We would like to welcome our new Chief Sales Officer, Ian Hetherington, to Operance. Ian joined the business in November and is already making a strong impact across the brand. Working closely with the rest of our board team, Ian is here to ensure that our sales process continues to evolve whilst retaining current value and providing additional value in future.

We interviewed Ian about his first couple of weeks within the role, have a read of his feedback below.

I joined Operance at the end of November after getting to know the business and team for a couple of months beforehand. I joined for three key reasons: The product, the market and the people involved. I also have an extensive background in software sales and specifically the construction market, so I like that I can continue to develop these areas.

When I first discovered Operance and the product itself, I knew it was an exciting opportunity that provided real value to the industry. Not only does the product bring value to the industry, but it also helps improve the safety of commercial and higher-risk buildings for everyone who uses them frequently or even resides in them full-time. Aside from the product, the people at any business are also important; and it’s great to see that everyone at Operance sits on the same page with the same overall common goal, building safety.

My role is Chief Sales Officer, so my overall responsibility is to ensure that Operance can provide its products and services whilst maintaining enough revenue to enable growth and development. There is also a lot more to the role than that, such as making sure that customers get what they paid for and can maximise the value they get from using our product.

I am a very family-orientated man. I have a wife and children and enjoy spending most of my spare time with them. We love to go on holiday and enjoy experiencing the world together. I am also very sporty and currently play Golf. I also play football, badly I must admit, and look forward to seeing England win the world cup this year… I hope!

Good question! I think ultimately, the sales department is at the forefront of communication, having frequent conversations with existing and future customers. I am a big fan of having two ears and one mouth, so listening to customers and understanding what they need and how we can help them is going to be an essential part of our growth moving forwards. The great thing about SaaS is that it is constantly evolving, especially when the software has been written in-house with a team of developers on hand at any time to help out as it has been at Operance. With this in mind, I am also looking forward to helping shape the product as it continues to develop, using customer feedback and insight to help move the industry forwards.

I am still new to Operance, but I have already heard of so many new features and updates on their way! Exciting! I think overall, I am excited to see the level of adoption continue to happen at the rate it is and for our platform to continue developing into a one-stop safety solution for all building developers, contractors, owners and more.

That concludes our interview with Ian! We would like to once again wish him a warm welcome to the business. We look forward to working with him on a long-term basis and are excited to see what the future brings with him on board.