OCTOBER 2020

HubSpot Research Global
Sales Enablement Survey
How modern sales leaders are exceeding revenue
targets by adapting their sales model, leveraging
technology, and enabling their reps to sell remotely.
And why everyone else is catching up.

Table Of Contents
3

Executive Summary

5

The Adoption of Remote Selling Is Creating a

8

Dedicated Sales Enablement Teams are Critical toCompetitive Advantage

the Success Sales Organizations

10 Sellers Leveraging Automation and Competitive
Data Have an Edge

13 Additional Findings
15 Methodology
16 Appendix
17

Credits

Executive Summary
Sales leaders, we don’t need to tell you how transformative this year has been, but, wow.
What a year.
It’s impossible to talk about next year without acknowledging the change that this year catalyzed.
Your sales reps are being asked to sell from anywhere: Conducting outreach and closing deals byphone, and new channels like video and online chat. Your managers are being asked to coach andenable remote teams: Finding new ways to motivate reps and improve productivity. And you needto adapt your sales organization’s operating model to enable all of these changes in order to hit
revenue targets, all while planning for the year ahead.

In this new environment, growth is a tough topic to broach with many sales leaders. While somebusinesses have seen accelerated growth this year, many have not. In fact, 40% of businesses
surveyed for this report will miss revenue targets in 2020.

How has your entire organization performed against its revenue goal this year? Please select one.

Overperformed
38%

Underperformed
40%

Met goals
22%

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020

The word of the year for many is not growth, but survival. However, every era of change offers an
opportunity to find a growth advantage. It’s time to reevaluate our approach to selling.

We surveyed over 500 sales leaders across eight countries to understand what changes sales
leaders are making to enable their teams to hit and exceed revenue targets.

3

Here are the three areas where they are finding a competitive advantage.

Key Findings
Sales leaders who adopted a hybrid or fully remote sales model hit or exceeded revenue
targets. Sales leaders whose teams typically sold in the field faced a hard choice this year: Do I

subject my team to massive change and enable remote work, or try to weather this storm? Those

who invested in enabling remote work were rewarded––64% of those who transitioned to remotesales this year met or exceeded revenue targets, compared to 50% of the leaders who did not makethe transition. Signaling a shift in how sales teams will be structured going forward.

A dedicated sales enablement team is critical to the success of the future sales organization.

65% of sales leaders that outperformed against revenue targets have a dedicated sales enablement
person or team. Sales enablement is no longer a center for rep support, but a proactive teamthat improves sales productivity. With a partially or fully remote sales force, the sales enablement
function is critical for arming reps and managers with the tools, technology, reports, and content
needed to sell more effectively.

High performing sales teams automate sales tasks and leverage competitive data. Most sales

leaders we surveyed, regardless of performance, ranked CRMs and videoconferencing softwareas the most important tools for remote selling. The difference between overperforming andunderperforming sales leaders is how they use the tools. 61% of overperforming leaders use their

CRM to automate parts of their sales process, vs. 46% of underperforming leaders. By automatingparts of their sales process, sales leaders free up rep time to focus on selling.

“

In 2020, 40% of businesses did notmeet revenue targets. As you plan
your 2021 and beyond, sharpen
your focus on your customer. Placethem at the center of every decision,across marketing, sales and customer
success.

”

YAMINI RANGAN

Chief Customer Ofﬁcer

4

The Adoption of Remote Selling
Is Creating a Competitive Advantage
Traditionally, sales organizations had a clear decision to make on their model for selling: Choosing
between a field or inside sales model. Inside sales reps often sell remotely, while field sales reps
travel, brokering face-to-face deals.1

As buyers’ preferences for how they like to buy have changed, sales organizations have adopted
hybrid models. More teams are selling both in person and remotely to meet buyers’ needs.

COVID-19 has had a significant effect on buyer behavior, and the economy has forced difficult

decisions for sales leaders. Many sales organizations have been forced to operate remotely. Reps

need to become more creative as buying habits have changed, managers are being asked to find
new ways to improve seller productivity, and leaders are being asked to drive growth throughuncertainty.

However, leaders who adapted quickly and invested in enabling remote selling were rewarded.
64% of sales leaders who invested in remote selling met or exceeded revenue targets this year.

How has your sales team performed against sales targets this year?

