What is your name and your organisation?
Lucy Green, Larato
What is your role at Larato?
Managing Director
How long have you been working for Larato/been in the industry?
I’ve worked in telecoms since the late 1990s and started Larato in 2005, so we are 20 this year!
What is your company's USP/key focus areas?
We bring buyers and suppliers of technology together by removing the barriers that get in the way of purchases. We do this with business creativity, process, and the considerable amount of valuable data and market intelligence we accrue each year. We understand how buyers buy and sellers compete, helping salespeople sell more.
What achievement is Larato most proud of?
Inside Track. It’s the game changing market-profiling platform we have built. It has extensive details for every trading company in the UK and can show technology suppliers exactly the best prospects for them, what they want to buy, why, how much they are likely to invest and what will block a purchase.
What are the key trends that you are experiencing currently in the market?
New sales leads are becoming increasingly difficult to secure. Buyers are being overwhelmed by a constant influx of marketing messages. This is creating communication fatigue where they become indifferent or even resistant to outreach messages. Research from the Data and Marketing Association cites trust as a critical factor in customer engagement and emphasises the need for highly relevant communication strategies.
Against this backdrop, Inside Track is an ideal tool to help you plan business development campaigns with messaging that will resonate well with your prospects.
What do you see as the main industry challenges at present?
Helping buyers to make the best investments in technology. There is a lot of buyer frustration out there because companies have invested in solutions that don’t quite deliver the business outcomes expected. Technology is becoming harder to buy. We just completed primary market research from over 350 firms buying technology. They said that the top reason for changing a supplier is to move to one that really understands their business.
If there was one thing in the industry you would change or want to resolve, what would it be?
Businesses not validating business plans or go-to-market strategies without listening to potential buyers first.
What opportunities do you foresee for the sector?
The demand for tech is burgeoning. With the right, data-backed, consultative approach to help buyers buy the best solutions, the sky really is the limit for providers.
What is the most exciting thing you are working on at the moment?
I’m loving signing up new clients to Inside Track. Lots of them have mentioned value I didn’t even realise it was delivering. I’m loving selling, listening, iterating, selling, listening, iterating again to make it constantly evolve to meet demand. It’s like watching your baby grow up.
What benefits do you get out of Comms Council UK membership?
Two big things. Women in Telecoms is an amazing initiative that challenges the industry to think about itself differently and become more diverse. Secondly, the get-togethers and briefings about key industry trends and issues. Fun and informative – you can’t ask for more than that.
