Who goes into a relationship with a vendor hoping to change them? Rob Cummerson, that’s who.
As the Director of Marketing Operations and Analytics at Advanced, Rob is no stranger to the give-and-take that happens in healthy customer supplier relationships. In fact, he sees the partnership between Advanced and Salesloft as something that has shaped his company’s approach to vendor management overall.
During the London leg of Saleslove on Tour, we sat down with Rob to hear what he had to say about how impact can drive both ways between customers and vendors, and also how that leads to success.
A foundation of sharing
When Rob’s team was looking for a new sales technology to support and grow their business, they learned that an important part of what comes with a new sales solution is actually the helpfulness of the vendor — and how willing they are to share their knowledge and expertise. “One of the things that your team were brilliant at [was] the heavy lifting. You taught us what we didn’t know and helped us improve on what we did know. And that’s really important,” Rob shared. He told us that even after years of being a Salesloft customer, Advanced still has cadences in place from the very beginning of their relationship with Salesloft. With that firsthand knowhow from Salesloft, he said that Advanced is “still driving our business change.”
“One of the things that your team were brilliant at [was] the heavy lifting. You taught us what we didn’t know and helped us improve on what we did know. And that’s really important.”
Improvements to Advanced’s processes
Rob told us that for him and his team, Salesloft was definitely a game changer. And though it might seem like a clear cut reason for that would be the robustness of the platform, he admits that some of the main reasons that Advanced ultimately went with Salesloft as an organization was the customer success and the onboarding experience. “As part of the experience that we had with you, we changed the way we onboard our own customers,” Rob said. “So very much being driven by you as a supplier, which was really key.”
Part of the sales process that they picked up from the Salesloft team helped them to act more quickly. “So there was no kind of, oh, we’ll check our diaries for a meeting in a couple of weeks,” Rob shared. “Actually, as the call ended, we were booking the next call into onboard. I think that’s really important because it drove us to be quicker to get things online, quicker to support our sales team quicker. But also, to do it in a manner that was really easy for us.”
“…It drove us to be quicker to get things online, quicker to support our sales team quicker. But also, to do it in a manner that was really easy for us.”
Leaving a lasting impact on Salesloft
Rob admitted something that likely rings true to every buyer: your priority as a buyer is your own business. So when choosing a vendor, you’re thinking first and foremost about how that vendor will improve your organization. Some vendors are better at this than others. And for Rob and his sellers at Advanced, they like that they can be opinionated with the Salesloft team and trust that they’ll be heard. “We’re part of a community within Salesloft that we’re helping you guys change the platform as well,” Rob said. “We’re very vocal. Because at the moment, for us and for me, Advanced is the priority.”
It seems to be paying off for Advanced, because the bonds that communication is forging between their org and Salesloft grows stronger because of it. According to Rob, he actually doesn’t even view Salesloft as simply a customer supplier. “I see it as a relationship, and that’s really important for us,” Rob clarified. “And that’s how we now buy technology.”
“I see it as a relationship, and that’s really important for us. And that’s how we now buy technology.”
Seeing optimization as a result
What’s great for Advanced is that working with the team at Salesloft — and giving Salesloft candid feedback — has led to improvements in optimization, too. He gave us an example of how about onboarding his team that drove more MQLs down the line as a result. “I think the outcomes have always increased… as we’ve [gotten] better year on year,” Rob said. “We’ve got a really strong training program, and we utilize the Salesloft platform to help people onboard. What we’ve absolutely found from day one, and actually in the very early days when we put in, was the increase in marketing qualified leads that we were getting.”
“We utilize the Salesloft platform to help people onboard. What we’ve absolutely found from day one… was the increase in marketing qualified leads that we were getting.”
When asked what he thought that meant about how his team was operating before, Rob was quick to say that it wasn’t like his sellers weren’t doing the right thing initially. “Actually, we were able to see what was happening in the system, so we could shorten some of the journeys,” Rob said. “We were looking at a 25% increase probably within three months of putting the platform in.”
“We were looking at a 25% increase probably within three months of putting the platform in.”
For Advanced, they could now inform their salespeople as theyhanded over an opportunity from a business development into a sales rep, and they could see the changes that were happening because of the data now available to them with Salesloft. Those newly seamless conversations were a big deal for him and his team.
The right relationship for success
It’s great that Rob and the sales org at Advanced found new ways to approach customer suppliers and new ways to approach their own customers, too. But it’s equally great that Salesloft has a customer like Advanced that is willing to speak up about important issues that affect the quality of the technology. It’s relationships like this that improve and develop both sides. There’s no reason your organization can’t find the right vendor partner to help you drive sales for years to come.