Servturn

Service in return. Events for open minded people. Global mentorship program.  Community building for tech sales communities. SaaS platform developer. We help people find their way and in a world filled with choices it feels right. Servturn is a non-profit organisation. Business development for low / no-code companies

Founder

SalesHookup

Sales Networking for Sales Professionals. Build sales connections through video networking sessions. The best networking tool on the market. I have participated in the corporate video, software testing,  WhatsApp testing and over 60 hookups (including group hookups), most of which are now part of my active network.

Brand Ambassador

Tenbound

Software around the world. Find the best tools and services to build your pipeline and drive sales. We offer business leaders high-impact research and unmatched advice, equipping them with essential insights and tools to make better technology and strategy decisions today and shape successful organizations and careers.

Ten Plus Member

HRlinkIT

First sales in the Netherlands. Outbound sales. Creating prospects with full market information, selling technology to the top 100 recruitment companies and smaller scale-ups, with 40 partners, everything from ATS to AI. Extensive travel within the Benelux region with offices in Gent and Leuven. Selling Minggo as part of the larger HRlinkIT solution

- Recruitment market
- Analysis and Strategy
- Recruitment technology
- Implementation
- International support

Lead Account Executive

Businesses development for the international SaaS low/no code platform for recruitment: Minggo
This is an ARR / MRR solution.

Business Development 

Stichting Wegwijs Burgerbelangen

Reporting to the board of directors. As a kid I wanted to work for a good cause. Fundraising, marketing and hiring like-minded people. I left when the foundation went up for sale.

Marketing
Content, social media, website, articles, newsletter, SEO project, marketing campaigns

Hiring
Focus on hiring writers, fundraisers, marketers, but also editors, IT specialists and more

Technology
The unique open source GDPR/AVG proof video call system: Burger Link

Business Development for corporate and FIN donations. EU fundraising. Dutch and local Breda partnerships. involved in the hiring process of new fundraisers and training them.

International Fundraising Lead

Retail Media Support

Sales for the Benelux retail market. Sales and marketing for AlleFolders & PromoPromo. Both existing clients and new business.

- E-commerce
- Digital brochures
- Online shopping
- B2B2C marketing
- B2B2C sales
- Marketing insights
- Location data information
- This is an ARR solution

Sales Manager

Reiger Blue Publishing

Agent for script sales and building a publishing house with international reach with several planned printed and online releases.

- Sales agent for scripts
- Publishing house for books
- International reach
- Branding for writers

Signicat - Benelux

SMB, Enterprise and Public sales of eIDs and IDaaS infrastructure

- Lead AE for eID tokens (MRR)
- AE for municipalities and provinces (ARR)
- SDR Enterprise and large Public. Planning field sales Account Executives.
- Training in Lelystad

Internal Account Manager

Easy LMS

Global learning managment SaaS sales

Hybrid position including:
- Partly remote work
- Business Development for Enterprise
- AE for SME and Mid-Market
- AE for Public and Education
- Responsible for renewals
- This is a MRR / ARR solution

International Account Manager

Pitney Bowes

Started at Pitney Bowes, which later became Intimus International in several countries.
Inside Sales for the South of the Netherlands and field sales for the greater Rotterdam area (Enterprise).

SMB & Mid-Market, Document management hardware and software solutions.
- Pitney Bowes
- Intimus
- RISO
- Datacard
- and several others
- Contract periods of 1, 3 and 5 years

Senior Account Executive

Business development | Global technology solutions | IT consultancy | SaaS/PaaS | Low/no code | Content design | Transition of ideas | Working with people and technology | Relationship based selling | Service in return

Sales lead with a track record in global technology including a broad range of software and hardware sales including document management solutions, hardware security and destruction equipment, SaaS, learning managment software, infrastructure sales, e-commerce software, location data, low/no code, IT consultancy, cloud (AWS), recruitment technology including a broad range of software like ATS, CRM and AI. 

I also have years of marketing, fundraising, recruitment and HR experience. Extensive travel exposure and working relationship with different cultures. 

Entrepreneurial experience in mentorship, writing, service and event management, publishing, start-up consultancy, sales, executive search, sales communities, software testing, SaaS development, business development for low / no-code and all on a global scale.

The Hague has loads of bookstores including the English Bookstore and the American Bookstore.

I prefer reading in English and of course English has a wide array of choice. 

I read the following books:
- History
- self improvement
- sales books

In the past I would read fiction, science fiction and fantasy and perhaps I will again in the future!

Reading is one of the easiest ways of gaining knowledge and thus confidence and the act itself utilises the same brain waves as meditation. 

