LevelEleven Makes Big Expansions-New Customers, Personnel, & More

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

It might be hard to imagine a successful firm coming out of Detroit that doesn't have much to do with cars, but that's exactly the case at hand with LevelEleven, a company that focuses on software that boosts the motivation of sales reps. LevelEleven's success of late hasn't come in a vacuum, but on the strength of a series of new clients and partnerships, along with some important new hires that have given the company a lot to work with.

LevelEleven's basic premise, according to reports, is to take one of the oldest tools in sales motivation—the sales leaderboard—and convert it to an online, trackable prospect by working with Salesforce.com (News - Alert)'s systems to make the leaderboard a real-time, easily updated experience that's accurate to the minute and thus having a more immediate impact on behavior. While some might dismiss this as another example of gamification—a topic that's had its share of detractors as well as supporters—LevelEleven believes that it's beyond that concept, believing itself to be a motivational tool that acts in real-time.

That particular edge, in fact, has made it popular with LevelEleven's new clients. Recently, LevelEleven has seen companies like eBay and PayPal (News - Alert) join in, and so too have firms throughout several disciplines, including Cardinal Health, Dun & Bradstreet, Forrester Research and Shutterstock, among several others. Moreover, LevelEleven recently staged a partnership with Xactly (News - Alert), who handles cloud-based incentive programs. That combination allows those who use LevelEleven to run sales contests to automatically deliver prizes, or commissions as needed, via Xactly's platform.

LevelEleven hasn't just been working without, though, bringing in new partners and clients. It's also been working within, hiring on a new vice president of sales in Scott Shepard, a new vice president of customer success in Mark Eaton (News - Alert), and a new product manager in Kyle Gostinger. Plus, LevelEleven is, at last report, looking for a new vice president of marketing as well as regular staff throughout much of the organization, so for those interested contacting the company might be a good idea.

It's clear LevelEleven has been busy, because it has one critical advantage working for it: value. It's offering a tool that, given the right circumstances, can help boost a company's sales figures. LevelEleven's founder and CEO, Bob Marsh, describes the results as “...our clients seeing immediate ROI by simply getting their salespeople more focused and therefore more productive.” In an economy where many are cutting back, reconsidering purchases, and putting off replacements and upgrades, being able to make sales is a highly sought-after trait. But even the best sales reps can falter in the face of unforgiving economics, so getting the sales staff more focused can help overcome at least some of that by the force of sheer numbers.

While bringing in the LevelEleven platform by itself may not be enough to turn around a faltering company; it can certainly help under the right circumstances. Big declines can be turned into survivable downturns, and survivable downturns can be brought back to profitability. These small changes can add up to big things for a company, and LevelEleven is right at the front of it all.