Absolute Software Corporation Case Study
Discover how an SDR Team Drove an Additional $6m in Pipeline Revenue
Learn how Absolute Software Corporation was able to set up, onboard, and train an entire team of Sales Development Representatives with Pareto’s expert support.
Absolute Software Corporation is a major name in cyber resiliency, with its security solutions covering around 21,000 global customers. The American-Canadian firm boosts client security for critical apps amid rising digital threats.
Requirements
- Desire to build a comprehensive Sales Development Representative team to support IPO efforts.
- Need to drive team productivity.
- Training and onboarding support for SDRs and their managers.
Results
- 10 SDRs and 1 Internal Sales Representative placed.
- Growth in productivity quarter-on-quarter, with 183% average growth over the first year.
- All SDRs and their line manager were provided with the training and resources needed to remain competitive.
- Outbound meetings increased from 30 in the first quarter to 207 in the last quarter of the first year.
- The team generated an additional $6m in pipeline revenue each quarter.
- 100% retention rate for all SDRs placed, with all candidates offered promotions.
The Need to Build an SDR Team Without Hiring Experience
Absolute had seen success with their prior generation of sales talent, all of whom had become senior salespeople within the organization over the years—leaving a gap at the bottom of the business for junior salespeople who would be hungry to generate new revenue. The organization had always focused on an inbound sales strategy, but an aggressive scaling-up period required an internal team ready to chase outbound business.
The organization had gone from strength to strength since its founding in 1993 but needed to gain experience hiring SDRs and IDRs. With a need to build a comprehensive sales development team with the robust skills to make winning new business straightforward, Absolute Software Corporation came to Pareto with an understanding of their goal—but they weren’t sure how to get there.
Absolute was preparing its initial public offering when the business came to Pareto with the need to build this team. As a result, the company required support on lead generation, pipelining, and driving new business to senior salespeople.
Alongside this, the organization wasn’t clear on the training and onboarding plan that needed to be implemented to guarantee their salespeople possessed the competencies required to drive new business opportunities and optimize the early stages of the sales pipeline.
"The lack of personnel to train SDRs was a major issue... they're a critical part of operations."
-Jacob Loechler, Global Senior SDR Director, Abslolute Software Corporation
Highly skilled SDRs often reduce high customer acquisition costs (CAC), casting a much more targeted net for prospects that match the business’s ideal customer profile.
Absolute’s senior leadership team knew that whoever staffed their new team would have to get up to speed. Given the business-critical nature of SDRs, they’d need a comprehensive training regimen to ensure they were ready to begin identifying leads and securing wins quickly.
The Solution
Planning for growth
Pareto’s proposed resolution to Absolute’s hiring challenges was to begin by understanding the organization’s goals and plans for growth. As a result of this consultative approach, we identified and recruited the right people for the critical SDR positions. We also sourced a candidate for a similarly vital opening as an internal sales representative (ISR).
Our relationship with Absolute began during a period of solid growth for the corporation, with our services enabling them to continue to focus their efforts on the more involved hiring process for senior openings while we ensured that junior and early-career candidates were evaluated and brought on board properly.
Assessment Day
We ran an assessment day for the business in their Austin, Texas-based office, connecting Absolute with the high-quality graduate talent we’re known for—ambitious, hard-working junior salespeople with well-rounded hard and soft skills.
Our 6-hour assessment began by focusing on introductions, highlighting those candidates who were ready to impress their audience and had brushed up on their verbal communication skills. Following this, we ran group exercises focused on pitching and approaches to cold-calling, allowing our consultants to understand who had the confidence, leadership skills, and collaboration ability the organization required of its SDRs.
Making the right hire
As a result of our hiring intervention, we placed 10 SDRs and 1 ISR, with a retention rate of 100% for all team members we placed. Our graduates have been offered promotions within Absolute due to their success in driving revenue as part of this strongly synergetic, confident, and high-performing team.
At the same time, these new placements need to be brought up to speed quickly. Pareto designed a robust training program to ensure Absolute’s new sales hires were equipped with the innovative selling and customer success skills they would need throughout their careers.
"I inherited the team, but was very glad to have them—and glad they had received training from Pareto."
Jacob Loechler, Global SR SDR Director, Absolute Software
Training for Sales Success
Within four weeks of placement, an initial training session was delivered in sales essentials, ensuring the new hires understood how their roles—and the broader sales process—aligned with Absolute’s overall mission and solved their client’s pain points.
From recognizing how to conduct a successful cold call to finding leads and working with decision-makers, this three-day program allowed the SDR team to implement their studies into approaching their ongoing work on the same day.
Following this initial round of training, a second course was offered in social selling during the SDRs' third month with the business, providing them with the innovative sales skills needed to succeed in the increasingly digitalized market. Supporting the building of a comprehensive personal brand through LinkedIn and other social media platforms, creative prospecting, and personalizing outreach, this second round of training ensured the team was well-equipped to address the targets that business leaders would set.
"Pareto has been instrumental in the growth... of this team. They were able to identify and recruit the right people... and then provide them with the training and resources they needed to be successful."
The outcome of Pareto’s recruitment and training intervention was a quarter-on-quarter growth in team productivity, averaging 183% over the first year of their placement.
The SDR team has continued to drive financial success within the organization, growing the number of outbound meetings from 30 in their first quarter with Absolute to 207 in the last quarter of their first year—effectively generating an additional $6m in pipeline revenue each quarter.
As well as providing these new SDRs with the training and resources they needed for their success, Pareto gave their new leader the time and support required to continue to scale the team sustainably, ensuring that Absolute Software Corporation’s staff had the mentorship and coaching necessary to remain competitive within the dynamic and fast-paced cybersecurity space.
Pareto’s intervention ensured that a training and onboarding program would be in place, guaranteeing that when Absolute needed to grow their team further, they could quickly get them to the ability level required to drive revenue and quickly begin providing a return on investment.
"Pareto gave me, as a new leader, the space and time I needed to learn the ropes and… continue to scale the team."
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