For today's B2B tech firms, the path to rapid growth and repeatable revenue means advancing through stages and change. Each transformation story is different, but most boil down to three keys for success: choosing the right strategy or partner, applying the new methodology within daily rhythms, and ensuring long-term adoption.
When Patra, an insurance-tech provider, crossed the $100M in ARR benchmark, their leadership launched a partnership with Force Management to elevate their go-to-market approach with the goal of doubling their revenue. One year into the partnership, Patra realized outcomes including a 143% increase in win rate, a 48% increase in Average Deal Size, more bookings, and faster times-to-close. Read the full Patra-Force Management Case Study here.
Let’s look at how Patra found success and their approach to these three key areas:
1. Choosing the Right Strategy and Partner
After maturing from a start-up, Patra sought to elevate their go-to-market approach by changing how it engaged with customers. “I wanted to migrate from price-transaction methodology to a consultative approach,” explains Patra CRO Bob Murphy. “I knew we needed to up our game and would need outside help to do that.”
In this video clip, Bob describes the process of selecting a partner as almost like an RFP: putting together a list of fundamental requirements, interviewing three sales training firms, and deciding to go with Force as a “no-brainer.”
There are a lot of sales training organizations out there. It can be difficult to cut through the noise and find the right solution for your company. (Here's some ways we're different.) You know your company best. We encourage leaders to ask themselves these three questions before hiring a sales consulting firm or revenue transformation partner:
- How will this partner ensure the continued success of its methodology?
- How does this partner differentiate themselves from its competitors?
- What tangible evidence of their work exists that indicates they’ll help drive success for my organization?
2. Aligning Behind a Strong Value Messaging Framework
Before implementing Command of the Message®, Patra’s salesforce experienced challenges resulting from how they engaged with potential clients. As Bob Murphy explains, “We were coming in, talking about products and hoping there was a fit. I wanted to migrate from price-transaction methodology to a consultative approach.”
One year into the Force Management partnership, Bob Murphy describes the new sophistication his sellers exhibit when engaging potential customers. In this clip, he offers an example from the field of how using the discovery techniques from Command of the Message helped Patra to position itself as an expert, reframe how the prospect was looking at Patra, and ultimately land a large enterprise deal:
When an organization lacks a value-based messaging framework, the challenges include difficulty reaching C-level decision makers, smaller deal sizes, long sales cycles prone to stalling and frequently losing out to the competition. When revenue teams align on the key messages that resonate with the varying personas in customer buying committees, sales cycles shrink and deal sizes expand.
3. Structuring Onboarding for Long-Term Adoption
In this clip, Bob Murphy describes how implementing Command of the Message and MEDDPICC formalized their onboarding program–not only framing the stages and timeline necessary to see results, but also helping them understand the true capacity of a salesperson and the size of a salesforce they’ll need going forward:
Our work with rapid-growth B2B tech firms often begins with a Command of the Message engagement, where the Value Framework is built and implemented. A primary goal of Command of the Message is creating a messaging framework that helps sellers structure sales conversations that emphasize value and align differentiation with what’s important to buyers. And MEDD(P)ICC offers a standardized system that informs which opportunities are worth pursuing and where gaps exist in deals. Both help revenue teams by providing a common language they can leverage internally and externally.
But beyond the impact to your current team, Command of the Message and MEDD(P)ICC also provide the structure you’ll need to add headcount, shorten ramp times, and equip new sellers to contribute in a timely manner. They are proven strategies for keeping the momentum as you build and grow.
Drive Revenue Transformation with a Proven Formula
Building a revenue-driving machine has no one-size-fits-all playbook, but most companies who achieve success do it with the right plan, embedding it in their selling motion, and ensuring it sticks for the long-term. Patra's recent partnership followed this three-part roadmap to achieve outcomes like more $1M deals, lower push rates, and evidence of improved onboarding. Watch more of the interview with Bob Murphy in the Patra Case Study, and dig into more success stories told by leaders across tech sub-verticals in our Case Study Library.
