SALES PROCESS, PRICING, PROPOSALS

Situation:

Our sales process was inefficient, with inconsistent pricing strategies, time-consuming proposal creation, and non-standardized documentation. This led to excessive administrative tasks, lengthy quote and proposal turnaround times and vastly different quote and proposals presented to prospects.  This reduced the time available for revenue-generating activities and frustrated the sales teams.

Action:

I spearheaded, with the assistance of product SVP and professional services VP, the development and implementation of several transformational projects:

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1. Consolidated pricing SKUs

2. Introduced a new pricing strategy

3. Created proposal templates

4. Standardized documentation to roll out and train the details of these initiatives

 

These initiatives were designed to streamline our sales process and ultimately fed into the implementation of a new Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) tool later that year.

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Result:​

The outcomes of these initiatives were significant:

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1. Administrative tasks were reduced by 48 hours each month, freeing up time for revenue-generating activities

2. The sales quote and proposal time was dramatically reduced from 1-3 days to less than 3 hours, greatly improving our responsiveness to customer inquiries

3. These improvements not only enhanced our operational efficiency but also positioned our sales team to be more productive, it standardized our proposals, and was customer-focused.

4. Happier sales team.

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​RETURN ON INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

Situation:

Our sales team lacked a standardized method for helping prospects quantify the return on investment (ROI) of their purchases. This inconsistency made it difficult for sales representatives to effectively communicate value and support decision-making for potential customers.

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Action:

I created and launched comprehensive ROI models tailored by product and platform. Additionally, I conducted training sessions for the sales team to ensure consistent application of these models in their sales processes. This initiative aimed to equip our representatives with the tools needed to effectively demonstrate value to prospects.

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Result:

As a result of these efforts, the sales team was able to present a clear and consistent ROI to prospects, enhancing their ability to justify purchases. This not only improved the sales process but also increased customer confidence in their investment decisions, ultimately contributing to higher conversion rates and improved customer satisfaction.

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1. Subsequently rolled into new hire sales training

2. Marketing built it into our website design for self-service estimated ROIs

3. It was used to train partners

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Not all sales representatives felt comfortable in detailed ROI discussions so I would augment the discussions where appropriate.

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PIPELINE AND  REVENUE GENERATION

Situation:

​Our company needed a robust strategy to significantly increase our pipeline; and, ultimately, revenue generation. The existing approach was not yielding the desired growth, and we lacked a cohesive Go-to-Market (G2M) strategy to drive substantial new business growth and account expansion.

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Action:

​I formulated and executed a comprehensive, strategic plan with a specific focus on Go-to-Market (G2M) strategies and revenue generation. This plan incorporated six initiatives designed to accelerate our growth and market penetration and were rolled out as short-term initiatives and long-term initiatives so that we could effectively manage the financial projections tied to these initiatives.

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1. Competitive Displacement

2. Verticalization within Strategic Industries

3. Land and Expand Pathways

4. On-Premise to Cloud Transitions

5. Add-On Promos

6. Compliance Market for High Risk Industries

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Result:

​The implementation of this strategic plan led to remarkable results. Each initiative had specific strategies-to-win (S2W) and financial projections. In less than two years, we successfully generated more than 6x our previous pipeline in under two years. This significant increase in potential business opportunities through new pipeline positioned the company for substantial revenue growth and market expansion, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new G2M strategies and initiatives.

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1. >6x pipeline increase

2. Focused effort to understand and clean up existing pipeline for accuracy

3. Created strategic, enterprise deal visibility

4. Held AEs accountable for logging all pipeline 

5. Seller Fitness Reporting - this allowed me to generate new pipeline reporting by seller for visibility and accountability

6. ​While easy to view the increased pipeline, it was more difficult to track the specific financial impact over this period because there were so many additional projects that impacted revenue.  However, exceeding aggressive quota targets was proof that combined initiatives were working incredibly well.  

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​Aligning to the Buyer's Journey​

Situation:

Our sales process was a "forced" buyer's journey.  Our process was built to support our internal needs and not the unique buyer's journey.  This meant that our prospects lacked critical discussions and actions that would ensure customer success and satisfaction. This gap was potentially impacting our ability to deliver optimal value to customers, achieve the success they desired, and attain high customer experience (CX) ratings for our organization.

