Insight into sales talent: the power of big data
17th May 2018 | Andrew Dugdale
Sales talent analytics can drive competitive advantage and unlock new sources of corporate wealth.
Pretty much everyone these days has heard of “big data”, but how many firms are actually using it to unlock new sources of corporate wealth in connection with their talent?
Let’s start at the beginning: what is big data? Google defines it as: “Extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions.” How well that concept of analysing large tranches of data plays into the sales talent arena!
Good sales talent is often the hardest to hire, and the most critical to get right. Failure is an expensive option, with not just losses in hard costs associated with the hire, but also in second-round costs (loss of potential revenue), and third-round costs of short-, medium- and even long-term reputational damage caused by putting a below-par salesperson out in the field to represent your firm in front of your customers. On the flip side, a good sales hire is a significant long-term asset for any firm, delivering high levels of EBITDA year after year, as well as being a strong ambassador for your brand and reputation.
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