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 Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Diversity and Inclusivity Initiative of the Year
 Nomination Title: Recognizing the value of diversity yields more sales
- 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 66 words used.
The following attachments and links are included to support our nomination:
● Documentation on SPI’s Diversity and Inclusion Work
● Documentation on SPI’s Flipped Classroom Training for Personnel Development
● Documentation on SPGives Community work
● 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.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominated achievement since July 1, 2022, 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 Sales Diversity and Inclusivity Initiative of the Year highlights our work to develop among the most equitable and diverse sales workforces in the nation. Our initiative focuses on community engagement, referral recruiting, equity in treatment of all personnel, mentorship, and creating an attractive environment for salespeople to work.
We appreciate being considered for this award and appreciate your time in judging us. Please see below and attached documentation for additional information. Thank you.
- Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 247 words used.
SPI beats national averages for diversity by wide margins. Currently we are 48% non-white for sales representatives and 60% non-white for sales management. The 2024 Department of Labor data shows that non-retail sales reps are 79% white/21% diverse and sales managers are 86% white/14% diverse.
Although racism still exists in the industry, the more prevalent cause of the disparity is hiring practices based on past successful experience. Previously, minority representation in the sales force was low due to direct racism. Today, many representatives are still working in sales from those days. Because more of them were white 10-20 years ago, those individuals are more experienced and tend to be selected based on a longer proven track record of sales success.
SPI is well known for our award winning metric based recruiting. Recent advances in our systems allowed us to incorporate more behavioral assessments to combine with skill based interviewing. In doing so, we were able to expand our recruiting new to sales individuals with the right profile to be successful in sales but hadn’t yet done the job.
Combining new assessments with increased community engagement and volunteering activities, we established ourselves as an equitable and fair employer and a great source for opportunity. The next step for us to continue our goal to be more diverse was a more robust mentoring program. Working closely with mentors they often get to choose helps our team feel more connected and helps convey a better sense of team and community.
- Briefly describe the nominated organization or individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 177 words used.
Sales Partnerships (SPI) is prior Stevie winner who 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, US Bank, 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.
- Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 211 words used.
2023-2024 gave us demonstrable results from the diversity work. We needed to hire approximately 100 sales reps for that period. 2023 marked the least experienced field sales candidate pool since the 1940's. This was due to Covid deaths, increased retirements, and reps leaving field sales entirely. SPI retooled recruiting with behavioral assessments combining with skill assessments to identify people most likely to be successful in sales for several sales roles.
The mentoring program has resulted in an even more diverse management team who, in turn, demonstrate SPI as a great destination for diverse hires.We saw better sales results overall with a happier workforce.
In telecommunications sales, we went head-to-head with Fortune 500 providers such as Xfinity, Centurylink, AT&T/Spectrum, and Verizon while representing a solid but much smaller competitor to them. We increased our clients’ market share by 50%. Head-to-head, we outperformed other channels by more than 50% measured on a per rep production basis. Better connections to our communities through diversity were core to that success.
Health care sales saw us develop a more diverse team who were 25% faster to ramp to quota and were more successful in getting face time with physicians in their communities. The net results helped us deliver the highest producing team in our industry.
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