At Xelion, the emphasis of the company's long existence has been on the technical backend. The VoIP provider's goal was always to respond immediately to requests from their customers, according to CEO Thijs van den Ende. “We always delivered quickly, and we acquired a lot of customers because of that.”
Roadmap
The market for cloud-based communications is a lot more mature than it was a few years ago. The need for stability and reliability has increased. They recognized that at Xelion, too. That's why the process of development has recently changed. “Instead of wanting to roll out new features as quickly as possible, we now put more time into optimization,” Van den Ende says. They do this at set times. “With that, we improve stability. It is important that we follow a clear roadmap of what we implement when. That ensures long-term improvements, especially for existing customers.” Requests for new features are handled at set times throughout the year. Individual customers and partners then sometimes wait a little longer for a new feature, but they then know where they stand, according to Van den Ende. “We now know exactly what we are delivering when. That helps our partners communicate to the customer transparently. That's how we ensure that our solutions get better in the long run.”
New corporate style and logo
This new roadmap approach is a change that is not immediately visible. What is visible is the new corporate identity that includes a new logo, slogan, website and campaign. This is not just a cosmetic change, Van den Ende says. "Let's face it: at the front, our communication platform and website looked a bit outdated.
To us, stability was more important than appearance." Partners-and their customers, meanwhile-look beyond that. A bare-bones user interface affects existing customers' user experience and a prospect's decision moment. That's why Xelion now has a UX designer. “Until now, we were kind of doing it on the side. The designer, together with marketing, implemented the complete rebranding in our apps.” The new Xelion was finally revealed at a partner event on October 2nd.
Ultimately, the “new” Xelion offers everything the “old” Xelion already did, Van den Ende says. It remains a partner-focused provider. “We did become much more predictable,” Van den Ende says. “We know exactly when we deliver what features. And in addition, the feeling that the product brings is now even more crucial.”