Having something to talk about other than the weather is important in sales relationships, certainly in the longer ones. 

Sales books can be a lot of fun, but some are boring. Interactive books do well and books that simplify the sales process. 

Favorite sales book:
- The Seller's Challenge by Tom Williams and Tom Saine

Favorite self improvement book:
- High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard

Rotterdam has the giant bookstore Donner, which I love visiting.

People still read books and that makes me happy. Reading should be on top of every list. 

#books #bookstore #sales #thehague #rotterdam 

Peter Strauss

Reintroduction video for all the new people in my network.

Existing contacts know the different things I'm doing, here is a refresher though!

The ultimate goal is a new position as Business Development Manager, Account Executive or Sales Manager.

Feel free to contact me, I'm happy to get to know you!

April does what it wants, they say in Dutch. 

Do you have the feeling you have the choice to do what you want? Or is something holding you back?

Is the market too rigid and does it all depend on speed?

Can an Account Manager become a Digital Marketing Expert?

Surely there isn't enough room for all Account Managers to become Sales Managers?

I enjoy my current work, but are also looking for a new job. Some of what I do now I would like to continue. I still want to accept mentees. 

I made the switch from recruitment to tech sales. Tech sales is the best, but sometimes I think of making the switch back to recruitment, or at least IT projects with a placed Business IT Consultant. 

I want to go to the beach and sit in the sun, but April does what it wants, it is cold and windy at the beach. 

Have you ever thought about making that switch?

#sales #techsales #technology #recruitment #recruiter

Even though telephone and email are still the main ways of contact.

DMs on several platforms and Whatsapp are gaining ground quickly. 

Millennials / Generation Y are a mixture of text only

Zoomers / Generation Z are text only all the way. 

Generation Alpha is lost in screens. 

By the time Generation Alpha is ready for work, communication will go through social media. 

The messages will be written by AI. And the music will be made by AI. 

Will phones and email survive? Radio and TV survived, why not?

Anyway as a sales you have to diversify. Try it all and make a strategy. 

#sales #zoomers #millennials #generationalpha

The Dutch Houses of Parliament in The Hague, strangely enough not in our capital city Amsterdam. 

The Hague is becoming more of a tech hub like Rotterdam, but Amsterdam is still the winner in the Netherlands. 

Start-ups are still mainly self-funded in the Netherlands and the special funds for start-ups by the government are a very low figure.

Private Equity and VCs are gaining ground but most goes to US start-ups. Astronomical funding, with the hope of success. 

One thing you can say for Dutch start-ups is that a lot of them are making a profit and reach scale-up quite quickly. 

The debt machine of the US is crazy, but it works. Very few companies make it. Some are lucky enough to be bought, like Splunk by Cisco for 28 billion.

Tech is important and can help predict certain outcomes. I hope The Hague invests in the supply chain of new companies and makes sure there is a good climate for tech start-ups. 

#sales #tech #technology #startup #international #thehague #netherlands

If it is possible, hybrid work is the best way to move on. 

Of course only if you are near enough to the office. 

50/50% set-ups are pretty good. You get the best of remote and the best of working at the office. 

My ideal is working 2 days from the office. 

I can do the meetings, socialize with my colleagues and drink the office coffee ;)

No seriously the office is a fun place and does give you ideas. 

At home (studies have shown) you actually do more work. 

Companies that have a 5 day work week when it is not necessary for your work (like when you work on an assembly line) are crazy 

The combination is key here and the freedom it allows is great!

#wfh #workfromhome #hybrid #remote

What do you do, when you are not working?

I walk a lot, especially with my dog. 

It brings me all around the region.

Here I am in front of one of the few yacht harbours in Rotterdam. 

These are all motor ships that can pass under the bridges. 

Not much sailing ships in this marina, even though they can go through the part of the bridge that opens. 

It is quite a while off to sea. Which must be your goal with a big motor yacht or sailing ship.  

Would I buy a ship with my uncapped commission?

Maybe rent a ship in Croatia and sail to the islands and along the coastlines.

Don't just dream about work, but dream about your things you want to do in your free time. 

Dreaming is healthy and necessary to put so much energy into your work every day. 

#sales #commission #walking #motorship #sailingship #yacht

Sales isn't easy.

Many books have been written on the subject.

Some training can be useful and having a mentor is a no brainer. 

But still I believe you can best learn sales from working in the real world.

With the right mentoring the sames goes for Sales Manager / Director / VP. 

It really depends on the size. A small company is easier to oversee than a large company.

However a large company has more stakeholders, as a Director or VP you manage them, not the whole team. 

