Each year, we take a step back and look across our customer base to determine which customers are pushing sales enablement innovation, vision and leadership.  We reflect on the customers that have challenged us and have taken the journey with us to further innovate our products and services.  This year, we recognized IBM and Staples Advantage as the two customers that have done that best – and awarded them with the SAVO Pioneer Award.

Here’s a little insight on how these organizations evolved and executed sales enablement strategies to impact their organizations.

IBM
IBM knew that its sellers spent substantial time managing internal processes, such as developing presentations and finding brand-compliant proposals, which took time away from selling. Since first piloting a successful SAVO solution in 2006 with 150 employees, IBM now has more than 40,000 SAVO users across the globe and the solution has dramatically improved the efficiency of its sales presentation and proposal generation processes.

Staples Advantage
Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, Inc., first rolled out its SAVO solution to a select group of employees in January 2008.  Shortly thereafter the company acquired Corporate Express and relied on SAVO to ramp sellers and effectively manage the communication and change process.  By June 2009, Staples extended SAVO’s solution into various divisions and expanded globally in early 2010.  The solution now serves as a platform to connect sales and marketing when rolling out new initiatives to the field to drive consistent messaging and branding.