Cisco’s client list and product portfolio are expansive, and these examples represent just the tip of an iceberg that is growing bigger and bigger all the time. As Bostrom points out, Cisco’s own products and services are helping the company itself to become even more efficient at managing the purchase process. “I don’t think I had realized how powerful the Web could be in taking a customer through the purchase journey. We can get data on an hourly basis, find out right away what’s working and not working, and evolve our Web capabilities to meet those customers’ expectations.” Through its customer consultancy efforts, Cisco can share these insights and experiences to help customers do the same. That’s a powerful selling proposition.
A BRIGHT FUTURE
This year, Cisco’s financial performance is down. But Chambers thinks that’s only a blip in the grand scheme of things. He points out that Cisco has emerged from every economic downturn of the past two decades stronger and more flexible. During this downturn, Cisco moved quickly, seizing every opportunity to snatch up businesses and develop new products. During the 2000s, Cisco acquired 48 venture-backed companies. But last year alone, the company announced an astounding 61 new technologies, all focused on helping customers through and
with collaboration. With these resources—and $35 billion in cash that it has stowed away—Cisco is now expanding into 30 different markets, each with the potential to produce $1 billion a year in revenue. Moving forward, the company has committed to adding 20 percent more new businesses annually. And because Cisco enters a new market only when it’s confident that it can gain a 40 percent share, the chance of failure is far below normal.