When Zimple, a young and fast-growing CRM systems sales, integration and training company, decided to expand into new markets, they realised they needed strategic guidance and operational support to enable the company’s international expansion.
At Zimple, we had heard good things about Voitto Group’s new and different approach, good results and agile collaboration. Zimple quickly saw how Voitto Group could demonstrate the added value of collaboration, which led to Voitto Group being chosen as a partner for Zimple’s internationalisation growth journey.
Voitto Group quickly recognised the benefits, expertise and growth potential of Zimple’s services. Despite its young age, Zimple had grown to become the market leader in Finland, but the company’s internationalisation was the next big development step.
This partnership proved to be a success, with Zimple increasing its international sales by +31% in the first three months. Currently, Zimple has an average of 15 new customers every month, 10 of them from abroad.
Would you like to know how this was possible and how internationalisation could be possible for you too? Read on for our inspiring article that will hopefully inspire Finnish SMEs to boldly pursue growth and internationalisation in new markets!
The following experts in sales, management, operations and strategic development have been interviewed for this article:
Tomi Tapper, one of the founders of Voitto Group
Tom has over 20 years of experience in successful international business development. His strengths range from strategic and operational service business development to B2B and B2C solution selling organisation building, strategic marketing development and challenging business digitalisation projects.
Before founding Voitto Group, Tomi Tapper has held several international management positions in various companies, including the last 4 years as CEO. In these roles he has been able to demonstrate his expertise in challenging business environments in a variety of industries. His diverse experience and solution-oriented and pragmatic approach to challenges have made him a valued professional in business growth development.
Harri Salokangas, founder of Zimple Oy
The idea for Zimple was born when Harri himself was looking for an agile CRM system for his workplace and buying one seemed too difficult. There were a lot of clunky CRM software for large enterprises on the market, but Harri was looking for a CRM solution that would be easy to buy and implement. A solution that would actually support sales, making life easier for salespeople, rather than the opposite, giving sales a headache.
Harri came across Pipedrive, and was immediately interested. He was looking for someone who could help with the implementation and integration of Pipedrive. There was no one, so Harri decided to create one himself. That’s how Zimple was born in 2019.
“I am proud that we have recently been selected as Pipedrive Partner of the Year globally and in Europe. We are specifically helping SMEs to grow with this truly easy-to-use, visual and effective sales tool. Whether a company wants to implement a new CRM system, improve the use of an old one or integrate a CRM system with other systems, they can turn to Zimple, Harri says.
Juho Koski, Chief Operating Officer of Zimple Oy
The Voitto Group did not just start talking about internationalisation, but they had an effective solution ready from the outset – an “internationalisation service” to support internationalisation in a holistic way, built together on the basis of Zimple’s needs, level of expertise and will.
Voitto quickly used the Health Check service to identify Zimple’s expertise in internationalisation, where to use external partners and how to take the whole process forward in the most cost-effective way. The Health Check service’s analysis of the current situation also provided a clear picture of our competencies within these areas and where to start the internationalisation journey.
For Zimple, it was critical to understand the broad scope of internationalisation and how it is good to look beyond the year ahead when building it. For this Juho Koski gave particularly warm thanks.
“Voitto worked really hard to make sure they understood our business at Zimple. Voito exudes a genuine desire to help, and a will to get inside the customer’s head and business, driving both the customer’s mindset and the business forward. Some consultants fall into the trap of giving generic advice because they can’t really understand the client’s business. The opposite happened with Profit.”
Profit’s effective tools and methods helped to identify the skills and strengths of the staff, the development potential and the success factors for Zimple’s internationalisation. On this basis, we built a comprehensive internationalisation plan, which included a systematic action plan for each area
Voitto Group supports internationalisation
Based on the Health Check, it was easy to start building a Zimple-like and culture-appropriate working model for internationalisation, consisting of weekly follow-up meetings and intensive BI workshops focused on systematically building the components of the internationalisation plan. This working model was designed to support the development of Zimple’s internal competences and to help them achieve their internationalisation objectives within the agreed timeframe.
