The NEC story
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The challenge
NEC’s microwave radio systems have led the market for many years, providing communication links for mobile backhaul, broadband networks, enterprise solutions and emergency networks. Now the market and technology are changing and NEC’s new product family, iPASOLINK1), was launched to meet evolving customer needs. True to NEC’s tradition of outstanding technology and engineering, iPASOLINK offers exactly what the market demands, but could the customer value proposition be enhanced? NEC’s Global Product Management team had to make sure it was!
iPASOLINK is a converged packet microwave and optical platform to help communications companies migrate to the future all-IP networks, so it is radically different from the legacy microwave products that had been the mainstay of sales.
NEC’s product management team needed to change the mindset within a very large organisation which involved salespeople adopting new business models, engineers’ acknowledgement that essential features of superior technology need to be supplemented with a strong business case, and senior management’s acceptance to further empower a strong and very competent sales force by means of additional sales enablement techniques.
Action
iPASOLINK product champions within NEC could see that to sell this new product would need a significant shift from the primarily technological approach the company had taken in the past, but some in NEC were sceptical. Dejan Bojic, Senior Product Manager, and his colleague Senior Marketing Manager Tony Johnson, argued the case and won senior management support to engage Solutions for Sales to construct new, valueled, sales messages.
Working with NEC’s experts, Solutions for Sales developed new sales messaging, with proof points that convey the strong business value offered by iPASOLINK. As Dejan put it:
“You translated a complex mix of data, opinions and insights into a set of simple and compelling arguments”.
The Solutions for Sales process helped promote the change of approach within NEC: “the structured process allowed wide consultation, which helped create alignment across the many stakeholders in NEC” said Tony. “I was grateful for the patience and persistence Solutions for Sales applied. It ensured all voices were heard, helping us to build wide support for the selling
proposition”.
Results
Did NEC achieve the desired change? Listen to Dejan: “Our people, across both sales and engineering, can now be heard loud and clear promoting the business and technology value of the convergent iPASOLINK solution to our customers”. In recognition of its benefits, the Sales Guide produced by Solutions for Sales has been endorsed by senior management of NEC Corporation in Japan and distributed to all NEC’s regional sales offices around the world, as the example of good business practice.
When asked about the Solutions for Sales project, 93% of sales people at NEC said it would help them sell more iPASOLINK. Talking of the way sales people use the Sales Guide, Dejan says: “Having initially studied it in detail, our sales people now use the Sales Guide as a quick reference guide. They browse it, pick up hints and tips, and then refer back to it as the sale progresses.” Tony Johnson points out that consistency is important for any change process, and
“The Sales Guide is the creed – everyone learns the same basic sales approach so our messaging is consistent and customers respond to it”
Are they selling? NEC have announced in a recent press release that since its September 2010 launch 100 operators in 55 countries have adopted iPASOLINK to support migration to all-IP networks2). So the new product is certainly making an impact!