Senior positions are not easy to get. And often more stress. The Sales Manager can sometimes make less than the Account Manager.

You have to think about moving up. On the other hand these positions don't come your way often. Are you willing to make the jump?

Servturn offers an easy way to enhance your skills. And you can talk about strategy in an open environment. 

Why not sign up today?

Sales is a great stepping stone for management.

However doing sales just for the stepping stone is hard.

Sales takes a certain type of person. Somebody with grit. 

Sales isn't easy, you have to put your whole heart into it. 

Buidling relationships that last, especially in new business, is something some sales forget. 

The bonus sales people get is earned bij reaching the right KPIs. It is necessary to get the right sales. 

You just cannot sit back and relax. Every day consistency in your work is so important. 

A lot of people can grow one tree, but it takes the right sort of person to grow a forest. 

To be successful, you need to have determination, that many other people just don't have.

But you can move ahead with the right training. 

In my conversations with the Servturn mentees, driving the right attitude towards your own work and going for prospects always comes back. 

Having fun is a underrated emotion. And some emotions can be a positive factor in sales. 

The often used sentence is "every no is a step closer to a yes". This is still as true as ever. Try to see the value in every conversation. 

But it is not just grit. Following a system like the one in the image helps you to the next level.

Have a great weekend!

#sales #techsales #technology #grit

Global sales and today some Japanese examples.

First of all a Sales Director for an Enterprise Networking company, for which we built the teams in EMEA, APAC and South America. The client works with Enterprise and Mid-Market clients.

Total fee size € 100K one-time

A Sales Director also based in Japan for an Edge Networking vendor. We built the teams in EMEA and APAC. Working with Service Provider and Telecom clients. 

Total fee size € 100K one-time

For a Japanese elementary school we provided a learning management solution. The kids loved it!

Total fee size € 600 ARR (this was in a high volume SaaS structure)

Japan is certainly a land of opportunity.

Tokia area has 38 million people and consists of the cities Tokio, Kawasaki and Yokohama. With € 1,8B domestic product, it is the largest municipality in the world. 

The buyer that wants everything now.

It is great news when you find a buyer who believes in your product or service. 

But the "now" factor can be challenging. 

Other projects are underway and you can't have a room full of sales engineers, delivery, customer success and support manangers just for you. 

Quality does cost some time. If you want speed sometimes it can be handled with a higher fee, however most of the time, booked is booked. 

It can be frustrating for the Account Executive as well. After doing all the work of signing a client, there now is a queue. 

Make sure you talk this through with the client. You don't want to lose your client in the process.

I know these are luxury problems. But every start-up and scale-up goes through this unwanted process. 

Make sure your engineering, consultancy and support are geared up.

Just having sales on your team creating business without enough people to execute the business can be difficult. 

Always welcome your client with the whole team!

Sales and marketing continued.

The first time I witnessed great SEO, it blew my mind away. Hot leads every day. People wanting to purchase with the information found on the website. 

We started with just a few clients and the company is now a multi-million euro company. 

In the beginning an Account Manager was necessary to sell complicated solutions. We wanted to add them to the SaaS. The early contenders worked with us to get that going. 

Nowadays they don't have a single sales. 

In my time at CNA International Executive Search we placed high level Account Directors in Saudi Arabia. Clients like Verizon and Microsoft. Mainly for the client Saudi Aramco. 

The deals could be multi-billion, but most of the time in the hundreds of millions. The Account Director would get a percentage and could retire as a millionaire after securing the deal. 

Marketing and sales at their best. 

#sales #marketing #seo #accountdirector

Most of you by now know that I really enjoy going to wine regions. 

There is life beyond sales...

Viré-Clessé in the Bourgogne is one of my favorites.

It is a small region packed with tasting spots at the best vineyards.

The Bourgogne white is mainly Chardonnay and the food is exquisite too. 

Jean-Pierre Michel makes a fabulous Chardonnay and the tasting sessions are intimate.

Also a small part of the area is in Macon-Villages (Terre Blanche) territory, so you can sample that too. 

What is your favorite wine region?

What is your favorite wine?

#wine #holiday #vacation #bourgogne #burgundy #vireclesse #maconvillages

Taplio

Peter Strauss's Linkedin Analytics

Peter Strauss

What is Peter talking about?

Peter Strauss's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Peter Strauss's Linkedin Analytics

Peter Strauss

What is Peter talking about?

Peter Strauss's Best Posts .css-qqfgvy{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);}(last 30 days)

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Peter Strauss's Linkedin Analytics

Peter Strauss's Best Posts (last 30 days)