How Datamaran scaled sales coaching in a fast-growing SaaS company

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Datamaran sales coaching case study at a glance

What coaching challenge was Datamaran trying to solve?

Carly Pledge is Enterprise Sales Director at Datamaran, managing the UK AEs. Before that, she managed the global BDR function. Quite early on in her time at Datamaran, she wanted to look at external coaching support. Carly says:

"We're quite a fast growing company. I could see the gaps in how much needed to be done versus my time that would then be left for coaching."

"We've got quite a lot of junior salespeople on the team and junior BDRs that just weren't getting as much as I'd have liked."

The biggest challenge was consistency. Carly explains:

"I think it was more the consistency of being able to coach effectively on the team. That was something that I was struggling with, because we're building, we call it kind of building the plane as we're flying it. So we're building the processes. We're building structure. We're refining messaging."

"Being able to consistently coach at the level I'd want to do would have been impossible at that time. So when you can't do something yourself, I think the key thing is bring support in."

The moment came in Carly's first 30 to 60 days, while she was onboarding herself. She spotted what she calls basic gaps in parts of the team, from the questions being asked to areas that were real quick wins from a coaching perspective. Carly says:

"Some people on the team are going to need quite a bit of support, and as we're growing, that's only going to magnify if we don't address it sooner."

"It was more kind of an accumulation of moments that led me to like, okay, we need something else to supplement the coaching we can do."

Why Datamaran chose tailored 1:1 sales coaching over structured group training

Carly Pledge spoke to MySalesCoach and a couple of other providers. She liked that MySalesCoach was set up by salespeople. Carly says:

"Having a sales coaching set up by salespeople, they kind of understand the needs more."

Datamaran also uses another provider, with structured group sessions, for BDRs and Customer Success. Carly sees different use cases for both:

"For anyone that's more senior or selling more complex, I think MySalesCoach, with a much more kind of tailored approach and matching of coaches and skill sets, made more sense."

The people mattered too. Carly had bought Mark Ackers' prospecting book for all her SDRs and BDRs over three or four years, and followed MySalesCoach's journey on LinkedIn. She also rates the MySalesCoach team, whose Customer Success team all come from a sales background. Carly says:

"I think Laura is genuinely the best CSM I've ever worked with. It's like an extension of my team."

"I think it's like the package as a whole, rather than a particular point. But yeah, it was a no brainer for me."

How MySalesCoach's Sales Coaching Operating System worked for Datamaran

MySalesCoach's Sales Coaching Operating System matches each person with an expert coach suited to their role and skill set. At Datamaran, Carly Pledge uses it for her own coaching, her BDRs use it, and it's being rolled out to the AEs.

Coaches matched to each role

Junior BDRs are matched with different coaches from more senior team members. Carly says:

"I've got my junior BDRs that are with someone completely different to my more senior team members."

The coaches take time to understand Datamaran and each person. Nigel, one of Datamaran's coaches, now coaches quite a few people across the business. Carly says:

"They understand the company. They take time to understand each person individually, and then naturally, you make better decisions, or you get better results."

Coaching for the sales leader too

Carly has her own coach, Nigel. At a time when there was a lot going on personally and a lot of challenges internally, Nigel gave her the space to think. Carly says:

"I needed someone just to get everything out of my head and onto almost like a whiteboard session. And Nigel provided that for me, and I think that then helped me strategise what next steps I was taking and made sure they were the right ones."

Coaching also keeps her own coaching sharp:

"Sometimes you know things and they don't stay in the front of your mind. So having coaching is always that opportunity to be like, okay, I've just talked to that sales rep for half an hour, and I could have been asking them questions instead and getting them thinking about it."

Both the art and the science of sales

Carly expected coaching to help with the art of sales. Her team has found it helps with the science too, through templates, call recordings to listen to and a wide range of support. Carly says:

"Initially I would have probably thought MySalesCoach was just about the art of sales, right? It helps you to negotiate better, it helps you to ask better questions or listen more effectively."

"There's such a wide range of support that is given from MySalesCoach that I think it fits in perfectly to both the art and the science of sales."

What results has Datamaran seen from sales coaching?

Sales accepted opportunities have increased for the BDR team, two of the top users of MySalesCoach have been promoted, and the team chose MySalesCoach when asked. Carly Pledge says:

"Across from BDR to AE to CS to leadership, I think everyone can benefit from having a coach, and that's evident in the last year."

Two promotions in six months

Carly says:

"Two of my top users of MySalesCoach have both got a promotion in the last six months. They've then continued to use it through that early stage of promotion as well, to quickly develop their skills in a new role."

The predominant focus has been deeper discovery, which is what Datamaran is focused on internally.

• From BDR to AE: Datamaran sells an enterprise solution, so learning best practices like mapping an account and reversing timelines, things you wouldn't ordinarily know, has been really important to this person.
• To Senior BDR: the second person has absolutely maximised event outreach and follow-up, in part because of what they bounced off their coach tactically.

The team voted for MySalesCoach

Datamaran recently asked its teams which provider they would want. Carly says:

"It was an overwhelming sway towards MySalesCoach from everyone, so I think that speaks highly in terms of what the team think of MySalesCoach."

The team are vocal about it. Carly often hears about things coaches Steve and Nigel have put to someone, which then get shared with the wider team:

"They really enjoy MySalesCoach. They enjoy the format. They enjoy the coaches."

How long has Datamaran worked with MySalesCoach?

Datamaran started working with MySalesCoach within Carly Pledge's first 30 to 60 days in role, and the coaching is continuing. Two of the top users were promoted within six months, and the coaching is being rolled out from the BDRs to the AEs.

What other sales leaders can learn from Datamaran

• In a fast-growing company, the gap between what needs doing and the time left for coaching only widens. Bring support in early.
• Basic skill gaps magnify as a team grows if they aren't addressed sooner.
• Matching coaches to each role means junior BDRs and senior AEs get different, relevant support.
• Coaching helps newly promoted reps develop quickly in their new role, not just get promoted.
• Sales leaders benefit from a coach too, as a space to think through decisions under pressure.

Carly Pledge's advice to other sales leaders:

"Assess your team honestly."

"I don't quite understand when people don't want to do anything. That's the biggest kind of red flag."

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