“Even the most successful businesses need to hit ‘pause’ sometimes. Coming up for oxygen allows for clear thinking, fresh perspectives, and renewed energy."
Simon Sinek, motivational speaker and author
Arm Limited (“Arm”), a semiconductor and software design company, needed some “fresh air” in its revenue process. Jack Thompson, Senior Director of Sales Operations, described the pre-Clari pipeline and forecasting process as follows:
“Lots (and lots) of time spent on analysis. We’d extract data from Salesforce.com and do some analysis — what's changed week over week, where things are pushed or pulled in, and so on.”
The issue was not the amount of data Arm had at its disposal. It was the time it took to gather all that data from disparate sources, compile it, present it, and review it.
“When we noticed changes, we’d have to schedule a meeting to discuss them — a real waste of everybody's time and efficiency.”
Before Clari, “it’s like we were running an organization from Salesforce downloads and off-piste spreadsheets,” shared Jack.
The search was on for a partner who could help combat wasted time and remove the inefficiencies.
We recently sat down (virtually, of course) with Jack to discuss his journey with Clari. What follows is an edited version of the transcript.
Was Clari the only provider you looked at during your vendor discovery process?
Jack Thompson (Arm): Not exactly. We had a previous relationship with Xactly and were getting pitched by other providers, such as Anaplan, but Clari was very compelling.
How so? What stood out about Clari?
Jack: I want to highlight two things. First, how quickly the platform evolved. Clari has a very agile approach to product development. Second, the sales process was just incredible. We are used to software companies that “just do a demo” and then convince you to buy. Clari was much more collaborative. The entire team has been fantastic.
You alluded to the importance of partnerships. Can you expand on why they are so essential?
Jack: Of course. Arm believes in — and relies on — partnerships to ensure our business thrives. We are at the epicenter of semiconductors; our customers are not customers, but partners. Our team was so impressed that Clari shared this pillar. During the sales process, Clari was intently listening to how Arm runs its business, the inefficiencies we had, and offering solutions on how Clari can solve for those issues. A true partnership.
We know that revenue is a company’s most important business process. We also see the many breakdowns in that process: targets that never get touched, deals that constantly slip, and committed deals that are moving to closed/lost. This is revenue leak – and it destroys over $2T in lost revenue every year. Is revenue leak what drove you to seek a partner like Clari?
Jack: Before Clari, we lived in a world of inefficiencies and wasted time. Arm is a heavy user of Salesforce.com. With Clari sitting on top of Salesforce, the platform eliminates much of the pre-work and the due diligence that our team was wasting time with. With Clari, we get right to solving the ‘What are we going to do with this data?’ question.
What do you estimate your time savings has been since implementing Clari?
Jack: Easily a couple of days a week. We also run a leaner team since there’s pretty much zero pre-work. Today, Clari is thoroughly embedded in the Arm organization. It’s become the oxygen for our weekly cadence.
Is there anything else you use Clari for?
Jack: Definitely. We are using Clari for one-on-one meetings and forecasting. I’m starting to see directors using Clari to help in their one-on-one conversations with individuals about what's changed. Our team also uses Clari for our business's “smaller” (less than $1M) part. Clari’s AI is helping to project the quarterly forecast, which has been quite good thus far.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Jack: Yeah, just one more thing. Clari has really enabled us to have everything revenue-related in one place and within the conversation. Our regional leaders can look at their business, run it, make a decision, make a judgment, and change it—a huge efficiency savings. The combination of products and people is really what makes Clari stand head and shoulders above its competition.
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