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If you saw the headlines you know that Serco recently completed its acquisition of SI International. On the heels of that acquisition, ExecutiveBiz stopped by Serco“™s offices to get the inside take on what’s ahead for the company. Offering that perspective was Serco“™s new chief marketing officer, Leslee Belluchie. Belluchie comes to Serco with a career spanning operations and delivery, business development and marketing. Her credentials include business development at CSC and IBM, as well as a two-and-a-half year stint as chief marketing officer at SI international. With Serco“™s acquisition of SI, Belluchie is now gearing up to do what she does best: build a pipeline generation engine and develop a capture process to take Serco to the next level.
What new or unexpected challenges have you found in your new role?
Leslee Belluchie: Well, the deal closed Dec. 29, and the good news is that while any acquisition brings some speed bumps we did a lot of homework before the deal closed to the extent we could legally. By doing our homework as thoroughly as we did the transition has been fairly smooth. I feel really fortunate to tell you that I haven“™t seen a lot of surprises, from a transition point of view.
How is the current economic climate affecting your ability to do your job day to day?
Leslee Belluchie: As you know, this market is somewhat insulated from what is happening in the commercial market space. Serco has made an investment in business development. We are centralizing the function here at Serco. We“™re growing it. We“™re making an investment in the Client Solution and Demonstration Center where we can showcase the capabilities we offer across the company.
What tips would you offer business development executives of smaller companies?
Leslee Belluchie: First, it“™s always easiest to grow your market by expanding with the client base that you know and that knows you. By building on that trust and that relationship, you are able to bring new capabilities to that client. The second easiest way to grow is to take a capability that you are successful with and offer it to new clients. Those are the two ways you can grow.
Marketing and development requires innovation. How does innovation strike you?
Leslee Belluchie: At Serco we have a highly talented team that looks across the company and matches our capabilities to clients“™ requirements coming down the pike. For example, in the emerging cyber market, we are examining all the works we do in cyber matters across our various business units and developing cyber solution offerings to meet anticipated needs in the coming months and years.
What is your overall view of the cyber marketplace?
Leslee Belluchie: From a cyber perspective, we are supporting some really interesting work in the Intelligence community. We also have provided support to numerous defense and civilian agencies in the areas of information security and information assurance. We are talking to our customers to learn more about their needs in this area going forward.
What advice would you give a small company wanting to partner with Serco?
Leslee Belluchie: We have a great small business program office in our marketing and sales organization. We view building strong lasting relationships with small businesses as a win-win for everyone involved. Not only do we provide the resources to mentor them, but they often provide new marketing channels for us. We view them as a member of our team.
What is something most people don“™t know about you personally?
Leslee Belluchie: In the last six months of my life I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my former company was acquired, and I just got married, so I“™ve had a really big transition over the past few months. It all turned out good. I did have some pretty big challenges this last year and got through them feeling strong and happy.
Interview conducted by JD Kathuria
Read more interviews here: https://blog.executivebiz.com/category/interviews/
