3M Shrinks Time to Close by 60%

Leadership at 3M wanted to transform the inside sales team in the US and Canada, leveraging the company’s centralized structure to scale up. That meant increasing rep productivity and shortening the ramp-up time for new hires. They turned to Salesloft to drive efficiency and optimize their sales motions. After making the switch, the team was able to reach more customers, streamline messaging and ensure SFDC accuracy. Above all, inside sales teams now knew how best to maximize revenue.

Who is 3M?

3M was founded as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1902. From its humble beginnings as a small-scale mining venture, more than a century of scientific, technical and marketing innovations have made the company a constant name on the Fortune 500 list. Well known for iconic brands such as Post-it®,  Scotch™,  Command™, Nexcare™, Filtrete™ and  Thinsulate™, 3M makes more than 60,000 products that are used in homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and other industries. 

Challenge: Gaining Visibility into the Sales Process and Shortening Ramp-Up Time for New Hires

3M launched their US inside sales team in 2014 and over time grew from 30 reps to more than 250 across the US and Canada. However, the team’s leadership wanted to improve their sales process even more. 

3M decided to rethink how they manage, support, train, and empower inside sales. That meant investing in the right solution that also integrated well with existing workflows across the company’s sales tools. The company wanted to build a sales process that was not only scalable but made it easy for new hires to hit the ground running.

Growth Leader Peter Garin knew they needed a hard look at what the data was showing from sales activities. “We needed insight beyond what our CRM system could provide,” he said.

Sales leadership was looking for a solution that could best support the 3M business strategy. After careful research, they chose Salesloft.

"Salesloft was a one-stop-shop platform that offered solutions to a variety of our needs." –Jason Amidon, Director, US & Canada Sales Operations

“The ability to standardize and automate processes across our teams through Salesloft delivers value to current sellers and brings new employees up to speed fast,” according to Jason.

Solution: Optimized Workflows and Customer Insights Lead to Greater Productivity

Salesloft’s Customer Success team worked hand-in-hand with 3M leaders in the US and Canada to create flexible solutions that address the ever-growing needs of the organization, while the ease of integration with 3M’s current sales tech stack simplified the adoption process.

"We were impressed by the intimacy with the Salesloft support team and the ability to pivot and make changes as our customers evolve." –Peter Garin, 3M Growth Leader

Salesloft’s Cadence product has proven to be clutch for creating ideal sales workflows and establishing winning processes for the team. Plus, 3M’s adoption of the Salesloft platform had another benefit: Having a clear sales process – and a language to describe activities – helped the team better communicate.

With the sales team aligned in their understanding of the process, reps felt confident providing input to improve current and help develop new cadences. Their ability to contribute fueled rep buy-in for greater efficiency and productivity.

“We now have a culture of speaking the same language, looking at the same things, and addressing processes in a consistent way,” shares Inside Sales Supervisor Nick Ostendorf.

Peter continued, “It has been a relief and really refreshing to take what we’ve learned over time and actually be able to put it into a system to do all that work for us.”

Result: Greater Reach, Better Defined Roles, More Closed Deals

3M’s implementation of Salesloft in the US and Canada occurred during the pandemic with the inside sales team working remotely. The first Salesloft Cadence reached a whopping 1,000 customers in a week. 

"The more customers we touched, the more we sold." –Drew Moldenhauer, 3M Sales Technology Leader

What’s more, Salesloft helped move sellers beyond their comfort zone and empowered them to expand their reach.

At times, it was even less about reaching new customers and more about better targeting current ones. Salesloft helped 3M identify new opportunities within their existing customer base, highlighting common pathways to additional purchases. Armed with this knowledge, the inside sales team zeroed-in on the right approach to upsell or cross-sell customers who already appreciated 3M’s value and quality.

“It’s not just about acquiring new business,” said Jason Amidon. “It’s also engaging with current customers and making sure we optimize coverage.”

Percentage of time spent on leads dropped; conversion rates soared.

New hires were talking effectively to 10 customers per day the second week on the job. But for Nick Ostendorf, the biggest Salesloft benefit has been the clarity of job roles for the reps.

“Salesloft has helped us better define roles within our organization,” Nick explained. “Now we can be very clear about articulating expectations and how we all work together.”

“Today the team is aligned on the same plays and running the same routes. We understand what we’re here to do.”