IBM - Virtual Technology Sales Enablement and Pre-sales Team of the Year

Company: IBM, Armonk, NY
Company Description: IBM is a values-based enterprise of individuals who create & apply technology to make the world work better. Today, more than 400,000 IBM employees around the world invent and integrate hardware, software and services to help forward-thinking enterprises, institutions and people succeed on a smarter planet.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Virtual Technology Sales Enablement and Pre-sales Team of the Year

Nomination Title: UKI Strategic Deal Squad

Quote-to-Cash (Q2C) Operations is a critical operational pillar supporting IBM sellers, business units and business partners. We provide expert services from quote through to cash collection to achieve IBM's targets.

The UKI Strategic Deal Squad supports complex bid teams with pre-sales bid support. Within the UKI Strategic Deal Squad, our group of information designers, content writers and bid managers works together to ease the bidding process and bring stories, solutions and value propositions to life for our clients. We work closely with the bid team to really understand what will make an impact - both the messages and the medium. Sellers are proud to present our innovative and creative proposals to their clients: videos, journey murals, brochures, posters, websites, and interactive pdfs.

In 2019 we focused on encouraging deal teams to do something different – to create deliverables that were above and beyond what the client had requested. We worked with bid teams to deliver digital stories via animations, videos, interactive magazines or websites rather than PowerPoint presentations to show the next stage of the journey. As a team, we have all developed our design thinking, client advocacy and agile skills with the team gaining externally recognised Acclaim badges.

In 2020 the impact has been clear:

-We supported deals worth >$7 billion, the largest win being $319 million. Early engagement from our Strategic Deal Squad has impacted IBM’s business results. For example, National Grid, having been impressed by the content of the brochure we created for their bid, awarded IBM a further contract worth £58K without going out to tender. This saved bid costs and brought in revenue quicker. Strategic, large wins we supported include:
Coca Cola European Partners https: //uk.newsroom.ibm.com/2020-08-11-Coca-Cola-European-Partners-Signs-a-Multiyear-Agreement-with-IBM-to-Accelerate-its-Strategic-Transformation-Journey-with-Hybrid-Cloud,
and TSB.https: //www.tsb.co.uk/news-releases/tsb-signs-new-partnership-with-ibm-services/

-Our internal bid teams gave us NPS of 9.67 in 2020 (the highest ever). We’ve had over 150 NPS responses YTD in 2020 (up 88% on 2019) and feedback shows how the team are making a massive impact on the organisation and our clients.

Throughout the challenges of COVID and Brexit we're enabling clients to navigate the new normal. We do this through smarter bidding- remotely using digital, innovative ways to work.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):

National Grid

When the National Grid management team visited IBM India we created a brochure (https: //ibm.box.com/s/x24jlmsgl8pj970q6nukz59yki3ccjv6) which would act as a guide for their visit to Bangalore and show our capabilities to enable their readiness for their next regulatory period.It contained some “must do” visits and the agenda for the day. We included QR Codes to show them digital demos of our capability. The client was very vocal about the professionalism and impact of their day with IBM. The day they returned they were greeted with a video-diary of their time in India, keeping IBM at the forefront of their minds.This led to further business without tender.

Feedback:

"I've just watched the photo album - it's way more than that!" - Rob Rome, National Grid, Commercial Operations Manager ESO

"This is outstanding. We want all future comms to be like this." - Andy Bhagat-Lowe, IBM Account Partner

Hampshire Police animated video

To help IBM and members of the Police on secondment to articulate to the Assistant Chief Constable how IBM could assist with various pressing problems identified by the joint team ( https: //ibm.box.com/s/exzqgqmtbmt7u510fldnpldseq4jjcod ).

Feedback: "I would recommend the services of the Q2C team. The team working on the police animation video were professional, creative and very supportive throughout. It's great that we have such a team in IBM to allow us to put together creative content to capture the minds of our customers." Natalie Coaten, IBM Client Executive

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the team's past performance (up to 250 words):

-We’ve upskilled with design thinking, client advocacy and agile skills earning 42 badges and completing 1400 hours education as a team (61% improvement on 2019). Using those skills, we collaborate with the bid teams, and now take client interactions to the next level, create lasting memories and stronger relationships leading to extra scope and revenue for IBM.

-We’ve changed the client's early experience of IBM – IBM goes the extra step and is easy to do business with especially when we are unable to meet so often due to COVID restrictions.

-Rather than respond to a proposal with just the client request (often in Word) like other competitors, we design captivating, interactive deliverables that enable conversations and are designed to help the client see the future and say yes.