Inside Sales Collaboration: A Balihoo Case Study

7/31/2019 Inside Sales Collaboration: A Balihoo Case Study

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At the end of 2010, Balihoo was a fast-rising marketing software company with a superiorproduct. But the Boise-based organization lacked a fully-functioning inside sales team,which was hindering its ability to take advantage of a potentially lucrative new market. Bythe end of the following quarter, however, Balihoo with OpenView Venture Partners asthe copilot had reconstructed the inside sales organization and put its sales operationon the fast track to success.

Taking Flight:OpenView and Balihoos CollaborativeInside Sales Effort

s local automation marketing software company Balihoo approached 2011, the businesssinside sales organization felt a little bit like a plane that was flying while it was still being built.

While Balihoo had experienced its fair share of sales success since Pete Gombert founded it in 2004,

last year marked the companys first real attempt at executing inside sales as a vehicle to attack anew market. Encumbering its effort, however, was Balihoos challenge of sustaining a dedicatedinside sales team and finding a true sales executive to lead that operation.

We were doing the best with what we had and we were succeeding, says Gombert, Balihoos CEO.But to say that there wasnt some turbulence would be a lie. We were borrowing resources fromwithin our own company to make it work. It wasnt very efficient and if we wanted to really go aftersome new opportunities, that had to change.

Of course, Gombert and his management team could have enlisted the services of recruiters andconsultants to get Balihoos inside sales operation up and running. However, he wanted to take a

more holistic approach to building the team that involved more than simply recruiting. Thankfully,Balihoo had access to a much more personal and invested advisor OpenView Venture Partners, aBoston-based venture capital firm that made a capital investment in the company in 2009.Through its in-house Labs consulting team, OpenView offered to provide the insight, training, and

recruitment servicesthat Balihoo neededto build an efficientand scalable insidesales organization.

From start to finish,

the project took aboutthree months andncluded the hiring of

a VP of Sales and two inside sales reps, as well as the creation of a handbook that laid out personalized sales scripts and training tools that would make future recruitment and onboarding consistent and repeatable.

We take a collaborative and proactive approach with our portfolio companies, says OpenViewVenture Partner George Roberts, who sits on Balihoos Board of Directors. I think we operate with apretty unique perspective of each companys needs and, withour Labs team, we were able to tailor a plan to help Balihoo

address them.

{It reminded me of having this great, vecourse meal at a restaurant, except you were involvedwith sourcing the ingredients, preparing them, cookingthe food, and serving it. At the end of March, we hadeverything we needed to replicate the process.

Pete Gombert, Founder and CEO, Balihoo


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Before OpenView helped Balihoo scale its team, the firm wanted to be sure that it truly understoodthe companys needs, the new market it was targeting, and the employee profile that would help

ove the company forward. So OpenView sent Brian Zimmerman, a Managing Director, and Devonarwick, a Sales and Marketing Analyst, to Boise for two days in January to dissect the companys

sales and lead generation processes, team makeup, and long-term goals.

We looked at the things they were doing well so that we could pair our msaid Zimmerman. At the end of the day, they own the project. Were kindtweaking the gauges to help them make it successful. So we wanted to be suable with our design.

Subsequently, Warwick made several trips to Idaho to work more closelyith Matt Borud, a senior member of Balihoos Client Development and

team, who was spearheading the companys inside sales operation at the time. They dove intoBalihoos leads, made cold calls, and worked together to create a system that would ultimatelyallow for a unified sales approach.

ithin weeks, Warwick, Zimmerman, and the OpenView Labs team had collaborated with Balihooto refine its database of sales leads, successfully promote and execute a couple of well-attendedwebinars, and develop a 25-page sales training handbook that highlighted specific metrics, roles,target audiences, qualifying questions, and cold call scripts. Without question, what they did in

ess than three months would have taken us at least nine, Borud said. We went from flying blindto a singular, repeatable sales process in one quarter.

ith its semi-assembled Cessna now fully converted into a shiny new Gulfstream, the onlyremaining piece to Balihoos inside sales puzzlewas finding a pilot to fly it. Thats where DianaMartz and Victor Mahillon came in. OpenViews

Recruiting Analysts worked with Balihoo todevelop job descriptions for a Vice President of Sales and two Inside Sales Representatives, andexecuted both a proactive and inbound searchfor the right candidates.

In January, the VP of Sales search led Mahillon toRon Clevenger, who was enjoying his post as theHead of Sales for real estate software providerSingle Point Solutions in Eagle, Idaho. Clev engerpossessed previous inside sales management

experience and knew what it took to build a

Recruiting at the Expansion StageRecruiting Analyst Diana Martz breaks down OpenViewve-step recruitment process for expansion stage organi-zations and explains the important role cultural t plays inchoosing the right candidate.

Writing The Book On Inside Sales

Identifying The Right Sales Leader

}We looked at the things they were doing wellso that we could pairour methodologies to them. At the end of the day, they own the project. Were kindof in the background tweaking the gauges to help them make it successful. So wewanted to be sure they were comfortable with our design.Brian Zimmerman, Managing Director, OpenView Venture Partners

thodologies to them,of in the backgroundre they were comfort-

rogram Managemen t


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sales team from the ground up. Rons previous experi-ence really spoke to what we were looking for and whatBalihoo had told us they wanted, says Mahillon. It was ahuge hire for Balihoo, so we wanted to be absolutely surethat we found the right candidate. With Ron, it kind of feltlike the stars aligned.

Mahillon and Martz interviewed Clevenger over the phone,performed due diligence, and passed him off to Zimmer-man and Roberts, both of whom led high performing salesteams before joining OpenView. They interviewed Clev-enger and, when they believed hed be an ideal fit for Bali-hoo, sent him to Gombert with their seal of approval.

