Position sales to leapfrog maturity levels

Anyone working in sales is familiar with the idea of hitting targets. The same should go for operational maturity, and striving to have a future-ready operating model. Fortunately, with each level of maturity achieved, the easier it is to hit sales targets. On a broad level, our cross-industry research shows that a one-position climb in operational maturity can lead to a 17% increase in global profits; imagine what it can be for sales, the function that directly drives revenue. There are two key ways to set up a sales organization to accelerate the journey to future-ready status.

Every step toward full digitization of the sales function results in better interactions and better results. Our Fast Track to Future-Ready Operations survey, combined with financial performance data, found that organizations that have moved to a fully digital operating model are 1.7x more efficient and 2.8x more profitable than other organizations.

The sales function is no exception—increased digitization means greater efficiency and more top-line growth.

Partnerships send the right message. They bring differentiating capabilities, such as extending into managed services, and signal to customers that the sales organization knows its own strengths.

Partnerships not only boost performance, they enable access to leading capabilities, top talent and innovation. Ecosystem partners can include technology providers, managed services providers, startups and niche services—all of which can augment the performance of a sales team.

The faster you embark on a journey to operational maturity, the sooner your sales organization will also realize transformational value as well. This comes in the form of increased performance in efficiency and profitability, faster and more informed innovation, stronger ecosystems and excellent seller and customer experiences. Discover more in our main Operations research.