About StageSmarts
Website: https://www.stagesmarts.com/
Industry: Entertainment Technology, Power Distribution
Use Case: Partner Enablement, Content Sharing, Deal Collaboration
Solution: Partner Portal, Salesrooms, Learning Management
Effect: Streamlined distributor collaboration, centralized marketing materials, and enhanced deal visibility across a global network
Hi, Ebba! Tell us a little bit about StageSmarts
We are StageSmarts and we develop and build electrical power distribution units for large shows and events. Imagine that you are at some big festival. All the LED screens, all the smoke machines, everything needs power, and we build very advanced power distribution units for this equipment.
We are a small company and are growing fast. Our way of going to market is mainly through distributor networks. We have 15 distributors around the world, but we also have customers in some countries.
What challenges did you have before SP CE?
The first thing I noticed when I started here was that there was a great need for structure. We had no CRM system, no platform where we could share material or images or manuals for our products, and I saw a great need to implement clear structures for both sales and marketing.
There were no processes for digitizing how we work with collected material, and we needed to find a way that allowed sales and marketing to work closely together. For distributors, we also had to find a way to own the business, and take control of the leads that we would give to to them.
How did SP CE help you?
I lacked a platform where we could collaborate with our distributors, and share material, pictures and videos in one place. This is where SP_CE came in and made my job a lot easier: I got a platform where I could gather everything in one place.
We chose HubSpot as our CRM, and just launched a brand new website where we have a product configurator. There, customers and distributors can build their entire unit. This is also connected to HubSpot, and from HubSpot I can get it directly into SP_CE so that they can see their configured product there.
Who in your organization benefits internally from using SP CE?
Our salespeople can sit with the distributor, inside SP_CE, talk about a deal and see what products it is about. I’ve (also) encouraged the salespeople to have their weekly meetings in front of SP_CE, to be able to follow every single deal in the pipeline.
I’ve pushed for SP_CE to become a gathering point so that the salespeople and distributors can work on the deal together, and not separately. In this way, we can own the deal and have a much better overview of what is happening on the market, and what the customers want.
How do you use Sp CE from a marketing perspective?
Normally, you don’t do a lot of digital advertising in our industry because it is a direct business-to-business model. But I have incorporated a lot of the B2C thinking into our advertising and in that way we can also get engagement.
I tailor my campaigns based on the market, so in the French market, we have all ads and assets in French. Thanks to SP_CE, I can put a section in a space where the distributor for that market can go in and see: “This is what my ads look like for this market.”
(And, while) we don’t use newsletters, we can send a video message from SP_CE that says: “Hello! Now things have happened in my space: Go in and check.”
What’s your experience working with the SP CE team?
I am super satisfied in every way and what I appreciate about you is that you are very personal in everything you do. As a customer you get noticed and you feel appreciated. It feels like you matter.
For example, when we come up with suggestions and ideas, you receive them and say: “We can find a solution to this!” You have an open mind about everything and you are always looking for new solutions and gratefully receive new ideas. It is also very fun, as a customer, to also be able to influence and be involved.
What’s next for you?
As we have a very technical product, we have realized that we also need to educate our distributors. So that they understand the value of both our software and hardware. And I think SP_CE will be a huge part of that.
With the Learning Management in SP_CE, we can build courses, we can train our salespeople, we can train our distributors and also create an interest to learn more. There is so much potential, and if we can educate our people in the right way, and create interest, I think it will be a very big part of our development journey.
In five years, (our goal is to) be the obvious choice in all major arenas, artist tours, festivals around the world. We have also entered the US market and we’re looking at the film industry. We’ve developed our software and hardware in a way that puts us miles ahead of the competition, and we are going to be the obvious choice when it comes to power distribution in the entertainment industry.
