On the road to perfection
An Interview for Forbes Bulgaria
Orlin Dochev, Managing Partner of Next Consult, talks about the successful partnership with Salesforce - the №1 CRM platform in the world
The original interview is available in Bulgarian at: www.forbesbulgaria.com
Next Consult is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe according to FT1000. What is the reason for this growth?
Next Consult is a company that since its inception has purposefully and continuously invested in acquiring new knowledge about market trends, modern business practices and technologies, partnerships with the best companies in the world, as well as attracting the best professionals to provide quality services and high added-value for the business and its customers.
We strive to come ahead of the natural development of the companies we work with and always offer something more to make them even more successful. Partnering with the best, we further enrich our experiences and knowledge build on innovative, successful new practices, which we subsequently offer to our clients.
Digital transformation is already a condition for businesses to survive and be competitive. What is the role of Next Consult in this transformation?
Lately, everyone has been talking about digital transformation. Unfortunately, behind this modern marketing name, everyone strives to position their products without understanding the basic meaning. Digital transformation means rethinking the entire business model of companies and transforming it into a new reality.
It is not just a process automation, e-commerce, positioning in the first place in Google, CRM or ERP systems. In fact, it means rationalization of activity based on postulates of the new contemporary - digital reality, and defining in a new, optimal and applicable way of absolutely everything it does - from access to customers, finding raw materials, through the automated issue of a bill of lading, invoice or goods receipt, to the processing of a complaint and the possibility for self-service.
And the role of technology is simply to help it happen most quickly and efficiently. This is exactly the role of Next Consult in helping clients who want to digitally transform their business, namely to understand the business model and transform it so that it is competitive in the new reality and then to automate it with trailblazing technology so to execute processes quickly, intuitively and error-free. For this process to be successful, it starts with business consultants and ends with IT professionals, not the other way around.
World-class names stand out among your clients. Is it a challenge or an opportunity to be and to work among market leaders? How do you gain their trust?
Working with large and established companies is always a challenge. They are well-operating machines that it is difficult to find out what you can do to add value to their business. However, we succeed to identify where it is needed and manage to help them. There is always fierce competition with established companies and it is great satisfaction when customers prefer you over the worldwide large players.
Price is important, of course, but above all, you have to prove that you are just as good as the worldwide companies. In my opinion, trust is gained when you give customers the option to swap you out at any time if they want to and if they are not satisfied with the quality of the services you deliver to them. This undoubtedly disciplines and raises the standard of our services. We have established and worked with many of our clients for 6 and more years and successfully executed various projects together.
You are a partner of Salesforce - the No. 1 CRM platform in the world. Tell us more about this partnership?
We started this partnership with Salesforce in 2013. At this time in Bulgaria, less than 10 clients were using the system, and the majority of them were Western companies. We raised a hand and promised to develop the business in the region, and have been keeping our promise for over 8 years now. Next Consult became a reseller of Salesforce for Bulgaria in 2015 and is currently the largest partner in the region.
"At the time we became a reseller, there were only two in continental Europe - Deutsche Telekom and us. Salesforce sells licenses mainly directly. To authorize a partner to represent it makes this a great merit. And starting this year, we have these rights for Romania as well. Gradually, we developed an amazing team that mastered the technology and has made it available to our customers."
Today, we are proud to say we have more than 300 clients in various industries - banks, security companies, production, trade and distribution, services, pharmaceuticals, and more.
I would say that Salesforce provides exceptional competitive advantages as long as it is properly implemented and supports the digital transformation of the customer's business model. This is done by top professionals who understand first of all the business processes and economics, and then the IT side.
Salesforce is the fastest-growing software company of all time. This also means lightning-fast growth in the consultants' ecosystem. We are constantly looking for and training people at all levels. Most often, we hire intelligent people with potential even if they have little or no experience with Salesforce solutions, as we have created the "magic" to turn them into working professionals for approximately 6-8 months. It is important to note that we do not sell people but create the solutions here that we sell outside.
What opportunities does the Salesforce platform provide?
Salesforce is the best platform in the world for digital transformation. It is much more than CRM because it allows automation not only of the customers and partners relationship process but also all internal processes in a company. Competing in modern business has evolved, and today it is focused on creating extraordinary customer satisfaction or so-called customer experience.
To achieve it, of course, a huge amount of data, artificial intelligence, and reaching the customer through all possible channels and technologies are needed. This exactly is the hardest thing to copy, and it allows you to easily stand out from the rest by arming yourself with knowledge and technologies like Salesforce. Some of the main areas covered by the cloud platform are creating and managing personalized customer journeys, sales process management and price quote configuring, service management, e-commerce, analytics, collaboration, and much more.
What do you rely on in your daily work with clients?
We rely on adding value everywhere - with every call, email, solution implementation, etc.
FROM THE DAY WE MEET THE CLIENT, WE STRIVE TO BE HELPFUL AND SUPPORT THEM IN ACHIEVING SUCCESS.
How do you recognize the decisions of a good leader during a crisis?
I like a thought by Warren Buffett - "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." He, who invests and grows in a crisis, will not only pass but will come out stronger. Many niches open up in crises, as long as you are observant and informed.
What are the most important factors behind a successful IT service?
To be a successful IT company, you need to create a product or service that truly helps customers while managing the entire process here.