80%
64%

60%

50%

40%

20%

0%

Invested inremote selling

Did not invest in
remote selling

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020

1 “Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: How to Structure a Sales Team.” 7 Apr. 2020,
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/inside-vs-outside-sales. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

5

Sales leaders who did not invest in remote selling fell behind. 50% of this subgroup did not hit theirsales targets this year.

But what kind of impact does missing sales targets actually have on future priorities?
Looking ahead, sales leaders were asked, “what are your sales organization’s goals next year? And
based on their responses, the impact is clear: There is a competitive gap forming between those
who have and haven’t invested in remote sales.

Successful Sales Leaders
are Focused on Growth

Those Who Missed Targets
are Catching Up

Those who exceeded revenue targets

Those who underperformed against

customers, selling into new markets, andnew customers, improving sales

this year are focused on winning new

targets this year are focused on winning

increasing sales to a product/service line

processes, and enabling reps to sellin the new year.

remotely long term.

What are your sales organization’s business goals for next year? Please select all that apply.

Outperformed Revenue Targets

Underperformed Against Revenue Targets

80%

60%

63%

66%

41%

40%
32%

32%

31%

31%
25%

26%

24%

20%

0%

Win new
customers

Insert new sales
technology

Sell into a
new market

Increase sales
to a specificproduct/ser vice
line

30%

30%

Change/improvesales process

21%

Increaseaverage saleprice for deals

23%

20%

Hiring newsales people

19%

Enable reps tosell remotely
long term

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 20206

Sales leaders who overperformed against revenue targets this year adapted processes andremote enablement swiftly, allowing them to focus on growth in the new year. Investing in thislevel of change in the middle of a pandemic was likely difficult work in the short-term, but it opens
expansion opportunities in the long term. Meanwhile, those who struggled are doubling back towork on process and remote enablement next year, which could widen the competitive gap wementioned.

Regardless, as more sales organizations enable reps to sell remotely, their foundational sales

model will change. As our data shows, a commitment to a hybrid or remote sales model can help
businesses grow. Sales Leaders are seeing this and incorporating this shift into plans for next

year’s sales model. Next year, 68% of sales leaders plan to implement a hybrid or fully remote sales
model.

Next year, what will your organization’s sales model look like? Please select one.
57%

60%

40%

20%

0%

20%
12%

11%

Remote, insidemodel

Hybrid sales model

Outside, fieldsales model

To bedetermined

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 20207

Dedicated Sales Enablement Teams
are Critical to the Success of Sales
Organizations
In a world where sales organizations are being forced to shift to remote selling, there is nooverstating how important sales enablement is to a team’s success. It’s mission critical.

In periods of great change, successful sales leaders need to keep their reps focused. This means

minimizing time spent away from revenue generating activities. For many, transitioning to a remotesales model is a period of great change and successful sales leaders made two major investments
to keep reps focused -- a dedicated sales enablement team and data-backed coaching.

Of the all the sales leaders surveyed, 59% have a dedicated sales enablement team or person. Thismeans dedicated headcount - they don’t roll sales enablement into the responsibilities of their sales
managers or their marketing team.

If we dive deeper into the survey responses, 65% of sales leaders who outperformed revenue

targets have a dedicated sales enablement person or team, highlighting how an investment in asales enablement team can lead to revenue growth, especially during periods of great change.

Does your company have a dedicated sales enablement team?

Outperformed against
revenue targets this year

Underperformed against
revenue targets this year

Met revenue targets this year

80%
65%

60%

57%

53%

40%

34%

34%

24%

20%
11%

9%

13%

0%
Yes

No

Not sure

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 20208

single most underutilized resource“ The
in any company is the sales leader.
As we look forward to 2021 all sales
leaders should be asking themselves
how they are aligning themselves
to ensure they are most efficiently
managing their teams.

”

SUZIE ANDREWS

CEO at Stark Associates

Sales Enablement, like the rest of the world, is changing. In traditional sales organizations,enablement is tasked with creating materials for the team. Survey respondents shared that theyprioritize creating email templates for rep outreach, call scripts, and pre-call checklists.

What type of enablement content do you create for your sales teams for remote selling? Please select all that apply.

60%

53%

39%

40%

37%

36%

36%

34%

32%

19%

20%

7%

0%
Email
templatesCallscripts

Pre-callchecklist

Product
demos

Customertestimonials

Messagingtemplates

Case
studies

Informative
blog posts

None of these

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 20209

However, modern sales organizations are transforming their enablement function.
In addition to creating supporting materials, enablement is being asked to evaluate and roll-out
tools and technology to improve rep training, coaching, and team productivity.

