90% of Business Professionals Frustrated by Needing Sales Pitches for Basic Information; "Listening Performance Deterioration Points" in Sales Processes Revealed <Survey on Sales Communication Practices in an Era of Declining Working Population>

LOOV Inc. (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Masato Uchida; hereinafter referred to as "the Company"), which develops "TALKsmith," a service that implements a new infrastructure for business communication through presentation automation and assetization, has launched the "Kikipa Lab." website to research improvements in "Kikipa" (Listening Performance), a new standard for listener satisfaction and ease of decision-making in explanatory sessions. The company also announced the results of a "Sales Communication Practices Survey" conducted by Kikipa Lab. targeting 100 business professionals who have been involved in the evaluation or negotiation of B2B tools within the past year.

■ Survey Rationale and Objectives

With the expansion of AI utilization and sales DX, the volume of information disseminated by companies and sales touchpoints is increasing. Meanwhile, due to a declining working population and increasing job complexity, information recipients are increasingly required to enhance productivity and "understand and judge information with high satisfaction" within limited time. Furthermore, as the main demographic in business shifts to the "time-saving generation" that demands smart information consumption, "Kikipa"* is gaining attention as a new communication standard.

*"Kikipa" is an abbreviation for "Listening Performance." It is a new standard that refers to the degree of listener satisfaction and ease of decision-making relative to the concentration and stress (cost) spent listening to an explanation.

Against this backdrop, Kikipa Lab. conducted this survey to clarify the presence and nature of burdens arising at each stage of a company's adoption and contract decision-making processes.

These survey results can also be viewed on Video Agent, with explanations from Kikipa Lab. researchers.

■ Sales Communication Practices Survey Summary

Over 90% of respondents: Forced to schedule "sales pitches first" just to get basic information.

Over 60% of respondents: Despite coordinating schedules, experienced "reading aloud slides with information available on websites or in documents."

Over 90% of respondents: Felt "uncertainty" due to not knowing the next steps after the sales pitch.

Over 80% of respondents: Experienced "lonely internal reporting tasks" after sales meetings, being left to handle it alone.

■ Survey Results (Details)

【Phase: Initial Approach】The Vicious Cycle Caused by the Presenter's "Contact-Oriented, Speed-First" Approach

▼ Basic information such as pricing, features, and implementation conditions is not sufficiently available, forcing the scheduling of sales meetings.

【Q1】Regarding the experience, "Basic information such as pricing, features, and implementation conditions was not sufficiently posted on the website or in documents, and decision-making materials could only be obtained through a sales representative's pitch," 90% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 42%, Sometimes: 48%).

【Kikipa Deterioration Points】

From the presenter's perspective, optimizing the process to "provide detailed information after the sales contact" to improve proposal accuracy, and designing a "contact-first" customer journey to avoid missing limited lead opportunities, backfires. As a result, it forces listeners to bear a significant time cost (e.g., one hour of their time) upfront.

▼ Only impersonal scheduling links are sent.

【Q2】Regarding the scheduling stage, "I felt anxiety and burden because only a scheduling tool was sent, without any explanation of the meeting's purpose or preparation guidelines," 82% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 30%, Sometimes: 52%).

【Kikipa Deterioration Points】

The background is the systemization by the presenter for prompt response and workload reduction. By omitting the motivation-building aspect of "Why are we meeting?", it is possible that listeners are simultaneously burdened with "scheduling hassle" and "pre-meeting psychological cost."

【Phase: Individual Sales Pitch】The Vicious Cycle Caused by the Presenter's "Comprehensiveness, Hearing-First" Approach

▼ Reading aloud company introduction slides that can be found on the web.

【Q3】Regarding individual sales pitches, "Despite it being an individual pitch, the explanation largely consisted of content that could be confirmed on the website or in documents," 62% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 23%, Sometimes: 39%).

▼ General explanations dominate, making it difficult to envision implementation for one's own company.

【Q4】Regarding individual sales pitches, "The explanation was centered on general information rather than a proposal tailored to our company's situation, making it difficult to understand personally," 60% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 30%, Sometimes: 30%).

【Kikipa Deterioration Points】

The presenter's effort to "deliver their service and company image thoroughly and carefully" may be perceived by the listener as "one-way deciphering labor that doesn't fit their context."

▼ Constant questioning without concrete proposals or demos at the time.

【Q5】Regarding the experience, "It took a long time to understand the service value due to a less experienced sales representative during individual pitches," 73% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 13%, Sometimes: 60%).

【Q6】Regarding the experience, "Despite explaining challenges and requests, concrete proposals or demos were not provided at the time, preventing the consideration from moving forward," 72% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 22%, Sometimes: 50%).

【Q7】Regarding the experience, "The individual sales pitch ended without clarity on 'who will do what by when,'" 90% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 31%, Sometimes: 59%).

【Kikipa Deterioration Points】

The presenter's decision to prioritize customer understanding and "focus solely on hearing in the first meeting, with concrete proposals for subsequent meetings" or optimizing operations within limited time may backfire. Differences in sales representative capabilities can also be a factor, potentially leading to "stalled consideration due to lack of expected information" or "getting lost on the next steps" for the listener.

【Internal Reporting & Post-Contract Phase】The Vicious Cycle Caused by "Uniform Communication"

▼ Having to recreate materials for internal sharing after the sales pitch.

【Q8】Regarding the experience, "Explanations required differed depending on internal roles such as decision-makers, operational staff, and IT departments, necessitating the recreation of materials and explanations," 80% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 30%, Sometimes: 50%).

【Q9】Regarding the experience, "I felt a sense of isolation and burden as the promotion manager, needing to organize 'who to tell what and how' to explain the service's value to internal stakeholders," 80% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 20%, Sometimes: 60%).

【Kikipa Deterioration Points】

While the presenter may have reached an agreement with the on-site contact person, they may not have adequately provided the necessary information and materials for internal decision-making by the listener. This can lead to consideration stalling or being put on hold at the decision-making stage.

▼ Lack of follow-up after contract signing and uninteresting regular emails after the sales process.

【Q10】Regarding the experience, "After contract and implementation, I was unsure which features or usage methods were effective for our company and ended up not utilizing them sufficiently," 62% of listeners answered "Yes" (Often: 24%, Sometimes: 38%).