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Consultants Advised to Make Selling Top Priority

Study Reveals that a Defined Sales Process May Benefit
Consulting Firms

RENO, NV -  October 07, 2008  -   A recent report on the consulting and professional services industry revealed that principals in these firms may benefit from adding rigor to how they secure new business. "Best Practices for Integrating Sales Process into Consulting and Professional Services Organizations," derived from the 2008 Miller Heiman Sales Best Practices Study, delves into the sales practices of these organizations and identifies activities that could potentially increase profits and improve customer relationships.

"The principals in many of these companies do not view themselves as salespeople, so they don't see an obvious need for a well-defined sales process," said Sam Reese, president and CEO of Miller Heiman. "However, through our research and experience with various clients in the industry, we know that a rigorous sales process can provide significant value in improving the business development results for these organizations."

According to the study, respondents in the consulting and professional services industries were 21 percent less likely than respondents from other industries to agree that their sales force is very effective at selling new products and/or services.

"Many firms will purposely remove the term 'sales' from their corporate vernacular," said Bethany Schultz, vice president of client engagement for Miller Heiman. "Consultants are often so entrenched in their own deliverables that they avoid going out to sell a service outside of their own delivery competencies."

The study also revealed that these organizations are 50 percent less likely than Winning Sales Organizations to agree that they regularly engage their strategic accounts in their product/service planning process. Winning Sales Organizations are defined as those companies who saw a 20 percent increase in annual revenue, average account billing and new account acquisition from the previous year.

According to Rob West, a Miller Heiman sales consultant, this presents an opportunity to leverage what has made these firms successful over the years – their expertise.

"The best way to do that is to put together a structured process for talking with the client about what is happening in the client's world," West said.

Best Practices for Integrating Sales Process into Consulting and Professional Services Organizations may be downloaded here.

About Miller Heiman: The Sales Performance Company

Miller Heiman is the proven leader and innovator in sales execution with more than 30 years of helping businesses grow profitable sales by increasing their close rates, lowering the cost of sales and reducing the length of the sales cycle. The company’s common framework of easily repeatable methodologies, combined with a tradition of research and thought leadership, helps firms of all sizes win complex sales. Miller Heiman is a worldwide leader in sales performance with programs in 20 languages and corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. For more information, visit www.millerheiman.com.