Axel von Freyhold

Business development, establishing and leveraging strategic partnerships. Design and execution of sales and marketing initiatives, positioning the company as an expert in IT Workflow Automation, Identity Management, SAP Customization, Data Protection, Infrastructure and Security. Pipeline, project, and key account management of new and existing clients in the B2B mid-market and enterprise segment. Fostering relationships with stakeholders at new and existing strategic partners and vendors, generating synergies and new market opportunities. Negotiation and closing of complex high-value deals, ensuring profitability and long-term client relationships. Coordinating the execution of projects, collaborating with cross-functional teams, ensuring seamless and timely delivery of solutions in alignment with client expectations. Expanding the project business with data protection, security, and high-availability solutions from key vendors, comprising cloud-based and on-prem SaaS subscriptions, perpetual software licensing, hardware, and professional services.

Designed and executed regional sales initiatives, driving channel sales of data protection and security solutions comprising cloud-based and on-prem SaaS subscriptions, perpetual software licensing, hardware, and professional services. Managed mid-market and enterprise accounts generating cross-sell and up-sell opportunities leveraging relationships with key stake holders and engaging new decision makers and influencers within the client organization. Deal Management and Customer Engagement: Managed the entire sales cycle, from lead generation and qualification to deal closing using MEDDIC and MEDDPIC sales methodologies. Delivered product demos and presentations to existing and potential customers. Organized on-site and remote Proof of Concepts (POCs), working closely with field sales, pre-sales engineers, operations, and product development to ensure smooth execution of deals and projects. Channel Partner Development: Acquired, onboarded, and supported new and existing channel partners, ensuring their success in selling Arcserve’s solutions. Developed business plans including joint lead generation and marketing campaigns, management and forecasting of project pipeline and achievement of KPI’s to progress status within the partner program.

Managed the team of German-speaking inside sales executives and pre-sales consultants, selling data protection and security solutions comprising cloud-based and on-prem SaaS subscriptions, perpetual software licensing, hardware and professional services to mid-market and enterprise customers. Leveraged data-driven insights to drive the corporate channel sales strategy, partner development and direct customer engagement, adapting to specific dynamics and opportunities of the DACH market. Managed employee performance, team financials and sales compensation plans. Provided guidance and coaching on deal management, with strong focus on information quality and adequate sales stage progression for forecasting in CRM. Led forecast meetings, deal reviews, guiding and supporting the team in managing the entire sales cycle, from lead generation and qualification to deal closing, using MEDDIC and MEDDPIC sales approaches. Identified knowledge gaps and performance issues early on, addressing these through targeted training programs and ongoing coaching. Collaborated with senior management, finance, legal teams, support, and product development, taking ownership, and assuring approval and fulfillment of complex deal requisites such as bills of materials for POC’s and quotes, legal documentation for public tenders, pricing structure and 3rd party financing and any non-standard customer and partner requirements. Drove policy changes and process improvements with senior management and leaders from other departments based on critical insights from the team. Achievements: Increased average deal size of the team by 35%, increased closing rate by 25%. Team engagement with low turnover. Inside sales team performance better than field sales. Individual team members achieving +100% of sales quota.

Led the team of 10-15 Customer Retention Managers within the EMEA region, reporting to the VP Sales EMEA and VP Worldwide Customer Retention. Leveraged data-driven insights to manage team performance and improve financial forecasting, understanding Annual Contract Value (ACV) of accounts, ensuring a solid maintenance revenue stream from existing accounts whilst maintaining balance between headcount costs and revenue targets. Responsible for the full lifecycle management of the team, from recruitment and onboarding to ongoing coaching and development, driving employee engagement initiatives and career progression plans. Collaborated with cross-functional departments such as sales, marketing, operations, and HR to refine customer retention strategies, driving initiatives that consistently increased customer loyalty and recurring revenue from existing accounts. Played a key role in enhancing processes and customer retention methodologies based on critical insights from the team, including the use of advanced strategies like MEDDIC to better understand customer needs and deal dynamics. Achievements: Increased up-sell and cross-sell into existing accounts by 25%. Team hitting +100% retention rate in both years. Individual team members achieving +100% of renewals + up-sell and cross-sell quota.