Sergei V. Ostapenko, Digital Transformation Executive, Valtech Selling Professional Services to Enterprise-level Customers in the US

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2. Digital Transformation
Ecommerce Tech
Business Development
IT Professional Services
sergei@ostapenko.us
ostap.never.stop
ostapsv
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~1,000,000 websites
<5 orders/day
<$1m sales
Small shops
True SMB
Tier 1Tier 2Tier 3Tier 4
~1,000 websites
5k+ orders/day
$100m+ sales
1/3rd Global Sales
~Forbes 2,000
~20,000 websites
>500 orders/day
>$20-100m sales
Brands, B2B
Mature Commerce
~100,000 websites
>50 orders/day
>$1-20m sales
Emerging Growing
Businesses
Small Business SMB Mid-Market Enterprise
YOUR TARGET

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PSYCHOLOGY
INTELLECT
CONTEXT
DISCIPLINE

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16. Tectonic shifts with Marketers getting more decision-making
power, running POC’s, experimenting with new tech / services.

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23. Annual sales cycle; multiple stakeholders; context & politics at play
Culture, Time Zones, Language, Domain Expertise.
Most shoot and fail, but there is a way to do it, a common pattern.

24. CRM + Web + Marketing Intelligence.

25. Nerve Center of your sales function; multi-dimensional cube of
segments by industry vertical, domain, geo, product/service map.

26. Understanding who you are. Combos of Technology +
Consultancy + Traditional Marketing; “must haves” of today.

27. Changing roles and preferences of Seller and Buyer; Gen X vs.
Millenials; self-service vs. full-service models.

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29. Roles, Budget Cycles, Buy-ins, Risk Management, Internal
Bandwidth, Competencies, RFI + RFP process, where they shop.

30. Avoid $$ disasters and months of lost time.

31. Experiment with own POC’s, and do analyze what worked and
what did not and why.

32. We might work with you, tell us, how DO you work?
Can you ACTUALLY deliver?

33. Core Platforms/Tech, Referrals, Solution Specialists

34. Effectiveness: Existing Clients, Referrals, Partners, Consultancy/POV,
Account Marketing, other.

35. Have few but meaningful contacts. Exploit round tables and
lunches. Pre-arranged meetings are golden.

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37. Competitor landscape, target accounts, shifts and changes,
system of feeding signals back to Sales.

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Market | Leads | Prospects | Clients | Partners
Recruiting | Onboarding | Training | Coaching | Managing | Supporting
Listening | Broadcasting | Courting | Nurturing | Super-pleasing
Community | Candidates | Competition | Partners
DELIVERY
$$$ | Timing | Quality
Projects Products
People Expertise

39. Hygiene factors, competencies, motivation systems, controls.
Excellence in core Sales 101: elevator pitches, solution selling,
negotiations, closing. Digital natives.

40. All levels in Sales. Performance-based pay everywhere.

41. In enterprise sales business, 95% of real pipeline is there by
quarter start. If its not there, do NOT count on it.

42. Very limited cash and low survival rate even when well-funded.

43. Know leader players in your product niche areas.
When you need it, they will be quick to jump on a band-wagon.

44. Unless you want to become an ‘East-Asian sweat shop’.
* They will still push your pricing down!

45. Be concise, polite, clear about prices.
Differentiate. Push for fixed team/timeline budget vs. fixed scope.
Discovery costs!

46. Strong and skilled IT talent. Reliable and competent tech.
Lack of adherence to IP rights, lack of confidentiality.
Hacking, fraud, corruption. Country at war.
Lack of Western business knowledge.
Ukrainians do learn fast; pace of change; openness; mobility.

47. Professional liability insurance; well-developed contract stack.
Terms of Service, Warranties, Compliance with IP.

48. Understand perils of offshore / nearshore / onshore models and
challenges; learn to work with constraints.
Balancing act between SLA and cost of service.

49. SEO hygiene and public profiles.
Adequacy of claims vs. capabilities and maturity.

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51. People give you ONE chance with their trust.

52. Deals speed up before closing.
And slow down before falling apart.

53. Hygiene factor only. Lots of bullshit and hype.

54. Typical “minefields” that Ukrainians step on in the US.
Story telling. Practical application vs. theory. Knowing their
business (preparation!). Walking tall!

55. There is no playbook. You write your own. Anyone who tells you
that only his/her way is right is stupid and/or a charlatan.

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57. THANK YOU
sergei@ostapenko.us
ostap.never.stop
ostapsv
linkedin.com/in/sergeiostapenko

58. • Forrester Research Reports
• Gartner Research
• CB Insights
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Discover.org
• Glassdoor
USEFUL RESOURCES