RAIN Group - White Paper or Research Report of the Year

Company: RAIN Group, Boston, MA
Company Description: RAIN Group is a global sales training and performance improvement company that unleashes sales potential by delivering transformational experiences. We've helped hundreds of thousands of salespeople, managers, and professionals in more than 75 countries significantly increase their sales with our sales training, consulting, and coaching services.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: White Paper or Research Report of the Year

Nomination Title: New Report Helps Sellers and Sales Leaders Overcome Virtual Selling Challenges & Succeed in New Sales Environment

The RAIN Group Center for Sales Research has kept its finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the world of sales as everyone transitions to virtual selling.

The firm’s analysts have worked to uncover the challenges of virtual selling, common mistakes buyers encounter in the virtual space, the factors that have the greatest influence on buyers’ purchase decisions, and more.

Since beginning its research in May 2020, RAIN Group has surveyed 528 sellers and buyers on their virtual buying and selling experiences and revealed the results in its complimentary report Virtual Selling Skills & Challenges: Buyers Share Where Sellers Are Succeeding & Failing. https: //hubs.ly/H0y636b0

In this report, RAIN Group shares the results of its survey, including:

Top challenges sellers face in the virtual environment
The factors that highly influence buyer purchase decisions
Virtual selling trends and the impact of the global pandemic on sales
Virtual seller effectiveness across key skills
The most commons mistakes buyers experience when being sold to virtually

This research is also the foundation for RAIN Group’s latest bestselling book, Virtual Selling: How to Build Relationships, Differentiate, and Win Sales Remotely, available on Amazon.

Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2019 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):

Since launching in June 2020, the report has been downloaded by sellers and sales leaders around the world more than 3,000 times. Top Sales World found the report so useful that its featured in its library of recommended resources.

RAIN Group has received great praise from leaders:

“Your report is incredible and a must-read.”
“It brings more than opinion. Readers will find real research conducted with both buyers and salespeople.”

The findings in the report have also been featured in publications and on reputable company blogs, including Entrepreneur, MarketingCharts, eMarketer, MarketingProfs, Hubspot Sales Blog, Training Industry, ATD, Showpad, LinkedIn Sales Blog, and others.

Top podcast programs run by well-known sales speakers like Victor Antonio and others have discussed the findings from the report on their episodes.

AA-ISP found the topic and research so timely that it asked RAIN Group to provide the closing keynote at its Virtual Sales Summit in September. Companies like Highspot and Prezi have partnered with RAIN Group to co-host webinars on the topic of virtual selling.

Finally, RAIN Group won 4 deals with contacts who were influenced by this report.

Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):

The world of sales as we know it has changed forever.

To call this report helpful and unique would be an understatement. It’s a relatively new topic that hasn’t been widely researched. And if it has been, rarely do you hear from both sides (buyers and sellers).

Based on the research findings, buyers are underwhelmed by sellers’ virtual selling skills. The report shows thatsellers are doing a poor job in the areas that matter most to buyers.

For instance,only between 16% to 34% of sellers do well in the four areas that havethe highestinfluence on buyer purchase decisions.

Selling virtually is a challenge for even the best sellers. If you’re a veteran seller or just getting started, this report provides crucial insights and tips to succeed.