Company: Sales Partnerships, Inc., Broomfield, CO
Company Description: Sales Partnerships, Inc. is the premier direct sales outsourcing company in the world, offering branded representation that delivers rapid revenue lift for the most influential B2B firms in the world. Whether it's brand activation, customer acquisition, or retention, SPI is the leader in providing scalable and proven solutions to the Fortune 500.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Field Sales Team of the Year
 Nomination Title: Leveraging unified sales and marketing to unseat major ISPs
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated team, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below.
Our nomination is a written submission including attachments.
Sales Partnerships’ nomination for field sales team of the year focuses on our work as the field sales channel for a mid-tier Residential Internet Service Provider, Ting Internet.
2023 SPI was asked to represent Ting going head-to-head against Xfinity, AT&T, and Verizon in markets where they were either the largest player or a historic incumbent. Despite being outspent in marketing by more than 10:1 against the much larger ISPs, our field sales teams built Ting up to more than 55% market share in Residential ISP for the two large Metro markets where we were focused.
SPI combined proprietary systems and technology while taking advantage of the benefits of having built one of the most diverse national field sales forces in the US.
Most importantly, we helped integrate sales and marketing making both more effective. Rather than compete for attribution on customer acquisition, we helped change the mindset to better reflect the best option - marketing helping sales gain brand recognition and sales finishing what marketing started in acquiring the customers. Rebranded as Field Marketing Reps, our team actively worked with marketing to optimize acquisition and return actionable data at a field level.
The results were successfully becoming the dominant player in our target markets unseating Fortune 500 incumbents and competitors.
- Briefly describe the nominated team: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 190 words used.
Sales Partnerships (SPI) is a 9-time prior Stevie winner in the top Field Sales Category, specializing in difficult selling environments while representing the brands of some of the largest and most respected companies in the world through turnkey sales outsourcing. Our client roster includes notables such as Google, IBM, American Express, Verizon, and Dow Chemical.
Sales Outsourcing means providing cradle-to-grave sales services under the brand of each of the clients represented. Our teams are recruited for and dedicated to just an individual client based on that client program’s requirements.
Our hallmark is using and inventing systems and processes that optimize all the important areas impacting sales: recruiting, diversity, technology, training, management, analytics, and strategy. We’ve won dozens of global awards (including Field Sales Team of the Year eight times), been recognized in national media (Selling Power, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine, Inc. Magazine, CNNMoney, etc.), and helped establish the standard for providing field based sales outsourcing services. Since 1997, we have generated more than $10B in gross profits for our clients. SPI historically has operated in every significant MSA in the United States as well as in select markets globally.
- Outline the team's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 160 words used.
Sales Partnerships was tasked with increasing market penetration for Ting Internet from 5% to more than 30% against major Fortune 500 incumbents and competitors each outspending Ting on marketing and sales in the areas by 10:1. We competed with both the internal sales forces for the larger ISPs but also with their partner channels (including past Stevie nominees.)
By the end of the year, we went from 5% market share to 55% market share (almost twice our target) and did so below the target cost of acquisition. Head-to-head, we outperformed competing channels (field, telesales, and direct marketing) by more than 50% measured on a per rep production basis.
Importantly, our success drove success with marketing as well. In unifying the approaches and coordinating activities, we were able to better utilize impact of marketing for higher close rates. Simultaneously, in a market where direct marketing is increasingly ineffective, our partnership drove better inbound responses due to our field level engagement.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 96 words used.
The following attachments and links are included to support our nomination:
● Case study detailing the field work performed for the nomination
● Documentation on SPI’s Diversity and Inclusion Work
● Documentation on SPI’s “Flipped Classroom” training methodology
● Documentation on SPI’s Recruiting Methodology
● “SPI Gives” summary document describing the volunteering efforts referenced in the nomination (helped both with retention and deepening community engagement)
● Link to the SPI homepage for more information about our organization
Thank you again for your time and consideration for Sales Partnerships for the Top Field Sales Team in America.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the team's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 243 words used.
Head-to-head against ISP’s with marketing spends more than 10x higher than our client, we outperformed them by more than 50%. We did this in an industry with customer complaint rates exceeding 3%, SPI not only outperformed our peers in total sales but did so with a 0.0004% complaint rate (with zero complaints unresolved to the customer’s satisfaction.)
The keys to our success were:
Recruiting and Training
SPI’s metric-based recruiting evolved to include a more integrated new to sales training and development platform yielding better talent. Delivering this in our “flipped classroom” model yielded better retention while speeding ramp to quota by 20%.
Technology
Our integrated territory management solution improved rep contact rate with prospects by more than 20% compared to other commercial solutions. Data from activity is delivered to managers via an AI-based analytics framework identifying skill areas for development.
Unified Sales and Marketing
Rebranding our team as field marketing and sharing attribution for successes with marketing allowed for better overall sales results. See our case study for more information.
Diversity
In a profession where 79.8% of all field sales representatives are white (2022 Department of Labor stats), SPI benefits from our DE&I work to have our teams better mirror the areas they work. At 58% white representatives, that makes SPI an almost exact mirror of the US populace and twice as diverse as the industry averages. The more diverse workforce engages better with their territories and delivers better overall results.
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