Ali Athar

Ali Athar Email and Phone Number

Vice President of Sales Engineering, Testing and Service Providers - Americas @ IR
Boston, MA, US
Ali Athar's Location
Greater Boston, United States, United States
Ali Athar's Contact Details
About Ali Athar

In design thinking and improvisational comedy, there's a practice called "Yes, and..." where one participant accepts and builds on another's ideas. This approach fosters collaboration, innovation, and progress. I apply "Yes, and..." thinking to guide my team toward effective solutions every day.As the VP of Sales Engineering at IR, I lead a team specializing in technical sales for Enterprise, Service Providers, and Payment customers across the Americas. My expertise spans Unified Communications, Contact Centers, SaaS, Analytics, and CCaaS (including Genesys Cloud).Committed to developing sales strategies that grow IR's year-over-year sales revenue, my team and I focus on ensuring our products align with market and customer demands. We consistently maintain a high renewal rate and customer satisfaction levels. I co-founded our Innovation Council and new processes aimed at capturing user-driven ideas for product improvement.Recognized as a valuable resource among sales teams, I excel in closing large, complex sales opportunities and driving regional growth. Some of my career highlights include leading strategic initiatives to attain $30M+ in revenue, securing 10-15 new customers per half for various solutions, achieving a 97% renewal rate, and driving an average team win rate of 40%. I take pride in my ability to attract, recruit, and retain top talent, fostering a high employee retention rate and supporting team members in their career progression.Throughout my career, I've been dedicated to identifying organizational opportunities, engineering targeted solutions, and uniting teams to bridge gaps. Known as a strategic, creative leader, I'm driven to create innovative solutions and build on success. By fostering collaboration, leveraging strengths, and providing candid feedback, my leadership extends beyond sales enablement to facilitate culture change.

Ali Athar's Current Company Details
IR
Vice President of Sales Engineering, Testing and Service Providers - Americas
Boston, MA, US
Employees:
3
Ali Athar Work Experience Details
  • Ir
    Vice President Of Sales Engineering, Testing And Service Providers - Americas
    Ir
    Boston, Ma, Us
  • Ir
    Vice President Of Sales Engineering, Testing & Service Providers - Americas
    Ir Aug 2022 - Present
    North Sydney, Nsw, Au
    Spearheading the high-performing Sales Engineering and Sales group across the Americas, working in tandem with cross-functional teams including Sales, Product, Analytics, and Executive Leadership to drive year-over-year revenue growth in the Unified Communication, Contact Center, Payments, and Infrastructure industries. Focused on aligning team capabilities with organizational KPIs and goals, ensuring exceptional customer experiences, and promoting innovation.• Leading strategic initiatives to attain $30M+ in revenue, securing 10-15 new customers per half for Collaborate (Unified Communication/Contact Centers), Transact (Payments), and Infrastructure solutions across the US, Canada, and LATAM region• Achieving a 97% renewal rate and maintaining a 98% retention rate with an average tenure of 5+ years by prioritizing customer satisfaction, fostering career progression, training, and growth opportunities, and driving a data-driven, customer-centric culture• Driving an average team win rate of 40%, with 70+% for top performers, by implementing tools, analytics, and processes that optimize workflow, increase efficiency by 30-40%, and boost win rates and YoY revenue• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to align product portfolios with market demand and customer trends, including organizing Customer Advisory Board events that resulted in a 100% satisfaction rate from attendees, and supporting product development with data-driven insights and user-centered strategies• Attracting, recruiting, and retaining top talent by creating a supportive and engaging work environment, providing ongoing coaching and mentoring, and nurturing a culture of professional development and growth that encourages employee retention• Guiding a skilled team of Account Executives in IR's Testing and Service Provider segments, maintaining a sales success rate of 98-100+% consistently each quarter
  • Ir
    Head Of Solutions Engineering Americas
    Ir May 2019 - Aug 2022
    North Sydney, Nsw, Au
    Led a seven-member pre-sales Solutions Engineering team responsible for technical sales to enterprise, service providers, and payment customers across the U.S., Canada, Central, and South America. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop sales strategies, including system design, requirements analysis, proof of concept engagements, system installations, and upgrades.• Drove innovation and adoption of software technologies and evolving consumer trends, resulting in a 30% year-over-year sales revenue increase while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction for new and existing clients• Managed a multi-skilled remote team to successfully deliver sales presentations, product evaluations, system configurations, and troubleshooting, achieving an average team retention rate of 98%• Fostered technical relationships throughout the sales process, providing training to partners and vendors, and consistently focusing on attracting, recruiting, coaching, and mentoring top talent• Collaborated with R&D leadership and product teams to achieve a 97% renewal rate by ensuring product offerings aligned with market and customer demand, and facilitated seamless communication between product development and sales teams to adapt to market trends and enhance product strategies
  • Ir
    Senior Solution Engineer
    Ir 2017 - 2019
    North Sydney, Nsw, Au
    Drove pre-sales engineering solutions in the UK, Ireland, and the U.S., leveraging industry and product knowledge to generate nearly $4.5M in annual sales for the UK and Ireland. Collaborated with customers' C-level decision-makers and key users to ensure success and satisfaction. Partnered with internal and external stakeholders globally to design and implement top-tier product offerings. Developed partnerships with vendors such as Avaya, Cisco, and Microsoft for enterprise and service providers.• Boosted sales by 46% and services by 32% in the UK, building relationships with global stakeholders across major office locations• Closed approximately $6M of the company's $11M total sales from July 2017 through December 2018 in the Americas, working with Fortune 500 clients like Farmers Insurance, HSBC, Dell, TD Ameritrade, Tata Communications, Marriott, and FedEx• Launched an innovative product that increased global revenue by $2M in two months and saved clients millions in fines via enhanced call recording regulatory compliance• Established brand awareness for the company's Microsoft product line, fostering partnerships with Microsoft and key stakeholders to promote consumer awareness• Represented the company as a speaker at major industry events and blogs such as UC Expo and Microsoft MVP Skype podcasts; authored content for company and public blogs as well as customer-facing collateral• Achieved a 90% customer renewal rate by managing customer relationships and satisfaction, demonstrating leadership skills in customer-centric roles• Provided subject matter expertise in multi-vendor technologies such as Unified Communication systems, call recording, Contact Centers, and Session Border Controllers at pre- and post-sales levels• Founding member of the company's Innovation panel and process, a seven-member team responsible for fostering an innovation culture
  • Ir
    Solutions Engineer
    Ir 2015 - 2017
    North Sydney, Nsw, Au
  • Ir
    Solutions Consultant
    Ir 2012 - 2015
    North Sydney, Nsw, Au
  • Avaya
    Channel Systems Engineer
    Avaya 2009 - Dec 2011
    Morristown, New Jersey, Us
    As a Channel Systems Engineer (SE) at Avaya, my primary focus was serving as a trusted advisor to the British Telecom (BT) sales team and BT local businesses within the Avaya solutions portfolio. I regularly communicated with our customers and facilitated informational seminars on technology and solutions offerings. Proud achievements include:• Helped to close $1.5M contract with BT Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) by developing close ties to the Avaya research and development team.• Played an integral role in Avaya displacing Mitel in BT business.• Helped develop UC module solution that transformed IP Office into a single box solution for smaller customers, providing services like voicemail and software out of the box.
  • Nortel
    Global Account Sales Engineer + Bid Manager, Middle East
    Nortel 2008 - 2009
    Ca
    I joined the Global Accounts Team as a Global SE for a key global account – SWIFT (Headquartered in Belgium). I was responsible for keeping regular communication with SWIFT to make sure that all of their requirements were met, as well as designing and checking all global technical outgoing quotes to ensure they fit the customer’s requirements. Additionally, I assisted in solving various technical issues to strengthen our relationship with the customer and drive business, and was also a member of the Global Content Governance Team for the Nortel Proposal Management Tool.During my role as Global Account SE, I took on the responsibility as Bid Manager for the Middle East territory for a period of four months. In this time, I won 60% high profile smart city bids into the Middle East by understanding the clients’ needs and fulfilling expectations.My duties included:- Handling DCA calls- Making sure outgoing documents were high quality and represented the brand well- Regular team checkpoints to ensure everyone was aware of pending actions and strategy for the bid.- Meeting all deadlines in relationship to bid timelines.
  • Nortel
    Graduate Sales Engineer
    Nortel Sep 2006 - Mar 2008
    Ca
    In this role, I worked with the Enterprise Bid Manager on various High Profile Enterprise bids - Requests for Proposals (RFP), Requests for Quotation (RFQ), and Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ) and successfully managed many key enterprise bids.Most notably, I worked on a large project to create a Global Proposal Management Tool (details outlined in Project section) that increased bidding rate, accuracy and consistency across the organization. This project involved coordinating the bid management processes including RFP, RFQ, and PPQ, and delivering strategic approaches to win bids. I collaborated with sales and other cross-functional teams to troubleshoot and resolve IT issues contributing to seamless operations.I also assisted various SEs and Account Managers with finding Product & Business-specific technical information for Customer queries and bids.

