Company: SAP, Lake Mary, FL
Company Description: As the market leader in enterprise application software, we’re helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run better by redefining ERP and creating networks of intelligent enterprises that provide transparency, resiliency, and sustainability across supply chains. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables our customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Woman of the Year in Customer Service
 Nomination Title: Lynda Marie O’Brien
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 39 words used.
2024 Customer Success Stories from Lynda’s Organization
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2022 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 198 words used.
Lynda's visionary 20-year leadership has transformed SAP's Support, driving sustained success and making SAP an industry leader. As VP Global Head of Support for SAP Public Cloud ERP, she and her team consistently enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction. Lynda empowers her team, advocates for employees, and fosters a collaborative culture across previously unconnected teams, leading to many successful innovations and collaborations.
Starting as a support engineer in 2001, she quickly advanced to team manager by 2003 and later became a global functional manager. Since then, she has established the S/4HANA Cloud team and made a distinct solution area. Her dedication to developing individuals has transformed her team into a powerhouse of problem-solvers.
As chairperson of the corporate social responsibility team in Ireland, as mentor and coach to many, and as executive sponsor for several support strategic initiatives, she helps drive success and foster an inclusive workplace.
As change catalyst, she helps support deliver even greater value through meaningful collaborations with development, customer success partners, and more, leading to greater insight into customer journeys. Lynda is more than a leader; she's a mentor, a cheerleader, and change agent, proving that when emotional intelligence meets strategic acumen, magic happens.
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 239 words used.
Lynda cultivates a behavior-driven culture centered on employee and customer-centricity, championing unbounded collaboration and creativity for continuous improvement. A key innovation by the team is the proactive customer notification system. Previously, engineers were only aware of issues when customers reported them. This new centralized model enables support teams to be more proactive, detecting issues, and delivering updates more swiftly, thereby significantly enhance the customer experience. This remains a pivotal project in SAP’s Support’s shift towards a more predictive and preventative model.
The bridges Lynda has thoughtfully built have evolved into robust cross-organizational collaborations aimed at reducing the totla cost of operations and enhancing support quality. One such initiative, established by Lynda, involves integrating development and support teams earlier in the implementation phases to mitigate problems early and decrease case volume for support. This successful program enables SAP to deliver more impactful solutions, foster deeper product knowledge, and identify product innovaiton opportunities earlier. This collaboration with development has further scaled with a product feedback loop, pioneered by Lynda, to incorporate cusotmers' perspectives from support cases to improve the usability and features of products.
The proactive strategies from Lynda and her team, to enhance product quality and deflection have resulted in a remarkable reduction in incoming cases by nearly half, and a further decrease in live customer call rate by a third. This increase in deflection has allowed for another significant rise in the number of cases closed, exceeding a third.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 226 words used.
Despite the rapid expansion of the cloud customer base and the complexities in cloud computing, Lynda and her team have successfully reduced the total cost of operations and harmonized the end-to-end lifecycle management. They achieved this by fostering collaboration with teams that have limited access to customer insights and creating better structures of accountability.
Under Lynda's astute guidance, the implementation of proactive customer notification systems and the early integration of development and support teams have significantly reduced case volumes and elevated support quality. These initiatives have streamlined operations, fostered deeper product knowledge and innovation, and positioned SAP as a leader in customer-centric solutions.
Her focus on behavior-driven outcomes has positioned support for sustained success. Her suggestion of integrating cross-team, collaborative case resolution practices is evident of strategic vision and execution abilities. The solution was proposed during a design thinking workshop with engineers, developers, and cloud operations pinpointing gaps and collaboratively finding solutions to pressing challenges. Lynda then continued to spearhead the adoption and integration of this inclusive strategy, leading to a significant reduction in redundant communications, quicker problem resolutions, and a synergiged gathering of expertise. Lynda has adeptly navigated the complexities of cloud computer and helped set new standards for customer-centric solutions. Her ability to foster collaboration, drive innovation, and maintain a relentless focus on customer-centricity has established her as a trusted, pioneering leader across SAP.
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