Browsing by Author "Ikonen, Lauri"

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The Role of Technology in the Effectiveness of the Sales Function in Rapidly Growing Business
(2017-06-08) Ikonen, Lauri
Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
The Internet and information technology have made it possible for companies to grow faster than ever. However, companies experiencing very rapid growth find themselves facing a new challenge: how can a sales organization keep up with this pace. Organizations may struggle to retain effectiveness with increasing size and complexity. As technology is enabling new ways of achieving and measuring effectiveness, this study investigates the role of technology in the growth of a sales function and its strive for effectiveness. Studies have identified solutions to the growing pains of small companies. However, they haven’t been studied from the perspective of sales function specifically. Furthermore, while there is a healthy body of research on salesforce effectiveness, as well as on how technology can enable this effectiveness, there is a lack of research on these phenomena in rapidly changing conditions. This study explores the problem with a single, retrospective, qualitative case study. The case company operates an advertising technology platform using a SaaS business model, and has experienced a compound annual growth of over 300% during the observation period. Primary data was collected using thematic interviews with key salespeople and secondary archival and document evidence was used to increase the quality of the study. The study shows that rapid, opportunity-driven growth caused the sales function to change organically towards a more structured and formalized direction. The company improved the focus of sales by developing strong relationships both within and outside the organization, and utilized these relationships to grow and expand internationally. Technology played a part in creating an effective salesforce by enabling some form of automation and supporting processes that help nurture customer relationships, but it was not the most important factor behind the salesforce effectiveness. Rather, the most likely determinants of effectiveness were the practice of selling in close co-operation with engineering/product development, as well as the ability to identify key customers to achieve growth. Based on the findings, academics should investigate more closely how technology can enable the effective creation of inter-organizational relationships and the cross-functional sharing of the customer knowledge created by the sales function. To better align their whole organization towards customers, managers and practitioners should consider ways of bringing their product development and engineering a more integral part of their sales teams and activities.
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(2011-11-27) Ikonen, Lauri
Perustieteiden korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis