John Allan was brought on to reform the Australian directory company Sensis into a business that could survive in a future that demands nimbleness and efficiency across the enterprise but particularly in the sales organization.

Directory sales organizations were always seen as a great asset. Countless solutions providers have sought access to all those feet on the street to resell their products. It’s increasingly clear, however, that the cost of maintaining large premise and telephone sales channels is unsustainable as the product mix changes. Allan saw this as one of his most critical challenges in transforming Sensis.

Allan has remade the Sensis sales organization into on that is much leaner and flatter, multi-channel and verticalized. He will share this story at BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming ENGAGE conference, May 16-18, in Austin, Texas. The theme of ENGAGE is sharing best practices for companies engaged in local commerce. Allan’s May 18 talk will be detailed, tactical and prescriptive.

We asked Allan to share some preview comments on his upcoming talk via video. The first clip below shares some of Allan’s keys to reshaping Sensis and its sales organization.

“The future for sales is multi-channel, moving seamlessly between online, self-serve, telesales and face to face,” Allan said. “Secondly, it is 24/7, allowing our customers to interact with us when they want to.”

In the following segment, Allan offers his overall “tips for digital transformation.” It’s a concise list that any organization can reference for the fundamentals of successful change. Transformation demands hard decisions — about people, processes, technology and culture.