The Challenge
The Tipalti software platform automates the entire range of payables in an effective, multifaceted way. Getting across the full value of the platform to prospective customers is vital, but also difficult, due to the varied parameters and richness of the solution. “We wanted a way to immediately grab a CFO’s attention and present a strong, quantifiable business case and compelling story at the same time,” said Craig DeMartini, head of strategic sales for Tipalti. “We really didn’t have a way of doing that.”
Tipalti had a good understanding of the components of its solution’s ROI, but it required working out of Excel spreadsheets that were dense with information. “It just wasn’t very compelling, and it required a lot of work to produce, as well as work to consume. It wasn’t intelligent. It wasn’t easy.”
Factors contributing to Tipalti’s ROI include operational costs for payables, liability and risk mitigation, cost of compliance, opportunity costs, the time value of money, goodwill and supplier relations, and more. Each of these has a value that can be quantified and then rolled into an overall ROI figure. Understanding the aggregated value initiates more conversations, secures a decision maker’s attention, and drives more productive meetings, leading to a faster and smoother sale. At the same time, understanding each of the components adds weight to pragmatic decisions and color to a narrative or story.
The Strategy
DeMartini was familiar with ValueCore from his tenure at another company and had witnessed firsthand how it bolstered his team’s sales. He knew that Tipalti could also greatly benefit from ValueCore. Given Tipalti’s existing model for determining ROI, his team worked with the ValueCore team to tune the model and bring it into the new SaaS platform. Once fully operational, ValueCore became a must-have for top salespeople, as they could readily tell how much it improved the selling process.
Success in turn created greater success, and soon most of the sales team began to utilize ValueCore, particularly for high-value sales. In parallel, other groups and executives within Tipalti started to pay attention to ValueCore. They could see that it provided hard evidence of the platform’s value and provided insights to how customers can engage and utilize the data and stories it produced.
The Result
ValueCore automatically created value presentations that could be used throughout the sales process and to different audiences and roles or levels within a prospective customer’s organization. It was able to encapsulate Tipalti’s complete value, while clearly communicating the richness of what Tipalti offers, including how it impacts multiple aspects of their customers’ business. Some specific benefits of ValueCore have included:
- 2x faster sales cycles
- 2x increase in deal size (revenue generated)
- 2x improvement in deal close rate
- Less discounting, since the ROI clearly justifies and supports the standard pricing
In addition, ValueCore helps drive higher utilization rates for companies that are already Tipalti customers. It improves Tipalti “stickiness,” driving higher retention and less churn. “It’s important not to just convey value once, but to also continue that process to ensure that customer value is reinforced and customers do not become complacent,” said DeMartini. “We get that automatically with ValueCore.”
The proof of value and overall story provided by ValueCore informs various corporate functions, ranging from pre- and post-sales support, marketing, and even the product and development organization. “If you need to sell value, as we do, ValueCore presents a convincing case even when the factors are varied and complex,” said DeMartini. “ValueCore tells our story. It makes buying decisions clear and straightforward.”
Another benefit to ValueCore is having a standardized way of presenting value. Sales teams do not reinvent the process and format each time, so the presentations are consistent and all up to a top standard. Tipalti can continually monitor the effectiveness over time and make any necessary changes. Automating the presentations saves a tremendous amount of work and lets sales professionals focus on selling.
“Using ValueCore directly correlates with the success of our top sales people,” said DeMartini. “The ones that fully utilize it have the top bookings, the highest conversions, and the greatest success in customer partnerships and engagements.”
