Meet Zendesk Enterprise Account Executive, Lior Shachar. When he began in his role in 2018, his initial focus was on growing Zendesk’s customer base among small-medium businesses (SMB). It was an obvious choice in a country like Israel, which is well known for its proliferation of successful startups in recent years, particularly in the tech and tech-adjacent spaces.
To begin with, Lior was kept busy booking meetings—there were a substantial number of businesses within his target demographic who had yet to engage with Zendesk, and while some had tried out Zendesk for themselves, there was still a significant requirement to educate the market on the full potential of the platform.
“Part of my strategy was to engage with Zendesk partners,” he explains, “both to help develop new leads and grow the userbase, but also to onboard and support new Zendesk clients in getting to grips with the software and matching the available features to their business needs.”
That’s where Lior hit a number of roadblocks. Some partners were solely interested in revenue and were reticent to offer additional support or advice to new or prospective users. Others were working with more than one supplier and were under pressure to make a decision on exclusivity. Fortunately, the situation changed when he met Adelante in 2019:
Lior recalls, “I started the partnership with Adelante with an open mind, I had nothing to lose. But almost immediately I was surprised at how swiftly they began bringing in new business, not just contacts but motivated leads. They connected well with prospective Zendesk users from the outset and helped them see the value in the platform.”
With connections across various industries, Adelante was able to introduce Lior to clients from sectors he hadn’t yet broken into, such as insurance and travel. And their close relationship with existing users helped keep retention rates high, as well as providing opportunities for cross- and up-selling.
Lior puts it simply, saying, “With Adelante, their customer service was so proactive, I never heard from the clients I sent to them until our next quarterly review. And when I did hear from them the feedback was only positive—which in my job is a big plus!
Adelante rapidly became Lior’s go-to partner whenever he had a client who needed to add more value to Zendesk. Their innovative plugins and extensions such as WhatsApp or chatbot integration, automated ticket resolution, and express setup proved popular with customers.
“It made my life easier,” he explains. “They think outside the box. They never start with ‘no’, it’s always ‘let’s see how.’ And they understand the importance of tailoring solutions to individual businesses, of supporting their goals. They think in the same way as the young companies we’re trying to attract to Zendesk.”
Ultimately, Lior says he would recommend Adelante as a partner for any Account Executive in a similar position to him, trying to build a presence in a new market, or break into a new vertical.
“I want to know that I’m connecting my customer with a partner I can trust, who will keep them happy. Adelante has consistently over-delivered—and clients appreciate that. They’re responsive, innovative, passionate, and always moving forwards. It’s the ideal relationship for any Zendesk AE who wants to sleep well at night!”