Looking at it from a CEOs perspective, Im sure it was aload off Petes back to know that the candidates had beenthrough an incredibly thorough screening process, Clev-enger said. When youre being recruited, everyone talksabout how great they are. But for me, it was unbelievable tosee venture capitalists that were truly supporting the orga-nization and investing in its future.

The whole process was perfectly timed, too. Clevenger tookover Balihoos inside sales operation soon after Gombertoffered him the job, which aligned perfectly with theonboarding of the companys two new inside sales reps,both of whom Martz and Mahillon had recruited.

Warwick traveled back to Boise to greet the new sales teamfor their first week on the job and continued to work withthem remotely throughout the training process. Beforelong, Clevenger had Balihoos inside sales operation run-

ning like a well-oiled machine. You could see the impactthat he had on our two new reps almost immediately,explains Borud. Going from a rudderless ship to havingsomeone like Ron bring structure and leadership to ourinside sales operation, it was night and day.

When the project was completed, Gombert likened thethree-month collaborative experience to cooking classeswith some of the best culinary experts and executive chefs

{ }When youre being recruited, everyone talks about how great they are.But, for me, it was unbelievable to seeventure capitalists that were trulysupporting the organization and investingin its future.

Ron Clevenger, VP of Sales, Balihoo

WeverBut,ventsuppn its

he collaboration between Balihoo andOpenView produced a new Inside Sales

Handbook designed to clearly describe thetructure, roles and expectations of the

Balihoo team. Based on a framework thatOpenViews Zimmerman had used with pastrganizations, Warwick, Borud and

Clevenger teamed up to craft a new hand-book customized specically for Balihoohe result was a 28-page document thatorks as a comprehensive guide for exist-

ing and future reps alike, as well as arecruiting tool for setting candidate expec-ations early in the hiring process.

OpenView has always encouraged portfolioompanies to have an Inside Sales Hand-book. Quite simply, it creates alignment

ithin a sales organization and makes for aaster new hire ramp up time, Warwick aid. When Ron started, Matt and I

presented him with a draft of the handbook,nd he made the nishing touches. It was arue team effort, and the end product wasomething that everyone had condence

in.

hat end product included a host of infor-mation on the primary roles and responsi-bilities of the inside sales team. Allmeasured activities and metrics werelearly mapped out, as was the companys

Model Day for Success a short outlineemonstrating the ideal day in the life of a

Balihoo sales rep.

arwick stressed the importance of having

uch a feature in place, especially whenramping up new sales hires. Salespeoplehave a lot of balls to juggle over the coursef a day, and without some kind of structure,ime can really escape you, she explained.

arwick noted, however, that the model dayis meant to act as more of a framework thann actual daily agenda.

Consult Your Handbook

T

A Recipe For Sustained Success

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In sales, things come up that you havetotend to regardless of schedule. But a modelday really helps sales people self-manageand focus their time on what is most impor-tant.

The handbook also included a glossary of

terms for categorizing account statuses inSalesforce. With the glossary, new reps cannd clearly dened explanations of how toorganize leads and easily track the statusof prospective accounts. Phone and emailscripts were included in the document aswell, with multiple variations listed fordifferent account types and situations. Thisincluded recommended scripts for coldcalls and follow-up emails, as well as a listof qualifying questions for each method of

contact. The handbook even featuredapproved responses to common objectionsfrom accounts that tend to crop up timeand again.

Warwick said that creating this sort ofone-stop shop for process information is amajor boon for any inside sales team.

Most expansion stage companies havesome content created for their sales

teams. Scripts, FAQs, objection handlingpieces they doexist. But they areusually scatteredll over the place,

Warwick said.The sales hand-book is basically

all of the most valuable content in onecentralized location that new sales hireswill need to be successful in their jobs.

in the world. Itreminded me of havingthis great, five coursemeal at a restaurant,except you were involvedwith sourcing the ingre-dients, preparing them,cooking the food, andserving it, Gombert says.

At the end of March, wehad everything weneeded to replicate theprocess and every one

involved had a very deep understanding of what theyeeded to do to make it happen.

Best of all, Balihoo didnt have to wait long to reap the benefits of its newly developed inside sales team, as the newhires closed deals within their first three weeks on the job.The companys newly-formed inside sales team closeddeals within their first three weeks on the job. Warwickattributes much of that immediate success to Clevengersleadership and the sales teams commitment to the newlyimplemented process.

I honestly figured it would take at least at quarter to startseeing results from the new team. Within weeks after thestart date, the team was already closing deals. I think its atrue testament to Rons ability to lead a sales organizationat the expansion stage I cant wait to see how well theyre

roducing a year from now.

Neither can Gombert. In just 12 weeks, he witnessedBalihoos inside sales organization completely transform.Now, with a solid foundation on which to build and a much

ore sophisticated sales approach as its framework, thesky is the limit.

Im biased, but I always believed that we had a much moreunique solution than our competitors, Gombert says. Theissue was that our superior product wasnt supported by asuperior sales organization. That was the gap holding usback. But after working with OpenView, I feel like weveclosed that gap significantly and it may be a matter of timebefore we eliminate it completely.

a oo s att oru e t w t pen ewManaging Director, Brian Zimmerman, atthe companys main headquarters in Boise.

OpenView has always encouraged portfolio companies tohave an Inside Sales Handbook. Quitesimply, it creates alignment within asales organization and makes for afaster new hire ramp up time.

Devon Warwick, Sales and Marketing Analyst, OpenView Venture Partners

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Inside Sales Collaboration: A Balihoo Case Study