Istanbul, Türkiye
I thrive on being a pioneer, constantly introducing innovative and creative ways of doing business and overcoming challenges. My career has been a balanced blend of hands-on experience with clients, business partners, alliances, marketing, product development, inside sales, and technical and after-sales support teams. This diverse background has equipped me with extensive knowledge and success in Sales Management and Business Development. In my last role as General Manager, I have driven significant growth and operational improvements. I achieved over 75% year-over-year revenue growth, reengineered the organizational structure to enhance agility and efficiency, and overhauled sales, marketing, and legal processes to increase operational efficiency. Additionally, I strengthened the technical infrastructure to offer more robust solutions and introduced AI capabilities to stay ahead of market trends. By adding numerous new business partners, I also developed a comprehensive channel strategy that further propelled our success. I bring to the table: Broad Expertise: Experience in hardware, software, cloud, and solution sales. Leadership: Proven track record in P&L management, direct and virtual team leadership. Market Adaptability: Deep understanding of the growing pains associated with new product and program launches in culturally diverse markets. Sales Transformation: Expertise in facilitating, directing, and maintaining sales culture shifts from traditional software sales to cloud and subscription-based models. I am passionate about driving growth and achieving aggressive targets by leveraging my comprehensive skill set and knowledge to navigate and excel in complex business environments. KEYWORDS: Business development, SaaS, Cloud, Team Management, Account Management, Strategy, Go To Market Models, Sales, Value Selling, Solution Selling, Collaboration, IoT, Microsoft technologies, Software, Business Intelligence, EMEA, Cross Industry, Financial Services, Pipeline Management, Sales Coaching, Customer Success Management, AI.
As General Manager, I spearheaded significant growth and operational improvements, driving the company's success through strategic initiatives and innovative solutions. Key achievements include: • Revenue Growth: Achieved over 75% year-over-year revenue growth since taking on the role. • Organizational Reengineering: Reengineered the organizational structure to enhance agility and efficiency, resulting in improved team dynamics and faster decision-making. • Process Overhaul: Overhauled sales, marketing, and legal processes, introducing streamlined workflows that significantly increased operational efficiency. • Technical Infrastructure Enhancement: Strengthened the technical infrastructure to offer more robust solutions, which facilitated sales efforts and reduced customer churn. • AI Integration: Introduced AI capabilities to our offerings, ensuring the company stayed ahead of market trends and met evolving customer needs. • Operational Leadership: Created and set operational policies, developed and maintained budgets, and managed employees to ensure strategic and performance goals are met. • Cross-Departmental Coordination: Led operations across software production, human resources, finance, and marketing to maximize team productivity and efficiency. • Strategic Planning: Developed and implemented strategic Cloud GTM plans to optimize productivity, along with maintaining budgetary and resource allocation plans.. • International Expansion: Identified opportunities for international expansion and growth by cultivating new business relationships in 3 countries. • Talent Management: Facilitated recruitment, onboarding, and training of high-performing employees to achieve sales, profitability, market share, and business plan targets, while providing guidance and feedback to enhance specific knowledge and skill areas. • Channel Strategy Development: Added numerous domestic and international new business partners to develop a comprehensive channel strategy.
• Led IBM’s Cloud and SaaS business across the Middle East & Africa, achieving significant growth in new signings: 60% in FY16, 80% in FY17, and 40% in FY18 year-over-year. Focus areas included Analytics, Cloud, IoT, Security Solutions, Collaboration Solutions, and Commerce Solutions. • Tripled new logo signings by developing and implementing comprehensive 1, 3, and 5-year go-to-market strategies, collaborating with country managers, brand managers, senior MEA management, IBM Business Partners, and ISVs. • Initiated and led culture transition programs towards cloud selling through a consultative approach, enabling 1,200 personnel. Delivered sales coaching on value proposition, negotiations, and contracting. • Created the business case, secured investment, and established Customer Success Management and Contract Extension teams for the MEA region, resulting in more than doubling renewal rates. • Conducted in-depth market analysis, assessing product and local capabilities to create and direct a localized “Focus Set” of offerings, optimizing resource utilization and maximizing new signings and renewal revenue. • Identified and replicated best-selling offerings and sales practices, driving real-time adjustments in sales execution, incentive control, operations, field enablement, marketing, channel planning, sales forecasting, resource allocation, pipeline management, budget management, and KPI tracking.
• Reformed and executed comprehensive short, mid, and long-term go-to-market strategies for the Lotus, Websphere Portal, Connections Collaboration Suite, and Kenexa HR Suite. • Introduced new business channels and partnerships, creating cross-brand packaged offerings to address client business challenges. • Reshaped sales resources to meet evolving market demands, enhancing agility and responsiveness. • Developed and implemented joint value-added solutions with existing and new business partners, significantly extending the client base. • Launched targeted online campaigns to attract new logo audiences, increasing brand visibility and market penetration. • Systematically analyzed the working culture of prospective clients, enhancing workplace efficiency through the introduction and implementation of collaboration solutions.
• Delivered end-to-end value-based sales leadership, consistently surpassing annual targets by an average of 15%. • Successfully completed numerous Enterprise Agreements, growing all accounts by over 30% through the Microsoft product and solution portfolio, including database, portal, systems integration and management, and analytics. • Collaborated with local and global experts to provide clients with a visible and measurable competitive advantage through innovative visions and tools. • Embedded with client teams, working onsite to understand daily operations and pain points, and developed tailored solutions that received high praise from IT, business, and C-level executives. • Dramatically increased customer satisfaction scores by over 10 points by closely monitoring implementation stages, establishing a robust feedback loop, and collaborating with customer support teams. • Formed joint teams with Microsoft, clients, and business partners to identify needs and co-create solutions. • Led an internal study on increasing employee satisfaction within Microsoft Turkey, presenting findings to management and driving the implementation of actions that significantly improved the sales culture.
• Developed business cases and led Analytics, Business Intelligence, Performance Management, CRM, Data Quality, and Integration projects at four top private banks and two telecommunications companies. • Formed a strategic alliance with a consulting company, securing the first significant Marketing Optimization win for SAS in the local market, which substantially reduced marketing spending for the client. • Built and structured the competency of local pre-sales and consultancy teams for Risk Management projects, enhancing their effectiveness and capabilities. • Expanded the company's footprint in CRM Analytics and Credit Scoring accounts, driving growth and establishing a strong market presence.
• Introduced four new success stories in previously untapped areas within HP Turkey's top ten clients, revitalizing and enhancing customer relationships. • Extended HP's footprint by forming co-selling opportunities and expanding the business partner ecosystem to reach new logo customers. • Restructured the traditional customer approach by formulating mid- and long-term scenarios, moving beyond a short-term focus. • Collaborated with other product groups within HP to orchestrate bundle deals, reducing after-sales service costs by up to 15%. • Unified various HP teams into a cohesive unit, drastically improving the evaluation of alternative solutions, positioning the right mix of HP hardware products and solutions, and enhancing deal evaluation, prioritization, strategy, alliance formation, partner assignment, and relationship management at all customer levels. • Provided CxO sponsorship for projects and led price and term negotiations, ensuring alignment with client needs and strategic goals.