Justworks - Most Valuable Response by a Sales Team

Company: Justworks, New York, NY, USA
Entry Submitted By: ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Company Description: ValueSelling Associates equips B2B sales professionals to compete on value, not price, using a time-tested methodology with proven results. Our expert Associates create custom sales improvement training delivered globally in over 17 languages. With ValueSelling, sales professionals get the tools, skills and processes to effectively qualify, advance and close more sales with higher margins.
Nomination Category: COVID-19 Response Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Most Valuable Response by a Sales Team

Nomination Title: Justworks, New York, NY, USA

In 2012, Isaac Oates, Founder & CEO, set out to pursue his vision of lifting the administrative and compliance burden from employers so small business owners could focus on what matters most – serving customers and empowering teams. Less than a decade later, Justworks is the fastest growing HR technology company in the country.

Justworks envisions a world in which starting, running, and joining a business is accessible for all. Through Justworks’ simple, friendly platform and expert support, business owners have access to corporate-level benefits and can offload the nitty-gritty details of payroll, benefits, compliance, and HR.

In 2019, Justworks earned accreditation through the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), joining an elite group of professional employer organizations (PEOs) who meet the highest requirements for financial stability, ethical business conduct, and adherence to operational standards and regulatory requirements.

What makes Justworks unique is its “real” approach, staying extremely accessible and transparent to its customers. As a PEO, Justworks must anticipate scenarios that would impact its clients and create proactive strategies and products so its small business customers can weather financial, economic, and global crisis. In 2020, Justworks and its customers dealt head-on with pandemic, racial injustice, and the economic downturn.

Outline the team’s achievements since July 1, 2019 that you wish to bring to the judges’ attention (up to 250 words = 242).

Throughout the years, Justworks had run various risk tabletops to simulate the impact of various scenarios to the business and customers’ businesses. According to Rob Lopez, Senior Vice President of Sales & Customer Success, “In January 2020 as COVID-19 was moving from Asia to Europe, the leadership team asked ourselves, ‘What if the virus comes to US? How will we respond?’”

The proactive planning paid off. Justworks closed its office two weeks in advance of broader mandates, ensuring the safety and welfare of its employees.

Work rhythms and systems were established to mimic in-person connections. The people at Justworks like one another. They work together, go out for drinks, hang out during the weekends, move-in, and even get married. Mike Albo, Director of Sales, established daily check-ins among the sales team to maintain a high-level of communication.

As their customers’ businesses were shutting down in the March/April timeframe, the company’s outbound messaging was empathetic: “We’re here for you.” Instead of selling, Justworks educated companies on:

COVID-19 termination guide
Filing for unemployment
Remote life resources
Virtual team bonding
Business reopening guide

The product and engineering teams mobilized quickly to build valuable tools and services to help small business owners file for government programs. The COVID-19 resource center saw a 50% uptick in traffic. This “pay it forward” approach created value for business owners and made the employees feel proud of the work they were doing during extremely uncertain times.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the individual’s past performance (up to 250 words = 242).

Justworks’ primary target market is small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the group most adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid such dire circumstances, Justworks continued to demonstrate that they had their customers’ back. They provided tools and resources for business owners to navigate the unthinkable.

This “pay it forward” approach added to the sales organization’s credibility in the field. The sales organization, made up of ~180 people in sales, sales enablement and business operations maintained a consistent message that put the customer first.

The result of Justworks’ COVID response:

Maintained strong monthly customer retention of 99%, including voluntary & involuntary churn
Increased web traffic to COVID-19 resource center by 50%
12-month Net Promoter Score (NPS) measured in April 2019 (height of the pandemic) rose

As Rob Lopez said, “When we first imagined what we’d do if COVID-19 hit the US, it didn’t seem plausible. But as things escalated, it became inevitable that it would happen. We’re at the center of small businesses, and we stayed committed to supporting them. By providing a higher level of support to our customer base, we were able outperform our plan.”

“I’m proud of how we pivoted and the effort the team put in. No one’s ever been in this environment before. But we persevered. We leveled up and that’s positively impacted our overall business,” said Mike Albo.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words).

URL: https://justworks.com/
Video: Why we love what we do.
Webpage: Justworks COVID-19 Resource Center
Article: Ranked #2 in Selling Power’s “50 Best Companies to Sell for 2020”
Article: How “professional employer organizations” are moving with the times
Press Release: Justworks earns national accreditation through the ESAC