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Sales Training Firm Miller Heiman Makes Play for SaaS Market

A major player in the corporate training space is making a play for SaaS market share. In an announcement made last month, Miller Heiman Group, a company well-known for its sales training content, is releasing a subscription-based SaaS platform to help sales professionals make critical decisions during the deal-making process.

The program, named Scout, uses analytics and recommendations to guide sellers with next steps during the sales process and improve the odds of closing a deal. The platform will integrate existing analytics with coaching tips and guidelines which leverage the company’s decades of experience in the space.

Subscriptions start at $20 per month and can go as low as $10 per month for those accessing the app independently. In June, the company deployed the product to a select number of early customers to run in an active sales environment.

Miller Heiman developed the software tool after conducting extensive internal studies which indicated a desire among leading sales professionals to have data-driven decision making capabilities.

For support on the development of customer user experience on the application, the company has worked with Brave UX based in Washington, D.C. A partnership with D.C.-based Fast Rope Labs provided additional web services and software integration support.

Though Miller Heiman’s Scout platform may appear to be a direct threat to SaaS leaders in the space like Salesforce, the product is positioned differently. Scout can be integrated into the existing CRM of a client to complement the existing analytics package, or it can be used as a standalone product. Scout is cloud-based and mobile first, representing a years long trend towards mobile in the SaaS space.

The product is designed to serve sellers, with additional assistance for managers to help facilitate the coaching process. With the application, managers will be able to identify individual performance metrics, which can assist in addressing concerns or problem areas.

Miller Heiman was founded in 1978 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. The company has 10 employees located in the home office and additional offices in Chicago and Tampa, Florida. The company employs almost 1000 people worldwide, including facilitators, consultants and distribution partners.

The Miller Heiman sales methodology is well known in sales circles and is used by an estimated 30,000 sales people annually, according to the company.