On the Up: A SaaS Future With Vodafone

Nick Murphy is a Senior SaaS Solution Specialist at Vodafone, with responsibilities across Microsoft and Azure products, as well as Vodafone cybersecurity products. “My role is to help our sales teams sell our portfolio of SaaS solutions,” he says. “I am the resource that our mid-market and key account managers come to for support. 

“The SaaS element of Vodafone is relatively new, so it feels like a start-up within a larger organisation. There are always interesting things going on. Building revenue takes priority, so most of my time is spent speaking to customers; however, our partnerships with the likes of Microsoft are developing and that takes time to plan for as well. We will have more to offer our customer base soon.  

“This is the start of something big for Vodafone. SaaS in general is the way forward, so being part of a team that sells great SaaS products in an organisation that has such a big market share is special.” 

A Day in the Life 

Nick typically starts his day with coffee, then gets stuck into a packed schedule of “meeting, greeting and supporting.” Working primarily with IT Managers, IT Directors, and CTOs, his main goal is to find the right solution for whatever challenge they present him with. This means building trust in Vodafone and its user experience.  “I must gain a deep understanding of our customers’ current setups and technology strategies, then link all this information to find the best way forward. Sometimes it can feel like playing Tetris: frustrating until the block you want turns up, you clear some lines, and then everything falls into place.” 

“The biggest asset you can have as a salesperson is curiosity. Customers appreciate being heard, being listened to. A key skill is listening. As a customer, having to say things twice erodes confidence in what we do and our knowledge. If you have ever forgotten someone’s name after being introduced, you will know what I mean. It’s embarrassing to ask again. My advice is to be organised, write things down, and develop a detailed map of their setup.” 

Secrets of Success 

Nick is proud of all his successes in the SaaS solutions space, but his clear favourite so far was a particular deal that helped him progress, step up in scale of deals and revenue generation that, according to him: “Put me on the map.” 

“I had been monitoring one account with one of my account managers, knowing they had a Microsoft renewal coming up - the biggest deal by far that our team had worked on and one of the biggest Microsoft deals in Vodafone as a whole. We had developed a great relationship with the client based on trust, our knowledgebase, our support infrastructure, and response speed. We had the right people working together to make things happen and we won the deal - which has since grown even more. It proved the value of expertise, detail, and relationships.” 

“You must make yourself valuable and collaborations will follow naturally. People will want to work with you. I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to take part in several events for Vodafone, to demonstrate the Vodafone strategy and aspirations to stakeholders internally, and to customers. My belief is that if you present yourself well, you will be sought after. Provide value and you will be indispensable.” 

Nick says that the SaaS solutions customer base is growing every day: “We’ve hired a bunch of people, got the right processes in place, and the right support structures. Our technology partners are happy with us, our customers are happy with us. Being part of a team that is growing is very motivating. 

“This is the start of something big for Vodafone.”