Meet Jonathan Moody: co-founder of one of the fastest-growing companies in Ottawa, keen sailor, and Salesforce Trailblazer
“Blazing a trail isn’t a one-off project – it’s a continuous process. It’s about always moving the needle and making additions, tweaks, and deletions to processes and tools.”
Jonathan Moody, President and COO, Versature.
There are lots of things Jonathan Moody relishes in his personal life: motorbiking, sailing, skiing. He also loves a challenge in his professional life – especially when it involves disrupting a well-established industry. Since he co-founded trailblazing telecoms company Versature in 2003, it’s gone from strength to strength. We talked to Jonathan, President and COO at Versature, about how collaboration and the Salesforce community help him overcome existing challenges and unlock new opportunities.
How is Versature different to traditional telecoms companies?
As a software-as-a-service company, we have a vested interest in helping our customers get more from our solutions, rather than just selling them and stepping back. We want to offer a premium and personal service, and that means getting to know your customers, developing one-to-one relationships, and helping them take advantage of additional features so they can maximize their productivity and profitability.
How do you help your people meet these goals?
As President and COO, it’s my job to facilitate everyone else. I set the targets, and help the team achieve them – whether it’s through implementing new technology, hiring new talent, or targeting new acquisitions. Technology can unlock lots of new opportunities and insights and I want to ensure we maximize as many of them as possible. For example, Salesforce helps me understand our customers’ challenges as well as our own. When I spot a challenge, I love getting the team together to come up with a solution, and then celebrating the win at the end! On those days, I really feel I’ve accomplished something.
How does the Salesforce community help you address these challenges?
I regularly use online forums as my go-to for any technical questions. They are particularly helpful at the brainstorming stage, and great for meeting and keeping in touch with other Salesforce users and consultants in the area. We can feel a bit disconnected out here in Ottawa, but with Salesforce we feel we’re part of something bigger. I’m actually a co-leader of the Ottawa Salesforce User Group, which enables me to connect with peers and talk about shared challenges. I really like the way Salesforce encourages an open approach to sharing thought leadership, best practices, and new ideas – a collaborative approach helps everyone advance faster.
What is your next big idea?
I have lots of ideas involving AI – almost too many! We’re already using advanced analytics to identify the most suitable prospects and evaluate the cost of acquisition versus annual contract value. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. I want to use AI to create the profile of the perfect client. We could then match our leads against it and make sure all our advertising, marketing, and lead nurturing is lazer-focused. To realize the potential of AI, you need connected data – and lots of it. We've been using Salesforce for seven years, so we're in a great position to do all the fun stuff!
What advice would you give to other Trailblazers?
Blazing a trail isn’t a one-off project – it’s a continuous process. It’s about always moving the needle and making additions, tweaks, and deletions to the processes and tools that you use every day to better fit your needs as they evolve. I believe it’s also important to be open about what you’re doing, and open to other people’s ideas.
