Enovation is expanding: welcome aboard the roller coaster called “sales”

Enovation’s mission to expand into uncharted territories is assigned to Kenneth Audenaert (Account Manager Belgium & France) and Richard Lark (Sales Manager UK). One would expect the evangelists of digitalisation and integrated communication to be received with open arms. Nevertheless, offering improved healthcare services seems to be paired with some unexpected challenges.

Resistance to change

Despite the pressing need for an integrated approach to healthcare communications and sharing data, there is still some hesitancy on the market. Richard: ‘You might as well say there’s a huge resistance to change. The UK market is a challenging one: Social Care and the National Health Service (NHS) have completely different funding models and don’t collaborate very successfully on sharing benefits. And yet all the users of these services want is a comprehensive experience. It is frustrating when you know how much is possible, but then encounter so much resistance.’

On the other side of the North Sea, Kenneth faces similar challenges in Belgium. ‘I think we’re facing the same problems everywhere in Europe, so in Belgium, too, there’s a high demand for digitalisation and the same aversion to progress. I’ve never worked in an industry in which politics have dictated for such a long time. On top of that, Belgium is an unruly country, and that makes the sense of urgency even greater. The development of our healthcare system is light years behind.’

Human connection

Fortunately for Kenneth, this means there’s loads of potential. ‘The sales process really only starts after people tell you “no”. Now, we get quite a lot of that here, so that makes this challenge incredibly interesting. I knew this would be a marathon rather than a sprint, although it’s starting to look more like an ultrarace, really. I would be nowhere without the support I receive from my colleagues in the Netherlands. When I chose to start working for Enovation, I really chose to work with the Dutch. I love the directness of the Dutch. Human interaction is what makes the difference in my day-to-day life.’

For Richard, too, the best days are those filled with interaction with customers or prospects. ‘The best of all are real, face-to-face meetings. Admin is just the rubbish I have to get through in order to get there! I am still proud of my first Enovation UMO sale and it definitely helped me settle into the company with real confidence. Additionally, the team events are another highlight in my career. I’ll never forget the sheer terror of being driven to and from last year’s beach party by the local taxi drivers. We nearly lost the whole UK team several times!’

Unconditional support

The unconditional support from the team is remarkable. Richard admits: ‘I couldn’t even spell “telecare” before I joined the team nearly three years ago. And now I’m responsible for all new sales within the UK, with three very capable people to help make up the target numbers. As a team, we specialise across three different product sets: Cloverleaf licenses and services, Enovation UMO, and our new products for the UK, Enovation Zaurus, Enovation Mail and maybe Enovation Point in the future.’

For Kenneth, all it takes to keep his fire roaring is the support and trust that’s given to him. ‘I’ve been working hard to create a ripple effect in the Belgium healthcare system. It’s a matter of time before the first contract will be signed. After that, the domino effect of Enovation’s success is inevitable. The power of this company is its potential to solve problems. The darkest hour is just before dawn. Enovation will be the perfect storm.’

Does this sound interesting? If so, contact us, we are happy to tell you more!