness of this study’s results depends on the similarity of the sample to environments in which this survey data is used for comparison
or guidance.

Summarized below is the basic categorization data collected about respondents to enable filtering and analysis of the data:

Type of organization: Annual sales:

Primarily B2B 56 percent Less than $10 million 42 percent
Primarily B2C 13 percent $10 to $24 million 18 percent
Mixed B2B/B2C 31 percent $25 to $99 million 14 percent
$100 to $499 million 12 percent
Number of full-time sales representatives
$500 to $999 million 3 percent
Less than 5 27 percent
$1 billion or more 11 percent
5 to 49 49 percent
50 to 249 10 percent Revenue growth environment in most recent fiscal year:
250 or more 14 percent Significant increase 19 percent
Slight increase 48 percent
Primary role of respondent
Flat 24 percent
President, CEO or owner 16 percent
Slight decline 8 percent
Marketing 46 percent
Significant decline 1 percent
Sales 22 percent
Other 16 percent
 © 2017 Demand Metric Research Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

www.demandmetric.com

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