Portage Sales

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CrowdRiff is an AI-powered visual content marketing platform purpose- built for the travel and tourism industry. CrowdRiff's platform combines UGC image discovery, digital asset management and seamless content delivery so marketing teams can harness the power of visuals at scale. CrowdRiff is proud to work with over 800 of the world's leading travel and tourism brands including Visit Holland, Destination BC, CityPASS and Visit Pittsburgh. My role is Senior Manager, Customer Success, and I manage all of our customer success managers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Portage Sales?

We had done some team training with Portage for our customer success and sales teams, and we were looking for some management and leadership-specific training. We wanted a framework that we could start filling in. The program framework was anchored in emotional intelligence. As someone who had been in that role, I knew what managers did—account management, one-to-ones, performance reviews, and the like. But I also knew there was a lot of psychology and strategizing and things that I didn't have any experience with. This training would help provide that framework. That was one of the things my colleagues and I really wanted to get out of the engagement.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We had completed two Portage programs previously, and the team responded well to them. We liked how they were run. They were full of examples and we had lots of good conversations. It was a natural fit to continue that for the leadership training.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

The first thing we did was the EQI assessment. I was a bit skeptical going into that, and the assessment was pretty accurate in pointing out my strengths and areas of improvement. Having that assessment to fall back on really helped me understand what was going to be easy to do, and what I was going to have to work on. The training overall involved a lot of coaching around active listening, and questions and storytelling. Each unit built on the last and in our individual coaching, Portage helped us tie what we learned and how we implement it back to our EQi. Our facilitator had us work through real situations using everything we learned.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

• Sr. Coach and Facilitator Director
• Customer Success Sr. Analyst

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

There were a number of processes we learned that we started using immediately. And we're going to continue using them because they work so well. One example is call coaching. We record all of our team’s calls, and use a scorecard for coaching. We’ve structured the scorecard in response to the training — what we learned, and what we should be looking for.

So now when we do call scoring, we have scores for open-ended questions, and close-ended questions, using what Portage taught. It’s a way to constantly remind the team that these things are important and we should be doing them. One of my biggest takeaways was from the EQI assessment, and leader development workshops is that when there's a problem, my first reaction is to jump in and try and solve it. As a sole contributor, that's often what you need to do. But as a leader, you have to develop the skill to take a step back. Since then, when someone on the team has a problem, instead of just jumping in and solving it, I really try to ask some questions to challenge them to take the first stab at it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Most of my communication was through the course leader, and that was great. It was always very clear in terms of what was coming next, and what homework we had to do ahead of a session. There were always quick follow-ups with resources or templates, or whatever we had talked about. The leader made themselves very available for any help we needed outside the sessions. Portage also did a lot of customizing and adapting the training so that it was relevant to us and we could use it immediately.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

For the leadership training, I think the biggest benefit was the incredible expertise of the trainer. She knows everything there is to know. She was incredible at calling on us to draw the answer from ourselves. She was always prepared. She always knew what to give us, what homework was best, and how to follow up. There are skills you can teach, and she was at that deeper level of imbuing the confidence that you can do it yourself. And having someone else say they trust that I can trust myself was important. That’s a huge takeaway, especially for someone new to this role.

For the team training, that was a lot more tactic-based. One of the things the trainer taught us was that the more open and thoughtful questions you ask, the more customers talk, which leads to that desired outcome. We’ve now built it into our scoring in a very data-driven way to verify that we're actually doing what Portage taught us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None that I can think of

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Chief Growth Officer LBi Software provides precisely engineered, customer-focused software solutions and analytics developed from more than 30 years of experience in HR technology and Sports Information Management. Our flagship solution, LBi HR HelpDesk, is an innovative HR case management and call-tracking workflow solution that creates a rich and powerful knowledge base on the fly, with a unique tiered pricing structure that appeals to organizations of any size. LBi Software’s custom sports analytics solution, LBi Dynasty, creates better sports teams through precise, customized data succinctly delivered to club decision-makers in any format, on any device.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Portage Sales?

