Case Studies

Technology solutions distributor with nearly $8B in annual sales teams with WhiteboardSelling to more effectively train, prepare and support its global network of VAR partners.

Avnet Technology Solutions, part of Avnet, Inc., is a leading distributor of IT solutions in more than 30 countries with $7.6 billion in sales in fiscal 2008. Avnet Technology Solutions distributes hundreds of products from leading hardware and software vendors, including HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, AMD, NetApp, Microsoft and McAfee. Avnet enables solutions providers to grow faster with less investment by helping them understand their customers' unique business requirements and industry-specific needs, and allowing them to deliver unified solutions that combine technologies and services and span supplier lines.

• Avnet trained more than 3,000 sales professionals worldwide to sell more effectively
• Avnet showcased its value-added "solutions provider" approach to distribution
• Avnet VAR partners are more confident and effective, closing more deals faster
• Suppliers know that Avnet VARs are well-versed in their value propositions

Leading technology company enables global sales teams with WhiteboardSelling sales enablement technique to more effectively deliver the company’s core value proposition to prospects.

• Blue Coat trained over 400 global sales professionals to sell more effectively
• 98% of sales professionals report increasing sales effectiveness
• Blue Coat sales professionals  can now confidently communicate the company's core value proposition using nothing more than a whiteboard or pad of paper
• Blue Coat sales professionals report closing higher value opportunities

"The WhiteboardSelling sales training methodology enabled our sales teams to deeply connect with our new value proposition and messaging; they left these sessions knowing our core positioning cold,” said Steve Rowland, Vice President, North American Sales. “More importantly, they learned how to use whiteboarding to confidently and effectively communicate this key positioning to prospects in the field – with nothing more required than a whiteboard or even a pad of paper. My teams can now walk into sales meetings and recreate the whiteboard in an interactive way that really engages prospects in open dialogue.  This enables our sales professionals to add differentiated value to our clients, prospects and partners."

Worldwide Application Lifecycle Management solution provider uses WhiteboardSelling to unify entire company on a single corporate message; sales teams use highly effective whiteboard selling method to engage with more prospects and develop more sales and service opportunities.

• Borland effectively communicated a unified corporate message to its entire workforce
• Borland trained its global sales and service team to sell more effectively
• Borland sales teams can now confidently communicate the company’s core value proposition using nothing more than a whiteboard or pad of paper
• Borland now stands out from competition with a differentiated sales approach that helps customers make more informed buying decisions

"As a smaller company competing against large incumbent vendors like IBM and HP, we now have a differentiated sales tool that really helps our sales and service professionals deliver a compelling and interactive presentation that clearly adds value to the customers’ decision-making process – and helps Borland move engagements forward in a more meaningful way,” said Rich Novak, senior vice president of field operations at Borland. “WhiteboardSelling has given not only our sales team, but our entire company, a common vocabulary and consistent message that we can deliver to prospects. Our sales teams in particular have elevated our message, penetrating higher and broader into accounts, and developed more substantial sales and service opportunities in our target markets."

Global Software Provider Trains Global Sales Team to Better Engage Prospects and Close More Deals using Unique WhiteboardSelling Methodology.

Software AG turned to WhiteboardSelling to launch an innovative training program to help sales teams more effectively communicate with high-level buyers. The WhiteboardSelling sales enablement solution allowed Software AG to develop a “visual story” about its products and services – helping companies achieve business results faster – and to share critical new information on product lines and services with its sales teams. WhiteboardSelling helped Software AG with initial whiteboard message development services, trained and certified hundreds of salespeople, and provided online tools to measure the effectiveness of the WhiteboardSelling sales process over time.

“WhiteboardSelling really opened up a dialogue among our sales teams about exactly what messages and value propositions are more critical to convey in order to close deals," said Joe Gentry, Senior Vice President at Software AG. “Instead of forcing our sales teams to sit through a boring presentation, we used interactive whiteboards from WhiteboardSelling to convey those key messages in a dynamic, engaging, and passionate way. The result is that our sales people are more confident in their ability to convey our company’s key messages, and they have the tools and skills necessary to present those ideas visually to prospects on whiteboards in meeting rooms around the world.”