Companies Bullish on 2016 Growth Despite Market Turbulence, New Research Reveals

SILICON SLOPES, Utah – Mar. 29, 2016 – XANT, the leading cloud-based sales acceleration technology company, today announced its inaugural Business Growth Index, a comprehensive research report with a pulse on sales confidence, priorities and the impact of technology on a company’s bottom line. The index reveals that despite today’s economic uncertainty, leaders are bullish on revenue predictions for 2016 with 75 percent of sales leaders predicting steady or accelerated growth in 2016. InsideSales’ Business Growth Index also provides a pulse on the tech industry and insight into its speculated “bubble,” which may be more bluster than reality. The data shows that while tech companies closed 5 percent fewer deals in 2015, sales opportunities increased by nearly 11 percent and experienced an impressive 10 percent increase in deal size.

Sales Confidence vs. 2016’s Wild Start

Despite the worst start to a year in the history of both the S&P 500 and the Dow, sales confidence across industries remains high:

  • Majority of Sales Leaders are Optimistic: Over 75 percent of sales leaders predict either steady or accelerated sales growth in 2016.
  • Predicting Positive Overall Sales Growth: Overall, sales leaders project a 31 percent increase in year-over-year sales growth for 2016, up from only 23 percent in 2015.
  • Spicing it Up: Seasoned sales leaders (45 and older) are nearly twice as optimistic about 2016 as they were about 2015—more optimistic than any other age group.

“In contrast to negative predictions based on the market’s slow start this year—which led some to believe that sales teams would have subdued expectations for revenue, deal and team growth in 2016—we’ve found the opposite to be true,” said Dave Elkington, CEO of InsideSales. “In fact, the data indicates that average deal sizes are growing, especially for larger companies and those in high-tech, with little sign of possible decline.”

High-Tech Sales May Shed Light on Speculated “Tech Bubble”

Not only are businesses surviving the turbulent markets, but tech companies, in particular, seem to be thriving off the volatility:

  • No Signs of Slowing Down: Tech companies are building up momentum with the highest 2015 growth (36 percent) and largest projected 2016 growth (45 percent) of any industry.
  • Bigger Deals to Be Had: Though the industry’s sales cycles took longer (+8 percent) and the number of deals closed declined (-5 percent), tech companies actually saw a 10.8 percent bump in sales opportunities and a 10 percent increase in deal size.
  • Silicon Valley is Still Digging Up Gold: At home in the hottest tech hub, Silicon Valley, companies located on the West Coast have also been on a high with a greater increase in the number of opportunities (16 percent) than the rest of the country (11 percent).

After the data was analyzed, it became clear that the sentiment among sales teams is in sharp contrast to the currently reported market growth gloom. Instead, many tech companies are benefitting from the market volatility, be it actual orprojected.

More Than Just Positive Vibes About 2016 Growth

The report also examined several key topics in the sales industry, such as the volatility of a company based on size, which C-level exec they fear the most, diversity plans and their favorite movies:

  • The Billion Dollar Club Isn’t the Only Way to Roll: Billion-dollar companies may have closed more deals in 2015, but companies with less than $1B in revenue were able to increase the size of their deals while deal size of bigger players actually decreased.
  • A Fear of the CFO: When asked which executive is the toughest to deal with if the sales force misses its quota, the majority of sales leaders reported fears of the CFO (59 percent), followed by the CEO (15 percent) and the CRO (15 percent).
  • 2016: The Year of Diversity: In 2016, sales leaders are looking to diversify and strengthen their sales teams with women (42 percent), ethnic minorities (34 percent) and candidates with resilience (No. 1 desired sales trait at 36 percent). Managers seeking successful salespersons are also keen to hire individuals with empathy (29 percent) and ambition (26 percent).

The use of big data and predictive technology is seeing wider adoption by businesses across a variety of industries. From enterprise sales to online shopping recommendations to sports, companies continue to rely on data to increase their odds of success. Predictive (and, in some cases, prescriptive) analytics are being used with customers across the different stages of the sales funnel. As companies continue to achieve more accurate sales predictions and success from these tools, their adoption will continue to see strong growth. To receive a copy of the InsideSales Business Growth Index report, please visit/research/BGI.

Methodology

The study’s findings were based on a variety of sources, including quantitative analysis, a survey which collected answers from over 600 respondents between the January 23, 2016 and February 12, 2016, and system data that included over 5.4 million transactions from approximately 5,671 sales representatives over the course of 2015. The analysis was expanded to consider certain firmographic and geographic traits of the companies involved in order to observe patterns. Graphics generated from survey data use the mean as a measure of center. Those generated from system data use the median due to outliers present in that data.

About XANT

XANT offers the industry’s leading sales acceleration platform built on Neuralytics, a predictive and prescriptive self-learning engine that drives revenue growth by delivering an optimized experience for both salesperson and buyer. The platform fuels sales rep performance and provides buyer personalization with breakthrough innovations in predictive sales communications, engagement tracking, forecasting, and rep motivation. XANT has received numerous accolades for its technology and has been named as one of the fastest growing companies by Inc. XANT enterprise customers include ADP, Microsoft, and Groupon.

North America Media Contact

Margaret Farrell 415-963-4174 x8 XANT@highwirepr.com

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