THE RESULTS AT A GLANCE
59%Higher Average Deal Value where Consensus is Used |
10-pointIncrease in Win Rate |
23 dayFaster Sales Cycle |
10+Years of Partnership With Consensus |
THE CHALLENGE
Removing Friction from the Buyer’s Journey
Sage has a simple goal: sell more, at a higher value, in less time.
The reality is a little harder.
Sage has many products sold across multiple countries and regions, spanning financial and accounting software, HR and payroll, and mobile accounting for entrepreneurs. Its sales organization also includes a large partner ecosystem, which means there are a lot of people telling a lot of product stories to a lot of buyers.
And for a long time, many of those stories depended on the same scarce resource: a solution consultant.
“Ultimately, the problem we were trying to solve was how do we sell more at a higher value in a quicker time period, at a faster pace. It seems like a simple problem to solve, but the reality of how we needed to solve that was a little more challenging.”
.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=1689936330016%20(1).jpg)
Becky Payne
VP, GTM Effectiveness | Sage
The issue wasn't that Sage needed more demos.
It needed a better way to decide which demos actually needed an expert.
Solution consultants (SCs) were spending significant time delivering repeatable product demos, while existing customers weren't always getting the attention they needed. And every prospect was getting roughly the same level of effort, regardless of what the deal actually required.
“They were treating every demo the same. What we really needed them to do is to be able to differentiate where we needed their expertise to show up,” says Becky.
That created three problems:
- Limited coverage. The number of buyers Sage could reach was tied to the number of solution consultants available.
- Less time for customers. SC capacity was being consumed by repeatable work instead of higher-value customer conversations.
- Expertise wasn't being used strategically. Highly skilled SCs were spending time on demos that didn't always require their expertise.
And Sage wasn't looking for another piece of software to throw at the problem.
“We didn't go out to market looking for a technology solution. We really spent the time understanding what was the friction within the business, what were the constraints, and what is the business problem we're solving for. So that when we found a solution, there was never a question about whether it would solve the problem, because we led with what the problem was first.”
That distinction shaped everything that came next.
“This wasn't about buying a piece of technology. We were solving a business problem, and we needed a partner that would help us in the long run to solve that business problem.”
Sage started with Consensus in 2015 and expanded deliberately from there.
1. Prove the value
Sage started with a focused change management and adoption strategy designed to show value quickly.
2. Expand what worked
Early results created the case for more seats and expansion into additional products and teams.
3. Standardize the story
As adoption grew, Sage needed a repeatable way to tell its product stories across products, regions, sellers, and partners.
4. Build for what comes next
The partnership expanded into deeper platform integration and joint roadmap planning.
Eventually, adoption started pulling the platform into the business rather than the other way around.
“Eventually, it created enough buzz that everybody was then asking for when they could get it, instead of us trying to force adoption.’”
Becky Payne
VP, GTM Effectiveness | Sage
And that's when the real shift started.
THE RESULTS
More capacity
Not every buyer needs a solution consultant on a call.
Sage embeds Consensus demos in Highspot digital sales rooms, giving buyers a way to explore the product when they want and return to it later.
That means an early-stage product question doesn't automatically become a meeting on an SC's calendar.
“A customer can go back, or a prospect can go back and repeatedly look at it. Epic. I can't get a solution consultant on the phone on time. Amazing.”
The result is more than time saved. It covers more opportunities without adding the same amount of human capacity.
Better solution consultants
This is where the story gets more interesting.
Sage didn't just use Consensus to take work away from its SCs. It used that capacity to make the SC team better.
Instead of spending time repeating established demos, SCs can focus on new products, complex use cases, and high-stakes opportunities. They perfect those demos live, refine the story, and then turn the best ones into scalable Consensus experiences.
“Our SCs go and perfect what those new things are on those high-stake demos, and then they get so good, we just turn those into the next set of Consensus demos, and we just keep that process going."
Becky Payne
VP, GTM Effectiveness | Sage
One product story, everywhere
Sage also needed consistency.
With many products, multiple regions, direct sellers, and a partner ecosystem, the challenge wasn't just creating demos. It was making sure everyone was telling the product story the same way.
“If I can give a standard way we want to talk about a product to everyone who's going to be in front of a prospect and a customer, and I can do that for a very high ROI, you can't beat that.”
That consistency extends beyond Sage's own sales organization.
Partners can access the same product story without requiring Sage to recreate the experience every time.
“What would a product team love more than to have their product show up in a consistent way everywhere that it's exposed?”
What's next
The result is a different way of using SC expertise. The team can spend more time where its expertise matters most, while buyers get a consistent way to experience the product.
But Sage isn't treating this project as finished. The requirements will keep evolving, and the platform is expected to keep pace.
"It has given us so much extensibility as a platform play. It's given us so much choice as a consumer and as a benefactor of what this is. We can then choose what works for our business when, and know that the right next step is going to be there when we're ready to consume it."
With Consensus Live now part of the platform, the next thing Becky is watching for is the consolidation of buyer signals:
"Everybody in today's buyer world is generating signals. But as a seller, I want to be able to consume those, but I don't want to consume them independently. I want to consume them as a complete package."
Becky Payne
VP, GTM Effectiveness | Sage
Asked whether she'd recommend Consensus to peers in her position, she didn't hedge:
"The overwhelming answer to that is absolutely yes. Because it's not about a platform play, it's not about a technology play. It's about how you show up every day with us in partnership, and what we can bank on you for in the future."