Ali Athar Skills

Unified Communications Telecommunications Voip Managed Services Wireless Avaya Strategy Enterprise Software Pre Sales Cisco Technologies Channel Partners Sales Engineering Avaya Technologies Video Conferencing Distributors Globalization Voice And Data Convergence Smb Bcm Data Nortel Bid Management Creativity Innovation Time Management Global Accounts Productivity Improvement Team Working Ip Office Training Public Speaking Quality Enhancement It Sales Engineer Systems Engineering Technical Training Consultants Cisco Prognosis Flash Professional Premiere Pro Adobe Audition Photoshop Illustrator Customer Oriented Video Video Editing Tandberg Skype For Business/lync Enterprise Account Management Sales Strategy Team Leadership Sales Enablement Cross Functional Team Leadership Technical Sales Consulting

Ali Athar Education Details

  • University Of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School Of Business
    University Of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School Of Business
    Executive Mba
  • London Metropolitan University
    London Metropolitan University
    Electronics And Communication Engineering

Frequently Asked Questions about Ali Athar

What company does Ali Athar work for?

Ali Athar works for Ir

What is Ali Athar's role at the current company?

Ali Athar's current role is Vice President of Sales Engineering, Testing and Service Providers - Americas.

What is Ali Athar's email address?

Ali Athar's email address is al****@****ail.com

What schools did Ali Athar attend?

Ali Athar attended University Of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School Of Business, London Metropolitan University.

What are some of Ali Athar's interests?

Ali Athar has interest in Writing, Watching Movies, Movie Making, Computer Gaming, Professional Development.

What skills is Ali Athar known for?

Ali Athar has skills like Unified Communications, Telecommunications, Voip, Managed Services, Wireless, Avaya, Strategy, Enterprise Software, Pre Sales, Cisco Technologies, Channel Partners, Sales Engineering.

Who are Ali Athar's colleagues?

Ali Athar's colleagues are Desireé J..

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