I improved my sales performance, gained more confidence and advanced my career
ESI provided structure in my sales process and gave me the confidence to excel
ESIESIOur customer was looking to establish and improve its sales structure and capabilities.
This case study was drafted in collaboration with ESI Partner Doqaru. It outlines how the ESI/Doqaru solution enabled the successful transition of technical support employees into full-time sales roles at our customer Geoactive.
Headquartered in Scotland, Geoactive Limited is the creator of market-leading digital products designed for subsurface geological exploration and monitoring. The company’s software products have a history of almost 25 years, and through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company relaunched in 2022 as Geoactive Limited.
Its expert team applies their independent expertise to help clients optimise performance in upstream and downstream operations and assets. They constantly innovate and develop solutions to tackle the most complex challenges at every stage of an asset’s lifecycle.
Geoactive’s flagship products, Interactive Petrophysics (IP) and Interactive Correlations (IC), are primarily used in the Oil & Gas sector but are also used in other sectors such as mining, geothermal, and carbon capture. Interactive Petrophysics (IP) is a modular formation evaluation suite, providing a customisable solution for well log interpretation, porosity, pore pressure, and reservoir productivity analysis.
Interactive Correlations (IC) is a geoscience software application that promotes effective communication and collaboration across multiple disciplines. It enables users to efficiently extract information from various data sources and produce powerful reviews quickly.
Doqaru engaged with Geoactive shortly after its launch in September 2022. Geoactive is well-known for its first-class customer support and expertise. At this time, the company were looking to establish and improve its sales structure and capabilities.
Following discovery calls with Geoactive’s team, we outlined the following objectives for the company:
To deliver on these objectives, we needed to first understand the status quo so that Doqaru’s proposal properly addressed specific gaps.
We collaborated with Geoactive to evaluate the sales skills of their team between November 2022 and January 2023. We focused our evaluation on those in support roles, such as customer support and technical sales. The assessment aimed to pinpoint sales performance strengths and weaknesses and identify potential improvement opportunities.
Upon reviewing the results, we identified five staff members in sales support roles that had a solid foundation in sales skills, making them suitable for transitioning to sales and account management positions. We then helped Geoactive execute a plan to transition up to five employees into full-time sales roles. These individuals had primarily technical backgrounds and required some additional training and support for long-term success.
Through our partnership with ESI, we customised a 12−month sales education programme for each employee that addressed the gaps identified in their evaluations. Additionally, we provided individualised monthly sales coaching support to ensure ongoing guidance as these staff members adapted to their new roles.
“Working alongside Doqaru and ESI, we have successfully transitioned five technical staff members into sales roles. The feedback from our team has been positive. Several individuals have already earned their first micro-credential in Entrepreneurial Sales.”
– Derek Crombie. Managing Director, Geoactive Limited
As of September 2023, all five employees had completed Level 1 of the ESI course, with two reaching Level 3 and earning a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Sales. Their sales pipelines were healthy, and they had successfully closed deals in the six-figure range.
A sales skills reassessment in early October showed significant improvements in Sales DNA and tactical skills, including hunting, reaching decision-makers, and sales processes.
An example of this growth was one former customer support staff’s Sales DNA score, which had increased from 59 in January 2023 to 89 by October 2023. Sales DNA measures a salesperson’s ability to handle rejection, navigate a supportive buy cycle, and discuss finances comfortably. We share some of the results below:
Our customer saw clear and measurable return on investment as a result of the ESI solution – as well as a positive qualitative impact.
The improvement in this skill reveals an ability to uncover compelling reasons for prospects and customers to buy from them by using active listening skills to ask good, tough, and timely questions. This salesperson has learned not to start presenting straight away but to listen and ask questions early in the sales process.
In January 2023, this person was more comfortable continuing conversations with existing contacts, not fully understanding how this can lengthen a sales cycle or even lose deals. Now, they find a way to reach the person responsible for deciding to purchase, being persistent in getting their attention. Nearly 2.4 million salespeople have been assessed using this tool. We were delighted to see one particular salesperson climb to the top 6% based on a significant improvement in their Consultative Selling and Reaching Decision-maker skills. Their previous ranking placed them in the bottom 39%. Additionally, we observed 2× and 3× improvements in their Hunting and Closing skills, respectively. This data-driven evaluation demonstrates their excellence in sales competency, which is further evidenced by their successful closure of multiple deals.
Written by Doqaru Ltd. and originally published on Doqaru.com
ESI provided structure in my sales process and gave me the confidence to excel
ESI gave me more confidence and the ability to make better decisions