2015 Content Automation Trends Report

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Top Objectives & Challenges

Facing Communication Channels
in Sales Organizations
Content overload is a thing of the current and the future for organizations in 2015. Selling and marketing content, in particular, is
intended to drive your organization forward through strategic alignment to customer needs and pain points. Unfortunately, with too
many cooks in a typical sales organizations kitchen, content touch points fast become blurred, and newly created content is either
buried or made stale creating declines in the bottom line and customer value. Todays buyers tend to change their minds as often as
new data is loaded upon clicking refresh so its critical to keep up in order to continue and sell effectively.
Qvidians first edition of the Content Automation Trends Report comes at a trying time in the selling ecosphere. Rapidly changing
buying patterns are affecting company growth and the way sales reps sell, but its difficult to pinpoint where sales content fits into whats
either succeeding or failing. With this survey, Qvidian sheds light on whats broken in the content creation, delivery, and management
processes by taking a thorough look at current industry trends, persons and departments involved, as well as additional components
ultimately diving into possible solutions for successful selling. Over 300 respondents took the survey, revealing some
thought-provoking trends on the state of selling content today.

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Executive Summary
Utilizing the most relevant content is imperative to virtually any sales and marketing
initiative. The right content, however, takes a good deal of time to create, store,
and update in such a way that it is easily accessible across the necessary teams in
an organization. When thinking of content as a key asset, or an essential attribute in
a selling strategy, its not surprising to see that over 78% of survey respondents feel
sales content is VERY important to the effectiveness of their sales reps.
At the same time, close to 50% say that their data and content in sales assets is only
somewhat accurate. Change in todays buyers market is and will continue to be a
constant, with buyers quick to take notice and call out the flaws in an outdated pitch.
And with proposals (67%), presentations (63%), and RFPs (60%) cited as the top 3
most used pieces of content, its important to make sure these contributing assets
are relevant and personalized according to each deal at hand, as well as readily
available to reps.
Interestingly, over 83% of respondents have trouble easily accessing messaging
and related content just-in-time based on the selling situation. Conversely, only
17% say its easy for sales reps to locate relevant messaging and content
they need in each selling situations. These findings alone expose a very real chasm
in an organizations content output and the ability, or lack thereof, to use content
effectively in each selling scenario.
Building on the difficulty of finding created content, the majority of survey
respondents cite that sales content creation and distribution is managed by more
than 3 people, with 17% selecting 20 or more people playing a major hand in the
process. Content is not just a prerequisite to smart selling, its also pervasive and
involving; so much so that it takes a village to handle the ongoing and everfluid complexity, communication, and synchronization of content creation and
management.

83%

of respondents have
trouble easily accessing
messaging and related
content

17%

say its easy for sales

reps to locate
relevant messaging
and content

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Aligning with Buyers

Todays savvy buyers are armed with more information than
ever. They know, or theyre convinced they know (in cases
like this, its the same difference) what they want, rejecting a
sale thats perceived as different from pre-defined needs.

Thus, in order to sell effectively, sales reps must first align with buyers quickly in
lockstep with where that buyer is in there buying process, in order to serve up the
most compelling selling assets that immediately starts building the fundamental
relationship of trusted advisor. Having that alignment, and the timely and relevant
content available at their fingertips, enables sellers to stay one step ahead of the
buyer. This can only be achieved if all content assets are up-to-date and remain
compelling. Unfortunately, over 75% of survey respondents say their frequency of
reviewing and updating sales content is only somewhat, not very or not at all
sufficient.
Moreover, 49% cite that their data and content in sales assets is only somewhat
accurate, while nearly the same percentage of respondents (48%) say content is
reviewed and updated on an as-needed basis. This incongruity calls into question
the reliability of selling content. And with the majority of respondents reporting
that sales content creation is managed by more than 3 people, what exactly
determines a content refresh need? More importantly, is anyone ever notified of
the update? In addition, and even more troublesome, is that content updates are
often not targeting unique buyers, let alone are set up to be easily personalized.
So while you should always personalize your selling content, doing so is only
worthwhile when youre personalizing appropriately, to each particular buyer, in
each particular selling situation.

49%

cite that
their data
and content in
sales assets is
only somewhat
accurate

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Dude, Wheres My
Content?
You cant use what you cant find. Because 17% of survey
respondents are easily accessing the right content for each
particular selling situation, it leaves some 83% of sales
people that are left struggling to locate the content they
need, likely abandoning their search and relying on outdated
content instead.

Top 3 Most Used

Pieces of Content

63%

PRESENTATIONS
Accordingly, with proposals (67%), presentations (63%), and RFPs (60%) cited as the
top 3 most used pieces of content, assembling the various pieces involved in each of
these is difficult at best and fruitless at worst.
Furthermore, while 78% of respondents feel that sales content is very important
to the effectiveness of their sales reps, 60% say that their content only somewhat
or not very well impacts their sales teams ability to close deals. This gap in selling
effectiveness is comparable to trying to drive a car with four flat tires. It boils down to
this in order to sell more effectively, sales teams need to know where buyers are
in their buying journey, align with them quickly, and deliver the most relevant
and personalized content assets that delivers the most compelling value
proposition. This better equips sellers and enables them to have deeper and more
fruitful conversations with buyers. Further to reiterate the gap that exists in sales
organizations, 71% of survey respondents state that their content only somewhat, not
very well, or not at all helps sales teams have more effective conversations with their
buyers.

