TopOPPS is neither on the leading edge nor bringing a novel solution to an industry. Actually, they don’t fit into an industry at all. In fact, the landscape which they are driving toward full speed doesn’t even have a name yet (*it is coming soon, according to our sources). Their solution solves issues within a step of the selling process so underserved that TopOPPS has an opportunity to define their entire category –and our CELect team gets to help them get there!
TopOPPS satisfies an important missing link in the CRM value chain by streamlining the sales process. Most CRM software plug-ins focus on the marketing portions of the value chain – generating awareness lead generation, maximizing click-through rate, attracting and keeping people at company websites. TopOPPS focuses on the next steps after these marketing-focused services stop providing value. Their sales automation software uses predictability and performance analytics to drive sales rates and increase win percentages. Targeted toward sales team managers and vice presidents of sales, the TopOPPS CRM plug-in allows leaders to forecast more accurately, allocate sales resources effectively and spend more time strategizing how to close deals rather than going through the painstaking process of simple information gathering.
Working with a quickly growing organization like TopOPPS is an exhilarating experience. Upon entering their offices, the speed and excitement of a rapidly growing company is impossible to ignore. Team meetings take place throughout their spaces and ideas are written on white boards. Watching the interactions of their staff is also amazing – they have a culture of listening and learning from everyone’s ideas…and, of course, a lot of passion for the product.
This culture of posing problems and listening to smart people solve them was cemented from day one of the company, when its founder, Jim Eberlin, posed the sales process CRM problem – the concept for TopOPPS – to 200 programmers in the GlobalHack competition and came up with a great idea only 48 hours later. Additionally, he found his first group of talented programmers to hire into TopOPPS to build the product. Jim, who has previously founded and successfully grown Host Analytics and Gainsight, sees great opportunities for the rapidly expanding company, which just moved to new office spaces across the street from the T-REX spaces at the Lammert Building in downtown St. Louis.
On one end of their new office space is their customer sales team and, yes, they do use their own product to drive sales and adoption of TopOPPS. On the other end is their marketing team, a group which our CELect team is fortunate to work with to best define the category into which TopOPPS is boldly treading.
The TopOPPS product is so unique, we have the opportunity to determine how best to explain the product to customers. Working with TopOPPS marketing group is our CELect team consisting of Ben Evans, Shai Hatsor, Ty Holder and Ryan Plotkin – all 1st year MBAs at the Olin Business School. The team is evaluating their current marketing communications and identifying items which best resonate with sales managers and Vice Presidents of Sales. Using this data, we will then be able to focus TopOPPS messaging to effectively and efficiently create the greatest impact on its prospective customers.
By understanding the largest value drivers through surveying techniques, we will be able to identify which customers make the most sense to pitch which proposition and how to communicate those values to the target segments. Our goal to create a clear and concise message that resonates with TopOPPS target customers will be a key factor in the continued growth of TopOPPS. We cannot wait to see where this semester of investigating how to pique interest in a brand new market segment helps guide TopOPPS and we look forward to following how our recommendations continue to guide the positive long term trajectory of TopOPPS.
CELect TopOPPS team: Ben Evans, MBA; Shai Hatsor, MBA; Ty Holden, MBA; Ryan Plotkin, MBA.
