Meet The Team: Rob Whiter, Regional Sales Executive South & Western Australia

In our latest Meet the Team feature, we took the time out to catch up with Rob Whiter, our Regional Sales Executive for South Australia and Western Australia.

Tell us a bit about your background and the path that led you to your current role?

I attended high school in West Sussex in the UK, before graduating from The University of Sydney with a major in Geological Sciences, or in simpler terms, “oil exploration”.

Following university, I went straight into IT after receiving an offer I couldn’t refuse from a utility technology firm, and I’ve not left the fold since. In 1989 I began my career in hardware before transitioning to business software in the 1990’s. In 2005 I relocated to Adelaide, first working for Pronto Software, and then Oracle Construction and Engineering before starting at ECI back in March earlier this year.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the sales industry? Any words of wisdom?

That's a tough one given I fell into this career somewhat by accident. I would recommend early on that you find your industry sweet spot as fast as you can. For example, I began in technical and quickly moved into customer facing roles as my personality and attributes best suited this area.

The most important lesson I’ve learnt from my career is that people buy from people- relationship building is everything.

What excites you most about working within this industry?

Being part of a societal revolution! Working in IT puts us in the third great revolution after Agriculture and Industry – we are at the heart of the Information Revolution.

Personally, to have been part of one of the great cycles of the ‘Information Revolution’ and the rise of the internet has been an honour. The impact of this was predicted in the early 1950’s and I have been able to see these great changes begin, adapt and transform industries.

What do you find most challenging about working within this industry?

Both the sales and technology industries go through rapid cycles as trends change and developments occur. When combined, the natural cycles that we go through make it a challenge to stay current and technology must keep on evolving. But this is also part of the fun and keeping up with the latest software updates is a big part of why technology excites me.

An often-overlooked aspect of our roles is to share our experience and knowledge built up over the years of working with a multitude of organisations - deploying business systems to improve how they run and operate their companies. In essence, one of the industry’s biggest challenges becomes one of the most rewarding parts of my role. My job is to guide our customers towards systems and software solutions geared to improving and simplifying the process of 'remaining current'. Essentially, we’re breaking down challenges and making people’s livelihoods easier.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?

I work with my hands, doing things mechanical whether that be around the house, on properties or on projects like fixing up old cars.

What book would you recommend for anyone to add to their ‘must-read list?

I’m a big reader, and while there are so many to choose from, I feel like we are sadly neglecting a classical education. I would recommend that anyone reads Robert Graves' “The Greek Myths”, a great insight into European culture in a pre-Greco-Roman era. If you believe we have always been a patriarchal society, Graves will correct your perspective with wit and impeccable research.