2021 proved to be another breakout year for Consensus as analysts officially declare the Demo Automation Category and Consensus sees exponential growth with no signs of slowing down
Consensus, the Intelligent Demo Automation Platform scaling Presales teams instantly with interactive video demos, has raised $15 million in a Series B funding round to drive additional growth. The round is being led by longtime Consensus investors Riverside Acceleration Capital and The Frazier Group, bringing their total funding to $20+ million.
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Presales is now in demand across the revenue funnel. But there’s a gap between that demand and the scarcity of talent to support technical sales and guide complex purchases. That gap delays, and can even kill, deals. To compound the issue, there are more people involved. Today, according to Gartner, “An average of 11 individual stakeholders are involved in a B2B purchase; that number can occasionally flex up to nearly 20.” Their individual buying journeys are asynchronous and buyers simply expect better experiences — guided, on-demand, interactive. The problem is most sellers still hold their buyers hostage to their own calendars because they think they close deals. But as Garin Hess, Founder and CEO of Consensus, says, “Sellers can’t close deals, only buyers can.” A buyer-enabled approach is the only way forward.
Consensus is central to Buyer Enablement not only because it aligns the highest impact interactions to buyer’s preferences, but also because it gives sellers the insights they need to effectively guide their buyers through a purchase. “When technical sales teams focus energy, planning and resources on enabling buyers, those buyers make decisions faster and close more often.” With its patented digital demo and stakeholder insights engine, Consensus helps its Presales customers scale instantly to close bottlenecks while delivering a better buying experience. Sales Engineers and Solution Consultants are able to automate repetitive product demos with an on-demand and personalized experience that uncovers and qualifies stakeholders organically, eliminates unqualified demos and demo lag time, and helps Account Executives accelerate revenue.
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This is why the recent announcement from Aragon Research about the rise of Demo Automation is so important: software that equips sales engineering, an often overlooked but critical function in enterprise software sales, is disrupting B2B and drawing the attention of investors. “Technologies that help scale technical sales teams while simultaneously making B2B buying easier and more pleasant are no longer a nice-to-have, they’re absolutely essential,” said Jim Toth, Managing Partner at Riverside Acceleration Capital. “Customers that employ the Consensus platform see an immediate impact, and we believe Intelligent Demo Automation is now a requirement for any enterprise software team that needs to shorten sales cycles and close more deals more often.”
Key facts showcasing the growth and market leadership Consensus has achieved this past year include:
- 137% ARR YOY growth
- 128% net revenue retention in fiscal 2021
- 55% increase in customer base in fiscal 2021
- 41,597 stakeholders discovered organically in fiscal 2021
“When we narrowed our go-to-market strategy to focus on scaling Presales teams, our objective was not to eliminate sales engineers, but to unlock time tied up in repetitive demos and help them spend that time on high-impact activities.” said Garin Hess. “This also makes buying easier. What we’re seeing is so much more than what we ever anticipated. Our clients’ cut sales cycles on average 29%, close rates increase by as much as 44% and prospects that view interactive video demos are 34% more likely to become opportunities. Measurable customer impact is the most satisfying thing. Consensus has become critical to their success. It fuels our passion to continue to innovate on their behalf.”
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