My Journey with the Lynkz team
After 20 + years in sales; having a great network; I thought I could move into any field and deliver outcomes. Wow; I have just had one of the steepest most rewarding career and learning curves of my career.
February 2019; I started to work for Lynkz as National Sales Manager. I had heard so many customers; vendors talk about AI/ML and as Lynkz had a strong focus on this and other areas of software development I thought this was a great move. Previously I had worked for many companies selling Hardware and Managed Services. Easy transition I thought; wrong but so right.
The First Three months
Day one; under the guidance of Braden Voigt CEO and founder I started working on strategy and meeting new customers and perspective partners. I felt as long as we could deliver AI/ML and open doors for our software Developers this had to be easier than my previous jobs.
I went into the first few weeks with many meeting; conversations; everyone wanted to talk and discuss AI; but what I soon released was I did not truly understand the true impact and outcomes we could deliver. I continually asked Braden and the team " Can we deliver this", always receiving a "Yes",….I keep asking myself .....Ok, what cannot we deliver? If we can deliver everything then how can we qualify; how do we work through true impacts and outcomes for our customers. How do we measure the outcome for customers to allow us to make a start.
Big Learning
We had travelled down to Melbourne; first trip….full of enthusiasm and lined up a full list of potential customer meetings to introduce Lynkz; I learnt we did not deliver everything. At the end of day one in front of some Global VP's they mentioned the one word that I remember well; Java. Half way through the meeting, with everything looking positive for some great initial opportunities to partner, the Global VP mentioned that they developed in Java. I remember looking at Braden with a smile; and watching his shoulders drop; he said, "We do not code in Java", ….the meetings finished pretty quick after that; yes I still speak to the Global team….just in case one day things change 😊
12 Months On
Fast forwarding to the end of my first 12 months; we have developed a strong partner community that complements the Lynkz offering. We have delivered numerous projects; outcomes across many vertices and industries. I understand that Lynkz exist today to allow customers to business transform and give true outcomes and in many cases surprise our customers with what is possible. The measure of our success is the ROI we give back to customers; in many examples in months. We have a great Leader in Braden Voigt who just gets Software and possibilities and the way we can help customers on our journey; backed in by a team of amazing Data Scientists, Developers and operations team. While AI/ML is still part of our DNA we deliver so much more then that every day. The discussions and outcomes are different for all but the true impact of what we have developed and delivered still amazes me today.
Summary
I am luckiest person I feel to have started to work for Lynkz; while early days I had to learn a whole new world with the support of Lynkz. Today I feel empowered to take any business on a journey of true impact. Our "go to market" now is clearer than ever; and our open and transparent approach to customers is rewarding for all. Lynkz itself is drinking our own champagne with changes to our website and messaging to be released shortly. With National growth and global opportunities forming quickly the next 12 months it's super exciting for all involved. While you never stop learning and I enjoy the knowledge I have gained; the next 12 months will take me once again outside of my comfort zone as I push to understand the limitations of what we can deliver at Lynkz. Great times ahead!