Rita Kanana
Nairobi,Kenya
Summary
An enterprising spirit with a 10+ year proven track record of delivery and revenue generation in positions held at some of the world's largest technology companies (Dimension Data, IBM, Cisco). As a seasoned Sales & Business Development Executive, I have closed over USD 150 Million in sales revenue, received multiple sales leadership awards, and performance-based recognitions while positioning value and delighting customers. I am a partnership and business builder, having helped IBM's Software Business grow from under $1 million USD to recurring revenues of over USD 2 Million. My objective is to continuously unlearn, learn and use my experience, expertise & network to lead with empathy & positively impact the organizations I represent as well as inspire those I work with as I seek inspiration. I am passionate about embracing technology to transform how clients do business and serve their customers, ensuring service delivery is at the core of it all.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
Work History
Sales & Customer Experience Lead
Karibu Connect, STARLINK Authorized Reseller
07.2023 - Current
- Karibu Connect is an Internet service provider that is the first authorized starlink reseller in Kenya and the region
- Ensuring penetration of SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Connectivity to Enterprise and Government customers in areas with little to no connectivity in Kenya and the region
- As the sales and customer experience lead I am responsible for: Building the sales structure, Sales funnel management from lead generation to closed deals/sales, Acquiring New Starlink Customers, Account Management centered around a seamless customer experience, Relationship & Stake holder management, Identify strategic partners to grow the business in the various core verticals, Grow the company portfolio by ensuring visibility and participation in stakeholder events
- Impact: Successfully Grew Business from Zero Kits to a standing of 40 kits within 90 days, All this with minimal resources from a teaming perspective
- Growing Revenues from 0% HW & MRR to $140,000 HW sales to date and MRR to date of $10,000, Successfully onboarded Clients from various verticals (Hospitality, NGO, Public Sector, Exporters, Manufacturers, Aviation), Successfully onboarding Partners based out of various regions in line with our GTM, 10 Partners to ensure regions across the country are covered and Partners from East & West Africa to ensure we are able to serve those markets, Successfully Set up & built the Business Development team.
Chief Business Officer
NOUVETA LTD
04.2018 - 08.2023
- Nouveta is a Technology company that builds solutions centered around customer engagement & payments with service delivery being the core of the platforms and processing over 50,000 transactions a day
- As their Chief Business Officer, I was involved in the following projects: Acquire New customers for the revenue management platform, Onboard schools onto the digital pocket money platform, Identify strategic partners in line with our GTM strategy, Grow the company portfolio by ensuring we are visible by participating in stakeholder events
- Impact: Successfully Serving approximately 3M Citizens and processing over 50,000 transactions a day Growing revenue that were Under 50M Seeing them grow to 400M+ For the company
- Assisting the county revenues to grow by 40%, Successfully onboarded The largest county in the country, a county in kajiado and a county in western kenya, Successfully onboarding schools onto a never seen before digital pocket money platform, ensuring 4,000 Parents, 4 Schools and over 2,000 students manage their pocket money, Built & nurtured strategic partnerships with Banks, Associations and other stakeholders building synergies that benefited all parties growing our footprint, Successfully Set up & built the Business Development team & department.
Software Client Leader
IBM
10.2013 - 03.2018
- IBM is one of the largest technology companies on the planet employing over 300,000 worldwide, generating revenues of over 50B USD
- Their main goal this year was to grow Software business revenue In East Africa
- As their Software Client Leader, I was involved in the following projects: Positioning IBM Software Solutions To clients Across East Africa, Grow Websphere software sales by Identifying NEW Opportunities & Customers, Building, Managing & Maintaining Relationships with customers all the while ensuring Revenue Grows by at least 30%, Grow entire Software portfolio in Ethiopia which was largely untapped whose goal is to grow IBM software revenue By at least 30%, Identify NEW Opportunities & Customers Across East Africa with core focus on Ethiopia, Build strategic relationships with the C-level Executives
- Impact: Successfully grew websphere software sales in the region by 100%, see examples below, Grew websphere billing from 100K USD A month to 200k a month, Successfully grew IBM software sales in Ethiopia from Annual billings of less than 1M USD Per annum to Annual Billings of 2.5M USD Per annum, Successfully onboarded new business (ECX) Ethiopia commodity exchange, transformational project for the country that saw the implementation of a platform to allows and ensures Tracking of coffee beans - Phase 1 500K USD Project, Onboarded largest bank in Ethiopia - CBE, Automation of business processes, Automation of helpdesk and support operations, onboarded several other Banks and government entities helping them transform how they do business and serve their customers, Onboarded Habesha Breweries, the first IBM SaaS/Cloud customer, Consistently surpassed my sales target by over 150%.
