Initiating Sales in New Geography

Challenge   I work for a IT and Engineering services company based out of India. The primary business model is to  outsource engineering work out to India as they have a big resource pool that can be scaled into a  dedicated team at short notice. The company has been in existence for over 30 years and they have a  pretty matured service portfolio across various industries. One of the industries they service is  Semiconductor equipment industry. The company has a very good clientele in this industry but  confined to Americas. They were struggling to tap into the European market.

Selection   One of the key reasons for this challenge that came out clearly during discussions with the delivery  teams was that nothing moved post first introductory meeting with the customers. This reflected that  there was a gap in the way the proposition was being presented. From secondary research, another  fact that came out very clearly was that European customers were not as matured in their  understanding of outsourcing as compared to the customers in America. Considering these facts we  chose Storytelling as the tool to approach this problem.

Application   The need was to create a proposition that should have the following characteristics:

1. Clearly showcases the services that the company can provide  2. Clearly showcases the maturity and level of understanding of the concerned industry and the

level of ownership that the company could take

3. Provides a step by step approach to initiate such projects   4. Provides relevant examples showcasing the following:

a. Customer challenge / problem statement  b. The solution that was provided   c. The value add that could be achieved

The steps taken were as follows:

1. Identify the number of services that the company could provide in this domain, which in this

case came out as follows

a. Mechanical engineering services   b. Embedded software engineering services   c. Embedded hardware engineering services

2. Stakeholders were identified from each service line to create an understanding of depth and

breadth of the services and where they have applied the same in this industry / what level of  ownership they could take ( system level or subsystem level or module level)

3. A matrix was created with X axis as the service lines and Y axis as the type of system .

subsystem and the services rendered where highlighted on the same. This brought out a clear  picture of the breadth and depth of experience the company had in this domain

4. For each service line a guidance was created in a pictorial format showcasing various

categories of activities that can be outsourced categorised in ascending order of ease of  outsourcing.

5. Case studies of work done for existing clients were recreated with focus on the following

points only:

a. Customer challenge / problem statement  b. The solution that was provided   c. The value add that could be achieved

Insight

This was a clear cut case where the customer needed handholding in guiding them with the process  of outsourcing, making them understand the kind of work that can be done and how to do it. Creating  pictorial representation and mapping services in a matrix format gave them an easy way to scope  activities that they could outsource. This helped the company to start business with 4 new customers  within 6 months. However they face operational challenges once the engagement started.

Approach  The challenges came post the engagement started as the understanding of the execution model  wasn’t clear enough with the story that was created. Every customer created their own image of the  engagement model in their minds and hence things went haywire in the beginning. If I was given a  chance to do this exercise again. I would adopt visualization as a tool as well in addition to storytelling  to clearly showcase the operational model also. However said that it was a successful exercise to cater  to the challenge that the company faced in the beginning.


Initiating Sales in New Geography Challenge I work for a IT and Engineering services company based out of India . The primary business model is to outsource engineering work out to India as they have a big resource pool that can be scaled into a dedicated team at short notice . The company has been in existence for over 30 years and they have a pretty matured service portfolio across various industries . One of the industries they service is Semiconductor equipment industry . The company has a very good clientele in this industry but confined to Americas . They were struggling to tap into the European market . Selection One of the key reasons for this challenge that came out clearly during discussions with the delivery teams was that nothing moved post first introductory meeting with the customers . This reflected that there was a gap in the way the proposition was being presented . From secondary research , another fact that came out very clearly was that European customers were not as matured in their understanding of outsourcing as compared to the customers in America . Considering these facts we chose Storytelling as the tool to approach this problem . Application The need was to create a proposition that should have the following characteristics : 1 . Clearly showcases the services that the company can provide 2 . Clearly showcases the maturity and level of understanding of the concerned industry and the level of ownership that the company could take 3 . Provides a step by step approach to initiate such projects 4 . Provides relevant examples showcasing the following : a. Customer challenge / problem statement b. The solution that was provided c. The value add that could be achieved The steps taken were as follows : 1 . Identify the number of services that the company could provide in this domain , which in this case came out as follows a. Mechanical engineering services b. Embedded software engineering services c. Embedded hardware engineering services 2 . Stakeholders were identified from each service line to create an understanding of depth and breadth of the services and where they have applied the same in this industry / what level of ownership they could take ( system level or subsystem level or module level ) 3 . A matrix was created with X axis as the service lines and Y axis as the type of system . subsystem and the services rendered where highlighted on the same . This brought out a clear picture of the breadth and depth of experience the company had in this domain 4 . For each service line a guidance was created in a pictorial format showcasing various categories of activities that can be outsourced categorised in ascending order of ease of outsourcing . 5 . Case studies of work done for existing clients were recreated with focus on the following points only : a. Customer challenge / problem statement b. The solution that was provided c. The value add that could be achieved Insight This was a clear cut case where the customer needed handholding in guiding them with the process of outsourcing , making them understand the kind of work that can be done and how to do it . Creating pictorial representation and mapping services in a matrix format gave them an easy way to scope activities that they could outsource . This helped the company to start business with 4 new customers within 6 months . However they face operational challenges once the engagement started . Approach The challenges came post the engagement started as the understanding of the execution model was n’t clear enough with the story that was created . Every customer created their own image of the engagement model in their minds and hence things went haywire in the beginning . If I was given a chance to do this exercise again . I would adopt visualization as a tool as well in addition to storytelling to clearly showcase the operational model also . However said that it was a successful exercise to cater to the challenge that the company faced in the beginning .