Meet the Team: Tim Russell, Sales Engineer at ECI Software Solutions

We sat down with Tim Russell, Sales Engineer at ECI Software Solutions to learn more about his role within the team.

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

Following the completion of a Bachelor's degree in engineering, majoring in telecommunications at the University of Wollongong, I began my career in Singapore, working as a pre-sales systems engineer as part of the Cisco Systems graduate program.

After working at Cisco Systems for just over six years, I transitioned into the financial tech industry in 2020, taking on the role of Senior Sales Consultant at leading cash technology solution provider, Glory Global Solutions.

Early this year, I joined ECI as a dedicated Sales Engineer, providing pre-sales consultancy for the Spruce Software, and supporting the LBMH (lumber, building materials and hardware) sales team here in Australia. As part of my role, I deliver customer demonstrations and provide the necessary technical expertise to help the sales team achieve targets.

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

A huge part of any sales job is taking the time to understand your customers’ needs and the challenges they are likely to face in their industry. While researching your chosen sector is important, a vast amount of this information will come through experience and taking the time to engage with your customer base.

To support this, it goes without saying, the best resource you have is the people around you - your peers who will have learnt their own invaluable lessons through years of industry experience, and tapping to this pool of knowledge is just as important as developing your own.

What excites you most about working within this industry?

My greatest satisfaction is seeing our customers excited about the software and technology that ECI provides.

With a growing number of our clients providing hybrid working, ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions such as Spruce are all the more valuable - allowing for greater flexibility and overall autonomy over an organisation.

Technology and software solutions are able to help businesses to focus on the real, value-add activity and improve the bottom line.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned since you began your career?

Although the journey may be fun, exciting or challenging, never lose sight of the impact your actions are making on your business and your team.

I’ve learned a lot in my near decade of sales, and I’m fortunate to have taken lessons from each role I’ve worked in. While the LBMH industry is a relatively new industry for me, the prospect of diving into this specialism and developing my own, and our customers', knowledge is an exciting motivator.