Subscribed Paris 2017 Wrap Up: Digital Transformation in the EU and Beyond

Subscribed Paris 2017 featured some of the most exciting European companies telling stories of their digital transformation to subscriptions…and some of the best chocolate croissants we’ve ever had! Hundreds of business leaders representing companies across the EU—and across all industries—gathered at the Pavillon Cambon in the heart of Paris to get practical advice on building and growing a subscription business and insight into what’s next for the Subscription Economy.

All day long, the Subscribed community (including partners, sponsors, customers, and industry leaders) met in the beautifully lit expo hall to network and discover innovative products and services.

The event opened with a discussion on humanity in the age of digital transformation. Phllippe Van Hove, VP Southern Europe, Zuora; Sylvie Pichot, Partner Sales Director; Salesforce; and Antoine de Gabriellii, Co-Founder, Happy Men Share More took on the provocative topic of societal transformation: in our hyper-connected society, in the era of artificial intelligence, connected cars, and digital transformation, where do humans have a place in business?

Then Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo took to the stage to talk about the different world we now live in where products are no longer at the center — and how to change the game, from focusing on products, to focusing on customers.

Marc Diouane, President, Zuora was joined on stage by representatives from SNCF, Royal Canin, Bic, AccorHotels, WebGeoservices, and Klaxoon sharing their testimonies on how their businesses are profiting from new subscription business models.

Afternoon breakout sessions were divided into 3 sessions all focused on how to grow your business around a subscription-based model and how to stay competitive.

In “Bringing New Customer Experience’s to Market,” SNCF, Arvato, AccorHotels, Royal Canin, ValueIn et OpenClassrooms, discussed how customers have changed and, as a result, businesses need to offer new customer experiences.

In “Company Transformation in the Subscription Economy,” DXC, Accenture, Salesforce, St. Gobain, RCI took on the topic of rethinking your enterprise software solutions so your back-end system is a fit with your front-end strategy.  And then, Alcatel Lucent, Suez and our partners Accenture and Salesforce, talked about approaching your business like a startup, transformation, and overcoming organizational resistances to change.

Lastly, in “Financial Directions: Impacts and Obligations,” Deloitte and Econocom took on IFRS 15 and its implications and Doctolib, Coorpacademy, Tillersystems joined a session about adapting to the new standards…before the implementation deadline.

Here are just a few highlights from the event that demonstrate how Europe is on the cutting edge of the Subscription Economy.

“It used to be about finding ways to sell your products, you didn’t care about your customer, it was about finding the right channels. Now it’s about having a direct relationship with your customers, understanding their needs, and giving them what they want, when they want it. It’s a whole new consumer experience…that’s much more free than the old business models.” – Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora

“Companies are reinventing the world by delivering new levels of subscriber freedom. You are creating this new world and it’s a better world. And the companies that are doing this are thriving: Subscription companies are growing 9X faster than S&P 500. Growth in the future will only come through subscriptions.” – Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora

“How do we shift from products to services to insights to experiences to outcomes? These are the conversations that are happening inside your company.” – Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora

“With these new business models, you have to think differently. The product isn’t at the core; the subscriber is. Apple cares less and less about how many phones they sell, but how many Apple IDs do they have, and how can they monetize those IDs? The focus isn’t on product profitability but on customer profitability.” – Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora

“Zuora offers a platform that’s built around the subscriber, around your business model, providing a central way to manage the entire order-to-cash process. Zuora Central sits at the center of your order-to-cash process to deliver business freedom. This is a dynamic architecture with the subscriber at the center.” – Tom Krackeler, VP Products, Zuora

“Maybe the most important new challenge in the Subscription Economy is around analytics. Now that we wrap our business around our subscribers, there is a whole new set of key performance indicators that we need to make good business decisions. These are forward-looking metrics like MRR, net retention, churn, customer lifetime value. But these metrics are not easy to get. Your ERP doesn’t really understand net retention or churn. Your CRM doesn’t know how to get your MRR right, much less how it changes over time. Zuora Insights can calculate and compute all these metrics so they’re board ready.” – Tom Krackeler, VP Products, Zuora

“Data residency is the #1 question that Europeans want to know about. We are excited that we have an EU data center that is now up in German. This is part of our commitment to businesses in Europe.” – Tom Krackeler, VP Products, Zuora

“Consumers use information. They’re using platforms to compare options, in B2B and B2C, and they’re demanding more freedom to research and choose.” – Marc Diouane, President, Zuora

“With IFRS 15 / ASC 606, your business is preparing for the biggest shift in accounting standards in decades: new revenue concepts, new reporting requirements, multiple nuanced interpretations, varying business impacts, different cost treatments.” – Cyrille Mallaret, partner,  Deloitte

“Pay as you go has deeply influenced the offerings of B2B companies. Usage is increasingly replacing ownership.” -Eric Lucas, CEO, Econocom

Moving to the new economy is capital intensive. And meeting these new market expectations leads to complex and challenging transformation…on the financial side, on the operational side, on the legal side, on the marketing side.” -Eric Lucas, CEO, Econocom

“Today delivering customer freedom requires more. Maintaining a cohesive order-to-cash architecture in this world has been driving all of us crazy. Zuora Central is the single order-to-cash platform that you need.” – Eric Speciel, VP Sales Strategy and Execution

Thanks again to our wonderful sponsors!

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