MANX TELECOM’s new sales director has vowed to listen to and understand the ‘challenges’ facing business clients.
Fergal McKenna says it is vital to focus on how new technology can meet the demands facing customers.
He said: ‘We need to move away from the traditional sales approach of saying to clients: ‘‘Here are our products, which ones would you like to buy?’’ - and move towards a closer relationship with clients which enables us to appreciate the challenges they face and, therefore, enable us to demonstrate precisely how technology can help them.’
Mr McKenna, ‘headhunted’ to the island from a high-powered job in Ireland, told Business News he aims for Manx Telecom growth over the next 12 months.
He said: ‘Business cannot stay static. If we stay static we will die.’
He also wants to improve customer satisfaction scores.
Mr McKenna, 38, has moved to the island with his wife Leah and children Juliet, three, and six months old Fergal junior.
He said: ‘The Isle of Man is a great place to live and work and this is a very exciting time to join Manx Telecom.
‘It is a company renowned for developing and implementing new technologies and this - combined with the Isle of Man’s standing as an excellent international business centre - provides a great platform to attract more global clients.
‘Manx Telecom is in a strong and unique position with many of the products and services we offer and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to maximise the company’s potential.’
Mr McKenna graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BSc in Management and has spent his career working in IT and telecommunications.
Living in Union Mills Mr McKenna is already getting used to a much quicker commute to work than in Dublin where he was with Colt Technology Services.
His responsiblities include dealing with the government sector, small and medium enterprises and the corporate sector.
He cannot stress enough the importance of listening to the customers.
He acknowledges that Manx Telecom has to ‘embrace competition’ and the key is to work harder and to stay ahead of riv als.
‘It means we step up to the plate and be more confident’ he said.
He is mindful that the island as a whole, including the government should be pushing for more business here. ‘If Manx Telecom is to compete then the island has to compete.’