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Vendor Selection Matrix™ –

Sales Engagement Management SaaS And Software:

The Top 20 Global Vendors 2019

Peter O’Neill

Research Director

March 2019


Vendor Selection Matrix™ – Sales Engagement

Management: The Top 20 Global Vendors

Top Five (alphabetical order)

Top Six to Ten (alphabetical order)

Top 11 to 20 (alphabetical order)

Clearslide

Highspot

SAP

Seismic

Showpad

Apparound

Bigtincan

Brainshark

Mediafly

Pitcher

Accent Technologies

ClientPoint

CustomShow

DocSend

Fileboard

Insite Software

Journey Sales

Octiv

Prolifiq

SalesLoft


The Research In Action GmbH

Vendor Selection Matrix™ Methodology

Data Summary:

➢ Unique, primarily survey-based methodology for comparative vendor evaluation.

➢ At a minimum, 60% of the evaluation results are based on enterprise and SMB buyers’ survey

results.

➢ Analyst’s opinion accounts for a maximum of 40% of the evaluation results (not close to 100%

as in most other vendor evaluations).

➢ More than 45,000 data points were collected.

➢ Data was collected in Q4 of 2018 and Q1 of 2019, covering 1,500 business and IT managers

(with budget responsibilities) in a combined telephone and online survey.

➢ The top 20 vendors of Sales Engagement Management SaaS and Software solutions (selected

by the survey respondents) were evaluated.

➢ The evaluation results and forecasts are based on customer and vendor feedback, publicly

available information, triangulation, as well as the analyst’s opinion.


Industry breakdown

Energy 98

Financial Services 247

Government & Non Profit 102

Healthcare & Chemicals 198

Manufacturing 303

Media & Telecoms 126

Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail 123

Technology & Professional Services 200

Travel & Transportation 103

Total 1.500

Country breakdown

DACH 200

United Kingdom 150

France 150

Benelux 50

Europe (Rest) 150

North America 500

The Americas (Rest) 50

Australia and New Zealand 30

Asia Pacific (Rest) 220

Total 1.500

Company size breakdown

Headcount below 2.500: 252

Headcount 2.500 to 5.000: 312

Headcount 5.000 to 10.000: 336

Headcount 10.000 to 50.000: 499

Headcount over 50.000: 101

Total 1.500



Survey Instrument:

Job title breakdown (Buyer role)

CEO 142

CMO 119

General Manager 113

CTO 114

VP Sales 108

VP Marketing 105

Project Manager 100

BU Head 97

Client Engagement Manager 95

BU Marketing Manager 91

COO 88

CIO 85

IT Manager 83

VP IT 59

Supply Manager 43

CFO 29

IT Operations Manager 17

Others 12

Total 1.500


Decision Makers use

a mix of traditional

and online tools

What Tools Do You Use To Create The Vendor Longlist?

MQ/VSM

Press

Peers

VendorsSocial Media

N = 3.000 Business and IT Managers with budget responsibilities (multiple surveys)


Market Definition: Sales Engagement Management

➢ Sales Engagement Management (SEM) is a vital family of business processes for companies who promote

and sell "considered purchases”1 - products or services representing a significant investment and involving

complexity that requires in-depth research by the buyer as well as direct representation by a seller. These

sales are made primarily by companies selling in a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-business-to-

consumer (B2B2C) capacity.

➢ Investments in SEM software are initiated by the marketing and/or sales operations departments of a

company (marketing seeks a system to distribute content to sellers, sales-ops automates operational

workflows like configure-to-quote). The primary SEM market driver is the need for a more coordinated

customer experience from marketing and sales combined, so today’s focus is on driving customer

engagement and discovering/providing optimal sales content. Most vendors provide tools for elements of

SEM but not for everything. Other labels used within this category include Sales Enablement, Sales

Acceleration, Sales Operations, and Sales Training.

➢ In the near-term, SEM investment projects will rationalize the current myriad of centrally-installed and self-

loaded applications found on a sellers device; providing one platform of robust tools for sellers to use in

their engagement with increasingly informed buyers. SEM will support sellers in their internal collaboration,

as well as optimizing and supporting them for all communications with external parties. We anticipate that

companies will be budgeting well over $100 per seller per month for solutions in this area.1Considered purchases, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Considered_purchase


Market Overview: Market Trends 2019

What is your number one investment area in the Sales Engagement Management space for 2019?

N = 1.500 Business and IT Managers with budget responsibilities

Notes

• Optimized content for

sales conversations is

the top priority

(availability and

performance).

• Sales productivity is

next in importance,

including finding new

customers.

• Seller adoption

recognized as a critical

success factor.


Are you planning to implement or replace your Sales Engagement Management solution in the next 1-3 years?



Notes

• Almost half of the

companies have not

yet invested in sales

engagement software.

• 35% of those with

current sales

engagement software

now plan to replace it.



What are your top three priorities when considering a Sales Engagement Management vendor?


Notes

• Local (regional)

support is a significant

factor.

• Price/Value ratio is

next.

• Buyers value project

implementation

services incl.

templates.



What is your most important sales engagement transformation objective for the coming years?


Notes

• Again, system

adoption is an

overriding success

factor.

• SEM is often aligned

with the launch of a

new sales

methodology.