The tools that enablement chooses aren’t only useful for saving reps time. Sales leaders andmanagers can leverage data, like email open rates and call recordings, to identify high-impact
coaching opportunities to make check-ins more valuable.

They are then leveraging this data and actively coaching their teams through weekly check-ins, themost common sales coaching method among leaders.

Which of the following sales coaching methods are effective with a remote sales force?

60%
68%

40%
34%

31%

31%

20%

0%

1%
Weekly check-ins

Call listening

Call shadowing

Email reviews

Other

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020“

As teams shift to full-time remote
work, providing sellers with thetools and structure needed to stay
disciplined in their sales processes
will be crucial to an organization’s
growth.
CHRIS POPE”

Director of Sales

10

Sellers Leveraging Automation andCompetitive Data Have an Edge
Strong sales leaders know that to transform their organization they need to enable their people,
create new processes, and leverage technology.

For the past few years, sales technology — including sales intelligence and CRM tools — has become
an integral part of the sales process among top-performing organizations.2

This year dramatically shifted the way reps had to sell, and, because of that, sales leaders had toenable their teams with new tools.

Of the leaders who transitioned their team to a remote selling model, it won’t come as a surprisethat they ranked “video conferencing software” as the most important tool to their team’s success,with a CRM taking second place.
50%

47.99%

30%

13.67%

10%
0%

Video conferencing
softwareCRM
software

7.77%

7.77%

Sales
intelligenceE-signature anddocument tracking

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020

More interesting, however, was that a CRM was ranked as the first or second-most important tool
for all sales leaders, regardless of performance this year.

The main difference between the overperforming and underperforming teams was tool usage:

While the adoption of sales technology is a strong first step, the automation of processes is how
leaders are driving growth.

2 “The State of Sales, at Arm’s Reach: Download the Pocket Guide.” 29 Sep. 2020, https://www.linkedin.com/business/sales/
blog/b2b-sales/the-state-of-sales-at-arms-reach-download-the-pocke-guide. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.

11

As you will see below, a majority of respondents who are exceeding revenue targets use

automation as a part of their sales process, while respondents who missed revenue targets are lesslikely to have adopted automation.

Does your sales organization currently use automation?
61%

60%

56%
46%

40%

20%

0%

Outperformed revenue
targets this year

Met revenue
targets

Underperformed revenue
targets this year

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020

Leaders who are overperforming understand that automation improves rep productivity. But there
are a lot of moving parts in a sales process, so which activities are most sales leaders trying toautomate first?

Teams using a CRM are automating tasks such as meeting scheduling, content delivery, andcontract generation. They’re no longer asking reps to perform these as manual activities, wastingvaluable time and money.

40%

What parts of the lead engagement /sales process are currently automated? Please select all that apply.

42%

40%
36%

34%
29%

20%

28%

0%

3%
MeetingschedulingContent
automation

Quote
generation

Meeting
follow-ups

Rep
assignments

Lead scoring

Not sure

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 202012

In addition to automating rep tasks, successful sales leaders are leveraging data from their CRM to
make strategic decisions. Regardless of performance against revenue targets, a majority of survey
respondents are looking at forecasting reports, performance against quota, and rep activity.
However, those who actively gather and review competitive intelligence and market data aremeeting or exceeding revenue targets. 44% of sales leaders who will exceed revenue this year
use competitive intelligence and market data. Additionally, high-performing sales leaders arefocused on improving pipeline velocity, further demonstrating sales leaders’ focus on process
improvements.

Which data and insights from your sales analytics tool are most important to strategic business decisions?

