Customer Segments

Our Customer Segments strategy is part of our Open Business Model

Who are our customers and users - what do they need from us?

The ultimate goal of Zontally is to be an enterprise software company that is passionate about serving leaders whether they are running a single team or a huge business. In a previous company I felt the frustration of mid-market businesses that thought they were too small for their technology partner to care about.

I want to welcome everyone to this movement no matter if you are bringing a small team as a manager, or your entire business as a HR leader. You are included in the movement to lead with impact and grow with purpose.

The way that we can include everyone in the movement is to adopt a Product-led Growth (PLG) methodology. This allows easy self-service to the platform, allowing us to focus on the high-touch onboarding of enterprise customers.

Therefore we are serving two related customer segments. Below you can read about Sarah Thompson who is a people manager in a business role (IT, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Industry etc). She is an ideal customer to buy Zontally directly through PLG.

Michael Reynolds is an enterprise buyer who controls the budget for talent development and represents dozens of managers who will receive the platform through an B2B deal.

Persona: Sarah Thompson (Individual buyer)

  • Position: Senior Manager, Finance Operations
  • Company: Large multinational corporation, with a team of 8-12 direct reports and cross-functional influence
  • Experience Level: Mid-career, with over 10 years in managerial roles; actively seeking to advance within her current company’s leadership track
  • Location: Urban center (likely a company HQ), often working in hybrid mode

Background:

Sarah is a highly motivated manager who values both her team’s professional growth and her own career progression. She often feels the challenges of balancing operational responsibilities with the desire to develop each team member’s unique talents. While her company promotes a culture of engagement and development, the practical support Sarah receives to foster these values is limited and fragmented.

Sarah has a background in operations and HR, is comfortable with technology, and is familiar with platforms like Microsoft Teams and LinkedIn Learning. However, she’s frustrated with scattered tools and longs for a streamlined platform that helps her keep development goals, feedback, and performance metrics centralized and actionable.

Demographic Details

  • Age: Early 40s
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business or HR, often attending workshops and obtaining certifications in leadership
  • Values: Driven by purpose and loyalty; values engagement and alignment within her team; strives for recognition within her organization
  • Learning Style: Visual and interactive; prefers actionable insights over dense reports

Goals

  • Develop her team by facilitating career development discussions, performance evaluations, and goal-setting without disrupting workflow.
  • Grow her own leadership skills by gaining insights into industry best practices, and learning strategies from other managers.
  • Improve team dynamics by understanding engagement metrics and implementing a feedback loop to support team members.
  • Advance her career by showcasing her ability to lead a high-performing, engaged team and by earning leadership certifications.

Challenges

  • Lack of Resources: Struggles to find comprehensive, continuous learning material specific to leadership within her industry and department.
  • Limited Support for Engagement: Needs tools to survey her team’s engagement and identify actionable steps for improvement.
  • Fragmented Feedback: Finds it challenging to collect and consolidate feedback from multiple sources into meaningful action plans.
  • Time Constraints: Has limited time to prepare for regular 1:1s and growth conversations; needs a tool that optimizes preparation and follow-up.

Motivations

  • Career Advancement: She aims to demonstrate leadership skills and showcase her team’s success as a springboard for higher positions.
  • Team Success: Believes in creating a supportive, growth-oriented environment that benefits both the organization and individual team members.
  • Work-Life Balance: Seeks tools that simplify her managerial responsibilities, freeing up time for strategic thinking and work-life balance.

How Zontally Addresses Sarah’s Needs

  1. Performance Management & Feedback: Zontally’s tools for setting Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and 360-degree feedback help Sarah align her team’s efforts with company goals and gather constructive input from diverse stakeholders.

  2. Development & Growth Conversations: Automated reminders and AI-assisted summarization tools streamline her preparation for growth discussions, ensuring continuity and relevance.

  3. Employee Engagement: Pulse surveys give Sarah a real-time view of her team’s morale, allowing her to make adjustments proactively to increase engagement and retention.

  4. Learning & Networking: Zontally’s targeted leadership content and industry-specific enablement tracks support her growth in finance, HR, and other functional areas. The platform also enables her to connect with other leaders, share insights, and broaden her professional network.

  5. Recognition and Culture Building: Zontally’s recognition tool enables Sarah to foster a culture of appreciation and collaboration, giving visibility to individual achievements and promoting positive dynamics within her team.

Key Outcomes

  • Enhanced Team Performance: Sarah’s team shows measurable improvements in productivity and engagement, directly contributing to business goals.
  • Career Progression: Zontally’s certification programs add weight to Sarah’s resume, reinforcing her profile as a transformative leader.
  • Higher Retention: The platform’s development focus and ongoing feedback loops foster a culture that increases team loyalty and reduces turnover.

