SalesEvolve Case Studies
SalesEvolve Case Studies – What our Customers are Saying
University of Waterloo
Goal: To address the challenges of new, expanding education programs and an increase in co-op students, senior employment relations staff were tasked with developing a strategy to help quality employers discover the benefit of hiring Waterloo co-op students. This included raising hiring rates with existing employers and attracting new employers from a variety of industries. Waterloo understood that effectively communicating the value of co-op to employers and enabling them to hire students was essentially a form of sales.
To achieve their overall objectives, The University of Waterloo sought to provide CEE employees with sales training. They also wanted to ensure management had the tools and reference material to provide ongoing coaching and training to employees and new hires through the onboarding process. Doing so would ensure customers (students and employers) receive maximum value. The CEE executive team at Waterloo outlined the following goals:
- Engage a sales training provider that understood their business model
- Ensure the training provider was knowledgeable about CCE staff and individual roles
- Develop a customized training program to suit CEE’s specific needs and achieve the overall objective – increase in students working for quality approved employers under Waterloo’s co-op program
Approach: Upon selection by the University of Waterloo, SalesEvolve got to work, developing an interview-style, information gathering project to get to know the business model and staff, including business development, account managers, regional managers, communications & marketing and executive staff. 32 people were interviewed and provided SalesEvolve with an understanding of the workflow and challenges involved in increasing their customer base.
Result: SalesEvolve tailored the core training subjects according to what was learned in the interview phase and customized the delivery approach of training workshops to align with Waterloo’s desired outcome and the rapidly changing needs of the team due to COVID-19. The workshop component of training was designed by SalesEvolve to complement the needs of the executive team and to provide ongoing sales support to their respective departments. Training was conducted online with 32 team members and broken into smaller groups to promote sharing and discussion.
Following the formal training sessions, SalesEvolve held smaller team sessions of about 6 people each to discuss content and to help staff apply concepts to everyday work scenarios. SalesEvolve also led mentoring and brainstorming sessions with Managers to help them provide their staff with ongoing training and support. The training modules covered subject matter including:
- Value-based selling
- Employer buying cycle
- Customer Communications & Best Practices
- Qualification of opportunities
- Objection Handling
- Account Management
- Achievement Plans
- How to conduct efficient customer meetings
- Progressing opportunities with employers
Wrapping up the project with the University of Waterloo, SalesEvolve also offered a final report of recommendations regarding team structure, sales processes, and effective supporting documentation. Recommendations were also made to support continuous development. SalesEvolve delivered in-depth training summaries, which included concepts taught in training sessions, to enable the CEE team to train new staff as their team grows.
We were interested in working with a partner that was willing to provide more than traditional sales training. In the academic world, the word ‘sales’ often carries a negative connotation. SalesEvolve was able to understand that and work with it. They helped to alleviate the fear of sales in our employees and focused on the benefits of providing sales as a service.
We didn’t want this to be a tick box exercise or a ‘one and done’ training delivery model. We wanted this training to continue to live where sales management were equipped with the tools to continue to train their employees and new hires. SalesEvolve went one step further – and created the legacy to build the sales training module into our onboarding for new team members.
Ross Johnston
Executive Director, Co-operative Education, University of Waterloo
Cayuga Displays – Training the right way.
Goal: The team at Cayuga Displays strives to stay connected with customers and their changing marketplace. Over the years they recognized that their customers’ needs and buying journey had evolved. Cayuga Displays recognized that their sales strategy and processes must also adapt to a modern customer buying experience to stay ahead of their competition. This included modernizing the skills of their staff to provide the very best customer experience, company wide.
Approach: Rick Schotsman is the President of Cayuga Displays. “It was important to us that we train everyone on the team in the right way to conduct sales. We felt that we needed help from a training partner that would take an organizational approach to our sales strategy.”
As a unique company with unique needs, Mr. Schotsman wasn’t looking for a cookie cutter training program to wedge into his business. Instead, he was looking for a solution with content, custom fit and adapted to his business and team’s needs. “SalesEvolve was a great match for us because they took a customized approach to training our people. They didn’t force a methodology that might not have been the right fit for our business.”
SalesEvolve spent the time to get to know the staff, the business and the markets at hand. The training program’s modules and activities were tailored to Cayuga Displays’ needs, industry, target customers and most importantly for their people. “We appreciated that SalesEvolve took the time to get to know our business and our people before providing training. We felt that other solutions were offering the same training and methodology to all kinds of different businesses and and that wasn’t the right choice for us.”
Result: SalesEvolve provided the right amount of engagement, information and interaction for each session. “We appreciated that SalesEvolve made an effort to keep an upbeat mood, provide a variety of material and activities and ensure that our team was able to laugh while they were learning. We wanted everyone who is working with our prospects and customers to have the same level of communication, strategy, messaging and customer service. SalesEvolve’s focus was on us becoming a sales oriented organization instead of simply training the sales team only.”
Mr. Schotsman believes that SalesEvolve’s training hit the mark. “It was eye opening for our team to understand all of the moving parts in a sales cycle. SalesEvolve was able to break down the complexity of sales and help our people to confidently navigate and be more successful in helping our customers. SalesEvolve’s training program helped us to better understand both our customers and ourselves. In the end, sales is really about people and we felt that SalesEvolve really understood that. They helped us to identify what we do well, where we could improve and to better understand our customers and how they buy. We highly recommend SalesEvolve and we thank their team for their efforts.”
It was eye opening for our team to understand all of the moving parts in a sales cycle. We highly recommend SalesEvolve and we thank them for their efforts.
Rick Schotsman
President – Cayuga Displays
WADE and TACO Antenna
Goal: To support aggressive growth plans, WADE and TACO Antenna required efficient and optimized sales tools, structure to grow the team upon and plan to win business. In addition, they wanted the team to have access to relevant sales training, coaching and mentoring for their business.
