TL;DR

To support Sonepar’s regional digital transformation, I led a project at KVC Malaysia to identify which customers and product lines to move online first — and more importantly, why. We segmented based on readiness, product simplicity, and relationship trust — so we could roll out early, test safely, and iterate in real time. The result? A confident sales team, faster online adoption, and customers who helped us make the platform better.

The Situation

Sonepar had a clear digital mandate: increase online sales, improve operational efficiency. But at the local level, the challenge was execution.

KVC Malaysia had:

• A massive catalog with varying levels of complexity

• A diverse customer base with mixed digital maturity

• A newly built platform that wasn’t perfect — and likely to show bugs early on

We couldn’t move everything online at once. We needed to choose wisely where to start.

The Insight

Transformation isn’t just about digitizing. It’s about de-risking how you digitize.

We segmented both the catalog and customer base using two criteria:

• Fit: Which products and buyers are naturally suited to online ordering? (simple, repeat-purchase, price-transparent SKUs; digitally mature accounts)

• Friction tolerance: Which customers trust us enough to handle early platform bugs and co-create improvements?

That dual lens made all the difference.

What I Did

• Led cross-functional sessions with sales, product, and marketing teams

• Mapped product lines by volume, margin, complexity, and support requirements

• Identified high-volume, low-complexity SKUs that drove 80% of revenue

• Segmented customer accounts by digital readiness and relationship depth — focusing on early adopters who’d co-pilot with us

• Worked 1:1 with account managers to build confidence in how to position the new platform

• Secured executive buy-in to adjust sales incentives — rewarding reps for moving customers online

This wasn’t just about tools. It was about designing a safe runway for behavior change.

Why It Worked

• Chose the right customers for early rollout — low-risk, high-trust

• Gave the sales team confidence — they weren’t being replaced, they were being enabled

• Created a feedback loop between early adopters and the platform team

• Saw an immediate uplift in online transactions with reduced resistance from sales

• Built a playbook that scaled to other markets

And importantly: the team felt safe to make mistakes. They saw digital not as a threat, but as a partnership.

What This Showed Me

Digital transformation isn’t about pushing buttons. It’s about sequencing.

When you choose where and how to move first, you create a path of least resistance.

And when you treat early adopters as co-creators, not just users, you build better systems and stronger relationships.