FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Glen McCandless
Focus Marketing, Inc.
828.681.0203
Texas Instruments Embraces EDRoom Online Discussion Service to
Ensure Consistent Input from Field Sales Organization
NEW YORK, NY (June 17, 2008) Texas Instruments (TI), like many large companies with sales representatives spread throughout the country, sought to improve its ability to get input and meaningful dialogue with its field sales team. To accomplish this, it embraced EDRoom, an interactive online discussion service. TI chose EDRoom to enable more flexible scheduling of meetings with field sales and to address the need for deeper engagement and involvement of field sales. This need was heightened because of a major new strategic initiative, TI MathForward, a new kind of Algebra Readiness program that requires a new kind of selling process.
EDRoom's interactive format allows for dialogue any time and anywhere. It gives TI sales reps the opportunity to be tightly connected to the launch process and provide critical feedback to the corporate product development and marketing teams whenever it fits their schedules. Improving the flow of communications with sales is a critical success factor for this important strategic program, which is a shift from the focus on TI's popular graphing calculators to a total-solution approach that includes curricular resources and professional development.
“EDRoom has made a significant difference in how we work with our field sales team. It provided feedback so quickly that it impacted what we are doing now and what we are planning for the future. Most importantly, our field sales team feels they are part of the process for the first time. EDRoom is a great tool to keep a ‘pulse’ on what the field needs,” said Steven Bailey, Director, Business Development, TI Education Technology.
EDRoom’s education-market experts worked with Bailey to establish clearly defined goals. Then they developed a format for organizing several multi-week discussions and the supporting content that encouraged all members of the sales team to thoughtfully consider each topic and to fully participate. EDRoom’s auto-transcription feature and summary analysis reports gave TI product managers the information they needed to more closely align their new program with the needs of customers and the individuals responsible for selling it.
“Our experience with Texas Instruments demonstrates the power and convenience of the EDRoom service to deliver valuable insights and facilitate communications within an organization. This new service opens up a range of possibilities for improved channel efficiencies and effectiveness as well as a more tightly aligned product development process,” said Jay Sivin-Kachala, session moderator and managing partner of EDRoom Inc.
EDRoom was introduced at the Software and Information Industry Association’s Ed Tech Business Forum in November 2007. Since then, companies that market and sell products and services to schools have used EDRoom to meet a variety of market research, product development, and corporate communications needs. www.edroom.net