» ENHANCING CUSTOM ER CONNECT

Enhancing Customer Connect

Marie-Ange Fares, Channel and Presales Manager, Axon Technologies discusses how her technical competence has helped her in strategic discussions to understand customer needs better

Marie-Ange Fares

What made you choose technology as your professional path? How has this journey been so far in terms of achieving professional success and personal happiness?

After graduating as a Computer and Communication Engineer, I started my career as a Technical Engineer. Six years into my career, I then decided to move to a sales and channel position. I found out throughout the years that the part that brings me the most satisfaction from my job is the part where I am talking to the customers, discussing their challenges, and trying to figure out how technology can help them achieve their business goals. My technical background helped me a lot in pursuing my role in Sales, where it enabled me to focus discussions at a more strategic level for my customers, which I find the most interesting. It has also given me access to leaders within their organizations where I was able to pitch my own ideas, but also gain knowledge from their experiences, which has equally contributed positively to both my professional success and personal happiness.

Does gender matter in channel sales in terms of expectations and recognitions? What are some of the common attributes as key differences between women and men in such roles?

Throughout my career, I was lucky to work in environments where there was no discrimination between employees based on gender. This provided me the opportunity to contribute a lot to my performance and success in handling key positions in the companies I worked in. However, I cannot deny that it is sometimes frustrating to be in a male-dominated field, specifically in a position where you have direct interaction with people, and you need to be involved in key business decisions. Nevertheless, for me, it was always a motivation to continuously develop myself and strive to change. After all, people want to see value and quality, and if I focus on building this value and confidence, people will focus on the results rather than pre-judging the person they are working with based on their gender. I always try to find ways to bond with my customers and find a workaround solution for every challenge I face, without becoming a stranger to my reality as a woman, and by accepting the obligations I have towards my job as well as to my family being a mother with off-duty responsibilities.

Has hybrid work mode been rewarding or taxing? Describe your experience from last year onwards in adopting to the new normal at work? Especially as face-to-face meetings have been difficult to do, how does that impact your work?

Hybrid work was both rewarding and taxing. I was never able to be more present at home, spending more "contact" time with my kids even if I am busy with my job. It also provided flexibility within my working hours, but it was also taxing as hybrid work highly increased my responsibilities between a household and as a business and channel leader in my organization. This new work model has, however, made me more creative in the way I am managing my daily tasks at home, as well as the creativity in dealing with customers and creating new opportunities with new customers and partners. Although all people are adapting to this “new normal”, I do believe that face-to-face meetings, physical events, and direct interactions with customers and work colleagues are the key elements in a successful sales role and cannot be easily replaced by a fully remote model.

Describe some of the achievements or milestones you achieved in sales in this role as well as over the career briefly

My technical experience in the IT and Cybersecurity field provided me with great confidence and the credibility to drive the discussion to a more strategic level for my customers and partners. This credibility and customer satisfaction contributed a lot to my career growth and opened the doors for expanding my role to reach customers and partners in other countries, as well as new territories. Interacting with people with different backgrounds and mindsets is always an add-on to my personal experience and career growth. I am lucky to be pursuing a career in the cybersecurity field, where you always need to keep learning and stay up to date, and this has made my job challenging and rewarding at the same time.

On the road ahead in your professional journey, what are the ambitions that motivate you?

What motivates me is to keep learning; this will continue to help me develop key skills, highlight any weaknesses, and grow in my professional journey. Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing fields, due to its criticality and importance in today’s businesses. Being in this field always motivates me to learn and stay up to date; this will provide me with personal satisfaction and self-confidence and will enable me to transmit this knowledge to my customers and partners, which will contribute to the identification of more business opportunities.

"My technical background helped me a lot in pursuing my role in Sales, where it enabled me to focus discussions at a more strategic level for my customers, which I find the most interesting. "