 

Action:

I crafted and executed several key success components and integrated them into the buyer's journey:

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1. Implementation Strategy Session

2. Business Impact Assessment

3. Back of the Napkin ROI Models

 

These components were designed to enhance our understanding of customer needs and expectations, and to ensure that our solutions would deliver measurable business impact.

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Result:

The integration of these key components into our buyer's journey (and inserted as part of the sales process) significantly improved our customer experience metrics. As a result, we achieved CX scores in the high 90% range, indicating exceptional customer satisfaction and success. This improvement not only enhanced our reputation but also likely contributed to increased customer retention and potential referrals.

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1. This initiative fostered collaboration and enhanced the communication and relationship with the Customer Success team and Professional Services

2. These efforts transformed our interdepartmental relationships, creating a more seamless, integrated approach to customer engagement

3. By establishing clear communication protocols and collaborative mechanisms that went beyond sales, we enhanced our ability to deliver more cohesive and impactful customer experiences and case studies 

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Value Selling and Messaging

Situation:

Our existing content lacked compelling narratives and clear demonstrations of business outcomes, which hindered our ability to effectively communicate value to potential customers. Additionally, our messaging wasn't tailored to specific verticals, limiting our scalability and impact across different industries.​

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Action:

I undertook a comprehensive content redesign initiative:

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1. Developed stories with compelling use cases, focusing on demonstrating the business outcomes customers seek

2. Adopted a storytelling format to better sell value

3. Authored and implemented messaging and data insights tailored to specific verticals, which included the powerful use of 10% messaging concepts and data insight questions

4. Redesigned this content for Sales Enablement purposes, partners and our website.

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Result:

This redesign significantly enhanced our ability to communicate value to prospects.

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1. The storytelling format and vertical-specific content improved engagement and relevance across different industries

2. The tailored messaging and data insights drove scalability, allowing for more effective targeting of customer segments and verticals

3. The redesigned content was then used for Sales Enablement equipping our sales, customer success, presales, and professional services team with more powerful tools to convey our value proposition, leading to improved conversion rates and sales effectiveness.

4. This format was then used to update the demonstration platform so the same stories could be told using our demo data

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FORECASTING STAGES AND SELLER FITNESS REPORTING​

Situation:

Our sales pipeline and associated forecast lacked clear stages and standardized processes, leading to inconsistent performance and inaccurate forecasting practices amongst Account Executives (AEs). There was also a disconnect between lead generation, qualification, and the sales stages, causing confusion and inaccuracies in pipeline and forecasting management.

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Action:

1. Implemented structured pipeline and forecasting stages with actionable inputs and repeatable outputs to guide sales team through best practices at each stage

2. Authored input and output (outcome) content for each stage, providing AEs with a proven path to success

3. Introduced Seller Fitness KPIs to manage pipeline funnel, weighted funnel coverage, and quota attainment

4. Integrated lead generation and qualification protocols and guidance into the new stages

5. Later collaborated with marketing to repurpose the authored content for broader content development needs

 

Result:

Overall, these actions streamlined our sales process, improved pipeline accuracy, and provided a foundation for more effective sales forecasting management and marketing alignment.

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1. Improved clarity and consistency in the sales process for AEs

2. 100% accuracy in understanding and managing the pipeline and the forecasts

3. More effective lead management and qualification process

4. Enhanced ability to track and improve sales performance through Seller Fitness KPIs

5. Improved alignment between sales and marketing efforts through shared content development

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​QUALIFIED PIPELINE

Situation:

Our sales performance tracking and CRM data were inaccurate and unreliable, with $30,000,000 of potentially unqualified pipeline. The lack of processes to ensure data integrity hindered our ability to make informed decisions and accurately forecast sales.  Historically, our organization experienced systemic challenges in pipeline performance management, characterized by suboptimal data integrity, inconsistent processes, accountability KPIs, and limited visibility into opportunity progression.

