With the release of anonymous opt-in benchmarking last fall, our users have had access to unprecedented data as to what is happening in sales across their peer groups.
So what did we see in Q1'09? A return to normalcy.
Q3'08 saw a huge huge push, but with an abnormal amount of contracting at the very end of the month as the economy began to fall off a cliff. Q4'08 was the opposite: ennui, with usage dropping off toward the end of the year, when for the sake of our economy, we'd all hoped for a big end of the year push.
Q1'09: back to business as usual, at least in terms of how we work and sell. Yesterday (3/31), the last day of the quarter, was a record day for EchoSign usage -- but with the same general patterns we saw back in 2007 and Q1 and Q2 of 2008 ... relatively slow at the beginning of the month, more contracts toward the end of the month, peaking toward the very end of the quarter. In other words, what you'd expect in normal sales, with folks trying to make quotas, cut deals, etc.
There's no question times are challenging. An insta-cure would be nice. But what most of us simply want in business right now is a return to normalcy. Understanding what the rules are, and how to play by them. Understanding that the economy is working as expected, even in a recession.
EchoSign leading indicators suggest we're back on the path to normalcy. That's a good thing.
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