Building a Winning Go-To-Market Strategy

Endorsements presented herein are made by current or former employees of Vista portfolio companies, over which Vista may have the ability to exercise discretion on employee compensation, promotion and other employment decisions.
Applause realized exceptional results from an improved go-to-market strategy.
Regardless of sector, to compete in today’s marketplace, businesses need to operate from their customers’ point of view. Today’s customers have high expectations for a seamless experience across digital channels; just one poor interaction can lead to lost profit and a damaged brand reputation.
Applause provides digital testing, user feedback and market insights to help clients deliver flawless digital experiences to their customers. The company was one of the first to develop crowd-sourced digital quality testing and now has the largest community of testers in the world.
After receiving venture capital funding for his previous companies, private equity was a new investment approach for Applause Founder and CEO Doron Reuveni. When considering Vista as a potential partner, Reuveni did his homework and met with Vista portfolio company CEOs to understand the working relationship between Vista and its companies. After hearing similar sentiments about Vista’s approach to growth and development, along with positive experiences working with the Value Creation Team (VCT) team, Reuveni’s choice became simple.
As a result of the due diligence process, Reuveni and his team were able to hit the ground running post close, partnering with the VCT to develop a go-to-market strategy that allowed them to gain market share in the crowd-sourcing and digital testing arena.
As a company that helps clients ensure their products are successful and their customers are satisfied, Applause is committed to catering to their own users. Refining their own go-to-market was a critical objective for Reuveni and his team.
The strategy included an updated approach to sales and customer success that focused on enterprise accounts. While acquiring new users is a critical component of growth, so too is cultivating and retaining existing users. Vista helped Applause shift direction on customer success by implementing the right processes and methodologies to ensure they catered to their customers’ needs.
After six months of working with Vista and implementing new processes, Applause’s Net Promotor Score (NPS) was at an all-time high at 50. Not only is that an impressive score for any B2B company, but it’s particularly notable in the crowd-testing space. For Reuveni, implementing a go-to-market strategy that included a customer success component and a focus on their value proposition proved to be significantly valuable for Applause.
Please see the “Case Studies” section of the Disclosures page for important information about these Case Studies.
Partnering with Vista allowed us to invest in our infrastructure while also focusing on continuing our growth.
Doron Reuveni, Founder and CEO, Applause
Details
Year of Investment: 2017
Portfolio Status: Current
Headquarters: Framingham, MA
Website: applause.com
SaaS-based platform that helps clients optimize the quality and end-user experience on desktop, mobile and device apps.
Applause is a leading provider of customer-driven digital testing and user feedback software for digital experiences (DX) across Web, mobile and IoT. The Company’s technology platform and managed global community of over 300,000 on-demand DX experts deliver authentic, real-world human input at every phase of software development. Applause provides insight into market requirements, user feedback and software quality for the world’s leading digital brands at every customer touchpoint.
Applause was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Framingham, MA, with operations worldwide.
Vista Equity Partners Fund VI acquired Applause in September 2017.