In conversation with Philippe Omer-Decugis, Head of Business France, Contentsquare
Why collaboration is the key to sales success
Philippe Omer-Decugis has a wealth of experience when it comes to driving sales success in the tech sector. Today, he is the Head of Business France at Contentsquare.
In what ways has digital transformation changed your approach to sales success?
We’ve all seen the growing prevalence of digital and tech solutions in industries over the last few years and this has only accelerated with COVID. Everything is now happening much faster. Our clients and their customers need instant solutions today, and this is putting pressure on sales teams to adapt and change. It’s essential for us to be customer-obsessed; when we’re trying to grow our sales, we need to understand everything about our potential customers, from their culture and values down to their own personal goals. We have to really understand their ambitions from the start because if we do then achieving success through digital solutions happens much faster.
When it comes to putting in place the long-term foundations of sustainable growth, sales teams can’t work alone. You need the insights from R&D, from consultants, from customer success teams and all stakeholders. The speed of digital transformation means that we have to bring all our efforts together to anticipate the solutions our customers will need.
How does a shared organisation purpose foster better outcomes for customers?
A shared sense of common purpose is what glues everything together. If you’re focused on only rewarding your top performers, it’s a waste of time. If you’re only monitoring the short-term KPIs of sales teams, without a broader sense of collective drive, common purpose and shared values, it’s going to be bad for turnover. Even if your sales team is meeting the KPIs most important to them, if the rest of the business isn’t, people are going to be unhappy elsewhere in the team. You’ll be getting positive results here and there, but not everywhere. Without a common drive that encourages all our teams to succeed, there’s no base for sustainable growth.
When I first joined Contentsquare, I spent the first month speaking to clients, partners and our own teams so that I could understand how all parts of our business interacted and linked together. From there, I defined a shared purpose and gathered feedback on it from the executive committee. To create a sense of common drive and achievement, and to get everyone pulling in the same direction, we had to ask our people: where do we want to go and how do we want to get there? Today the rewards speak for themselves. We’ve continued to grow and we’re achieving our goals as a collective, not just as individual teams.
How have you encouraged a collective approach to growing sales?
At Contentsquare, we’ve taken steps to encourage a business culture where sales success flows throughout the organisation. We are a French company, and we benefit from having our R&D and product teams based here in Paris alongside our customer success and consulting teams. This means we can foster a truly collaborative approach across our departments.
As a general manager, it’s also important for me to encourage a good culture and spirit in other departments as well as in my own. I enjoy sitting in on operational meetings as much as I enjoy being with my own team. It’s all about seeing what brings our teams together and tightening those links, rather than letting different departments function on their own.
How do you celebrate your organisation’s successes?
We always celebrate our achievements; this is a great way for us to re-align ourselves with new ambitions. It’s about creating a shared drive to succeed and that brings everything together. When we pull in the same direction, we all get to enjoy the rewards together, so we’re all supporting each other to meet those successes again in the future. It’s a positive feedback loop.
I think it’s important to realise that today people want more than just the numbers. KPIs matter, but we have to be able to offer something more meaningful too. As leaders, we have to show people that they can learn, gain new skills and ultimately make a difference and change things. By celebrating our achievements, we’re giving back what people have put in and this is vital for giving people the opportunity to develop the business and surprise you.
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