Episode 6 Review - Centricity in SaaS: Lesley Ronaldson Keeps the Customer First

We recap strategies from Lesley Ronaldson (VP of Sales EMEA at Gong) on the importance of a customer-centric approach to digital transformation for your business, including her experiences and practical tips that you can use to understand customer needs for business success in the digital age.

Episode Transcript

Matt Best (00:00):
Hello and welcome to The Growth Workshop Podcast
Jonny, what a great conversationwe've just had with Leslie Ronaldson,
the VP of Sales EMEA at Gong.
She shared some incredible insightswith us in that conversation.
And the energy, I think just reallyfilled me up in that discussion.
I'm curious, what was yourkey takeaway from our chat?

Jonny Adams (00:20):
Oh, it's so tough.
One takeaway, that'sall I'm allowed, Matt.
I'm afraid so.
Oh, come on.
Well let me just prefix itwith the fact that, I came off
that conversation with Leslie.
She's a person that justgives you so much energy.
She's, someone that I think if Iwas 10 years younger and she was
leading the workforce and there wasan opportunity to work at one of

(00:42):
the institutes that she worked at,I'd snap it up, but I think there's
two things for that one, she's justtireless in her motivation, her energy.
I don't think you get awaywith just chilling on a day.
Secondly, clearly with her expertiseand knowledge of sales, it comes across.
And one of the things that shesaid, then my key takeaway.

(01:02):
Is the word that she said many time over.
I wonder how many times she said Gongwould probably be able to pick it up.
Is integrity.
And I go back to my career and thinkabout the sales roles I've had.
And I think there's abad name about selling.
And the bad name comes from wherepeople have been missold or when
they've been sold or purchased,the actual benefit has not been

(01:27):
seen and the value outweighs that.
So, you know, there's been a cost issue.
And I think the word integrity is reallyimportant because that, that, that makes
it much more value based as that hasgiven me the insight of going, well, 10
years ago, did I sell with integrity?
And I'd say that I've been quitefortunate because every business I've
worked with has had some relationshipto SBR and the DNA that we work with.

(01:50):
So I've been fortunate on that aspect.
And at SBR, we constantly thinkabout buying atmosphere and having
conversations around integrity.
So for me, that's a really strongword that she shared with us.
It gave me an opportunity to reflectback on my own experience in sales
to go, do I sell with integrity?

(02:10):
I really do think I do.
I must carry on doing that becausethat's key to customer centricity.
So that's my key, key takeaway, Matt.
I only had one thanks to that,but what's your one takeaway.

Matt Best (02:23):
Jonny, thanks for sharing.
And I agree completely.
I think selling with integrity is whatis the opposite of lots of people's
perception of what sales is all about.
And I think it's so, so importantto remember that we talked to people
coming into new into sales careers ornew into sales roles and having that.
I don't want to try andflog something to somebody.
It's like, that's not what sales is about.

(02:45):
Sales is about understanding whatsomebody needs, aligning to those
needs, and then winning together.
And I think she, she encapsulatedthat really nicely in the way in,
in her examples, hadn't she, Jonny?
So yeah, I'm borrowing yours there.
I think the other thing for me.
And my real key takeaway was she talkedabout how she helps her team in staying

(03:06):
client centric and so many people I speakto turn around and say we're a client
centric team, you know, we're all in ittogether and sometimes what that can cause
is just chaos and havoc and without theclarity that she shared, the importance of
having that track to run on and the teamhaving clear responsibilities about what
they needed to do, but at the same time,maintaining this universal unified focus

(03:33):
on the client and the client being at theheart of all those decisions, I think is
such a hard thing to achieve, and she'sclearly done that and continues to work
to reinforce that in her organization.
I found that really, really inspiring.
So I think for me, it's about, you know.
Thinking about how I take that intothe advice and the guidance that I'm
giving my clients when it comes tocreating that robust sort of end to

(03:58):
end process that has to have a certainamount of structure whilst retaining
this vital focus on client centricity.
And I think that was,yeah, stand out for me.
Again, what a fantastic conversation.
As you said at the beginninghere, Jonny, her energy is just.
You could, I think we could havetalked for hours so thank you again,

(04:20):
so much to Leslie Ronaldson, VP ofsales, in EMEA for Gong for joining
us on The Growth Workshop Podcastand all of our listeners out there.
We hope you enjoyed it asmuch as we did on behalf of
Jonny and I see you next time.
For more insights, makesure you subscribe.
And if you enjoy the journey,don't forget to leave us a review.

(04:40):
Your feedback fuels our growth.
Until next time, keep up thatforward thinking mindset.
Goodbye.