There has been a lot written about growing an international business with equal commentary that points to market data, raw figures and inspiring statistics. I’ve read them myself. While these articles and books are useful they don’t tell the real story. Like a great novel, I’ve found—personally—that “going global” is a tale ripe with intrigue, drama, passion, excitement and just about every other emotion possible. My tome here is quite personal and this log shall discuss with great honesty the feelings tied with building something based on pure inspired vision in a virtually boundless play ground. It is my tale but, I suppose, it is the diary of the quest for the hundred million dollar, or more, equation so many other frequent fliers are after.
A little less than six years ago, I joined the company at a time when there were a few hundred employees and far less than our first $100 Million in the bank. It was then, however, as a young sales rep that I formed an appreciation for the tool that we had in our hands as a global connector to bridge worlds. Furthermore, it was clear that the service was indeed a liberator empowering companies to truly accelerate their business process. I saw it time and time again with firm after firm tackling sales, marketing, training, support and communications needs with breathtaking results.
However, what I also noticed was that this was largely becoming a US phenomenon with a mild understanding of how WebEx would transcend geographic boundaries inorganically. Having lived and worked internationally before, it became a personal mission to take the charge to inspire the spark overseas and become a part of the solution to drive sales to a billion dollars with a large percentage coming from non-US customers.
Now with a clean slate for what is now dubbed “The Emerging Markets” or, as I call it, “The Rest of the World.” My team has been charged with the awesome responsibility of commandeering some of the most prolific, and important, markets today. The list includes all of Latin America, Asia/Australia, India, the Middle East and Africa. Phew! Grabbed a copy of Businessweek lately? To put India and China in the same sentence, let alone the same strategic sales plan, is daunting. Couple that with the bounty of opportunity that exists in places like Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Dubai, South Africa and the litany of other countries that fall on this Emerging Market map and the obvious clarity of opportunity is striking.
Of course, with opportunity comes complexity. For me, the education began back in early 2006. At that time, I was tasked to lead Asia Pacific and Latin America in a foundation setting year. Both groups had existed for years with some staff in country for as long as 6 years. The resulting contribution was percentage points in the overall revenue discussion in the WebEx earnings call. Discussion became largely an after thought on a graph and a question or two that had to be fielded during the analyst Q & A. When we began the year, what I found was a smorgasbord of cultures diametrically different though strangely similar in other ways. Generally speaking, it was the core structure that needed the most consideration and attention.
The first step was establishing a clear mission and deep appreciation for the values and goals that would be fundamental in our growth. The composition revolved around the usual suspects—sales bookings, revenue, customer growth and professional development. The underlying charter, however, was more layered and involved establishing a team culture amongst small, disparate entities while encouraging each group’s national direction to stand alone. Our model called for building a regiment of check points and programs with what we call a Vital Few guideline. Critical to our success was the need to follow the Paredo Principle which states “focus on the Vital Few and ignore, delegate or delay the trivial many.” To that end, the framework centered on core exercises and themes that would set the tone for the year and, hopefully, years going forward.
Check back soon to learn more about our lessons learned and our challenges ahead.
Abe Smith, Sr. Director of Emerging Markets, WebEx
