Interim CCO: Reorganizing Sales for a Private Equity-Owned Telecommunications Company

The Client

Our client is a German telecommunications and fibre optics company with a 20-year track record. It had recently been taken over by a private equity investor who secured funding for significant nationwide growth through an ambitious Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) network expansion that would bring fast internet to a sizable number of private and business customers.

The Challenge

The company found itself in a new situation: The fibre optic network expansion would take place not in its current market of underserved rural areas, but in suburban and urban areas with strong competition, a high concentration of apartment buildings, and potential customers already enjoying fast internet speeds of 250 Mbps.

The objective was to significantly improve customer acquisition and market share, and increase sales from online channels. To this end, it would be necessary to ensure scalable processes in customer service and other areas, and to develop a sales strategy for multi-family dwellings and the housing industry.

The Solution

Our interim manager had over 20 years’ experience in executive roles with P&L responsibility in telecommunications and energy, with a record of achieving growth through new products and markets and securing sustainable competitiveness through cultural and digital transformation.

She led development and implementation of a sales strategy differentiating infrastructure and product marketing in rural, suburban and urban areas. A key account management system was set up for housing industry and multifamily customers, process and system requirements were defined, and rules for cooperation between sales teams established.

Purposeful leadership ensured that management understood the requirements of their roles, and cooperation improved.

The Results 

Sales performance could be improved considerably in terms of buildings and homes contracted, due to the expanded direct sales capacities and better coordination of key account management for housing industry and end-customer sales teams. Market share ramp-up in suburban and urban areas improved and accelerated. The proportion of customers acquired through online channels was increased as a result of process improvements in various areas and the development of a more informative website. A non-synergistic product group was carved out into a separate P&L, enabling higher growth rates through more focused management.