We’re a software development company, and we do really good work. But we needed to have a sales and marketing department. I had brought in a junior person, which was fine for a while. And I realized that I needed people with more skill and experience. We had our HR HelpDesk platform, and we needed to try to build a pipeline to move it forward. We didn't have the infrastructure to do that. So we decided to take on an external consultant to help us do some digging and get our messaging in order.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

I’d spoken to some larger companies, but it was all going to be fairly generic outreach: Here’s your platform, filter out XYZ people, and those will be your leads. I felt like we needed a more targeted approach. And I thought Portage was more experienced, and more suited to that targeted approach. I needed smaller boots on the ground — people who were going to be part of my team, as opposed to a larger company where I was just being delivered a platform

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Portage started our engagement by taking the time to understand our business, products and competitors. This allowed us to build our ideal customer profiles and value proposition. Their varied experience in Sales, Enablement and Customer Success supported us in our sales process from end to end - from sales planning, networking and lead generation, to value-based selling to account management for renewals and expansion. We expanded our work with Portage beyond our HRHD platform to now encompass our sports software.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Managing Partner Director, Customer Success Manager, Marketing and Communications

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

We signed two sports teams: the New Orleans Saints and the New York Mets. Portage helped us take our presentations and our approach to another level. We were dealing with huge, multimillion-dollar organizations, and we were able to go into those meetings prepared and looking like pros. The account review exercises were a mindset change. Most of our existing HR HC accounts will probably have signed into new three-year contracts by the end of this year.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Portage was great with deadlines — they’ve come through pretty much with everything I've asked for in a timely manner. And in Q4 of last year, things were tight, because we were going to so many different meetings in a very short period of time. And I’m always getting pulled in a lot of different directions. But I knew that when I showed up, regardless of where I was going to be, things would be done and we would be ready to go. And that made things a lot less stressful, because I could simply worry about what I had to do in the meeting. I knew my tools would be ready to go.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We're really strong at talking about a tech stack, or what kind of code we use, but we needed education on how to actively listen — when we’re in meetings, trying to learn what other opportunities might be uncovered. The role plays have been very, very helpful for that. They’ve helped teach us that it’s not about LBi, it’s about whomever our client is. I think that’s probably been our biggest takeaway. Having access to people with that kind of experience at a very budget-friendly cost is high-value. I get people with marketing experience, account management experience, and sales expertise. It provides me with a high-value team without having to set one up myself. Portage has helped give us a voice in the sports space, a point of view that we didn't have before.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The collaboration between us and Portage is great, and I’d like to be more data-driven. I would like to take things up to the next level with more data in our presentations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Senior Manager - People and Strategy at Rheem Canada Ltd. Rheem® Manufacturing Company was founded by Brothers Richard and Donald in Emeryville, CA, in 1925. Rheem is currently the only manufacturer in the world that offers a family of whole-home comfort equipment, producing heating, cooling, water heating, pool & spa heating and commercial refrigeration products. Rheem is the largest manufacturer of water heating products in North America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Portage Sales?

With the pandemic, we were finding the volume of calls had increased. And our team was taking some abuse from customers who were pretty upset about product quality, delivery times, and all the other market forces. We wanted to make sure we were doing our best as leaders to protect our team by giving them some tools and tangible skills to answer those calls. We needed to find some very practical training with very practical skills around dealing with difficult customers, difficult conversations, de-escalating, and having our team feel empowered to make a decision and be comfortable ending the call.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

I find what differentiates Portage is that willingness to listen and really craft their product to suit your needs. A lot of providers will offer one-stop shopping and give you a catalogue says, “This is what we offer. This is what we’re good at.” In Portage’s case, they start from the problem and work backwards, which I find is pretty unique and refreshing.

In the case of these difficult conversations, we went to them with our problem: We're getting a lot of angry confrontations. They took that away and came back to us with a solution specifically for our needs. It really felt like what we were looking for. It was a personal approach. That's why I tend to come back to Portage because they really listen and address the need.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

After the initial discussions, we kicked the project off with sending Portage some examples of difficult and abusive calls. They built the customer unit and walked our leaders through it. They also developed a leave-behind job aid.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

• Managing Partner
• Sr. Training Facilitator Director
• Customer Success Director
• Operations

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

We looked at some recent phone calls where our CSRs applied their new skills. Our staff member was able to end a call using the script they’d received during their training. The most effective tool overall was the role playing, with people either working with a partner, or standing at the front of room. People really came alive. And being able to see their peers do it boosted the confidence of the next role player. Being able to practice the skill in real time, in a safe environment, was so key to hardening it for the future.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The prep work was great, the follow-up was great, the communication from beginning to end was great.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Portage has very engaged people on their team. You can tell they care about their job, and they care about doing the best for their customers. A lot of vendors are really in a rush: Let's rush in, let's give you a training program, let's rush to results, rush out, get our bill. Portage understands the pace of our business a little bit better. I also appreciate that they’re not pushy. A lot of vendors push and push, and bombard you with calls and emails. At Portage they understand their value. They’re not pushing a constant agenda at us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing to recommend at this time. Great execution from beginning to end.