Parallax Advanced Research - Government Sales Team of the Year

Company: ValueSelling Associates, Carlsbad, 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 deliver custom sales improvement training 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: Sales Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Government Sales Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Parallax: Government Sales Team

The future is limitless for Parallax Advanced Research, a 501(c)(3) research organization that brings together top talent from diverse backgrounds across the industry, academia, and the government to collaboratively develop next-generation scientific and technological solutions.

One of the Dayton Business Journal’s “2021 Best Places to Work,” Parallax develops people alongside ground-breaking innovations, which include research in unmanned aerial vehicles, human performance, artificial intelligence, autonomy, data analytics, systems integration, and test evaluations. In the words of President and CEO Dennis Andersh, “We are enabling this young and diverse team to grow from and collaborate on solving worthwhile problems—that’s the legacy. Now, the sky’s the limit.”

Recognizing the shortcomings of the traditional approach to business development and sales within the business to the government sector, Parallax focused on developing the entire organization rather than a small team of “hunters” and “farmers.” Since all associates have a vested interest in growing the company, developing business, and selling, the entire Parallax team trained on the ValueSelling Framework in GFY21.

Now, the company is the sales team! The “new” Parallax engages customers and “sells” at every level.

Since 2019, Parallax has focused on aggressive, corporate-growth goals while exceeding the needs of its federal/state customers and industrial/academic partners. This three-part strategy drove impactful results:

$12.38 million Tech Warrior Enterprise contract award for pushing the limits of promising new systems by allowing small businesses to demonstrate their technologies in relevant, realistic environments and accelerate technology maturation. Services are free to qualifying small businesses.
$750,000 SPRINT grant to create the Launch Dayton Digital Toolkit, which will accelerate the development of 500 entrepreneurs in online and virtual environments by providing digital educational resources directly aligned with regional programs, resources, and customers to build more resilient businesses.
$9.6 million to expand Academic Partnership Engagement Experiment support to West Virginia and Appalachia to connect innovators with the Department of the Air Force to develop the next generation of science and technology for national defense.
$9.6 million was awarded to seven Ohio organizations from the Ohio Federal Research Network to advance aerospace innovation.

In 2020, Parallax Advanced Research’s contract with Wright State University ended, propelling Parallax into a period of rapid change. This seismic shift, combined with the stressors caused by the global pandemic, could have easily ended in disaster for a new company entering the notoriously crowded market space surrounding the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio—but Parallax’s senior leadership had a vision.

They involved all associates—from administration to marketing to finance—in business development and sales, deploying the same methodology company-wide.

Pivoting into GFY22, Parallax continued to improve its business development methodology by implementing lessons learned for both wins and losses, targeting prospects adjacent to current customers, and expanding prospecting nationwide.

Despite heated competition surrounding the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, Parallax rapidly established itself as a proven R&D provider supporting the Air Force and other agencies. Competitors in this market space include the University of Dayton Research Institute, Universal Technology Corporation, Universal Energy Systems, and Battelle Memorial Institute. Parallax's success in this environment comes from its mission: to be the most collaborative nonprofit in the country. This vision enables them to form strategic partnerships with these long-established firms to further Parallax's development and market share.

These linked articles showcase Parallax’s recent successes and demonstrate that Parallax is attaining its mission as a nonprofit serving the interests of the community, the state of Ohio, and the Nation.

For more information about Parallax, click on Home | Parallax Research