Why I’m excited about Yellowfin’s ‘boring’ June
Welcome to our monthly update for June. There were no burning issues, no fires to put out, and all in all it was quite a ‘boring’ month.
One of our Board members (you know who you are!) gave me some pushback for describing the month as ‘boring’. But as I said in the board meeting, boring is a really good outcome for a fast growing business. The business is operating well, and that’s awesome!
Sales continue to grow in new markets
Boring or not, we had some great outcomes this month. We closed a multi-million dollar deal with a large public department in India. That’s a deal that our Australian team has worked on for a number of years. Our team worked with the support of one of our fantastic Indian partners in Germane Analytics.
We’ve also appointed a new Head of Sales in EMEA. Shawn Deegan, (@sdeegan) will be joining us in July. He will be replacing Peter Baxter, who will focus on his worldwide role as SVP of Global Sales.
Shawn is a Canadian who has recently been working in the US. He’s a really good fit for Yellowfin and understands what we need to achieve. A testament of a great sales leader is someone who wants build a business and is challenged by the prospect of growth, and that’s Shawn. He wants to build a team that delivers excellence, and I can’t wait to see him hit the ground.
We’ve also brought a couple more salespeople on board. They’re really pumped to be working in a different organizational culture and are keen to hit the ground running. Recruitment in other parts of the organization was a little slower than we anticipated, with just two new developers coming onboard to support some of our BAU initiatives.
Looking back, we’ve matured this year
Standing back and looking at what we’ve achieved over the past financial year, Yellowfin has really evolved and matured. It’s been a year of consolidation, and all our teams are coming together.
Our sales organization has come of age. They’ve not only embraced the challenge of winning new business, but also focused on retaining existing business. The result is a marked improvement in customer renewals and a sales organization that is much more effective.
The rest of the company is also working like a well-oiled machine. Our development and head office teams have picked up momentum and continue to run with it. It’s like watching a child grow up – you want the best for them and are bursting with pride when it starts to happen.
Overall it’s really been a brilliant year. We’ve had some great highs and have brought in good people who are adding value to the business quickly. This is also a reflection of our growing maturity in onboarding and educating new hires.
We’re different (in a good way)
One of the most amusing things I saw this month came in the form of an evaluation request we received from someone in the United States.
The request said (in part):
“If you hunt me down like those Sisense bastards, we won’t be doing business with you”
It’s a good reminder of how much customers typically enjoy the experience of buying BI. I’ve always prided Yellowfin on how we manage the sales experience differently. While we’re serious about how we sell, we’re also deeply aware that it’s a person on the other end of the phone, not just a disposable ‘prospect’.
It’s always nice to hear that we’re different from our competitors and that our customers appreciate it.
I look forward to seeing how we can continue to make a real difference to our customers in the coming year.
See you next month!