The Zebra methodology was introduced at Vivisimo in October, 2008. Salespeople quickly learned how to identify their perfect prospect, engage the person with budget-level authority early in the process and sell the product’s business value rather than its features and benefits. This represented a seismic change for a sales team that had traditionally pitched products to mid-level technology managers. But Vivisimo saw fast and dramatic results. Sales increased significantly within three quarters and over the course of thirty months:
- Average sales price increased more than 400%
- Installed base revenue increased 55%
- Year-over-year revenue increased 31%
Vivisimo achieved these results because Zebrafi changed its sales paradigm. The company no longer competed feature-for-feature with its competitors. It didn’t chase every prospect or respond to every RFP. Instead, Vivisimo sought out its most desirable prospects, got access early on to executives with budget authority and spoke in a language that they understood – business value.