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Action:

1. Implemented sales performance and management operating rhythms (MOR) tied to improved pipeline metrics

2. Developed CRM dashboards to provide real-time insights into pipeline and its data quality 

3. Initiated a systematic process for regular data cleaning and validation

4. Established weekly review and improvement cycles to maintain data accuracy

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Result:

These initiatives led to significant improvements:

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1. Increased CRM data accuracy from potentially unqualified $30,000,000 pipeline to 90% accuracy confidence; and while the pipeline originally decreased, accurate data was the first step in building out a sustainable structure

2. Enabled real-time visibility into sales performance and pipeline health

3. Improved decision-making capabilities based on reliable data

4. Established a culture of continuous improvement with ongoing weekly enhancements to data quality and sales processes

 

This transformation not only improved our data integrity but also enhanced our ability to forecast sales accurately and make data-driven strategic decisions.

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EXECUTIVE SPONSORSHIP, COMPETENCIES, ONBOARDING

Situation:

Our sales process lacked executive involvement on critical enterprise or strategic deals, often leading to prolonged deal closure times.

 

Additionally, there was no standardized framework for assessing sales competencies; and no structured onboarding for new hires and and strategic partners.

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Action:

1. Launched an executive sponsorship program in sales, integrating high-level leadership into critical deals at the appropriate point in the sales cycle

2. Established core competency matrices to measure skill attainment and accountability for learning among sales team members; then tiered the sales representatives based on their skills and competencies; based pay on skills and competencies; and then built a career path for sales new hires

3. Designed new hire sales enablement program to streamline onboarding and accelerate productivity; where previously there was only a PPT deck that was used to familiarize the new hires with the organization

4. Developed a specialized sales program for strategic partners to enhance collaboration and alignment

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Result:

These initiatives collectively strengthened our sales organization, improved efficiency, and laid the groundwork for sustained growth, scalability, career pathing, and performance improvement.

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1. The executive sponsorship initiative reduced the average number of days to close enterprise deals by more than 30 days, significantly accelerating the sales cycle

2. The core competency matrices provided a clear framework for evaluating and developing sales team skills, fostering a culture of continuous improvement

3. The new hire sales enablement program enhanced the onboarding experience, equipping new sales representatives with the necessary tools and knowledge to succeed quickly

4. The strategic partners sales program improved collaboration and alignment with key partners, potentially opening new revenue streams and market opportunities

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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROCESS

Situation:

Our existing customer feedback mechanisms were not effectively leveraged to inform product development, effective marketing programs, or content gaps. This resulted in disconnected messaging and potentially missed opportunities to showcase our value proposition.

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Action:

1. Systematically collected and analyzed customer feedback and win/loss reports

2. Translated customer insights into strategic inputs for product, marketing and training teams

3. Developed impactful success stories and case studies based on authentic, relevant customer experiences

4. Aligned content development with actual customer narratives and outcomes

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Result:

This approach transformed customer feedback and win/loss reports from raw data into a strategic asset, enhancing our storytelling and market positioning.

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1. Achieved a 75% improvement in content effectiveness

2. Happy sales representatives

3. Realized 100% confidence and usage of the newly created content across marketing, customer success and sales channels

4. Created a more authentic and compelling narrative that resonated with potential customers

5. Established a feedback loop that directly connected customer experiences into a continuous improvement process

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MARKET SHARE AND COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

Situation:

Our company faced challenges in expanding market share and improving competitive positioning in two acquisition areas: (1) business intelligence (BI) and (2) workforce management (WFM). Additionally, our competitive displacement, across all products, had a low win rate at 25% when I started tracking it.

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Action:

1. Led sales efforts on strategic acquisitions of Stytch (BI), Symmetrics (BI), and Teleopti (WFM) to enhance our market presence and capabilities ​

2. ​Founded a Competitive Intelligence (CI) forum to conduct in-depth analysis and develop positioning strategies

 

Result:

​These initiatives significantly strengthened our market position and competitive advantage. The strategic acquisitions allowed us to rapidly expand our customer base, access to new technologies and functions, and achieve platform synergies.  

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The CI forum provided valuable insights into competitor moves, industry trends, and customer sentiments, enabling us to make data-driven decisions and refine our go-to-market strategies for BI and WFM.

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1. Increased market share of BI and WFM by 33% - all during a downturn economy. ​

2. Improved competitive displacement win rate from 25% to 83% through focused insights gained from the CI forum and win/loss studies.​