Monday Morning Impact – June 10

Published On: June 9, 2024Categories: Buzz

Gartner: Harnessing Sales Culture Can Drive Sales Performance

Harnessing an organization’s sales culture can lead to improved sales performance, according to Gartner.

“Culture is often an afterthought for sales leaders – it’s something that just exists, but is off track or isn’t actively managed,” said Shayne Jackson, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner Sales Practice. “As a result, teams are often disconnected, leading to higher turnover and lower performance.”

In a survey of more than 200 senior sales leaders conducted from November through December 2023, Gartner identified various cultural attributes that motivate sales performance.

Attributes such as transparency link to 2.9x greater likelihood of increased profit growth. Similarly, by prioritizing seller empowerment as a key pillar of sales culture, organizations are 2.8x more likely to see improved commercial performance. In addition, cultures that focus on psychological safety, where sellers are permitted to “fail safely,” are 2.7x more likely to see improved customer acquisition.

Among the other key attributes, Gartner recommends that CSOs invest in sales employees’ career development and growth opportunities, citing a 2.6x improvement in commercial performance. The report says that sellers should be encouraged to use innovative approaches to their work. Organizations that foster innovation are 2.5x more likely to see digital commerce growth, according to the research.

Fostering internal competition among the sales team to meet their goals is also recommended. The survey shows that organizations are 2.6x more likely to see faster sales cycles when promoting competition.

“CSOs must take control of their sales culture by assessing the culture as it stands, designing the necessary culture adjustment and then transforming the culture to boost performance and achieve their organization’s goals,” added Jackson. “To leverage culture as a driver of performance and retention, sales leaders must understand the culture that exists today, evaluate if it is meeting seller needs, confirm it aligns with leadership’s values, and then make adjustments to drive specific types of growth.”

Channel Impact^®Channel partners can play a key role in the systematic evaluation of culture, and provide recommendations for improvement.

Dell and Ericsson Form Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Cloud Transformation

Dell Technologies and Ericsson have announced a strategic partnership to combine their industry expertise with telecom software, solutions and support, to guide communications service providers (CSPs) through their radio access network (RAN) cloud transformation journeys.

“Communications service providers have a crucial window of opportunity to lay the foundation for network cloud transformation and drive business growth,” said Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager for the Telecom Systems Business at Dell Technologies. “Our collaboration with Ericsson, combined with our decades of digital transformation expertise, will provide network operators the full plan and technologies they need to accelerate their network and operation transformations to positively impact the trajectory of their businesses.”

Dell and Ericsson plan to collaborate on the development of tailored network cloud transformation plans and advise CSPs on network architectures and operating models, while also reducing the risks associated with deploying on open, multi-vendor environments. The two companies also plan to co-create solutions that drive energy efficiencies and innovate on Cloud RAN infrastructure operations, and co-develop services that simplify the deployment process.

The solution will offer continuous integration testing and lifecycle management to speed deployment and de-risk day-2 operations around updates and upgrades, with Dell as a solution partner.

Last year, Ericsson and Dell Technologies began a collaboration to develop Cloud RAN solutions, leveraging Ericsson Cloud RAN software and RAN equipment paired with Dell Technologies infrastructure, with the common goal of broadening the ecosystem and bringing more flexibility to customers.

“Working closer with Dell Technologies will help further develop cloud-native programmable networks that bring new ideas and practices to the telecom market,” says Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson. “The cloud-native network will enable frequent updates and the rollout of new features using continuous deployment. It will ease the adoption of Cloud RAN technologies and prepare both companies’ portfolios for new markets.”

Channel Impact^®
CSPs are looking to network cloud and operations transformation to achieve improved economics and agility, while maintaining network reliability. However, many CSPs say their network transformation vision is lagging due to a variety of factors including limited time and budget, as well as reliability and security concerns. Dell and Ericsson’s partnership aims to address these concerns by working alongside CSPs to develop simple and reliable Open RAN-based network cloud transformation strategies.

GTT Names New Channel Chief

GTT Communications Inc., an Arlington, Virginia-based provider of secure cloud networking solutions for multinational organizations, has announced the appointment of Mia Martuscelli as senior vice president and channel chief for its indirect channels business in the Americas.

Martuscelli will oversee the implementation of GTT’s strategy to expand its relationships with Technology Services Distributors, selling partners, information technology consultants and other third-party distribution channels.

“GTT is committed to our channel partnerships and to working together to simplify, connect and secure networks for global enterprises on their digital cloud journey,” said Martuscelli. “I am delighted to lead the development and growth of our indirect go-to-market channels, positioning GTT as the most compelling choice for partners marketing managed networking and security services to distributed enterprises.”

“Mia brings a wealth of sales and business development experience solving customer challenges in the evolving networking, cloud and cybersecurity landscape,” said Ed Morche, GTT’s CEO. “Her extensive skills and expertise complement our customer-centric approach and the collaborative way we go to market with our partners to successfully address customer challenges together.”

Previously associated with American Tower and Equinix, Martuscelli is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science.

Channel Impact^®Mia Martuscelli joins GTT’s Americas leadership team, bringing experience in the development of strategic distribution channels and alliances.

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