Account Manager
CISCO
01.2010 - 06.2013
- CISCO is one of the leading telecommunication companies on the globe employing over 60,000, generating revenues of over 30B USD
- Their main goal this year was to grow their portfolio and revenue in East Africa
- As their Account Manager, I was involved in the following projects: Identify new opportunities, Grow & Maintain relationships with C-level executives, Grow Cisco revenue in the East Africa region by 30%, Work & support the Partner ecosystem to ensure portfolio grows
- Impact: Successfully grew Cisco Revenue by 40% onboarding some of the largest telecommunication companies in the region (TIGO, TCRA.), Ensured the partner landscape had support from Myself and the entire Cisco support team to assist them to close the deals in the territory - Helped partners like CP triple their cisco revenues, Consistently Surpassed my sales target by over 150% earning award of Sales Excellence Achiever FY12.
Business Development Manager - Service & Support
DIMENSION DATA
01.2007 - 01.2013
- Dimension Data PLC is a technology company spanning over 15 countries employing over 10,000
- The main goal of the company was to grow the ICT services across sub saharan Africa
- As their BDM- Service & Support, I was involved in the following projects: Building a Sales & BD Team to ensure we positioned the companies ICT Services to the market, On-board both public sector and private sector customers onto our pool of satisfied clients, Meet the assigned sales target
- Impact: Successfully built a sales team that saw us grow ICT service revenue from Zero to upwards of KSH 5M In monthly recurring revenues, Successfully built relationships with key C-level executive stakeholders in public sector & private sector resulting in onboarding some of the largest government banks at the time as well as Parastatal clients, Continuously surpassed my annual sales targets well over 150% seeing revenues for ICT services grow by over 30% year on year, Awarded Salesperson of the year FY10.
Education
Ascend Self Leadership Programme -
Talent Gurus 254
01.2022
Diploma in Modern Applied Psychology -
UDEMY
01.2022
IBM Certifications -
IBM Sales Academy
01.2018
Cisco Architectural Sales Training/Cisco Sales Expert - CSE -
CISCO
01.2012
Diploma in Information Systems -
Kenya School of Professional Studies (KSPS)
01.2010
Skills
- Relationship Building
- Problem-Solving
- Excellent Communication
- Attention to Detail
- Dependable and Responsible
- Good Telephone Etiquette
- Decision-Making
- Critical Thinking
- Multitasking
- Revenue Generation
- Negotiation
- Deal Closer
- Customer relations
References
- Kris Senanu, Diretor, Enterprise Business, Safaricom, ksenanu@safaricom.co.ke, +254 770 330 330
- Jason P. Bowers, Director, Pre-sales, Oracle, jason.p.bowers@oracle.com, +254 727 738 333
- Sally Kimeu, Country Manager, Cisco, skimeu@cisco.com, +254 734 334 104
Cars & Motorsports, Travel & Adventure, Psychology
I Grew up around cars thanks to my dad, he taught me everything i know about cars and we also attended the rally with my uncles which also secretly formed my love for motor sports and i secret;y want to race some day :D Travel has been in me, from cross country open road kind of road trips to jumping on a plane to bali the culture and more so the food is something i find irresistible. My love for Psychology is due the fascination i have to understand why we think the way we do and why we do the things we do, this love has seen me enroll in a Diploma in Applied modern psychology which i am still studying for.
Timeline
Sales & Customer Experience Lead
Karibu Connect, STARLINK Authorized Reseller
07.2023 - Current
Chief Business Officer
NOUVETA LTD
04.2018 - 08.2023
Software Client Leader
IBM
10.2013 - 03.2018
Account Manager
CISCO
01.2010 - 06.2013
Business Development Manager - Service & Support
DIMENSION DATA
01.2007 - 01.2013
Ascend Self Leadership Programme -
Talent Gurus 254
Diploma in Modern Applied Psychology -
UDEMY
IBM Certifications -
IBM Sales Academy
Cisco Architectural Sales Training/Cisco Sales Expert - CSE -
CISCO
Diploma in Information Systems -
Kenya School of Professional Studies (KSPS)
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