Accelerating International Business Growth

Overview

In a fiercely competitive market, our client needed to streamline its sales and marketing efforts and understand the needs of international customers in more detail in order to achieve its growth ambitions.

Client Need

Declare was approached by the Executive VP of Worldwide Sales & Operations of this global mid-market CRM vendor with a remit to re-energise the EMEA Marketing organisation and respond to market needs more actively by aligning marketing more closely with sales.  At the same time, the company was expanding the capabilities of its CRM Suite to include Contact Centre, Partner Marketing and Marketing Automation solutions.  The sales and marketing organisations in EMEA therefore needed to be equipped and prepared to introduce the new solutions to both existing and new customers.

Declare’s Role

Declare conducted an initial scoping assignment taking input from Country Managers, sales and marketing leaders, partners and customers to review each of the following areas:

  • Product strategy & product marketing
  • Sales and marketing processes
  • Education, awareness and demand generation campaigns
  • Partner management
  • Customer intelligence, research and analysis
  • Positioning, messaging and communications strategy
  • Sales and marketing alignment

It became evident very quickly that whilst the company was gathering valuable customer and market data, the way in which this data was being analysed and interpreted was not being reflected as productively as it could be by the company’s sales, marketing and partner management approaches. Declare needed to facilitate the transition from silo’ed, discrete product, marketing and sales functions to an integrated, collaborative product, marketing and sales organisation rigidly focused on the needs of customers in the EMEA and APAC regions.  In so doing, we took the time to equip and enable the new, customer-oriented teams with suitable tools, programmes, processes and business discipline.

Specific Focus Areas
  • Strategic planning & execution; Go-to-Market plan, sales strategy, partner & alliance strategy, new product introductions & launches
  • Process integration; lead management & allocation, nurturing, opportunity management, customer service
  • Communications; re-energised positioning & messaging, online community building, internal x-function & x-region
  • Orchestration & co-ordination; streamlining & harmonising product, marketing & sales activities based on common language and agreed performance metrics
  • Programmes & campaigns; devising & implementing audience specific programmes, blending on and offline techniques
  • Partner enablement; new International Partner Programme for SIs, VARs & ISVs including annual, community-building International Partner Forum
  • Strategic alliances; identifying & establishing new, global alliances to extend market reach
Client Benefits

The development of structured Go-to-Market plans provided the focus the company needed to identify new opportunities for growth, to invest in the necessary resources and measure results more clearly.  Equally, introducing a formal International Partner Programme enabled the company to not only extend its market reach but also increase customer satisfaction.

Key results:

  • International revenue contribution increased from 45% to 62% of global software and services revenues
  • 8% incremental revenue derived from launch and roll-out of new Contact Centre solution across international markets including new strategic product development partnerships with key telcos to accelerate sales growth
  • 10% incremental revenue derived from introduction of new Marketing Automation module to the international market including net new customer wins
  • 25% increase in indirect sales revenue resulting from introduction of new International Partner Accreditation & Readiness Programme; programme coverage extended over 60 countries
  • Re-energised customer community personified via annual Customer Conference
  • Marketing approach transitioned to integrated, multi-lingual on and offline programmes, campaigns and services in response to analysis of customer needs and preferences
  • New positioning, messaging and tone of voice delivered through new content and carried through by sales in customer engagements
  • Sales pipeline value increased to 6x revenue targets
  • Pipeline metrics and lead scoring criteria standardised across sales and marketing

Due to its success in generating high margins and recurrent revenue streams from international markets, the company has since been acquired by a global leader in enterprise application software.

Client Profile

Global CRM software & services vendor

Business Needs

Devise strategy for taking new products into new international markets via new sales channels

Outcome

  • 17% increase in International software & services revenue contribution
  • 25% increase in revenue via indirect channels
  • Sales pipeline 6x revenue targets
  • Positioning & messaging aligned to international markets

Work Areas

  • Improve sales & marketing alignment to international customer needs
  • Accelerate revenues from indirect channels
  • Increase market share
  • Identify new markets for new solutions
  • Establish International Partner Programme
We are proud to include the world’s leading technology vendors in our client portfolio. Feel free to contact us to discuss our work in more detail or to determine how we may be of help to you and your company.
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