Changes in buyer behavior are forcing digital transformation
Today, telecom companies are reacting to the business challenges following digitalization and changes in customer behavior. Thanks to the internet, today’s buyers have access to more information than ever before, which makes them more demanding. To meet the expectations of these informed customers, you need to match their level. Salespeople and marketers must have a clear understanding of their customers' situation and adapt their approach accordingly. And the best way to do that is by using relevant information about them that’s reliable and up to date.
Telenor has a lot of customers, and hence a lot of aggregated and anonymized customer data that needs to be handled in a secure way. “We are on a journey to become more data-driven in order to become better at serving our customers, based on insights about their needs. However, to be able to give our customers the experience they deserve, and be fully data-driven, it’s crucial to also have insights about when their needs are changing. When driving this internal transformation, we noticed that we were reacting too slowly on buying signals, and the company data our salespeople had access to was often outdated or irrelevant.” , says Ragna.
To maintain their position as one of the industry leaders in a fluctuating market, Telenor looked for a partner that could not only give them company insights, but also inspire and motivate them to use the data in a structured way, in order to be more data-driven in their sales processes.
That’s when they found Vainu.
A growth partnership with the goal of real-time sales and marketing
For the past two years, Vainu has partnered with Telenor, empowering them with real-time company insights. “In the early days, it was mostly about the basic prospecting capabilities and account insights” Ragna explains. “But over time the collaboration with Vainu has truly grown into a strong partnership in which we can help each other to constantly develop and take it to the next level.”
Every quarter, Telenor and Vainu have a joint steering group meeting to discuss improvement areas and ongoing trends. “It can be anything, from how to use the data even more effectively, to suggested product improvements to Vainu.” Explains Lisa Johnsson, who’s heading the collaboration with Vainu. The joint belief that data will transform sales- and marketing processes for B2B, as it did nearly a decade ago in B2C, has inspired the partnership and pushed both companies to evolve and improve.
Today, Telenor uses Vainu’s company data in several business streams. Sales representatives are using Vainu for prospecting and account monitoring, and data scientists are using Vainu’s data in their predictive models. In addition, there’s a project in place to use real-time company data in the marketing team, as a part of Telenor’s lead enrichment and lead management processes. “Vainu has been one of our most important partners for company insights and sales enablement” said Lisa. “They’ve helped and motivated us to develop our data-driven sales and marketing processes."