Outperformed Revenue Targets

Underperformed Against Revenue Targets

60%

56%

56%

52%
46%

47%

44%

40%

34%

31%

42%

38%
30%

30%

33%

23%

20%

0%
Rep activity data

Pipeline velocity

Competitive andmarket data

Performanceagainst quota

Cross / upsell

Forecasting

Target accountinformation (ABM)

Source: HubSpot Research, Global Survey, Sep-Oct 2020“

The efficacy of our historical data wasoverturned on March 17th. Everything
in the sales process as we know itchanged, from buyer expectations tosales motions, increasing uncertainty
for revenue teams.
ANNELIES HUSMANN”

Director, Enterprise Sales

13

Additional Findings
Next year, what will your organization’s sales model look like?
Sales models are changing. 57% of sales leaders surveyed are adopting a
remote or hybrid sales model next year.
How effective have virtual meetings compared to face to face meetings (in terms ofmoving to the next deal or pipeline stage)?
63% of sales leaders believe that virtual meetings are just as or more
effective than in-person meetings.
Which data insights from your sales analytics tool are most important for strategic
business decisions?
When sales leaders have sales analytics tools to leverage, they use
forecasting data, rep productivity/activity data, and team performanceagainst quota to make strategic business decisions next year.

“

It is fairly easy to see that remote

productivity is felt to be higher thanpreviously thought or expected, while

simultaneously more efficient. With thedawn of new technology and software,
it would seem as if we have been

unknowingly preparing for the pandemic
since the dawn of the digital age.
BRYAN ELSESSER”

Sr. Director of Sales

14

What aspects of the buyers’ sales experience are you hoping to improve next year?
The leaders who outperformed this year are doubling down on improving
digital buying channels, like chat, next year.
How effective have virtual meetings compared to face to face meetings (in terms ofmoving to the next deal or pipeline stage)?
63% of sales leaders believe that virtual meetings are just as or more
effective than in-person meetings.
How effective have virtual meetings been compared to face to face meetings (interms of moving to the next deal or pipeline stage)?
72% of overperforming sales leaders say that virtual meetings have been as
or more effective than face to face meetings.

“

As the world shifts to virtual, the challenge
is building trust with your prospects andcutting through the noise. Our own researchat LinkedIn shows that sales professionals canbuild trust by taking a buyer-first approachand by reaching out only when they fully

understand the buyers’ needs and the buyer’srole in the purchasing process.
ALYSSA MERWIN”

VP of Sales, North America

15

Global Survey Demographics
Regions Represented
Australia

FranceGermany

United Kingdom

Canada

Spain

Japan

United States

Industries Represented
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Advertising or marketing
Agriculture, food, and beverage
Business or consumer services
Chemicals and metals
Construction
Consumer product manufacturing
Education and nonproﬁts
RetailTechnology/software
Telecommunications services
Electronics

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Energy, utilities, and waste management
Financial services and insurance
Government
Healthcare
Manufacturing and materials
Marketing agency
Media and leisureTransportation and logistics
Travel and hospitality
Other (please specify)

Level of Seniority
18.76%

Director(manage a team of managers
and high-level contributors)

68.67%

4.99%

C-level executive(e.g., CEO, CMO)Manager(manage a team)

7.57%

Vice president(in charge of one/several large departments)

Size of your company’ssales team (# of employees)

Company size (# of employees)
30%

26,33%
23,41%

20%
Copied

10%

9,12%

8.95%

10,50%

12,56%

9,12%

0%
51 to 100

101 to 250

251 to 500

501 to 1,000

1,001 to 5,000 5,001 to 10,000 Over 10,000

21 to 50

22.89%

51 to 100

16.87%

101 to 250

12.91%

251 to 500

11.02%

501 to 1,000

10.41%

1,001 to 5,000

4.58%

16

Appendix“Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: How to Structure a Sales Team.”

7 Apr. 2020, https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/inside-vs-outsidesales. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

“The State of Sales, at Arm’s Reach: Download the Pocket

Guide.” 29 Sep. 2020, https://www.linkedin.com/business/sales/
blog/b2b-sales/the-state-of-sales-at-arms-reach-download-thepocke-guide. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.

17

Credits
This report was an exhaustive effort from a bunch of humans who care about
the work they put into the world. We wanted to create a report that both

captured the difficulty of 2020, and outlined a way forward for sales teams.
We hope it helps you in some capacity.
Here are those people:
Kyle Denhoff

Phil Nacionales

Emmy Jonassen

Pam Bump

Kieran Flanagan

Lestraundra Alfred

Chris Eberhardt

Nathaniel Medina

Margot Mazur

Alicia Collins

Matthew Watkins

Jennifer Proud

Peter Riedle

Matthew Brown

Kara EbrahimMark Whelan

Noel Kelly

Sammi Kim

Diego Polanco

Leslie YeDavid Carberry

Odette Santos

Liz Villate

Alex Moran

18

,

Unite your teams .
unlock your potential
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