Persona: Michael Reynolds (B2B buyer)

  • Position: Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
  • Company: Enterprise-level organization with over 5,000 employees across multiple global locations
  • Experience Level: Senior executive with 15+ years in HR leadership roles; highly experienced in driving organizational change, talent strategies, and employee engagement
  • Location: Corporate headquarters or regional hub, managing a hybrid workforce with global oversight

Background

Michael is a forward-thinking HR leader responsible for shaping the company’s people strategy to align with business goals. His role spans employee engagement, leadership development, talent retention, and driving cultural transformation. He is measured on outcomes such as reducing turnover, increasing employee engagement, and ensuring leadership readiness for future growth.

Michael is well-versed in HR technologies and often evaluates platforms that improve organizational efficiency, data visibility, and alignment with business strategy. While he recognizes the value of innovative tools, he is cautious about solutions that create unnecessary complexity or require excessive customization.

He regularly interfaces with C-suite peers and board members, translating people metrics into business impact. Michael is a champion of employee-centric initiatives, but he struggles with getting managers across the organization to adopt consistent practices for team engagement and performance management.

Demographic Details

  • Age: Late 40s to early 50s
  • Education: MBA or advanced degrees in HR, Organizational Development, or Business; frequently attends executive programs at institutions like Wharton or HBR webinars
  • Values: Prioritizes fostering a high-performance culture, aligning HR initiatives with business outcomes, and implementing sustainable solutions for workforce challenges
  • Decision-Making Style: Data-driven but influenced by peer recommendations and success stories from similar organizations

Goals

  1. Strategic Workforce Planning: Build a resilient and future-ready workforce by identifying leadership pipelines and aligning skills development with organizational goals.
  2. Standardized Performance Management: Implement consistent tools and frameworks for OKRs, feedback, and performance reviews across all business units.
  3. Employee Engagement and Retention: Increase engagement scores by addressing pain points with data-driven initiatives and reducing voluntary turnover.
  4. Leadership Enablement: Empower managers with tools and training that enhance their ability to engage and retain talent, especially in hybrid or remote environments.
  5. HR Metrics and Insights: Gain real-time visibility into engagement, productivity, and other key people metrics to report to the executive team and board.

Challenges

  • Adoption Across Managers: Struggles to ensure managers at all levels consistently use tools and processes for performance management and engagement.
  • Fragmented Solutions: Often deals with siloed systems that make it difficult to obtain a unified view of people metrics and engagement trends.
  • Proving ROI: Faces pressure to demonstrate measurable ROI for HR technology investments to the CFO and CEO.
  • Scaling Engagement Initiatives: Balancing the need for customized solutions with the requirement to scale across a large and diverse workforce.
  • Cultural Resistance: Navigating resistance to change, especially from seasoned leaders hesitant to adopt new processes or tools.

Motivations

  • Driving Business Impact: Michael wants HR to be viewed as a strategic partner, not just a cost center, by showcasing how HR initiatives directly affect business outcomes like profitability and customer satisfaction.
  • Enhancing Leadership Quality: Believes strong leadership is key to maintaining engagement, productivity, and innovation in a competitive talent market.
  • Future-Proofing the Workforce: Motivated to build a sustainable people strategy that ensures the organization remains competitive in an evolving business landscape.
  • Recognition of HR’s Value: Seeks tools that elevate HR’s role by providing actionable insights that drive decision-making at the executive level.

How Zontally Addresses Michael’s Needs

  1. Scalable Performance Management: Zontally’s unified OKR and feedback platform ensures consistency across business units, giving managers actionable insights into team alignment and progress.
  2. Engagement Analytics: Real-time pulse surveys and AI-driven insights help Michael monitor engagement trends and identify hotspots requiring intervention.
  3. Leadership Enablement: Targeted content, coaching resources, and certification pathways empower managers to develop their leadership skills and support employee growth.
  4. Data-Driven Reporting: Zontally’s executive dashboards provide Michael with metrics on engagement, performance, and retention, enabling him to present clear, measurable results to the board.
  5. Enterprise Integration: Seamless compatibility with HRIS platforms and productivity tools ensures Zontally fits into Michael’s existing tech stack without adding complexity.

Key Outcomes

  • Increased Engagement Scores: Zontally helps managers create personalized engagement plans, leading to higher scores in key surveys and improved morale.
  • Improved Manager Adoption: Intuitive tools and automated reminders ensure consistent use across all management levels.
  • Actionable Insights for the Board: Michael can confidently present data on workforce trends and initiatives, reinforcing HR’s strategic role.
  • Reduced Turnover: By fostering alignment and engagement, Zontally supports lower voluntary attrition and higher talent retention rates.
  • Cultural Transformation: Zontally’s focus on feedback and recognition helps build a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous growth.