DEVELOPING EXTRAORDINARY LEADERS

Infosys

REALIZED IT.
THE GLOBAL TALENT TO SELL AT A MORE STRATEGIC LEVEL.

BUILDING A $4 BILLION SALES FORCE

ABOUT INFOSYS
> Based in Bangalore, India, Infosys is a global leader in IT and consulting with revenues of over U.S. $4 billion. > Infosys offerings range from business and technology consulting, to application services, systems integration, product engineering, custom software development, IT infrastructure services, and business process outsourcing. > Infosys has over 40 offices and development centers in India, China, Australia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the UK, Canada and Japan. Infosys has more than 91,000 employees.

Infosys was founded in 1981 by seven people with the American equivalent of $250. By 2004, it was a $1 billion company. By 2005, it became famous as the company that opened the eyes of best-selling author Thomas Friedman to the dramatic shifts taking place in the world of businessa phenomenon he documented in his paradigm-defining book, The World Is Flat. Although the Bangalore, India-based IT and consulting company was a great success by any standard, Infosys already was thinking bigger. In 2004, Infosys leadership plotted a course for growing the company from $1 billion in annual revenues to $3 billion by 2007. Business as usual wouldnt get it there, however, even though business was booming. Weve been a high-growth company for some time. But if we want to continue that pace of growth every year, we cant do more of the same thing for too long, says Gaurav Rastogi, associate vice president and head of global sales effectiveness for Infosys. We have to continually upgrade ourselves and be different things to our clients at different times. To sustain its torrid growth and be those different things, Infosys needed to build relationships with its clients on a far more strategic level. That

meant moving to a new sales strategy, and required salespeople and sales leaders who could execute that strategy. We wanted to get the higher-level, more-strategic projects, says Pat Martin, principal consultant, unit manager, for the Infosys Leadership Institute. These projects included transformational IT projects for Fortune 1,000 organizations that produced large-scale outcomes such as improved information flow, greater efficiencies, reduced transaction costs, or shorter order cycle time projects that were beyond the scope of the offerings that made Infosys a $1 billion company. To sell these projects, Infosys needed to change its sales strategy to become a more strategic partner to its clients. That meant selling to higher organizational levels. It also meant that Infosys needed a global sales force that could sell more complex solutions. We needed to raise the bar and grow the capabilities of our people to be more consultative, says Martin. We needed them to do a more strategic-type sell, and to work more at the C-suite levels to understand the clients global strategy and how things in the marketplace affect them.

INFOSYS

DEVELOPING
TRANSFORMING A SALES FORCE OF 500
The transformation process began with the delineation of the path Infosys needed to take to reach its goal of $3 billion in revenues by 2007. Among the imperatives that constituted this path were for Infosys to build on its tremendous WE NEEDED THEM success and to continue its rapid growth; to to do a more strategic-type collaborate across service lines in order to offer sell, and to work more at the more complex, strategic solutions; to rapidly C-suite levels to understand change its market positioning to move beyond the clients global strategy. its niche in off-shoring; and to transform its sales strategy so salespeople could become trusted PAT M A R T I N , P R I N C I PA L C O N S U LTA N T, business partners to clients.
UNIT MANAGER, INFOSYS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

A GLOBAL SALES FORCE TO DRAMATICALLY GROW REVENUE

a good fit with the Success Profiles, and also developing incumbent salespeople and managers who possessed the potential to transition into the redefined roles. There were two reasons driving this approach. For one, Infosys realized that it probably would not be able to fill all of its positions from the outside, given the competitive market for the caliber of talent it needed to hire (the baseline experience level for the engagement manager positions was 10 years of account management). But equally important to Infosys was leveraging the incredible level of talent the organization already had on board. While recognizing that some of its salespeople and managers would not be able to successfully make the transition to the more consultative sales strategy, it believed many couldwith the right development. Our salespeople have always been businesssavvy and smart, says Rastogi. We felt good that there was definitely talent there that could adapt to the new sales strategy and do what we needed them to do to be successful. Infosys recognized that each salesperson and leader likely would have different development needs, but it also understood that it would need to cost-effectively provide development to its entire population of more than 500 salespeople and sales leaders. To determine the development needs of the Client Services Group as a whole, Infosys, using DDIs 360 feedback tool, Targeted Feedback, conducted multirater surveys on a cross-section of salespeople and managers. These surveys gathered feedback on their performance and behaviors in the target competencies identified in the Success Profile from supervisors, peers, team members, and customers. Based on the results of these 360s, competency areas were identified where the sales organization needed to develop. These included Problem Solving, Communication, Negotiation, and Presentation Skills.

