Training Services for Healthcare Software Dev Company
- $50,000 to $199,999
- Sep. 2021 - May 2022
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
- IT Services
- Toronto, Ontario
- 1,001-5,000 Employees
- Online Review
Portage Sales was hired by a healthcare software development company to help them transition their training program to a virtual format. They built activities and created opportunities for the team to practice.
Portage’s training helped increase sales and close multiple multi-pillar deals. The training was transparent, honest, and fair, reinforced a culture of peer support. They were flexible in terms of timing and were open to feedback at all times.
The client submitted this review online.
BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am one of three SVP Sales managing sales in North America. RLDatix is on a mission to change healthcare. We help organizations drive safer, more efficient care by providing governance, risk and compliance tools that drive overall improvement and safety.
Our suite of cloud-based software helps organizations reduce healthcare-acquired infections, report on adverse events, and ensure patient safety learnings are deployed effectively and immediately through dynamic policy and procedure management.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
For what projects/services did your company hire Portage Sales?
Over a period of 18 months, we merged 6 or 7 different businesses, bringing with them a variety of cultures, sales styles, and locations — not only in North America but around the world. All these different companies were operating as silos. They were used to carrying out a specific role, and owning everything within it.
And now they were being integrated into a single culture involving a broad spectrum of selling and collaboration - this all started with a new value proposition that encompassed the difference we make as a bigger company with more to offer. This would act as a base to get the team working together with a shared vision.
We needed to have someone help us piece it all together. We did some internal training at the start of Covid, but we really needed somebody external to come in and give us that formal structure.
SOLUTION
How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?
We were looking for someone who not only understood our dynamics, but also believed in themselves. Our business model is about working with our sales team and empowering them. So we understand the value of training. We wanted to take care of our people, and that's where Portage fit right in really nicely.
Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.
We worked with another partner to build a powerful value proposition and needed someone to help us get it into our sales teams hands in a way that would allow them to go out there and use it immediately. Portage worked with that partner, conducted interviews across our team and included our thoughts and feedback into the design of the training program.
The program was initially built to be in-person, but due to COVID, Portage quickly pivoted and adjusted the program to be effective in a virtual format. They built activities and created a lot of opportunities for the team to practice. Then worked with the leadership team to reinforce the skills with their teams.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
Managing Partner Sr. Facilitator Director of Client Success Sr. Analyst
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?
We saw a shift from a few individuals having a fantastic year to a general positive escalation across the sales team. We had more multi-pillar deals, drawing from different lines of business. And we actually saw the value of the company grow quite dramatically. Within our teams, there was significant change in terms of people’s willingness to jump into the training and try new things. Portage set up a nice, safe environment for them.
The interactions, the training, the coaching circles — it was all a great forum for allowing people who might not have been comfortable to open up. It was transparent, honest and fair, and it encouraged everyone not only to feel better about the training, but also to feel better about speaking up. It reinforced that open culture, which is so important to us.
It became a source of peer support, which you really need but don’t always get in a sales environment. On that note, we also saw positive changes in terms of sales people trying their new messages with customers. And we’ve had feedback from people saying they liked the training and want more of it. Many companies look at training as a time-defined process: Here’s your training, now go out and sell.
But that's not the reality of effective training. It needs to be continual. Portage uses methods that enable you to circle back and get feedback. Similarly, the leadership circles are about adjusting and continually learning from the team out in the field, and reflecting the changes happening there.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The one factor that was really important to us was flexibility in terms of timing, and Portage was great, even when we had to reschedule things for various reasons. The communication from them was always really good. We had regular opportunities to provide feedback at various stages. Portage was open to all of it, at any time. It was always collaborative.
It’s amazing the support they were able to provide given the complexity of our markets and our offering. They got up to speed very quickly, digested their learnings, and then integrated them into the training sessions. It was all a very positive experience.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I've done a lot of training sessions over the years, and I would say about 25% of them had any value. With Portage, what made the difference was the way they worked with us to craft our message and approach — how to deliver the training, how to best engage our team, how to follow up with them. We really needed Portage to understand the focus of our business and the message we were trying to get across.
They spent time with us, and got to know individuals on our team. It’s easy to go out and find a training organization. But Portage really wants to work with you, learn about your business, and help you over the long term. There are a lot of burn-and-churn sales organizations. They assume low numbers mean the person is simply a poor performer.
That’s old-school thinking. There’s a lot of cost and ramp-up time associated with bringing in someone new. You have to invest in your existing team. And it can’t just be a one-time investment. It needs to be annual, and built into your budget. It needs to reflect changing messaging and markets. That's where Portage can come in and help frame the narrative for the sales team and provide feedback to sales leadership.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
There aren’t a lot of negatives around Portage, but if I could make a couple of suggestions, I would like to see even more focus on long-term engagement, and I would have liked to have an additional on-site session.
RATINGS
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Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
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Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
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Willing to Refer
5.0NPS