October 26, 2013

InsideSales.com Predictive Pipeline Review: "C9. Icing on the cake"

Scott Johnson

Sales Operations Manager

First AdvantageConsumer Goods, 1001-5000 employees

Score 9 out of 10

Vetted Review

Verified User

Modules Used
Pipeline Analytics, Reporting

Pros and Cons

Customization. C9 customized their applications to match the fields and data in our CRM. This enabled advanced filtering outside of the standard data filters.
Continuous Improvements. C9 was always adding features and improving performance based on user feedback.
Customer support. C9 listened to our feedback, responded quickly to service issues, and consistently connected with customers via online seminars, an annual Customer Summit, and Customer Success Managers.
Analytics. C9 gave us the power to look at our pipeline at different moments in time, track changes, and measure KPIs we could not do with the CRM alone.

Their support ticketing system and support page could be improved. They were always responsive, but tracking the status of your ticket and knowing who it was assigned to was challenging.
There were some performance issues that seemed to come with application enhancements, but they were always communicating progress and working to resolve.

Return on Investment

C9 enabled us to track our sales pipeline changes over time which ultimately led to a 17% increase in win rate.
The product paid for itself in months because utilization is dependent upon the managers, not the salespeople. Managers have the license, but the benefits are applied to the salespeople. Most subscription based products are under utilized when every person must hold a license.
1 on 1 conversations between managers and salespeople were more meaningful because they were discussing long term pipeline growth and health, not short term status reports.

It is a cost effective enhancement to the CRM, providing sales operations professionals the tools necessary to deliver relevant data to sales leaders. The product is easy to use, evolves, and generally exceeds expectations.

Likelihood to Recommend

Decide which metrics and key performance indicators are important for your business and ask C9 how they can help you track your progress. I recommend getting complete buy in from your most senior level sales manager before, during, and after evaluation.

Users and Roles

10 - Sales and Sales Management

Support Headcount Required

1 -

Excel
Basic understanding of how queries work
Strong understanding of Salesforce.com
Analytical
Ability to train peers and superiors
Basic understanding of forecasting and sales processes.

Business Processes Supported

Need for pipeline analytics above and beyond what the CRM can offer
Need for forecasting vehicle
Ability to generate reports and dashboards
Provide snapshots or "moment in time" views of your sales pipeline

Innovative Uses

Forced our company to create formal KPIs
Promoted pipeline health in ways we could not have dreamed of
Compare pre and post merger pipeline growth

Future Planned Uses

Forecasting
Automated Reporting

Products Replaced

Support

C9 cares about their customers and responds quickly. However, the ticketing system could be better and there is no easy way to track the status of your requests.

InsideSales.com Predictive Pipeline Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	Poor followup Not kept informed Need to explain problems multiple times

Bug Resolution

Yes - Most bugs were resolved in a timely fashion. Some were not. Only one negatively impacted our business.

Exceptional Examples of InsideSales.com Predictive Pipeline Support

A representative held a separate call with me to discuss best practices on an unrelated solution. The company always went out of their way to provide value and make us feel important.