Following an incredibly successful 2022 with the Zoovu + SAP Partnership that included participating in the Spring 2022 SAP.iO accelerator program, becoming the first technology partner to hit #1 in the SAP Store history within 2 months of launching, and presenting a keynote at TechEd, 2023 has started out equally as strong. In January, we had the opportunity to not only exhibit in SAP’s Partner Village at NRF, but also presented alongside joint customer, Bosch Power Tools, to tell their story of combining Zoovu’s Product Discovery Platform with SAP’s Enterprise technology to fuel a global digital transformation.
As Q1 comes to a close, we wanted to take some time to reflect on the value of technology partners, why SAP & Zoovu complement each other, and what “doubling down” on partnerships means to us. Zoovu’s new CMO, Ken Yanhs, sat down with Lamees Butt, our SVP of Channel Partners & Alliances to discuss the partnership as of today and what the future of the partnership looks like.
Q&A with Ken Yanhs and Lamees Butt on why SAP is the Right Partner for Zoovu
Ken Yanhs: Lamees, you’ve led the charge at Zoovu with partnerships, what makes fostering partnerships with like-minded technology providers so important for Zoovu?
Lamees Butt: Partnership is about the sum of the parts coming together to add value to the customers we serve. Organizations utilize a variety of different technologies to carry out business and when looking to invest in new technologies it’s crucial that it can be easily integrated into existing tech stacks but also provides solutions to challenges or fills in critical gaps. I come from that mindset when fostering partnerships – how does Zoovu complement this partner’s tech? How do they complement us?
What’s particularly exciting about our SAP partnership is the unique value and potential we must add to their over 400,000 global customers.
SAP’s customer base includes many legacy businesses that are determining the best way to move forward with digital transformation – from a digital commerce standpoint and from an employee enablement perspective.
Zoovu integrates seamlessly into SAP’s commerce and sales cloud to help drive self-service guided selling for buyers and enable salespeople with discovery experiences to streamline sales conversations and close sales faster with accuracy.
Yanhs: 2022 had some big wins for Zoovu + our partners, like being top of the SAP Store, what does 2023 look like for Zoovu’s partnerships?
Butt: It’s important to acknowledge the strain of the global economy right now. My goal for Zoovu and SAP’s partnership in 2023 is to ensure we bring our mission to as many SAP customers as possible to provide tangible value to their bottom line. Businesses are focused on driving operational efficiency to reduce costs across their organizations and Zoovu’s automation capabilities can help support these efforts in the short term and be a solution that drives revenue now and in the future.
Yanhs: Why SAP?
Butt: We are in an economic climate that’s asking us to do more with less and the reality is that investing in the right strategies will be the difference between success and failure. SAP has a strong set of foundational operational platforms like S/4 Hana, Commerce Cloud, Sales Cloud, and the full CX suite. Zoovu’s platform is able to unlock the technical product content stored on these platforms and transform them into future-ready experiences. Zoovu pairs perfectly with SAP Commerce Cloud and CX Suite because we are able to connect the dots and deliver results.
Businesses are looking for ways to digitize their selling capabilities but need the technology to do so without disrupting operations. This is especially true in the B2B space – it is ripe for transformation as its buyers and sellers are part of generations that expect digital–first solutions in their work life. SAP and Zoovu together are the glue to these businesses to a place where they can deliver B2B sales experiences that are needed to succeed in today’s climate.
SAP is the choice for B2B organizations and Zoovu is the perfect partner to accelerate digital transformation alongside their existing infrastructure.
Yanhs: Zoovu enables both consumer and business organizations to deliver product discovery at scale, what is unique about SAP’s customer base that pairs so well with Zoovu?
Butt: Zoovu’s solution is ideal for a B2B organization with complex products that have historically only been sold through their internal sales teams. The next stage of digital transformation for B2B organizations is unlocking the untapped revenue potential that exists by surfacing their complex product assortment onto commerce to give their end customers the autonomy to purchase online. B2B buyers are increasingly interested in self-service procurement, and we offer the solution to enable this and help make sales teams more efficient and effective. It’s a win-win for all involved.
We’ve seen customers who are combing Zoovu and SAP Commerce Cloud to enable better digital sales experiences to make significant gains quickly: CPQ is 90% faster meaning the sales close faster, channel expansion is 10x faster, and NPS scores improve drastically. These are just a few of the tangible benefits customers are receiving.
Yanhs: Upon joining, I’ve heard about some cool B2B use cases we are collaborating on with SAP, one that comes to mind is Straumann, how are they pushing the limits of what CX/product discovery can look like for a B2B organization?
Butt: Straumann is such an incredible use case and I’m proud of what we’ve collectively achieved to transform this organization. Straumann is a dental manufacturer based in Switzerland. If you’ve ever needed customer work, you can imagine they have a large assortment of products with compatibility rules, for example, an implant requires a specific cap based on the tooth size and other variables to consider.
Last year, Straumann learned they had a problem with their digital commerce capabilities after a third-party agency analysis determined the manufacturer wasn’t providing enough guidance for their buyers to purchase without needing support. There were numerous factors behind this, first, there was a lack of visibility into compatible products and materials, and second, Straumann hadn’t considered the need to define buyer personas and offer solutions to help them.
They identified three personas and what their unique needs were:
- Dentist: Expert in their craft; would not require much guidance but would benefit from visualization on the application to support the instrument selection
- Nurse: Required guidance to ensure they selected the right products for surgeries that week
- Receptionist: Given the ask to purchase a list of items
Each of these personas requires a journey to discover and engage in the products they are looking for. Using the power of Zoovu, we connect and unify multiple product content sources for technical specifications and compatibility rules, video, and other visual content, to enrich and augment into a single source that powers a series of discovery conversations for any buyer persona.
For the dentist, Straumann offers a visual configuration experience to help them select the right implant based on the tooth required. Once the tooth is selected, all compatible for that tooth are surfaced. Making it frictionless to build the BOM and add to cart.
For the nurse, the search bar is able to identify the query and provides an option to use a guided selling experience to help with the purchase experience. In this guided selling experience, an AI assistant, asks all the questions you’d expect to get from Straumann’s top salespeople would ensure the customer gets the right set of products
It’s exciting to see how Zoovu’s technology can solve these types of challenges quickly for customers.
Yanhs: As we wrap Q1, what are some highlights from the quarter? Any lessons to take from any wins?
Butt: Exhibiting in the SAP Partner Village at NRF was a real moment for Zoovu. We had the chance to shine a light on how we are transforming our customers with the Bosch Power Tools & Accessories showcase at the conference. Bosch Power Tools is seeing unapparelled ROI using Zoovu and having deployed over 786 experiences across the world. The relationship Zoovu has with Bosch Power Tools is continuing to expand globally, and showcasing the strengths of what Zoovu and SAP can do together.
Yanhs: To wrap up, what are you most excited about in Q2?
Butt: Some very exciting things…including moving from a SAP.Io partner to an Industry Cloud Solutions Partner that will get Zoovu’s game changing technology in front of more SAP customers. We will continue to be BetterTogether.