Globalization Partners, a SaaS-based Global Employment Platform, has grown exponentially in recent years.
According to Maria Zambrano, Field Operations Specialist, Globalization Partners “outgrew” the excel spreadsheet approach for managing revenue forecasts.
“The spreadsheet process was a mess. The more we grew, the more it became a challenge to update and manage. In addition, we had limited visibility — not much knowledge of deal history from week to week.”
But the worst part? Maria and her team had to update the spreadsheet more than six times per day.
Samantha Gauthier, Sr. Regional Sales Director, added: “Managers were responsible for going into this shared spreadsheet, adding our commits, upsides ... basically our CRO number. It felt like we were constantly updating this spreadsheet.”
Besides the time suck, her team had no insight into what was happening in that main Excel spreadsheet. They could only control what they added to Salesforce – ensuring it was constantly up-to-date. No organization. Data constantly out of sync.
It was time for a true Revenue Platform.
In Fall 2022, Globalization Partners started a proof of concept (POC) with Clari.
“The sales process was absolutely impeccable — the platform, the human connection we had with our sales rep, all of it,” shared Maria.
And equally, if not more importantly, unlike the other vendor, Clari could use their smaller data set to feed into the AI.
Clari was rolled out to the team “in record time” — within 90 days. The process was “very smooth,” according to Maria.
And the learning curve? Per Maria, it was pretty much non-existent. “Once you go through Clari, it’s fairly easy. It’s just getting into the routine of updating.”
There is just so much more transparency now. Forecasting is so much easier. It’s gotten tighter and it’s been consistent.
Samantha Gautier
Sr. Regional Sales Director
Samantha is now in Clari “every day.”
So much so, the team has nicknamed her the “Clari Hawk.”
“I’m not just looking at what the team is forecasting,” said Samantha. “I’m ensuring all the numbers are rolling up, the deals are tied, and inspecting each deal. Then I can have a conversation with my managers to pluck out the ones that don’t look right (in commit, with low score and/or no activity ... or vice versa (deals look good, why not in commit?).”
Samantha loves the analytics and insights Clari provides. She’s constantly checking.
And the accuracy and transparency is on point. Globalization Partners requires all SEs to roll up a number — one that is looked at with more scrutiny now. Deal commits need good scores, high visibility, and a good reason why they are in that stage.
“There is just so much more transparency now,” shared Samanatha. “Forecasting is so much easier. It’s gotten tighter and it’s been consistent.”
Forecasting pre-Clari was so much more scattered; numbers were constantly changing.
“With Clari, all deals are there, so we know exactly which deals we are looking at. We have an accurate depiction of the number each person and team is sitting on,” shared Samantha. And most importantly, Globalization Partners’ conversations have improved around the actual forecast number, and which specific deals will get them there.
Clari has become the true (shared) source of truth with “visibility from everyone from the top down.
Reps and managers at Globalization Partners have incorporated Clari into their daily routine: from one-on-ones to forecasting calls to living in Pulse and Flow, Clari is always up and running.
There is no need to go into Salesforce. There is no reason to go one by one to see how each deal is going. Everything just lives in Clari.
“In QBRs,” said Maria, “we just screenshot Clari’s Pulse and Trend tabs to see the prediction and how we are trending compared to the previous quarter, respectively.”
“We use Clari to track our closed-won opportunities (not Salesforce),” Maria continued. “We break down the global data into regions and by specific managers. The amount of time now compared to what I used to spend (especially at the end of the quarter) is wild. I can’t even compare. All I have to do at the end of the quarter is hit refresh. That’s it.”
BONUS: Everyone from the CRO to the VP of Revenue to the Global Head of Sales uses — and loves — Clari.
Any issues and Maria and Samantha just turn to the Clari support team, who have “been amazing” and made their jobs “so much easier.”
Forecasting accuracy has improved since using Clari. The Global Head of Sales and CRO trust Clari's prediction and accuracy.
With help from Clari, the team noticed in Q2 that the deals were moving faster. The sales cycle was improving — faster by a day or so.
Clari provides true pipeline visibility at all levels of the organization, from top to bottom. Each team gets a clear view of how revenue is tracking. This data helps inform the go-to-market team –– at all levels –– on critical revenue-related decisions.