Transforming To A “Customer First” Sales Organization

We know that we are supposed to be customer focused, but too many organizations struggle with actually becoming customer focused.

For most, it requires a transformation in the way you do business.  Re-examining everything you do,  engaging customers in those critical conversations that put the customer first is critical for to driving these transformations.

Often it requires organizations to rethink everything they do.  Who they sell to, how they engage the customer, is the current deployment model even the most appropriate model?

Unify has been on this journey for the past 2 years.  It started with a commitment from the top of the organization down, this commitment was putting the customer at the center of the process, putting them first.   It required the organization to engage in developing a common vision of what that meant, developing a vision of what that authentic customer engagement looks like.

Unify discovered the new model was no longer primarily a direct field sales organization, but to best serve the customers and address the markets in a customer focused manner it meant engaging partners as key participants in the customer engagement, sales, implementation processes.

Join my discussion with Colin McLean, Senior Vice President of North American Sales and Service Providers as we talk about how to make this journey.  We discuss things like:

• Why do this in the first place, why the transformation to a customer first, partner led go to customer strategy?
• Leveraging “vison-casting” to develop a common vision across the organization in driving this change.
• Re-defining the organization, redefining roles in engaging customers and partners in a collaborative, win-win-win manner.
• How do you change the DNA of the people and the organization to own their role in executing the transformation?  How to shift mindsets–both with your own people, your partners, and customers?  What about those people that can’t make this shift?
• Mistakes they’ve made, what they’ve learned.

It’s a fascinating story, and a great journey.  They still are on the journey.  Learn from Unify’s journey, apply some of their lessons to think about how you and your team can genuinely put the customer first.