Esker case study
Empowering Sales with Personalized Product Experiences
Company Size
7,000
North American Sales Reps
55
North American Presales Team
11
SE Workload
50-80 Opportunities per SE
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The results at a glance: 12 Months
The Challenge
Presales Bottlenecks Hinder Rapid Growth
Esker, a global leader in cloud based document automation, was scaling fast – so fast that their presales team was struggling to keep up. Demo requests were flooding in, and the demand was outpacing their ability to scale sales efficiently.
Howie, Esker’s Global Director of Presales, recognized the growing strain on his team, stating, “I wasn’t feeling as much pain as our company globally was growing extremely fast and faster than we could hire or train, you know, to keep up with.”
The problem? Presales was stuck in a cycle of inefficiency.
- Too many demos, not enough strategy. The team was buried in repetitive, early-stage demos many for unqualified prospects—draining resources that should have been focused on high value deals
- Presales pulled in too soon. Sales reps were engaging presales before prospects were fully qualified, wasting time and effort on deals that weren’t ready to move forward.
The result? A bottleneck that slowed down the sales process, stretched presales too thin, and left revenue on the table. Esker needed a better way to scale—without burning out their team.
The Solution
Consensus as a Catalyst for Change
Howie’s search for a solution led him to Consensus, a demo automation platform that promised to transform the way Esker delivered product experiences. Consensus offered the ability to create personalized, interactive demos that could be accessed by prospects on demand. This meant that sales reps could provide prospects with an engaging and informative product experience early in the sales cycle, without having to immediately involve presales.
The appeal of Consensus was clear. By automating routine demos, Esker could free up presales resources to focus on high value activities, such as custom demos for qualified leads and in-depth technical discussions. Additionally, the platform’s ability to personalize demos ensured that prospects received information relevant to their specific needs, increasing engagement and accelerating the sales cycle.
The Results
A Shorter Sales Cycle
The results of Esker’s collaboration with Consensus have been transformative, with
impressive improvements across key sales metrics:
- Reduced sales cycle: By integrating product experiences throughout the buyer’s journey, Esker cut their sales cycle in half. Sales reps and presales teams now work in sync, meeting buyers where they are to accelerate the sales process.
- Increased win rate: Esker’s win rate more than doubled, jumping from 25% to 53%, showcasing how personalized product experiences drive higher conversions.
- Increased capacity: Before Consensus, Esker’s sales engineers managed about 50 opportunities each. Now, they handle an impressive 80 opportunities per engineer—a 60% increase—while reducing their overall workload by cutting unqualified demos by 20%.
- Improved sales rep ramp time: New sales reps are ramping up faster, thanks to thereadily available, informative demos that streamline their learning curve.
- Increased deal size: 80% of Esker’s deals now involve multiple products, highlighting the effectiveness of personalized demos in showcasing the value of their broader solution suite.
- Enhanced Sales Performance: By using personalized product experiences through Consensus, Esker’s North American team closed deals faster. As a result, the entire team met or exceeded quota.
- Enhanced customer experience: Buyers now receive the information they need faster and more efficiently, making for a more positive and engaging buying process.
In Howie’s words, “Consensus has been a big tool for us. It was like a bazooka, and it just exploded.”
The platform has not only empowered Esker’s sales team, but has also played a pivotal role in enhancing the customer experience. By providing personalized and readily accessible product experiences, Esker has been able to differentiate itself in a competitive market and drive significant business growth.
