At the start of eSMART, how were sales organised and what were the challenges you had to overcome during these 10 years?
« The first task given to me was to create a price list and then, to start the business we made a demonstration panel, the one known today but less professional. Then we had to ring clients, show our product, really a basic strategy – go out into the field, collect client feedback, try to learn from our clients and thus adapt the product. Furthermore, an important change was to change the graphical interface that was quite technical, we made it simpler to access which allows anyone to use the screen.
The company had to manage growth. Ensure we could cover all costs while growing, obviously having needs for the back-office – admin, HR, and also R&D – being able to ensure we had enough financial means to get through the month. So it’s a huge challenge that of course hasn’t disappeared, but one that has become less uncertain. During certain periods of the life of eSMART we had to wait for some contracts to be relatively serene and today, it’s still a little bit the case on very big contracts but we reduce the risk by having 10 sales reps in Switzerland and 2 overseas. »