Market Overview: Macro-Trends Affecting Sales

Engagement Management Projects in 2019

➢ Market size and growth. Today, there are roughly 30 active software and SaaS vendors generating

around $ 1 billion in global annual software licenses, maintenance and SaaS revenue with a prevailing

CAGR of around 60%. Many vendors in this report are in their early business phase and enjoying annual

growth rates of around 100%.

➢ Mobile devices become the platform of choice for sales staff. Sales staff are by nature mobile, so

mobile devices will serve as the primary target for sales engagement solutions. Mobile hardware

rollouts are often used to encourage adoption of the new SEM system.

➢ Story-telling requirements and advocacy messaging drive need for video content. Most SEM

systems can prompt sales staff on–the-job to deliver content messages and are used to share customer

reference stories. Video will be found to provide the best engagement media for these processes.

➢ Vendor consolidation is a priority. Ultimately, buyers wish to avoid working with too many martech

vendors, so often a “good enough” solution from an incumbent vendor may suffice. SEM vendors will

therefore strive to embed themselves into larger vendors’ ecosystems.

➢ Cloud-based solutions are preferred. Almost every vendor in this market is “born-in-the-cloud” or has

acquired such a vendor for this category.


Market Overview: Sales Engagement Management

Market Predictions➢ Content presented by sales requires personalization and context. Marketers will want to provide sales with content that

is as specific as possible to the customers they meet and sales-users will even be enabled to complete the personalization.

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine-learning, and even virtual-reality technologies will further contextualize the content used

in sales meetings.

➢ Pressure to minimize number of systems displayed to sellers. Sales force productivity and system adoption

considerations will drive the need for more complete SEM; covering sales operations, content distribution, training/coaching

and productivity tools. SEM solutions that cover only parts of this will need open APIs to support integration to other

systems. In verticals like life sciences and financial services, that includes systems for audit and compliance. Buyers will also

expect the SEM to connect seamlessly to (or even be embedded within) their CRM, MLM and/or BCM systems*.

➢ Partner sales coverage. Eighty percent of B2B or B2B2C products and services are sold through a partner channel. Many,

though not all, companies have a Partner Relationship Management (PRM) system to manage the partner business and

marketing processes. More advanced firms also have a Through Partner Marketing Automation (TPMA) system to share lead

management and content. These companies will also want to provision partner sales staff as users of their SEM platform.

➢ Provision of sales automation functions. The old adage of “you cannot train a sales force” prevails. If a firm wants to

train/coach their salespeople, it should happen on-demand and in-context. In addition, sales “conversations” will increasingly

execute electronically/on-screen – perhaps even between two bots (i.e. the buyer is also an automated dialogue). SEM

systems will therefore leverage AI and predictive analytics functions to prompt, coach, and support sellers on an ongoing

basis - ultimately even replacing (automating) some of the sellers.

* CRM – Customer Relationship Management, MLM – Marketing Lead Management, BCM – Brand Content Management



Management SaaS And Software: Evaluation Criteria


Name Product(s)1 Accent Technologies Accent Accerlerate, Accent Connect, Accent Present, CRM Supercharger

2 Apparound Intelligent Quoting, Sales Trackeer, Knowledge Manager, Solution Advisor

3 Bigtincan Bigtincan Hub, Bigtincan Studio, Bigtincan SalesAI

4 Brainshark Brainshark Pro, Brainshark Coaching

5 ClearSlide Clearslide Sales Engagement Platform, Clearslide Sales Enablement

6 ClientPoint ClientPoint

7 CustomShow CustomShow

8 DocSend DocSend

9 Fileboard Fileboard Workflow, Sales Assistant

10 Highspot Highspot

11 Insite Software InsitePortfolio

12 Journey Sales Smart Rooms

13 Mediafly Mediafly Evolved Sellin Solution

14 Octiv Octiv, Conga Collaborate

15 Pitcher Pitcher Sales Enablement Platform, Pitcher Impact, Pitcher Connect, Pitcher Zero

16 Prolifiq Prolifiq ACE, Prolifiq CRUSH

17 SalesLoft SalesLoft Sales Engagement Platform

18 SAP SAP Sales Cloud, CallidusCloud Enablement

19 Seismic Seismic, Savo Smarter Content, KnowledgeTree

20 Showpad Showpad, LearnCore

Evaluated Vendors and Solutions:






Top Five (alphabetical order)

Top Six to Ten (alphabetical order)

Top 11 to 20 (alphabetical order)

Clearslide

Highspot

SAP

Seismic

Showpad

Apparound

Bigtincan

Brainshark

Mediafly

Pitcher

Accent Technologies

ClientPoint

CustomShow

DocSend

Fileboard

Insite Software

Journey Sales

Octiv

Prolifiq

SalesLoft




Vendor Selection Matrix™ Disclaimer:

Research In Action GmbH does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our

research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors

with the highest ratings. The information contained in this research has been obtained from

both enterprise as well as vendor sources believed to be reliable. Research In Action GmbH’s

research publications consist of the analysts’ opinions and should not be considered as

statements of fact. The opinions expressed are subject to change without further notice.

Research In Action GmbH disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this

research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About:

Research In Action GmbH is a leading independent information and communications

technology research and consulting company. The company provides both forward-looking

as well as practical advice to enterprise as well as vendor clients.


Contact

Peter O‘Neill

+49 174 3210020

[email protected]

RESEARCH IN ACTION

Research In Action GmbHHauptstrasse 9

56244 HartenfelsGermany

Office: +49 2626 291251Fax: +49 2626 291272

Email: [email protected]

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