60%
RFPS

67%

PROPOSALS

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Content Management is Not Your Enemy

a Lack of It Is
The process to manage, update and distribute content is also cumbersome and can be draining on an organization. And with so
many hands and departments involved in the process, a poorly organized content strategy is almost the same as having no strategy
at all; the potential for mass disorder affects content output in a very real way. Whats more, a whopping 77% of respondents cite
that the frequency of reviewing and updating sales content is only somewhat, not very or not at all sufficient. In todays age of everfrequent change, your sales teams need all the help they can get. Having access to reliable and timely selling content, does not have
to be a Herculean effort, but it does require a defined strategy and underlying technology to support it.
Additionally, 61% of survey respondents say that the size of their team will stay the same. This finding only reinforces the need
to create more valuable content with the same or fewer resources. But given the evident difficulty of utilizing and managing
effective content, scaling successfully can be difficult at least in the case that everything on the content front remains the same.

77%

say that the

frequency of
reviewing and
updating sales
content is only
somewhat, not
very or not at
all sufficient

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

Lets Automate
FIND THE
RIGHT
CONTENT

Theres always hope. Streamlining your content

workflow is one of the most effective solutions
for reducing the complexity involved with finding
the right content faster, ensuring consistency
in format and brand, personalizing messaging,
managing contributors, doing more with
limited resources, the list can go on. By
automating your content processes, your
organization is better prepared to improve
both top (sales wins more deals) and bottom
(eliminate waste) lines of the business.
The noise generated from all sides sales
leaders, sales operations and enablement,
marketing, and content and proposal managers
is lessened when those involved in any aspect
of the content process are working along the
same path. This allows for more collaboration
and improved capacity for working smarter,
which means personalizing content quickly and
easily to every unique buyer in a particular selling
situation. More importantly, automating your
content enhances productivity, a must in todays
rapidly changing world. Increased win rates are
possible when, and only when, your sales teams
stop selling for the sake of selling, and start
selling to create real added value for each
distinctive buyer.

ENSURE
CONSISTENCY

MANAGE

CONTRIBUTORS

PERSONALIZE
MESSAGING

DO MORE
WITH LESS

CONTENT
AUTOMATION

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

CONCLUSION
Rapidly changing buying patterns are affecting more and more organizations growth, and it is
clear that selling content is a very important component in the sales process for companies to
achieve their goals. However, that selling content must be accurate, frequently updated, and
easily accessible to selling teams in order for them to serve up the most relevant assets and
specific to each selling situation. Personalization has also become the de facto necessity in
selling, and buyers not only want it, they need it for them to navigate what is often and team
buying experience. In addition to personalization, the ability to easily find, assemble, and deliver
this content is also critical. In connecting these dots also sets for the foundation for the ability
to measure what works well and what doesnt, in order to improve and replicate across entire
organization.
The world is more interconnected than ever. Comparatively, the disperse teams across a sales
organization are interconnected through selling content. If created and managed effectively,
allows for a smooth selling process, advancing your organizations top and bottom-line. Without
content automation however, your selling efforts are grounded in the past, halting progress
through the inability to personalize and sell faster. This does not have to be a Herculean effort to
streamline content automation. It does however require a strategy that leverages technologies
to support it, whereby reducing complexities and improving productivity.
While this report validates that content automation is a key contributing factor to any selling
strategy, the overarching selling strategy itself must be on point in order to win repeatedly.
Strategic end-to-end sales execution is a methodology that incorporates vital selling tactics such
as content automation to both maintain and perfect effective selling. To learn
more, access our 2015 Sales Execution Trends Report and go beyond tactical
selling in the direction to a complete selling transformation.

KEY TAKEWAYS
DISTRIBUTION AND
ACCESS TO SALES IS
CRITICAL

TEAM WORKFLOWS
AND COLLABORATION
FOR MANAGING
CONTENT IS KEY

ACCURACY AND
QUALITY IN CONTENT
NEED TO BE PRIORITY

EFFECTIVE CONTENT
IS A KEY PIECE FOR
SALES TO CLOSE
DEALS

Read the 2015 Sales Execution Trends Report Now

8

2015 Content Automation Trends Report | Qvidian

ABOUT QVIDIAN

SUCCEED FASTER WITH QVIDIAN

Qvidian provides cloud-based sales execution solutions that enable companies to
exceed quota targets, accelerate sales cycles, and win more business by closing
the gap between strategy and execution. The companys innovative software and
advisory services offer real-time insight to ensure sales teams do whats needed to
win, by driving repeatable methodologies and making the sales organization more
agile.
With over 1,200 global customers including Dell, Citi, ADP, CA, and Splunk, Qvidian is
helping organizations significantly increase their profitable revenues while eliminating
waste and reducing costs.
For more information, visit www.qvidian.com or
call 1-800-272-0047 or +44 (0) 870-734-7778

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