[Alumni Story] : Gabriel BARREAU

31 August 2024 Portrait

Viewed 65 times

I joined Rennes SB in 2004 (P16) via parallel admissions. I had just spent a year of Erasmus in Bayreuth after my DUT in Marketing Techniques in Annecy, my home town. I was immediately attracted by the incredible atmosphere, the campus and its palm trees, but above all the opportunity to be in a truly international school.

A keen board sports fan, I had joined the IRO association, where we had the chance to organize a skateboard/BMX competition in partnership with the city of Rennes. During my studies, I returned to Germany for a second time to spend an exchange semester in Nuremberg.

In my final year, I specialized in marketing new technologies. We worked on case studies of up-and-coming companies such as Dell and Cisco, and little did I know that I'd be working for all of them in the future.

After my degree and a few odd jobs, I finally settled in Switzerland, where I started my career as an Account Manager with Dell, where I stayed for 10 years. I was in charge of different customer portfolios (Mid-Market and Enterprise) where my role was to support them in their digital transformation.

I then spent a year working for an ICT solutions integrator and reseller before joining Cisco as Enterprise Account Manager.

Can you tell us about your job?

My role at Cisco is to support 7 key accounts (manufacturing and pharmaceuticals) headquartered in Switzerland. I have to create an account plan, set up initiatives and an execution plan to align my customers' needs and use cases with Cisco's portfolio of solutions. I make sure to forge strategic partnerships and work with our partners (GSPs) to implement our solutions. It's essential to generate a consistent funnel in order to reach quotas. So I have to be close to my customers, listen to them and constantly create new contacts.

These days, purchasing decisions involve more and more stakeholders (IT, business, finance, purchasing, HR...). We use the MEDDPICC sales methodology to qualify and monitor our opportunities. Every week, I make sure our sales forecasts are accurate and up-to-date, using our Salesforce CRM. The account manager works in a team with pre-sales (engineers) and product specialists to set up POCs (proof of concepts) and validate solutions.

On the post-sales side, I work with the CX (customer experience) team to ensure the adoption and proper use of our products.

What's your greatest achievement?

As a salesperson for a manufacturer in the tech sector, the ultimate recognition is to be lucky enough to participate at least once in your career in a President's Club. This is an award given to the top contributors in each country, who are all invited with their spouses for a few days to celebrate their successes in an exclusive destination in the presence of top management.

In 2019, I had the pleasure of taking my wife to Bermuda thanks to Dell. It's one of my fondest memories.

What do you see as the benefits of the Alumni network?

The main benefit is to stay informed, meet new people and follow the careers of inspiring people. Being able to benefit from a network also means having the chance to exchange ideas, get advice and help each other, and facilitate the integration of young graduates.