Q&A with Russell Wurth, Showpad’s Vice President of Sales Enablement
In the best of times, organizations want to understand ROI before investing in a new technology solution. In the wake of COVID-19, purchases are under even more scrutiny, as budgets are often tightened in times of uncertainty. In order to secure funds, teams must be able to prove that a technology solution can have a large, quantifiable impact on the bottom line.
Next week, Showpad is releasing the Forrester Total Economic Impact of Showpad Report (TEI Report, for short) to help organizations better understand the return on investment they can expect from partnering with Showpad.
Recently, we sat down with Russell Wurth, Vice President of Sales Enablement at Showpad, to learn what the TEI Report is, what it measures and why now is the ideal time to release it.
Showpad: Let’s start with the basics. What is the TEI Report?
Russell Wurth: This TEI Report is a study Forrester developed that explores the value of partnering with Showpad. It weighs the costs of acquiring and maintaining Showpad (think licensing fees as well as training and administration costs) against the benefits a business can expect by effectively using the platform. In other words, it provides readers with a detailed look at the overall return on investment (ROI) of Showpad.
Showpad: Why is it important for organizations to understand the value of a sales enablement platform like Showpad?
Russell Wurth: Sales enablement is a relatively new discipline. But it’s quickly growing as businesses understand the impact it can have on pipeline and revenue growth. For example, CSO Insights’ Fifth Annual Sales Enablement Study reported that organizations with sales enablement have 15.3% higher close rates than those without.
The same study found that the more formal the approach to sales enablement, the greater the success. Companies with a formal sales enablement program and charter have an average win rate of 55.1%, compared to 39.2% for organizations that take an informal approach.
A sales enablement platform is a key component of a mature sales enablement program. The challenge is that there are many stakeholders from many different teams who weigh in on this type of purchase: sales, marketing, sales operations, HR and IT. The person or team championing a sales enablement platform must be able to articulate the benefits to different departments that are measuring value in very different and disparate ways. Value can be in areas such as sales quota attainment, onboarding ramp time, staff retention, new product launch time, marketing content performance and operational costs to name a few.
This TEI report is an important tool that will help companies make better budget decisions when investing in sales enablement. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you that Showpad customers experience a really impressive ROI when they use our platform.
Showpad: What exactly does the report measure to determine the benefit of Showpad to companies?
RW: Forrester conducted detailed interviews with Showpad customers. When analyzing the benefit of Showpad for our customers, Forrester focused on a few quantifiable metrics, including sales, rep ramp time and marketing productivity. They also explored other benefits that aren’t quantifiable, but are still important. These include improved customer experience and stronger alignment between marketing and sales teams.
Showpad: Why did Showpad opt to partner with Forrester rather than producing an ROI report independently?
RW: Forrester developed the Total Economic Impact Methodology specifically to help business leaders make good decisions. Basically, they are the experts at analyzing the costs and benefits of a technology solution. We think it’s the perfect framework for analyzing the impact of Showpad.
Forrester is a trusted name for businesses across a number of industries. As an executive and buyer, I have relied on their research extensively in the past. Partnering with them certainly adds an important layer of credibility to this type of initiative.
Showpad: Why is this report especially important now?
RW: The business world has changed significantly in just a short period of time. Companies have transitioned to being fully remote, slowed hiring to roles that have direct impact on revenue, and tightened budgets. More than ever, organizations are scrutinizing investments to only be in solutions they know will have both a near-term impact to teams and departments with significant and measurable long term business value.
Sales enablement professionals know there is no lack of sales enablement tools available in the market that can solve discrete challenges. However, it is difficult to continuously try and build a business case with many stakeholders and introduce yet another tool in the sales technology stack — and then try to determine which tool is the result of performance, or cause of lack of performance. We believe in a platform approach for enabling sales to provide a more unified experience for sellers, managers and marketers. This report clearly demonstrates the value to be expected that justifies the investment. Companies will demand that several departments acknowledge and realize the value of the investment of such platforms.
Showpad: Where can we find the report?
RW: The report isn’t available yet, but it’ll be released next week Tuesday, March 31. Stay tuned for the report itself as well as an upcoming webinar in the next few weeks with Forrester and our Co-Founder, President and Chief Product Officer, Louis Jonckheere.
