Johannesburg, 30 Jan 2017
Tasked with the responsibility of developing the enterprises sales team, establishing public sector relationships and identifying new innovative solutions offerings, sales management and business development expert Sophie Hasell was officially welcomed and on-boarded to Mint as the new Enterprise Sales Lead on Monday 16 January, 2017.
Determined, driven and disruptive, the former Microsoft and Intervate employee, took on her role at Mint with an indefatigable certainty that she will further exceed the group's growth in the business development and sales arena and that she has found a place she can call home.
"Hasell's history, experience and achievements in the IT industry span more than 17 years and are not only impressive but also render her very competitive in her field. We are honoured to have her on board and we're certain that she will be making a considerable difference and lasting impact at Mint," states Mint Group CEO Carel du Toit.
When asked what drove her to join the Mint team, Hasell notes that "Mint was the only partner I considered owing to the organisation's strong brand presence, its collaborative spirit and partner engagements, the unique way in which it structures and offers solutions, the entrepreneurial spirit that presides throughout the organisation, and the certainty that I would be joining an authentic leadership team that drives innovation and disruption for both its employees and clients."
Mint taking hold of the public sector
Highlighting what she is most excited about in her new role at Mint, Hasell notes that the establishment of a firm grasp over the public sector, similar to that which the organisation holds over the African continent's financial services industry, is one of the biggest feats she aims to achieve with a strong focus on the healthcare and education industries.
"I believe that Mint's solution offering is perfectly suited to the public sector and look forward to establishing partnerships that will make us even stronger in this area. Our community and education initiatives also enable us to leverage off that knowledge and experience, and transfer that into the public sector space."
Hasell has also entrenched herself into Mint's Women in IT (WIT) initiative, reflecting her passion for nurturing and growing the presence and stance of women in technology. "Over my years of working in this industry, I have not seen many instances of women entering the IT field into senior leadership positions. There seems to be more prominence among middle-entry positions, so the 'glass-ceiling' phenomenon is evident. I look forward to driving awareness programmes and information sharing initiatives with my colleagues and industry peers to attract more young women into IT and increase their representation at leadership level."
Key market trends for 2017
Asked about her opinion regarding key market trends, Hasell states that industries are seeking specific knowledge targeted for and useful to their area of specialisation. Therefore, the sales role has changed from being product or solution experts to also being industry-specific experts.
"If you want to sell a cloud solution to the financial services industry you need to know what pain points are being experienced, how their operations work and how the solution will assist them. Sales people need to be able to address very specific industry questions, and solution offerings need to align to this as well."
She adds that cloud adoption is also increasing in South Africa, especially in the public sector where a big uptake in Office 365 has been evident, and that big data and the Internet of things (IOT) is continuously evolving.
She concludes that Mint is taking hold of these advancements as the organisation moulded its practices and solution offerings in anticipation of these changes. "We are very excited to be addressing these opportunities and helping our clients Create Tomorrow."
Learn more about Sophie Hasell: www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-hasell-1b7ba4bopen_in_new
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