Klaus Allion became fluent in solution selling early in his career when based in Germany, long before exporting his consultancy expertise to the UK when he took the helm at ANT Telecom as Managing Director.
While many resellers remain locked in consultancy catch-up mode, Allion's runaway success in solution selling can be traced back to a time soon after he finished studying economics in the homeland. "I then undertook a one year trainee programme at Bosch where I spent half the time in sales training including sales psychology, solution selling, general telecom and product knowhow, and the other half working in a sales region with the sales team," he explained. "I became responsible for a new product, the first ISDN system, and was tasked with developing sales in one region of Germany. This went well and we outperformed all other regions which led me into international sales with a brief to implement solution selling, the approach which made us successful in the first place."
In 2003 Paul Smith and Allion joined ANT as Managing Directors and quickly took the company from a headcount of 22 to 30-plus, and from £2.5 million in 2002 to £3.6 million in 2004 by growing the professional services revenue and also by improving ANT's ability to win projects. "In the last two years we have changed the management structure by promoting internal senior staff into Marketing and Technical Director level roles," added Allion. "We also reorganised the service team and gave more responsibility and authority to staff."
ANT Telecom's expansion plan also includes increasing the business by 30 per cent over the next three years, with 10 per cent growth year-on year until the end of 2015. "We have further established ourselves as a solution provider, especially in industries and areas where standard desk-based solutions are not sufficient and where mobile staff require a solution to meet their needs, which also improves staff safety and productivity," added Allion. "In 2013 we expanded our operations in Scotland and appointed two further members of staff to focus on our Scottish customer base."
The company is on target to hit £3.7 million turnover this financial year and expansion in Scotland will be key to achieving this objective, as will nurturing existing markets. The ANT customer base mainly comprises the industrial and manufacturing sectors including FMCG, Automotive, Pharmaceuticals, Utilities and Transport. "We have approximately 150 customers across these varied sectors, including organisations such as Bosch, Astrazeneca, Severn Trent, Network Rail, to name a few," said Allion. "We have also added more well known names to our customer list in the last couple of years including a major energy provider where we provide a lone worker communication system on wind farms, Eurotunnel where we are providing a communication solution to tunnel staff and NHS customers such as Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital Trust."
Allion has witnessed notable demand for IP Office and also growth in sales of digital mobile radio solutions from Hytera, which is another key growth area for the business especially in remote areas and among those requiring lone worker solutions. "However, we offer much more than a product sell. We aim to understand our clients' business drivers and then develop a solution that addresses those issues," commented Allion.
ANT Telecom has mastered the consultative approach, working with customers and partners on a case by case basis. "Our customers influence what we do," explained Allion. "We try and understand how they work, what is important to them, how they can improve and we act accordingly to offer forward-thinking business solutions. We focus firstly on customer service and secondly on cost and profit. For example, we send an engineer out when a fault occurs regardless of where the responsibility for the fault lies and we will aim to resolve it with urgency, sometimes battling network operators on our clients' behalf."
Technology trends that are of particular interest at the moment include the emergence of Wi-Fi enabled telephones, DMR and smarter ruggedised smartphones. Other trends to watch, noted Allion, include the increasing pressure on the NHS to improve the tracking and management of its assets, along with potential improvements in patient handling and health and safety.
"For example, changes in H&S regulations and the development of mobile communication technology have enabled us to significantly broaden our portfolio to provide solutions to suit as many of our customers' evolving business requirements," commented Allion. "Aside from these areas our target markets remain general industry and manufacturing. The growth in these areas is driven by the understanding that manufacturing is important for the UK's sustained economic recovery." •