Upon defining this path, the reworking of Infosys sales talent management strategy and competencybuilding capabilities began with a frank accounting of both the behaviors that had traditionally defined successful engagement managers (as Infosys refers to its account managers) and Client Services leaders, and of the behaviors that would be required for success in the future. The path to $3 billion demanded that engagement managers excel at targeted, proactive selling to clients; at higher-level business value selling; at collaborative, team-based selling; and at selling more complex offerings. The Client Services leaders, meanwhile, needed to consistently apply sales management best practices, provide proactive coaching to team members, and manage based on leading indicators as opposed to after-the-fact outcomes. With the targets established, Infosys partnered with DDI to translate these ideals into clearly defined, actionable Success ProfilesSM that identified the competencies, experience, knowledge, and personal attributes needed for both the engagement manager and Client Services leader positions. Toward placing the right people in these positions, Infosys decided on a two-pronged approach that included recruiting and hiring engagement managers and Client Services leaders who were

OUR SALESPEOPLE
have always been business -savvy and smart . . . We felt good that there was definitely talent there that could adapt to the new sales strategy.
G A U R AV R A S TO G I , A S S O C I AT E V I C E PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF GLOBAL SALES EFFECTIVENESS

To address the identified development needs and bring the incumbent salespeople and managers in line with the Success Profiles linked to the new sales strategy, in 2005 Infosys created a series of two-day workshops on each of the target development areas. The workshops are designed to be two days in length to accommodate the participants busy schedules. They include areas that Infosys deems important to making the sales strategy transition, such as coaching, problem-solving, and account management. The workshops are delivered by Infosys internal training resources as well as by outside partners. DDI delivers the coaching workshop for managers. We didnt want to just slap something together. We were asking people to spend two days out of their work, so we really wanted to make sure we had the content right, says Martin. We conducted pilot sessions and used internal champions to make sure the content was correct. Once the initial roster of workshops was set, the initiative was rolled out to Infosys 500 engagement managers and Client Services leaders. Participants begin the process by going through a 360 assessment using Targeted Feedback. Based on the results, the individuals then work with their managers to create personal development plans and determine which of the workshops they need to attend. They go through no more than one workshop each quarter to allow time to apply what they learn on the job. For real transformation to occur, its important for the engagement managers and Client Services leaders who go through the workshops to not only learn new skills but to apply them. Thus, Infosys made skill application part of the program by requiring participants to bring to the workshop session a plan specifying how they would immediately use what they learn back on the job over the next 90 days following the workshop. Post-training, the participants are tested to make sure they successfully acquired the skills or learned the concepts imparted in the workshop. Three to four months after the workshop, managers provide feedback to participants as to whether or not they are exhibiting the new skills. As a final check, participants complete a case study test that confirms skill application.

THE TALENT TO TRIPLEAND THEN QUADRUPLEREVENUE

Martin says that Infosys engagement managers are having more strategic and all-around better conversations with clients, so theyre finding out better information. In addition, she says the workshops help produce better team cohesiveness and improve team building, which translates to better project delivery. The numbers tell the story of the remarkable degree to which Infosys was able to transform its sales strategyas well as its engagement managers and Client Services leadersfrom 2004 to 2007, when it reached its $3 billion revenue goal. In addition to tripling its sales growth, Infosys more than doubled its sales force productivityand it accomplished the gains with just a 30-percent increase in sales force headcount. More importantly, Infosys is able to successfully take on those larger projects tied to its clients strategic needs. According to Infosys 2006-2007 annual report, 43 percent of the companys revenues came from services it did not offer five years earlier. Since meeting its three-year revenue goal, Infosys has continued its astronomical sales growth. Its revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 were more than $4 billion.

THE BOTTOM LINE

After working with DDI to identify, assess, and develop engagement managers and Client Services leaders, Infosys realized the following results:
> Tripled sales revenues within three years,

from $1 billion to $3 billion. An additional $1 billion increase in revenue was realized the following year.
> 43 percent of company revenues generated

from services not offered five years earlier evidence of Infosys growing ability to sell more strategic solutions.
> Doubled sales force productivity, with just a

30-percent increase in sales force headcount.

> Noted improvements in quality of conversations

with clients and ability to gather better information about client needs.

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In todays grow-or-die marketplace, having the right talent strategy is crucial for an organizations success. Development Dimensions International will help you systematically and creatively close the gap between the talent you have and the talent you need to drive future business strategies. We excel in:

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