CASE STUDY Accenture
Better, faster, stronger: Reinventing sales at Accenture
How Accenture is transforming our sales organization to drive growth.
5-MINUTE READ
Accenture's journey to reinvent its sales organization began with a bold vision: to transform the sales and sales enablement functions into a more efficient, data-driven, and client-centric entity. This transformation was spearheaded by the creation of a new professional sales organization, led by a dedicated Chief Sales Officer. The goal was to unify and streamline the sales and sales enablement functions, which were previously decentralized.
Our numbers
55K
Manage My Sales (MMS) users
8,000+
Account teams collaborating across global and local clients
2,000+
Leaders across 50 countries enabled with real-time analytics access
Unifying the digital core with Salesforce
One of the first and most critical steps in this transformation was the unification of the digital core. We brought together 32 proposal centers and over 2,500 people worldwide into a single core Sales Excellence function, consolidating multiple instances of Salesforce into one unified platform. This consolidation not only streamlined operations but also enabled more consistency and efficiency across the global sales organization. The integration of these disparate systems into a single, cloud-based CRM platform laid the foundation for the next phases of the transformation.
Scaling for growth and efficiency
To support its ambitious growth targets, Accenture focused on scaling its sales capabilities in a cost-effective manner. This involved moving some sales capabilities to Accenture Operations, which allowed the company to maintain an efficient cost structure while still expanding its reach. Additionally, Accenture automated various sales processes, reducing the administrative burden on sales teams and enabling them to focus more on strategic activities. The use of machine learning and AI for predictive analytics further enhanced the company's ability to forecast sales accurately and make data-driven decisions.
Supercharging the human with automation and AI
The third key step in Accenture's sales reinvention was to supercharge the human element of the sales process. Automating consistent transactional tasks, such as capturing meeting minutes and the standardization of opportunity approval forums, led to a more than 35% productivity improvement for these tasks. In addition, with the emergence of Generative AI, investments in targeted processes, such as preparing initial draft RFP responses, drove a 50% productivity improvement for this task, which allowed Accenture to free up capacity for its sales teams. As a result, this technology not only sped up the proposal creation process but also provided deeper market intelligence, enabling sales teams to craft more compelling value propositions and close deals more efficiently.
Our numbers
97%
Accuracy of Win Probability Predictor
+35%
Productivity improvement by automating standardized sales processes
50%
Increase in productivity on proposals leveraging Gen AI – generating proposals in half the time
Partnering with Salesforce for the future
Accenture's partnership with Salesforce has been instrumental in driving the sales reinvention. Leveraging its Salesforce platform, Accenture plans to define digital agents and scale them to support its leaders and sellers through the sales process, better enabling the company to compete, win, and grow.
With early access to Agentforce, Accenture has been training the Agentforce Sales Coach—an AI-powered tool—to deliver real-time guidance and insights for its sales professionals. The Agentforce Sales Coach is one example of how Accenture plans to leverage AI to enhance sales performance. This tool will provide real-time feedback and coaching, helping sales professionals refine their pitches, which is expected to lead to higher win rates.
We are reinventing how we power sales at Accenture. Leveraging our Salesforce platform, we plan to define digital agents and scale them to support our leaders and sellers through the sales process at Accenture to better enable us to compete, win and grow.
Sara Porter / Global Sales Excellence Lead, Accenture
Key learnings in sales excellence and enablement
Throughout the sales reinvention process, Accenture has learned several valuable lessons. One of the most significant is the importance of leadership adoption and process consistency. The transformation required a cultural shift, with leaders at all levels embracing the new tools and processes. This shift was facilitated by the development of skills-driven career paths and incentives, which motivated sales professionals to adopt the new technologies and practices.
Leadership adoption and process consistency
The success of Accenture's sales reinvention hinged on the active involvement and support of its leadership. The Chief Sales Officer and other key leaders championed the transformation, to help make sure that it was embraced at all levels of the organization. Process consistency was another critical factor, as standardized and automated processes on the single CRM platform helped to eliminate inefficiencies and improve overall performance.
Summary
Accenture's sales reinvention has been a comprehensive and strategic effort, driven by the unification of the digital core, scaling for growth and efficiency, and the supercharging of the human element with generative AI. These steps, combined with strong leadership and process consistency, have transformed the sales organization into a more efficient, data-driven, and client-centric entity, setting the stage for continued growth and success.