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The Challenge
When Figma, a collaborative design and prototyping tool, began selling to more and more enterprise customers, the sales team realized they needed to start building a repeatable process.
At that point, each enterprise sales rep had their own process for working with customers and maintaining timelines. Communication was scattered across emails and limited to screen shares; customer contribution and collaboration was low. Because there wasn’t a shared process, it was difficult to get insight into each rep’s deals, which made accurate forecasting all but impossible.
Finally, after evaluating different processes and solutions, the team landed on the belief that mutual action plans (MAPs) were critical for selling to enterprise customers.
The Outcome
“We decided to use Accord because it supports the buyer as much as it supports the sales reps. There aren’t a lot of tools that do that.” - Kyle Parrish
By using Accord to build a repeatable process for their enterprise sales reps and to guide customers through the buying process, Figma was able to increase efficiency, reliability, and value to their customers.
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Creating a Custom Mutual Action Plan
Before customers begin their evaluation of Figma, the AE sets expectations for the trial period by introducing Accord. Aaron Cramer, Sr. Enterprise AE, creates a common space for the mutual action plan and gives the customer a tour of Accord, putting in tasks to show how they can be checked off, then invites the customer to use it with him. Customers are able to add their own steps to Figma’s standard templates, customizing their evaluation and getting everyone involved on the same page about the work required.
From there, Aaron uses the MAPs to keep everyone aligned during the evaluation process. Each week, he meets with the potential customer and opens up Accord to see which steps have been checked off and what comes next. This enables Aaron to provide a buyer-centric experience and add value with each engagement.
Collaborating Through the Buying Process
With Accord, both teams can tackle a common set of tasks and move toward the goal together. Having a shared, customized space makes customers feel taken care of and want to engage with the process. Figma AEs can upload helpful documents to the Resources section for customers to reference anytime. One customer invited 48 people from their team to Accord during their trial because they loved having all the resources in one place.
“Accord is a virtual dealroom where you and your customer are on the same side of the table,” says Aaron. “It creates a space where your customer wants to go, and when they do, they get value out of it.”
Some of Figma’s customers don’t have a lot of experience with evaluating software, so the MAPs in Accord become a guide through the buying process, creating a great experience for each customer.
"People love it. Customers say, ‘I can’t believe you’ve put all this work into creating this personalized space for me.’" - Aaron Cramer
Increasing Clarity in Each Relationship
Using Accord as the source of truth between Figma and the customer increases transparency and the level of confidence that AEs have in each deal. Everyone has visibility and can be up to date on the deal status at any time. It also helps provide context in the event something unexpected happens.
Once, the champion of a deal left the company five days before it was supposed to close, which normally would have set the deal back by months or dissolved it entirely. But since they had a MAP in Accord, the new person was able to go in and see all the progress made, and get up to speed on remaining steps. Aaron was able to continue collaborating with the new champion and won the deal.
Building a Repeatable Enterprise Sales Process
The sales team at Figma has built a repeatable and more efficient process through Accord. Figma uses MAP templates to guide their customers through standard evaluation steps. Previously, the team was writing emails and reattaching the same resources for accounts over and over. With Accord, AEs start with a defined process, attach the most commonly used resources, and adjust steps based on customer requirements.
Kyle uses Accord to onboard new reps with Figma’s best practices. “We needed a tool like Accord to build out these scalable processes.” With a shared process across the sales team, forecasting on deals has become more accurate.
“Now when it comes to deal reviews, if a rep doesn’t have a plan in Accord with their customer, we ask, why not?" - Kyle Parrish
While Aaron’s winning sales streak may not last forever, the Figma team can continue to close more deals with more confidence with the help of Accord.
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