The telco culture pivot: adapting sales strategies to win in the enterprise

The B2B market is not a single, homogeneous customer segment. Business challenges, technology priorities and buying behaviour vary significantly by industry, customer size, technology maturity and geography. For example, unlike large enterprises, SMEs often require a personalised sales approach and local support despite seeking a high degree of standardisation and automation. Operators should more finely segment and prioritise specific customer segments and tailor go-to-market strategies and value propositions accordingly.

Many operators that have made the tech-co transition have set up separate subsidiaries to target enterprise business (e.g. Telstra, e&, Verizon, Swisscom). Tech subsidiaries can operate with more autonomy and a delivery model catered to enterprise clients, which may involve secondments or other ways of ‘working with’ rather than ‘working for’ clients. Rebalancing the skills portfolio also matters given the rapid deployment of AI.

This research examines the revenue opportunity addressable by operators for B2B technology services beyond core telecoms. It outlines how success will depend on adopting a new mindset and implementing cultural and operational change within organisations.