Alation's Success with Qualified's Pipeline Cloud: A Case Study

Founded in 2012, Alation is a leader in data intelligence solutions, helping more than 400 enterprises globally create a data culture where anyone can find, understand, and trust data. They pioneered the modern data catalog and are now leading its evolution into a platform for data intelligence. More than 25% of Fortune 100 companies use Alation. The company combines machine learning with human insight to tackle the most demanding challenges in data and metadata management. Recognized by Forrester as an industry leader in Machine Learning Data Catalogs in 2020 and Data Governance Solutions in 2021, Alation is headquartered in Silicon Valley and is valued at $1.2B.

Alation, a leader in data intelligence solutions, faced a significant challenge in pipeline generation. Their website, a critical channel for pipeline generation, was attracting a growing number of new visitors each month due to a thoughtful SEO strategy. However, Alation wanted to provide an intuitive user experience and navigation to its visitors and become less reliant on forms. They needed a way to meet visitors at the precise moment when they were seeking more information and accurately identify and route qualified buyers to their dedicated account owners for a real-time conversation. Alation’s global sales development representative (SDR) team, divided into U.S., EMEA, and APAC markets, lacked visibility into website traffic and couldn't determine which regions website visitors were located in, how they were making their way to the website, and to whom they should be routed. This lack of extensive lead-routing capabilities meant that the SDR team couldn’t immediately engage visitors in a conversation, leading to missed potential pipeline opportunities.

To overcome these challenges, Alation turned to Qualified’s Xforce Platform. They chose the Pipeline Cloud, a new set of technologies and processes designed to help B2B companies generate pipeline faster than ever before. The Pipeline Cloud helps companies identify their most valuable website visitors, instantly start sales conversations, shape sales and marketing campaigns, and uncover signals of buying intent. Alation worked closely with a dedicated Salesforce-certified implementation consultant from Qualified to develop a bespoke strategy. They implemented the Qualified Messenger to automatically greet website visitors and deliver a tailored experience based on known visitor data. They also categorized visitors into buyer segments based on unique criteria to help sales reps focus on high-value accounts and routed visitors to a dedicated sales rep for timely and relevant interactions. Alation also used Qualified for Outbound, which notified sales reps immediately when an outbound prospect clicked through their Outreach email to the site. With Conversation Analytics, the team could understand how visitors were engaging with Experiences and where there was drop-off, allowing them to adjust their strategy accordingly.

• The implementation of Qualified’s Xforce Platform and the Pipeline Cloud transformed Alation's lead routing and engagement process. The new system allowed Alation to instantly direct visitors to the right SDR who could engage them in meaningful conversations. Instead of relying on form fills, sales reps were able to engage with potential customers at the right moment. The use of Qualified for Outbound and Conversation Analytics provided valuable insights into visitor engagement and rep performance, enabling the team to adjust their strategy and provide additional coaching as needed. The SDRs were actively using the tool, demonstrating its effectiveness and acceptance. The new system not only improved the efficiency of the SDR team but also significantly increased the number of opportunities created, new ARR generated, and meetings booked via chat.

• 375% growth in opportunities created

• 278% growth in new ARR generated

• 150% increase in meetings booked via chat