“We don’t want our carefully crafted development plans to sit in a desk drawer gathering dust, we want them to be put into practice right away and implemented in our customers’ everyday lives. That’s why our service is based on a continuous improvement model, guiding development projects in desired business areas and developing best practices. Everything is done within an agreed timeframe to achieve jointly set objectives, always listening to the client’s needs.” , Tomi Tapper opens.
In the end, it all comes down to corporate culture
Corporate culture and competencies determine the pace of development projects in business areas, taking into account the resources and timeframe available to the client. Based on the different situations and development needs of companies, We have built and accommodate the different situations and development needs of companies in our business development services.
“The hierarchical style would not have worked for us. Our team is very self-directed and we need sparring more than old-fashioned management because our culture is youthful and relaxed. Voitto picked up on this straight away, and guided with just the right style. Together, we built modern operating models that support internationalisation and automate day-to-day operations.” Juho Koski of Zimple describes.
More part of the client's team, less "consulting"
There are always challenges along the way and not everything goes as planned. In these moments, Voitto does not just sit back and wait, but proactively tackles the challenges together with the client.
Juho continues with thanks:
“I particularly liked the fact that there was no sense of bottleneck at any point. Voito has an incredible number of effective tools and methods in its back pocket. Whenever it looked like we were going to hit an obstacle, Voitto would grab a tool from his kit that worked.”
The victory of Tomi Tapper comforts:
“We are not just consultants. Actually, we don’t see ourselves as consultants. We see ourselves more as part of the client’s team, acting as ‘advisors, co-travelers, enablers and innovators’, rather than tour guides who walk alongside you throughout your journey. And when you get lost or hit a pitfall, we’ll guide you back on the path or pick you up. There’s always a way to keep going despite the challenges.”
The results speak for themselves
As a result of the cooperation between Zimple and Voitto Group, Zimple has successfully expanded into international markets, increased its sales and established itself as the largest Pipedrive partner in Europe. Zimple is also successful in the domestic market in more significant and larger tenders than ever before, including on the public side. The partnership has brought a huge dose of expertise, scalability and confidence to the entire Zimple organisation.
Harri Salokangas sums up the cooperation:
“Tomi and the rest of the team at Voito not only understand business, but also the day-to-day reality of SMEs. Working with them is like therapeutic sparring: they don’t give you ready-made answers, they guide you to the right questions.
I think the best things about winning are the approachability and the willingness to understand the client’s business in a holistic and in-depth way. Profit’s hard work, experience and tools exude from everything. I also liked the fact that the Winners live and breathe the successes and the trenches.
You don’t do one-off workshops with profit – which don’t really do any good. Profit is a travel partner for the long term. I highly recommend Voito to SMEs, because Voito understands the realities of how businesses operate.”
Cooperation between Voito and Zimple continues: recently the partners have moved towards clarifying Zimple’s strategy and developing its financial management. In addition, Voitto Group will clarify and guide Zimple’s board work.
Could you do without a partner like Voito to help you internationalise your business or support your business growth?
The moral of the story is clear: to internationalise a business, you need partners who understand the reality of the business, understand difficult situations, know what to do and when to do it, and share your passion to succeed. The Voitto Group and Zimple have proven that collaboration, strategy and a deep understanding of business can deliver wins in international waters.
The Voitto Group wants to put Finnish SMEs on the world map. There is potential for internationalisation in a number of different industries. Nordic expertise and quality are renowned worldwide, and Finns have a very good starting point for international success.
“In discussions with Finnish SMEs, the same challenges often emerge as a problem. What we have found over the years is that when you look at challenges and opportunities through the eyes of a company first, you realise that challenges are not necessarily solved where you first think they are, because all companies are unique.”
First, you need to understand the core of the business and how its foundations are built. To achieve scalable growth, you need to be able to effectively build a holistic view of the different aspects of your business. The vision, value proposition, culture, systems, processes and everything down to the skills level must be identified to help the business succeed holistically.”
Productivity can be easily improved, but at the same time, improving staff and customer satisfaction requires a holistic understanding of the different functions of the business. Business development should always start by considering how to improve productivity in terms of value added for customers and staff “, says Tomi Tapper of Voitto Group.
If you would like to find out how Voitto Group could help you and your business, book a free 45-minute growth meeting with us here.
