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Company: Rosetta Stone, Arlington, VA
Entry Submitted by: ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Company Description: Rosetta Stone is changing the way the world learns languages. Rosetta Stone provides interactive solutions that are acclaimed for the speed and power to unlock the natural language-learning ability in everyone. Available in more than 30 languages, Rosetta Stone language-learning solutions are used by schools, organizations and millions of individuals in over 150 countries throughout the world.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Global Sales Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Institutional Sales Team, Rosetta Stone

Tell the story about your organization's innovations in customer service since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Pete Rumpel came to Rosetta Stone in early 2009 as the company was
transitioning from a privately held to public one. His sales team was
responsible for a number of divisions, including selling Rosetta Stone’s
language learning products to governments, schools and corporations in the
U.S. and abroad. Pete’s unit was doing very well, growing at a 60 percent
compound growth rate, but the VP immediately realized much of that growth
stemmed from successful marketing to consumers. This made his sales teams
appear to be little more than order takers who generated small average deals
and did little to build strategic relationships and cultivate customers.

Pete knew immediately a cultural shift was needed and worked with a seasoned
sales professional and trainer to improve his sales teams’ effectiveness.
Specifically, the sales training would introduce a new framework and
methodology to equip sales staff with the skills and toolsets to transition
from order taker to proactive sales professional. In doing so, each unit
within his division would move forward with bigger average sales orders based
on a new, customer-centric approach that established what are expected to be
long-term relationships.

If selling the idea of an entirely new sales system to staff who’d had to do
little to earn a sale was difficult, getting buy-in from Pete’s peers in the C-
suite was no better. He realized that his own credibility and, perhaps, future
at Rosetta Stone was at stake.

It turned out that fear was short-lived.

That spring 80 people attended the sales training workshops and 90 percent
gave the training the highest marks possible. And, it soon became apparent, it
wasn’t just lip service. The results from new sales culture were quickly
realized.

Almost immediately, sales professionals began to close on higher sales orders,
even those that did not benefit from an organic pipeline. For instance, one
higher education inside sales representative sold a $57,000 package to a major
university; his prior highest sale had been $5,000. His story wasn’t an
isolated one, either.

Within 12 months, the division’s average sales order had grown by a phenomenal
150%, exceeding everyone’s expectations. By the fall of 2010, Pete’s division
had generated twice the anticipated revenue prior to the sales team overhaul.

The Rosetta Stone Institutional Sales’ success was possible because of Pete’s
experience, insight and leadership. Based on his own years as an outstanding
sales professional, he immediately recognized a problem at Rosetta Stone that
others did not and took proactive steps to ensure future growth in both
product and the professionals within his staff. This has strengthened Rosetta
Stone’s brand beyond the consumer market and turned it into a household name
at schools, governments and corporations worldwide.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://pr.rosettastone.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=228009&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1457278&highlight=
http://pr.rosettastone.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=228009&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1483886&highlight=
http://pr.rosettastone.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=228009&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1423777&highlight=

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Pete Rumpel is vice president of Institutional Sales and Marketing for
Arlington, Va.-based Rosetta Stone. Prior to joining Rosetta Stone, Pete was
vice president and leader of SAP Americas business development.  Before SAP,
he held global sales and marketing leadership positions with several leading
companies including the Yankee Group, HayGroup and Gartner, Inc. Pete holds an
undergraduate degree in Political Science from Fairfield University and has
completed extensive management coursework at NYU Stern School of Business.