Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been an integral business strategy since, well, business began. Today, however—especially amidst an economy heavily impacted by a global pandemic—successful M&A takes more than just money. From data privacy and management to leadership changes to customer and employee retention, the bar continues to rise for the level of care that companies must take when tackling the typically thorny issues associated with the M&A process.
As one of the largest transformations that any organization might go through, M&A is generally not structured with the customer in mind—yet this is one of the biggest areas of impact. Against an uncertain economic backdrop, taking a customer-first approach to the M&A process can mean the difference between resiliency and potentially massive loss.
As a market leader in M&A and Salesforce transformations, Deloitte Digital has learned that successful organizational migration takes a thoughtful, coordinated approach. To help companies avoid M&A process pitfalls, we’ve teamed up with Salesforce on How to Integrate Two Sales Teams: A Mergers & Acquisitions Playbook, in which we share guidance from James Commons—who leads the Sales Technology and Operations team at Verizon Media, a company connecting 800 million people worldwide and generating $8 billion in revenue.
In this co-authored playbook, James boils down his experience successfully merging enterprise sales teams at AOL and Yahoo! into considerations every leader should bear in mind when transforming their business—with practical tips along the way.
Establish your goals
Joining two companies often means two sales teams—and potentially overlapping target clients. So, how do you sort that out while assuring that all existing agreements are met? In the case of AOL and Yahoo!, James’ team established three goals: prevent revenue breakage, create a seamless experience, and reduce operating costs. How you establish and achieve your goals will differ based on your unique business—but no matter what, your customer should be in the center of your activities.
Think about: Employee CRM access, selling processes, technology tools, and the back office.
Prioritize the human experience
People are the most important resource in any acquisition, but also one of the most challenging to manage. And the last thing you want is for them to leave. James and his team worked with Deloitte Digital to provide organizational clarity and identify a leadership team. “Uncertainty kills revenue,” said James. “If people don’t know which team they’re going to be reporting to, or which accounts they’re going to be assigned, they have no incentive….”
Think about: Finding ways to drive revenue, providing reassurance to customers, areas to innovate, and planning out your new leadership team.