As he celebrates his tenth anniversary at Empowered, we speak to Steve Marsh, Sales Director, to find out how his role and the sales team have evolved and what he is looking forward to in 2024 and beyond.
It’s been 10 years at Empowered! How are you feeling about this milestone?
I can’t believe it’s come around so quickly! I feel very proud to be the Sales Director at Empowered and the great place that the business is in. We have accomplished so much over the years and I feel very grateful to Darren and James for placing their trust in me to lead the Sales Team and deliver these results. Reaching a 10 year milestone fills me with a real sense of accomplishment, together with nostalgia and excitement for the future!
How has your role evolved over the years?
I joined the Empowered Group back in 2014 as the Sales Director of Convergis, a wireless specialist organisation selling professional services into the Channel. I progressed to becoming Sales Director of the Empowered Group. When I joined the business, the sales team consisted of three account managers and myself. The business has experienced rapid growth since and certainly post pandemic, as new partners have come on board I have been able to expand the team considerably. I now lead a sales team of twelve individuals all with a unique skillset. It was important to both Darren and I that we built a dynamic team of people who incorporate a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, yet all of whom share the vision and the goals of Empowered.
What are the key objectives driving your team?
The work of the team centres around the eight leadership principles of Empowered. We have seen key partner growth over the last couple of years, however, in order to continue to expand and build our reputation in the channel, we need to be guided by a shared set of objectives and that is what our leadership principles give us. For example, as we maintain the existing client accounts whilst adding net new logo clients to our account portfolio, it is important that we demonstrate trustworthiness, transparency and openness. We are riding a wave of very positive business growth and our goal is to lead by example so that we maintain this throughout the year and into 2025!
What changes have you seen in the sector?
There have been some significant changes in the IT sector over the last ten years, such as an increased drive into the SDWAN space. As Sales Director I need to try and keep ahead of the game, maintaining a forward look at what’s next. I also need to be able to anticipate what our partners’ needs will be and this is where our attention to detail, particularly in the qualification process is vital. Our partners and their customers’ needs are evolving and so I work closely with senior leaders in the business to ensure our offering is agile and innovative, which in turn will ensure our partners gain a commercial advantage in the marketplace.
A lot of our work still focuses on wireless surveying, installation and cabling activities. With the onset of AI and Cloud Computing Dominance, the world is changing fast, so it certainly keeps us on our toes!
What are some of the challenges you see for the team?
The challenges as Sales Director of Empowered are few, as I have such a great team around me. That said, we have set ourselves an aggressive target for the year, so our challenge is to ensure we achieve it and beyond into 2025. As we continue to expand, it is important that we remain agile in our approach, responding with the right solution, at the right price, first time. Achieving this consistently could be a challenge, however, it is also something the whole team is constantly driving towards.
In your role as leader of the sales team, how do you approach driving and motivating the team?
Above all I am a people person. It is important to me that I engage with all of the team at Empowered. I lead by example, motivate and inspire wherever possible. I tackle challenges head on and strive for excellence in all aspects of my work. Alongside Darren I have set a sales vision and strategy for Empowered for the coming years to ensure that the team is motivated. The vision includes a very aggressive target, so we need everyone on side and driving towards 100%! Communication and teamwork are key. I have a lot of contacts in the channel and it is important that I mentor and support new members of my team so that they can open new doors, experience success and build on the reputation of the business.
What are you looking forward to in 2024 and beyond?
I am looking forward to realising the vision, expanding the partner network and building on our recent successes. I am also looking forward to the new opportunities we can support our existing partners with and how those partnerships progress over the years to come. We have a great deal of professional services that we can support the channel with and I am looking forward to seeing where this takes Empowered in 2024 and beyond.
You can learn more about how we deliver projects here: https://www.empowereduk.com/deliver or contact our sales team for further information at [email protected].
