For eight years, Dieter Neumann headed sales for UC specialist C4B Com For Business. After Neumann retired in December, Anna Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh, a member of his team, is now taking over as Sales Director.
Munich, 4 February 2021. When Dieter Neumann took over as head of C4B Sales in 2012, it was the proverbial small streams that made the river. An average order back then was for 20-30 users. Over the past eight years, Neumann has not only driven up sales, but also project sizes. Today, C4B regularly rolls out its UC solution XPhone Connect for up to 5,000 users. Only in one aspect did Neumann clearly focus on continuity – namely in relation to C4B's indirect sales model.
Neumann's successor Anna Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh (36) is continuing this course: "For us, successful sales means one thing above all: successful partner management. In 2020 we felt more clearly than ever that this is the right way to go. Even though neither we nor our partners were able to visit customers on site, cooperation worked smoothly," the newly appointed Sales Director is pleased to report.
Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh has been with C4B for more than eight years – almost as long as her predecessor. After studying business administration, she started her career in software sales at prevero AG. When she joined C4B in 2012, she first worked in marketing before moving to sales. "Actually, I just wanted to support my colleagues with their live demos and – boom – I had tasted blood again," says Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh with a laugh. "I guess you could say: once sales, always sales." After starting out as a Partner Manager, from 2018 Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh looked after C4B's largest partner, Deutsche Telekom, as Key Account Manager.
Significant expansion of Sales
The decision to fill the team leadership position internally was made a year ago. This meant there was enough time to set the course and hand over the major accounts. Additionally, the sales team was enlarged. "We have once again significantly expanded the sales department in the past 12 months and hired three new colleagues," Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh reports. "Two of the new staff are working 90% remotely so they can be as close as possible to the sales partners they are supporting.”
In the long term, Schleipfer-Chakhchoukh is committed to further intensifying cooperation with the partners: "For us, it's quite clear: quality before quantity. We don't want to do a little with as many solution providers as possible. Rather, we want to do as much as possible with our focus partners." Her first goal, however, is much more tangible: "As soon as I can, I want to get in the car or on a train and get out to our partners!"