Dell is using data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to increase its sales. According to Michael Gray, responsible for the company's Programs and Pre-sales Strategy area, the company had dozens of data, such as sales orders and notebook configurations, in several places, which makes it difficult to access this information. With the help of Microsoft Viva Topics, a knowledge management platform that uses AI to bring information and content directly to employees in the Microsoft 365 apps they use in their day-to-day work, the landscape is set to change.
“We're excited about using Viva Topics to help us access information that's been siled and make it easier for practitioners to find answers much faster,” says Gray.
For Bruce Sánchez, global leader of sales learning and development technology at Dell Technologies, the tool supports the organization's continuous transformation process to create a learning culture “We transformed learning and development from a prescriptive model to a service model focused on the needs of our sellers,” he says.
When Sandra Murtagh, vice president of global sales learning and development, and Karen Butcher, head of the company's global sales learning and development transformation office, launched the transformation department within the organization, the goal was to guide the sales team to the future. “We're always thinking about what's next,” says Butcher. “How can we improve the learning experience? How can we make life easier for our professionals?”.
Now, sellers have focused on delivering great experiences and integrating their learning platform with Microsoft Teams, where they can access training content when a question arises. Viva Topics emerged as the next logical step. “Going forward, we want to integrate more and more information into places that are convenient for sellers,” says Butcher.
The organization believes that AI is the most effective way to collect and present large amounts of information. “We're using Viva Topics because it's an AI-driven curation engine that gathers content associated with topics,” says Sánchez.
With the tool, employees will get a complete view of the information collected from Microsoft and third-party sources, since the tool uses data from partner applications. “We're always looking for integrations,” adds Srikanth Ramaswamy, global leader for modern content and collaboration services, experienced member of the company's digital team. Ramaswamy explains that after the success of the pilot testing phase, Dell has recently expanded the use of Viva Topics and embraced a full-scale rollout across its global sales force.
Building relationships: Dell uses Viva Topics to reinforce a culture of learning with new connections
Turning to Viva Topics to discover knowledge in the applications they use every day leads Dell salespeople to make new connections with their peers. “That's probably one of the biggest benefits we're experiencing,” says Murtagh. “Historically, we've relied on legacy relationships, but with the combination of Microsoft Teams and Viva Topics, we're opening up collaboration and relationships across all our functions.”
Michel Gray, head of Presales Programs and Strategy at Dell agrees. “The tool organizes the content and transforms it into knowledge, and this knowledge becomes a relationship”, he says. The ability to effortlessly create connections is a boon for a highly dispersed, global sales force, as Butcher, head of Dell's Global Sales Development and Learning Transformation office, explains. “Dell championed working from home for many years,” says Butcher. “And today, a hybrid approach is at the forefront of our organization.”
Creating a flexible and highly mobile experience for salespeople backed by Viva Topics right within Microsoft Teams is one way the organization can support hybrid working for the sales team. “The ability to easily search and discover content in Teams and other apps has been a huge success,” continues Butcher. “Especially as people have the same experience on mobile and desktop regardless of where they work.”
As hybrid reality is also a reality for the company's customers, salespeople are increasingly using Viva Topics to help improve customer relationships in this new context. “We're using the tool to address the complexity of gathering the right information online. If a customer asks a question, we can quickly find the information through Viva Topics or use that insight to connect with a subject matter expert who can help. This accelerated speed of response is generating excitement.”
A human element in a hybrid world: Dell supports the employee experience
As the sales learning and development organization expands its use of Viva Topics, it is also exploring other Microsoft Viva modules, including Microsoft Viva Connections, Microsoft Viva Sales, and Microsoft Viva Insights. “I've been with Dell for 26 years,” says Murtagh. “Where we are now in terms of knowledge management and learning is a huge departure from where we were in the past. We've made Viva Topics a big part of our reinvention of how our salespeople work.”
For Gray, the tool has had an unexpected impact on his daily work experience. “Another positive effect of using it is that it makes work more fun,” he says.
Strengthening relationships and making work more efficient, even fun, through Viva Topics reinforce Dell's goals to support its people and use technology to promote continuous learning and development.
EN 
PT 