Approach: SalesEvolve was hired to conduct a Sales Health Check to determine what WADE and TACO Antenna is doing well, where assistance was needed, how to better support the team from the perspective of other departments. A sales optimization plan including an itemized list to achieve plan was also desired.
Result: “The Sales Healthcheck feedback was a very useful process. It allowed the management team to gain constructive insight in our business to clearly see the gaps in our sales team, sales processes, and identify areas of waste. The report enabled us to settle upon a plan to improve our company and have clear expectations for growth.
We now realize what we need to focus on if we want to continue to succeed in the marketplace. It was very useful to have a fresh pair of eyes to look into our business and to have SalesEvolve’s expertise to identify a few areas in need of improvement. I was impressed with the level of detail and how well SalesEvolve identified the company’s current situation.”
Following the Sales Health Check, SalesEvolve aided the company with building a sales playbook, coaching and mentoring the sales team on strategic opportunities, providing sales training, implementing new tools such as CRM, and sourcing skilled staff.
“Salesevolve’s training sessions have played a huge role in helping our sales team strengthen the pipeline with well qualified opportunities. Whether it is sales training or deployment of a new CRM, Salesevolve has been there for us every step of the way.”
The Sales Healthcheck feedback was a very useful process. It allowed the management team to gain constructive insight in our business to clearly see the gaps in our sales team, sales processes, and identify areas of waste. The report enabled us to settle upon a plan to improve our company and have clear expectations for growth.
We now realize what we need to focus on if we want to continue to succeed in the marketplace. It was very useful to have a fresh pair of eyes to look into our business and to have SalesEvolve’s expertise to identify a few areas in need of improvement. I was impressed with the level of detail and how well SalesEvolve identified the company’s current situation.
Ryan Murphy
CEO – Wade and TACO Antenna
Inspect Manager – Scalable Growth
Goal: To ensure Inspect Manager can scale to projections and estimated demand, the team wanted to make sure their Sales Department had all of the foundational structure, processes and tools required to build their expanding sales team upon.
Approach: The company hired SalesEvolve to provide a Sales Readiness Assessment. This assessment was purposed to highlight what the team does well and provide recommendations for refinement, so that the sales platform is scalable to company growth.
Result: “Salesevolve took a very smart approach to ensuring our sales success. They got to know our business on a deep level and worked with us to develop a plan to ensure we are truly prepared to hit the ground running. It is a pleasure to work with a team that has such experience and foresight.”
Following the Sales Readiness Assessment, the team at Inspect Manager implemented many of the suggestions highlighted in the report. SalesEvolve is now working alongside the Inspect Manager team to generate and qualify high quality sales opportunities for their software.
Salesevolve took a very smart approach to ensuring our sales success. They got to know our business on a deep level and worked with us to develop a plan to ensure we are truly prepared to hit the ground running.
Marc Esper
CEO – Inspect Manager
ballistiq
The Goal: Ballistiq Digital Inc. has experienced significant growth based upon referrals and satisfied clients. To ensure company growth continues and to reduce dependency on referrals, Ballistiq wanted to identify the best approach to attracting new clients.
The Approach: SalesEvolve was hired to assess and refine go-to-market strategies, to build out a sales plan and work on sales supports such as messaging. Once complete, SalesEvolve would test the plan and refinements using SalesEvolve’s sales staff.
The Result: SalesEvolve built a significant pipeline of sales opportunities and closed new long term clients through focused outbound sales efforts. SalesEvolve also proved new ideal customer and channel partner profiles.
“One of the key values SalesEvolve added to our team was intelligence into our ideal sales process, identifying our preferred clients and how to go about finding them. This was critical. Some of the areas we had identified as sources for revenue were confirmed and others were shown to be suboptimal long term strategies. We learned a lot by working with SalesEvolve and were able to increase our organization’s sales IQ. This intelligence will provide long term benefits and allow us to make better decisions for our company in the future”
One of the key values SalesEvolve added to our team was intelligence into our ideal sales process, identifying our preferred clients and how to go about finding them. This was critical. Some of the areas we had identified as sources for revenue were confirmed and others were shown to be suboptimal long term strategies. We learned a lot by working with SalesEvolve and were able to increase our organization’s sales IQ. This intelligence will provide long term benefits and allow us to make better decisions for our company in the future.
Kevin Strike
Chief Operating Officer – ballistiq
Ecycle Solutions
Goal: The team at eCycle Solutions wanted to increase it’s customer base of electronic waste suppliers. The ideal candidate would manage the entire sales cycle from lead identification to deal closure to account management and also demonstrate creative thinking for custom recycling solutions development.
Approach: SalesEvolve was hired as an extension of their existing team to grow sales in Ontario. SalesEvolve provided in person sales and business development services, responded to RFP’s/RFI’s, managed the entire sales cycle and developed a new program for collection of electronics from the public.
Result: “Within short order, SalesEvolve Solutions was able to find us many new clients and establish beachhead accounts in our target markets” says Alan Ferguson, eCycle’s VP of Business Development. “SalesEvolve was quick to understand our core strengths and position us to win exciting new business for our company. They are great to work with and fit in very well with our company.” In just over one year of working together, SalesEvolve won over 45 new clients for eCycle Solutions and was influential in developing new forms of electronics collection programs from the public.
Within short order, SalesEvolve Solutions was able to find us many new clients and establish beachhead accounts in our target markets. SalesEvolve was quick to understand our core strengths and position us to win exciting new business for our company. They are great to work with and fit in very well with our company.
Alan Ferguson
VP of Business Development – eCycle Solutions