Seismic's Luke Cottis on GTM teams & Change Management

Rapid changes are occurring across the manufacturing industry, meaning go-to-market (GTM) teams need to be able to articulate the right message for their business, now more than ever. For businesses who are still experiencing fallout from COVID-19, where demand for some products was inflated, stabilisation now needs to be controlled. In contrast, other companies need to maximise the impact in the market and control sales cycles more effectively. At Seismic, Luke Cottis gets to be at the forefront of these challenges, working with customers to navigate increased complexity and the changing landscape.

“Seismic provides a holistic enablement platform that equips customer-facing organisations, including manufacturers, with the right skills, insights, tools and content to engage customers and ignite revenue growth,” says Cottis.

It enables employees to showcase their expertise through coaching and training, anticipate customers’ changing needs through personalised content and effectively support all GTM processes across the buyer journey.”

As Senior Director of Global Sales, Manufacturing at Seismic, Cottis is responsible for helping sales and marketing teams at companies such as Maersk, GEFA Fabritz and Aerogen use technology to deliver on buyer expectations. Cottis’ role ranges from improving the GTM process to increasing sales, supporting channel partner communication and increasing product development to meet customer expectations. 

Mastering change management is essential for manufacturers

Many manufacturing organisations’ methods and operations have resisted change for a long time, often resulting from a reliance on legacy systems and siloed organisational structures. For these types of organisations, change — be that through implementing new technology or changing market conditions — can be more disruptive and challenging to navigate. This is only exacerbated by the fact that many manufacturers’ business models operate on tight margins, says Cottis, which means that the slightest change in operational efficiency — which may come from an inability to adapt to external conditions — can have vast implications.

“Embracing change, rather than resisting, is the most effective way for manufacturers to adapt,” he says. “This is where mastering change management comes in. Having a bulletproof system in place will help guide staff and stakeholders through disruptive transition periods and help mitigate any potential operational disruption.”

With these processes in place, companies can benefit from remaining competitive, improving operations and meeting customer requirements despite external changes. 

Cottis adds: “Businesses such as GEFA Fabritz and Aerogen — who are already embracing change through intelligent use of technology and training – are reaping benefits, including reduced risk, greater speed to market and increased margins.”

Evolving technology, markets and customer demands impact this, as globalisation has pushed organisations to adapt to changing market conditions and customer requirements, increasing the need for change management systems to be well-established and effective. 

“As digital transformation has become essential to solving complex production problems and improving business processes, preparing for how technological changes in a business might impact staff and stakeholders in the short term is crucial,” Cottis continues. “Manufacturers are, for example, likely to see a surge in AI and ML use as they push for further automation, productivity, efficiency and quality improvements.” 

These changes can often be costly and overwhelming initially, requiring accelerated digital transformation processes. Cottis believes that staff also need to be trained and onboarded to any new technology, to avoid contributing to the ever-widening skills gap in the industry.

Furthermore, as customer demands continue to evolve, manufacturers need to be able to face the next generation of buyers, who are more socially savvy and digital-first. 

“In an industry where many organisations are relying on legacy systems and siloed organisational structures, a workforce transformation, through training and upskilling, may be required to meet customer needs and interests,” he says.

Intelligent change management and AI innovation

Cottis is clear that companies meet modern challenges through intelligent change management to protect themselves against disruption in the long term. 

“Modern challenges, such as rapid technological change and evolving customer expectations, can be met by creating and implementing a well-thought-out change management plan to mitigate long-term disruption when facing various challenges,” he says. “Much of this comes down to preparing teams.” 

By using the right technology, such as modern enablement tools, manufacturers can create relevant and personalised coaching and training programmes for their new and existing employees. This gives them the right resources to continuously learn and improve skills, stay updated on industry developments and meet modern challenges. 

“Creating dedicated change management roles, filled by employees with strong communication skills and support of project goals, will also drive long-term success,” Cottis adds. 

While digital transformation often drives the need for a change management system to be in place it can also help prepare for future unknowns, if carried out effectively. 

“Continued digital transformation is often the answer to complex production problems,” he says. “This can push organisations relying on legacy systems to refresh existing capabilities, making them better prepared for the future.”

In 2024, Seismic is looking to cement deeper investment in its regional and on-foot presence with clients, which will help to provide a better understanding of the complexities clients face, where Seismic can help and strengthen accountability to deliver more successful projects.

“We’re also working on organising more opportunities for our manufacturing clients to align and share knowledge in the coming year,” says Cottis. “These are valuable opportunities for organisations faced with similar challenges to troubleshoot and share best practice approaches whilst updating us on where we can help.”

Seismic is also continuing to work on its AI offering. In a recent survey of GTM leaders organised by Seismic, 93% attribute their plans to increase investment in enablement tech to the advancements in AI. 

“It’s an exciting technology for the manufacturing vertical and an opportunity to adapt quicker and automate time-consuming processes in the face of rapidly changing industry conditions,” Cottis concludes.

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