Ercan Yılmaz

• Provided ongoing training and mentorship for sales staff, fostering professional development and career growth. Directed sales support staff in administrative tasks to help sales reps close deals. Coached sales personnel, assisting with individual selling efforts and helping sales representatives reach targets. Coached employees in successful selling methods and encouraged cross-selling to drive revenue.
• Implemented CRM systems and other sales tools (Intercom, Hubspot) for better tracking of leads, improving follow-up processes and communication within sales team.
• Managed key accounts with strategic planning and relationship building, resulting in increased customer loyalty and repeat business.
• Attended industry shows, conventions, and other meetings with primary mission of expanding market opportunities.
• Utilized metrics to modify low-performing sales and marketing programs and plans to increase effectiveness. Liaised with, marketing, customer success and management teams to develop solutions and accomplish shared objectives.
• Organized promotional events and interacted with community to increase sales volume by collaborating with sales and customer success teams.
• Resolved problems with high-profile customers to maintain relationships and increase return customer base.
• Reduced response times through implementation of knowledge base articles and FAQs for common issues.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams including customer support, product development, and marketing to gather insights and create targeted content addressing identified pain points

Key Achievements:

• Successfully identified and addressed critical issue in customer retention during challenging period for SaaS companies in 2023. Recognized significant gap between customer success team and sales department, leading to high churn rates for new customers, particularly within initial three months of acquisition. Implemented structured handover meetings, fostering collaboration between customer success and sales teams. Achieved remarkable reduction in churn rate from 15% to 3% within crucial first three months of customer acquisition.
• Strategically leveraged Shopify reviews as powerful tool for expanding customer base and enhancing company's brand positioning. Implemented systematic approach within sales team to solicit reviews, developing and standardizing playbook for process. Achieved notable increase of 70% in number of reviews across APAC and Americas regions, thereby amplifying company's visibility and credibility among key markets. It increased organic leads from Shopify market by 65%.
• Successfully onboarded Americas sales lead, facilitating seamless integration into company's sales process. Through effective training and support, empowered Americas lead to secure multiple six-figure deals upon completion of onboarding process, demonstrating immediate impact and contribution to revenue growth.

• Streamlined internal processes for increased efficiency, optimizing daily operations within the sales department.
• Adapted quickly to changing market conditions while maintaining focus on achieving both short-term objectives and long-term strategic goals.
• Identified new business opportunities by analyzing market trends and competitor activity.
• Organized monthly team meetings and daily recap sessions to discuss objectives, review progress toward goals, share best practices.
• Boosted team productivity by implementing efficient sales strategies and coaching techniques.
• Managed key accounts, ensuring long-lasting partnerships through exceptional relationship-building skills.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop comprehensive sales plans and achieve organizational goals.
• Conducted regular performance reviews for Inside Sales Team Members, identifying areas for improvement and providing constructive feedback.

Key Achievements:

• Consistently conducted 15+ meetings weekly with potential leads, demonstrating a proactive and high-volume approach to sales outreach.
• Demonstrated strong leadership skills by concurrently managing sales responsibilities while overseeing and enhancing team performance.
  Implemented a rigorous performance tracking system, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Introduced new scoring metrics to highlight importance of key countries and strategically important leads - it ensured fast communication and custom emailing to the key accounts by resolving the leak problem
• Conducted daily recap sessions and monthly one-on-one meetings with the sales team, providing valuable feedback, guidance, and support to drive continuous improvement and optimize individual and collective performance.
  

In addition to sales specialist responsibilities, I began managing EMEA funnel and mentoring EMEA Team. As Senior Inside Sales Specialist, I took on responsibilities such as assessing lead qualifications and conducting conversations with potential leads, while also monitoring key performance indicators for EMEA region. This marked my first managerial role in my professional career. Over the course of 13 months filled with successes, I was promoted twice: first to "Inside Sales Team Lead" in December 2022, and then to "Sales Manager" in June 2023

• Shared observations in sales funnel with marketing team to develop targeted campaigns for specific products and services, resulting in increased lead generation.
• Increased sales revenue by efficiently managing high volume of inbound leads and promptly responding to customer inquiries.
• Provided valuable insights to management regarding competitive landscape and pricing adjustments based on market conditions.
• Partnered with outside sales teams to coordinate joint efforts on key accounts and expand overall market presence.
• Promptly answered and provided white-glove support to customers' questions regarding products, prices, and availability.

