State of Sales 2017 – Sales Organization Structure Trends

We have written volumes on what sales professionals do to get the right cadence, use smart strategies to increase revenue and sell more. But as we’re looking at specific strategies and situations, we don’t want to lose track of the bigger picture. This is why XANT Labs created one of our largest studies – the State of Sales 2017. For today, we’ll see what the study shows about sales organization structure – and what trends are changing it.

The State of Sales report studied 1,151 companies to find what they do to win sales and close more deals. In addition, the study examined the sales market in which these companies operate and completed a benchmarking exercise.

The study is built around three major categories – structure, systems and people. It offers a unique perspective on how sales professionals run their companies to produce the best possible results.

Sales Organization Structure

Often, outside sales and inside sales appear to be at odds with one another. Inside sales offers a leaner and more automated approach. Outside sales capitalizes on the in-person interaction and the power of face-to-face communication. Instead of trying to find “which is better,” the study details industry trends that dictate the structure of sales organizations in 2017.

Across the market, companies reported that 44.4% of their sales teams were inside sales while 55.6% were outside sales. In addition, the average number of sales related functions per company was 3.9.

Large organizations (revenue > $500M) are dominated by field sales reps (71.2%). They also capitalize more than any other size organization on the benefit of the channel program (69.4% higher than the average).

Midsize organizations (revenue $50M-$499M) have the highest number of roles with 4.4 (12% higher than the average). This occurs with the introduction of the specialized roles. These are account management (16.9% higher than the average) and renewals (19.2% higher than the average).

Small organizations (revenue <$50M) have the highest percentage of inside sales reps (47%). However, they leverage the outbound sales development role more than any other size of company. A majority of small companies (67.1%) say they use this role.

Download the State of Sales 2017

The State of Sales report was built in partnership with the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP), Top Sales World, and the Association of Professional Sales (APS).

The benchmarks shows you how you compare to top players in the industry and how you can up your game to be one of the best.

To download an executive summary of the report, click below: