Let’s talk about change.
Change is the most inevitable process that we all go through in our lives, both personal and professional.
When I joined SuperOffice two years ago, one of my main tasks was to help the company implement important changes. Being a big fan of change management, I eagerly embraced this task.
In fact, driving change in the form of creating and accelerating growth has always been at the heart of what I do.
Also, I believe that only by challenging ourselves and changing how we do things can we create sustainable and profitable growth for our business.
A historic shift in focus
A few years ago, Axcel – an experienced Danish technology investor – made a majority investment in SuperOffice. As the new owner, Axcel tasked SuperOffice to improve our strategy by strengthening our position in the existing European markets, increasing our growth, and improving our financial performance.
Since then, we have been working hard to do exactly that! However, to do that we also needed to strengthen our own willingness to change.
And this is what I’d like to discuss. How well are we doing on our path to change now?
The transition from being privately owned to belonging to a private equity investor demanded new approaches and a new set of goals. Even though SuperOffice has been a healthy and profitable business for many years, its top line used to grow less than the market.
After the acquisition by Axcel, our focus has shifted from only making profit to the more complicated task of profitable growth through putting more emphasis on top-line growth.
This required putting in place new working mechanisms and processes. And that’s when I came in!
A team not afraid of change
Let me clarify: SuperOffice has never been afraid of change.
The legendary founder Une Amundsen, the time-tested top management and SuperOffice employees have always been brave when it came to transformations. As a software company, SuperOffice kept on changing together with technological progress, its customers’ demands, or fluctuating market.
It is this inherent bravery of the people in SuperOffice that really helped me manage the new phase of change.
And I am very grateful to be able to work with a strong team of motivated professionals, who help and inspire me to drive change in the company.
In the course of just two years, together we’ve embarked on a steady course towards:
- Uniting the company into one streamlined organization,
- Implementing a new go-to-market (GTM) strategy,
- Shifting the focus towards the top-line growth across all teams,
- Defining a clear positioning and the ICP,
- Outlining an actionable ESG trajectory,
- Attracting and training new and ambitious talents.
I am sure this list will grow as SuperOffice grows and continues to evolve.
Can’t stop, won’t stop
But why is change important and when does it stop?
Winston Churchill once said: “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
For me this means: if you want to succeed, you should accept change. You can never be satisfied and say: “Well, that’s done. Now we can relax.” This is especially true for business – if you stop, you die.
That’s why change is an ongoing, permanent state for those who want to progress.
That’s why we keep on pushing for more, and never rest on our laurels.
And so far, the results are really good! Two years in a row we see growth, which shows that we’re doing the right thing.
Meanwhile, the CRM market shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it’s still growing at the same pace as it has been for more than a decade.
And best of all – SuperOffice is now growing even faster than the CRM market! This means that we remain super relevant, and the only way for us is forward.
Out with the old, in with the new?
However, as with many things in life, change was not easy for everyone in the company.
In fact, some have found it difficult to change their usual ways. And that’s only natural – the power of habit is strong, and people react differently to change.
However, the majority of SuperOfficers were enthusiastic and showed willingness to change, because it came from a natural realization that it had to be done if we wanted to grow.
Yet, I want to highlight one very important fact: change is not about the destruction of the OLD, it is about the building of the NEW!
The new ways of doing business, new goals and aspirations, new processes and mechanisms are being introduced not to fight the old ways of working, but to discover the new ways of prospering.
The same applies to our unique legacy culture – a thing every SuperOfficer is so proud about. Our core DNA remains unchanged: a strong focus on relationships, both with our customers and our employees, coupled with a passion for innovation.
Yes, we’ve changed a number of processes and organizational approaches.
Yes, we’ve changed our commercial focus and adopted a new GMT strategy.
But our identity, the vision of where we’re heading, and our special treatment of customers – all this remains unchanged.
We still do the things that make us SuperOffice – the company with a unique culture. Here are just a few examples:
- We bring cake to meetings with customers and call them Muffin Meetings.
- We roll out a red carpet at our office to physically greet our customers.
- We carefully monitor the heartbeat of our customers to make sure they are doing well and using SuperOffice CRM at a healthy pace.
What sets you apart, makes you great
Throughout its history, SuperOffice’s unique business culture has always stood out.
Our priority has always been to put our customers first. No exception. Also, we’ve always strived to stay relevant and continued to innovate.
On top of that, SuperOffice has done an amazing job at retaining its people! It’s truly an extraordinary achievement to have people staying with a company for 15, 20 and 30 years.
This laser-sharp focus on relationships is what makes us unique. That’s why we invest a lot in creating customer service excellence, as a trademark of our offering.
Yet, we cannot stop here. We need to evolve.
Right now, is the time to make sure those relationships we’re building are based on mutual respect and equality. That they bring profit to both parties and promote shared values.
Right now, we are focusing on making sure that we follow the principle of “give and take” and offer an equal partnership to all.
And that’s why, today, I want to help the company promote and encourage diversity, individual agility, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit.
But the two core values remain – customers are our most valuable asset, and employees are the source of our power to succeed.
And when it comes to our product, it is a truly unique offer on the CRM market.
Our CRM solution is primarily designed for the user, not the manager. We have always tried to help average users – be it salespeople, customer service agents or marketing specialists – to become more effective and achieve better results.
All changes to our product are steps towards keeping up with technological progress and innovation, as well as towards the changing needs of our customers.
So here it is – my vision of change.
No matter what novelties are coming in the future for SuperOffice, trust that they are initiated with one goal in mind – to ensure that SuperOffice grows as a stable and prosperous business.
