Media-Insert Communications

Joe Francis, Sales Operations Director of StreamServe Inc., believes that “customers are demanding more business-oriented solutions to business problems, so that they can realise  competitive advantages. This includes communicating more effectively with customers, suppliers and partners, creating cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, while also enjoying the reduction of costs.” 

“In order to create genuine competitive advantage for customers”, ICDL’s Andrew Dugdale says, “it is critical for organisations to ensure that the sales and marketing functions, decision-making, business philosophy and processes within the organisation are aligned with the needs of the customer. StreamServe helps organisations to do just that.“

The company’s Enterprise Document Presentment (EDP) software enables the world’s leading companies to communicate effectively with their customers, partners, and suppliers through the automated creation and presentment of documents in any format, through any channel.

EDP also helps enterprises convert internal information systems into dynamic, interactive and customized communication channels, producing significant operational efficiencies, increased revenue, and enhanced market awareness.

As an example of the kind of benefit StreamServe EDP can deliver, Linda Musthaler writes in Network World on 10th March 2005, “When I opened my monthly bill from Chrysler Credit Corporation recently, I noticed a change in the look of the document.  My first glance told me it was more stylish, with nice muted colours and enticing pictures of new cars.  A deeper look told me there was more personal information aimed specifically at me, showing an intimate knowledge of my buying habits and my loan pattern.“

“I now know the power behind that lovely new invoice is StreamServe.  Although StreamServe has been around for nine years, you probably haven’t heard about the company before.  Until recently, the company was headquartered in Europe, with most of its business there as well.  This is changing now that Chris Stone, formerly vice chairman in the office of the CEO at Novell, has assumed the CEO role at StreamServe and established headquarters in the U.S.  The company is on the verge of a big push into the North American market.”

“StreamServe delivers ‘enterprise document presentment’ technology’.  Stone calls it the “last mile” of serving documents to customers…”

Build the customer-bridge

Intellectual Capital Development Ltd (ICDL) says that StreamServe – like many fast growing software companies — was a traditional technology sales organisation and recognised the need to transform themselves into a more solution-orientated, value-based selling organisation that is prepared to respond to customer demands . 

StreamServe discovered during this transformation process that a much more robust model was needed. The ICDL model focused the energies of the StreamServe sales team into looking at their offering from the customer’s perspective. This ensures a much more aligned set of offerings that clearly deliver competitive advantage for StreamServe’s customers by enabling them to deliver enhanced benefits to their customers.

Andrew Dugdale of ICDL says, “This model enables most of StreamServe’s key sales activities to take place at the C-suite level where decision making is quicker and easier.”

StreamServe has integrated ICDL’s process into the firm’s Salesforce.com sales automation tool. Francis says that whilst it is a bit early to put hard numbers on the outcome, there is already evidence of a change of mindset in the sales team, and as a result, new C-suite level opportunities are entering the pipeline.

Sales team development

Francis says that this transformation has been a challenging yet fun experience because it brings a more creative and team-based approach to solving customer problems at the business level.