Poor sales management costs mid-size firms £65bn a year

Poor sales management is costing mid-sized firms more than £65bn in lost sales a year.

Research from analyst Gartner says that through to 2010, enterprises will miss the equivalent of 5% to 10% of annual sales as "lost opportunities", that could have been captured through improved management of sales territories, quotas and compensation plans.

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There are more than 48,000 mid-size businesses in the UK, employing between 100 and 500 staff. They have a combined turnover of £655bn.

This means that improved sales management could deliver up to £65.5bn in extra potential income for mid-size organisations.

Previously, the benefits of increased automation through sales performance management (SPM) were best obtained by larger organisations.

However, the growth of on-demand computing provides a flexible and cost-effective way for smaller companies to benefit from SPM.

The on-demand model allows businesses to pay a monthly charge to use software hosted outside their organisation, reducing overall costs and administration.

"Mid-size organisations are the backbone of UK business and are critical to the overall economy," said Bill Schuh, vice-presidents for Europe at on-demand SPM firm Callidus Software.

"By not having a proper handle on their sales functions they are currently missing out on a huge revenue opportunity. With belts tightening across the economy, now is the time to look at better control of sales in order to improve the bottom line," he said.