A Critical Path Strategies colleague recently attended a seminar hosted by our friends at SAVO and the Corporate Executive Board (CEB). The CEB conducts research in several focus areas, one being sales.

At the SAVO event, the CEB speaker shared some research they had conducted regarding top sales performers. They made several intriguing points. But the one that caught by eye was about the key drivers of customer loyalty and their weighting in terms of effecting loyalty:  Take a look:

• Company and Brand Impact - 19%
• Product and Service Delivery - 19%
• Value/Price Ratio - 9%
• Quality of the Sales Experience - 53%

Holy smokes--53%!

What are the attributes of a high-quality sales experience? Five million customers--across industry--from 24 companies participating in the research said:

• Reps educate me on new issues and outcomes
• They help me understand my alternatives
• They make it easy for me to buy
• They are well respected across my organization
• They offer me perspective about my industry and my company as well as theirs
• They keep me from stepping on landmines

Do you see yourself in any of these attributes?