Thinking Outside

the Box

How thinking differently led a team to success

Thinking Outside the Box

How thinking differently led a team to success

ENI is the most important hydrocarbon company in Europe, the equivalent of PEMEX in Mexico. In 2015, when Marco Antonio Jaimes and his Multinational Accounts team took the account for the first time, ENI’s contract with Axtel billed a small sum. Today, the invoice is 18 times bigger and Axtel is considered, not only as a supplier, but an ally in the company’s operation.

Reaching that point meant working with the client’s offices in Houston, Texas, as well as their headquarters in Milan, Italy. This geographic and language diversity brought many challenges, from something as simple as time difference. Marco Antonio remembers how the team had to adapt to European time zones and the many meetings held at 5:00 in the morning.

Likewise, the team realized that the Italian, American and Mexican workflows were very different. Before signing the first contracts, there were endless conferences where they dealt with documents translated from Italian to English, and English to Spanish. Nonetheless, Marco Antonio and his team worked side by side with ALFA Risk and Alestra’s Legal Division to reach agreements where everyone involved benefited.

“We became something that Axtel would never be, and we did things that Axtel would never do; that’s how we became a priority for our client in every project”.

Marco Antonio, Multinational Accounts

“We became something that Axtel would never be, and we did things that Axtel would never do; that’s how we became a priority for our client in every project”.

Marco Antonio, Multinational Accounts

Reaching the current turnover meant diversifying the products Axtel offered so they could meet their technological needs. Marco Antonio remembers the moment when he approached the Design Department saying he wanted to sell 50 computers, a product totally outside of Axtel’s portfolio.

Doesn’t your team know where they work? They asked him, astonished. They asked him to sell something that was part of the standard catalog. His answer: We are not only selling a computer, we’re selling everything that comes with it and gaining our client’s trust.

Selling the equipment resulted in a contract where only Axtel can provide everything that connects to power at the client’s offices. To this day, ENI Mexico makes recurring purchase orders of equipment.

These are only some examples of how diversity can manifest and benefit a project… we just need to open our thoughts and be willing to not only think outside the box but create a new one.

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Axtel Business Diversity