COMPANY PROGRAMS
REFERENCES / THOMAS KANZLER
REFERENCES / THOMAS KANZLER
NAME
Thomas Kanzler
ROLE
Head of Digital Services
BASED IN
Germany, Europe
PROGRAM
Company Programs
A1 Digital advises companies on digital transformation issues and supports them digitizing their various business areas. The focus is on industry-specific applications in the area of the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Cyber Security as well as on cloud-based products and solutions for the modern workplace. It is part of the Telekom Austria Group and thus part of América Móvil.
Read the A1 Digital business case here.
Thomas Kanzler heads the A1 Digital Services team, which consists of great experts in digitization, IoT, AI, and machine learning. This basically includes all consultants for customers on the way to digitalization. He also supports some start-up company. In the last ten years, he has held several management positions in the telecommunications industry and supported innovative start-ups. He is currently a member of 3 consulting boards. Last year he had the opportunity to work in Silicon Valley for a while and to spend some time in the Emirates to be always up to date with the latest developments in digitalization. Thanks to social media he can easily connect with his international network. Thomas was one of the participants in the A1 coaching program of FRANSCHA.
The initial situation
Due to his international contacts, Thomas was already active on LinkedIn before the training. However, he has been using the platform more as a contact book. Instead of distributing or collecting business cards, he preferred to link to LinkedIn. The content he rarely created. When it became known that he was now allowed to add coaching to his overflowing calendar, the first thing he said was 'Oh no! Not another training session!'. But after the first coaching session, he was already totally enthusiastic and convinced that the coaching would really help him because he could already take a lot with him that he didn't know before. He is very grateful to his company for letting him participate in the coaching.
The journey
Thomas quickly realized how much he underestimated the benefits and power of social media and LinkedIn. During the training he was able to acquire a lot of know-how: Previously, he had hardly accepted contact requests from people he did not know. Now he knows how to look for exciting network partners and thanks to his contributions, he also receives qualitatively interesting contact requests from people he has never met before, which he gladly accepts.
"Through the training I have built up a lot of know-how. I did not realize how powerful the LinkedIn platform is. Now I know exactly how to create hashtags for example & what is important for content creation".
In his contributions it is important to him that it is not just a "show off content", but that he creates a real added value for his network. For this purpose, he applies the learned Triangle formula: To mix contributions from the professional, personal & from the company in a certain proportion.
How Thomas LinkedIn implements in his everyday life
For Thomas, it is important to use his time at LinkedIn in a highly professional way and not to get lost in it. If you use LinkedIn in total 1-2 hours per week in a highly professional way, you can achieve an incredible amount. Every morning in the morning he quickly checks the articles and reacts immediately to interesting things. If he posts something himself, he has made the experience that a Thursday evening is well suited for this. And he reacts immediately to messages, so you can reach him faster than by mail. At certain intervals, he takes the time to expand his network and then contacts people who are interesting either for himself or for A1 Digital. Besides, he is now planning his own group on the topic of sustainability.
"For me, the most important thing about LinkedIn is to get direct feedback on an idea or project relatively quickly. I write to people or create a post, tag people in it, and ask: 'What do you think? How do you like that? What are your ideas?' That makes it super interesting. Because it's very exciting when there's someone from Silicon Valley, another from the Emirates, one from Austria and one from Switzerland. Within a day I get a good picture of my question, which I can continue working with immediately. My stock contacts react immediately! Here I do not need to moderate anything. That is incredibly valuable".
A new team dynamic at A1 Digital
Thanks to the coaching, Thomas is now in contact with his colleagues even more frequently. He found it very exciting that they tackled concrete topics & tasks together in the secret LinkedIn group, as a team, and tried to solve them away from the daily business.
"On the evening before the sessions, we joined 2-3 people virtually, poured a glass of wine, and tried to make preparations or generate common ideas. Not only me - but also my colleagues - made a big step forward".
Results that Thomas has already achieved
Even before the coaching, Thomas already had many profile visitors. But now his network is more focused on him and A1 Digital. Three concrete business partnerships have evolved from this. And he was able to reactivate contact with two former business partners with whom he had broken off contact over the past 20 years. Together they are now looking at a project. And he has achieved all this even without a sales navigator strategy or an activity in a group, but solely through profile optimization and content creation. The more active you are and the more professional you appear, the more you achieve. And Thomas is still at the very beginning. He now wants to start using the Sales Navigator properly, sharing major concerns in articles and using LinkedIn's survey function even more intensively.
"The know-how transfer in coaching was enormous! It is important to get into action now. To do things one after the other, to adapt, to change. The journey has only just begun and I am incredibly excited about what I can and will achieve!
To whom Thomas would recommend Social Selling
"Many companies are having huge problems at the moment to get new customers and new orders. With Covid-19, events, trade shows & other meetings are no longer necessary. There is now a big hole. In my opinion, social selling is a must-have for everyone. It cannot be limited to one industry or one group of companies. We have to learn what social media can do at all, what can be done with a tool like the Sales Navigator, how to use social selling honestly and professionally without spamming, but really add value. And then we have to get people to implement it. You have proven that you have what it takes! You are really highly recommended. Social Selling is, especially in these times, a duty for all companies, especially if nothing is done in this direction yet.“