Study Reveals What Top-Performing Sellers Do Differently and Better Than Other Sellers

RAIN Group releases findings of 1,000+ sellers and sales managers; Top-Performing Sellers are 63% more likely to excel at making and communicating strong ROI and financial cases for buyers

RAIN Group, a global sales training company delivering award-winning results through in-person and virtual sales training, coaching, and reinforcement, announced it released its latest research report The Top-Performing Seller.

The global study, led by the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, examined responses from over 1,000 sellers and sales managers to find out exactly what top-performing sellers do differently and better than other sellers, and learn what organizations do to inspire the best performance from their selling teams.

“Organizations want sellers and sales teams that meet goals in the face of challenging conditions with high win rates on opportunities and strong pricing. We now know what Top-Performing Sellers do to achieve this, as well as how sales managers and organizations inspire and support teams to succeed,” shared Mary Flaherty, Vice President of Research at RAIN Group. “This report offers sales enablement leaders great ideas of where they can focus their next sales improvement initiative.”

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Of the 100 skills and behaviors examined across 13 categories, RAIN Group found that top performers are statistically more capable in five critical categories of selling, including achieving the outcome of value, winning the sale, driving account growth, succeeding with people, and maximizing personal effectiveness.

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The study revealed that Top-Performing Sellers are:

• 63% more likely to excel at making and communicating strong ROI and financial cases for buyers­
• 81% more likely to excel at overcoming price pressure and maintaining deal margins­
• 65% more likely to excel at leading highly effective proposal and finalist presentations­
• 58% more likely to excel at leading thorough needs discoveries ­
• 57% more likely to excel at influencing buyers’ thinking about the solutions they need­
• 48% more likely to excel at developing strong action plans to win their most important sales
• 60% more likely to excel at presenting overall value cases persuasively
• 47% more likely to proactively lead the process to grow accounts­
• 65% more likely to implement account growth plans rigorously­
• 88% more likely to excel at inspiring buyers to reach out to them for advice and ideas
• ­63% more likely to excel at building strong, long-term relationships with buyers­
• 59% more likely to excel at collaborating deeply with buyers throughout the buying process
• 91% more likely to excel at developing enterprise-level relationships
• 73% more likely to maintain focus on their agenda and not get derailed by others­