The coming weeks and months will see the Salesforce CRM (customer relationship management) system introduced in the UK and new structures implemented in place of the former Business Support and Customer Service functions.
Over this time, we will be talking to team members about the progress being made and the opportunities and challenges ahead. This edition, we are talking to Holly Simmons and Nikesh Modi.
Holly, what was your previous role and what is your new one?
“My last role was Residential Pre-Sales Manager for two years, leading a team of eight. This involved projects and pricing inquiries of all sizes specifically in the residential channel, working with the high rise team, key accounts and the regional team. Now, my official title is Senior Sales Leader for OTC/RMI. I’ve been in the role since the beginning of January so I’m still finding my feet.
“Our team is made up of myself, Megan Radburn and Sarah Szydlowski. Meg came from Pre-Sales Res and Non-Res and then moved into Contract Management whereas Sarah worked in the Non-Res channel on small and large inquiries. We have a good mix of knowledge across the team. We have quite a good amount of experience and breadth of knowledge.”
What does the team do?
“We are essentially an activation team, looking after the small projects that don’t have a manufacturer specified or are a competitor’s specification. We then work with the external team to convert them to our brand. We are also working through the non-res projects under £10,000, making sure they are live projects that we can still go after.
“We’ve also been given a list of 208 regional developers that we don’t currently work with to see if we can get one of our guys in to do a spec for them, and we’re also working with showrooms on a national basis.
“Importantly, we are aiming to enhance our low level leads, which is an important part of the company strategy this year. Before we didn’t have the capacity to follow the smaller leads up. A lot of it is going to be more about price and speed of service, and building up new relationships.”
What’s next for you?
“I start training on Salesforce next week. From what I’ve seen it looks fresh, it looks a lot quicker. We should be able to allocate projects a lot more quickly according to the account value and also it should be a lot less confusing.
“I’m hoping that at next year’s conference we will be saying how well it has gone. We know how visible it is in the company and we just want to make it the success that everyone wants it to be.”
What challenges do you see ahead?
“I think Salesforce will be a challenge to begin with as it’s learning a new system and learning new technology but I do think it will be a huge benefit in the end. It’s also about making sure we have all the channels and departments aligned to our needs. We need to work cross-functionally across the business.”
Nik is part of the Field Sales Team, looking after the East Midlands and East Anglia territory.
What is happening in the Field Sales Team, Nik?
“Our duties and activity are not facing drastic changes, just more focus and purpose going forwards on being a true Activation Team. Having said this, our team structure is changing as we are going to have a North and South Team Leader within the FST. This will help us to manage our territories more efficiently and give a clear, directed focus on individual areas in aid of supporting the trade channel and wider business.”
Is anything changing apart from the structure?
“The other aspect is refocussing our activity and spending more time in places we can obtain the best results. For the last couple of years we have had a strong focus on feeding the low level leads pipeline with open or competitor specs (target value under £10,000). Now, with the new team structure and the new areas being implemented, we hope to accelerate the amount of activity and input on this. We want to own the local contractor and developer relationships as well as putting firm plans in place for trade merchants (with and without showrooms), driving existing and new initiatives.”
“Working with the Holly, Megan and Sarah in the OTC and RMI internal team alleviates some of the challenges and pains we have had in the past couple of years. The aim is that we will now spend less time on tasks that, perhaps, took us away from winning projects and have more time spent in front of customers securing new opportunities and retaining existing business.”
Do you anticipate any challenges?
“With Salesforce and the new internal structure, I think the biggest challenge will be identifying a clear way of working together and finding the right balance, between internal and external sales, to maximise our impact in the marketplace. We need to respect what each other does, as each individual has a part to play, and support each other daily. We are one team and must ensure we have a coherent approach.”