Key Achievements:

• Achieved highest conversion rate in company history, closing deals at impressive rate of 20%, showcasing exceptional sales acumen and effectiveness in lead conversion.
• Spearheaded significant increase in company reviews, from 25 (received in 5 years) upon joining to total of 170 within three years of tenure. Personally contributed to accumulation of 100 reviews (60% of all reviews), showcasing dedication to enhancing company's online reputation and brand visibility.
  Implemented successful approach to soliciting reviews and shared strategies with colleagues upon assuming managerial role, resulting in additional 45 reviews in just one year.
• Through collaborative efforts and leadership, collectively elevated company's review count to 170, reflecting enhanced customer satisfaction and trust in brand.

• Conducted inside sales activities to support the company's sales targets in key EMEA countries, including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, UK, and Turkey. Through demo calls and product demonstrations, educated leads and new customers about features and products, resulting in the highest conversion over leads within two years, achieving the highest closing rate in the team. (+20%)
• Furthermore, during the onboarding period, I successfully converted initial customers from emerging markets such as Azerbaijan, Pakistan. This effort significantly contributed to identifying potential markets for future focus.
• Identified new business opportunities through cold calling, networking, marketing and prospective database leads.
• Gained customer trust and confidence by demonstrating compelling, persuasive and composed professional demeanour.
• Contributed to team objectives in fast-paced environment.
• Built diverse and consistent sales portfolio.
• Qualified the leads, and conducted demo sessions with the leads. Conducted demo sessions with the highest average call per day ratio within the sales team.

Key achievements:

• Played a pivotal role within a small team of four members, leading by example through conducting half of the total meetings independently.
• Generated substantial revenue contributions, accounting for 40% of the total Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) on a consistent basis, showcasing a strong impact on the team's financial performance and overall success.

• Created and managed sales pipeline by qualifying leads, prospecting them on various channels (LinkedIn, phone, email) to maintain high volume of outreach activity via customised emails and automated sequences on HubSpot and Apollo. Sought new clients through outbound prospecting methods, cold callings, and other networking events.
• Cultivated culture of continuous improvement within sales development team by encouraging open feedback, embracing innovative ideas, and celebrating individual successes.
• Regularly met or exceeded quarterly targets through diligent prospecting efforts and relationship-building activities.
• Established strong online presence through professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn, expanding industry connections and generating new leads in process.
• Collaborated closely with cross-functional teams such as account management, product development, and support services to ensure seamless client experiences.
• Streamlined sales process by introducing new CRM tools, improving efficiency and reducing time spent on administrative tasks.

Key Achievement: Started "Throwback Project" to convince old trial users to try solution by outbound activities. I hit target and surpassed forecasted revenue, and I was promoted to Inside Sales Rep position at end of this project.

• I was responsible for Enterprises' accommodations, preparing proposals, showing up networking events, and organizing events for companies such as IBM, Shell, Coca-Cola, THY, and many more in oldest Hilton on European continent.
• This experience helped me to discover fundamentals of account executive role, importance of word-of-mouth marketing and networking, also dynamics of corporate sales funnel.
• Conducted market research to stay informed about new hotels soon to be opened, competitor activities, and emerging opportunities.
• Worked closely with sales team to prioritize tasks, set goals, and allocate resources efficiently; resulting in increased productivity and revenue.
• Kept detailed records of sales and customer information in CRM software, updating database regularly to maintain top-notch service.
• Presented accommodations facilities, event centers during retail trade shows to increase market share and make connections with potential customers.

Key achievements:

• Managed over 20 customer calls per day, conducted the cold call that ended up with a dance festival hosting 1000 people.

• Formrack is Turkish-based company that manufactures rack cabinets, mount cabinets, and similar IT equipment.
• Company used to sell its products via reseller-oriented model, and sales team was eager to reach out potential customers in overseas. I saw opportunity and created potential end customer list who could use the products by paying directly to company. At the end of research process, in addition to managing domestic market and reseller relationships, I initiated outbound sales concept for company. First customers from Italy, Egypt, and Bulgaria were found, qualified, and converted successfully.
• Created visuals, advertisement materials and generated marketing contents to make the company more visible on the various social media platforms and LinkedIn. Throughout my tenure at Formrack company welcomed its first organic social media leads.
• Assisted in inventory management, ensuring accurate stock levels and timely replenishment of merchandise.
• Handled customer inquiries and resolved issues promptly, maintaining a positive shopping experience for all patrons.

• Evaluated vendor performance regularly to ensure adherence to established quality standards, enabling prompt corrective actions when needed.
• Enhanced inventory accuracy by conducting regular audits and maintaining updated records.
• Supported on-time delivery of products through diligent monitoring of order statuses and proactive communication with stakeholders.
• Developed strong relationships with suppliers, fostering collaborative environment that resulted in improved service levels.

Key Achievements: Accelerated the purchasing process of the Supply Chain Team by promptly processing the purchasing orders to the system.