Murray Sargant

VP Sales, APAC

Born:
Hong Kong - One of the best cities in the world.

Prior Experience:
SVP Banking - Asia Pacific & Japan - SAP
Managing Director APJ - Misys Treasury Capital Markets
Director Enterprise Performance Management - PeopleSoft APJ
Director Sales - PeopleSoft North Asia
Sales Manager - PeopleSoft Australia
Sales Manager - Decision Support Solutions - Tandem Computers - North Asia
Sales Manager/Rep - NCR Corporation Australia

Education:
University of NSW Sydney - Bachelor Business Administration - Market & Communications
Certified - STRATEGY Art of Selling - Sales trainer
Nearly every sales course anyone has ever invented.
Advanced Open Water PADI & Mixed gas diving.

What I like to do outside of work:
I like the outdoors. I’m a keen sailor and we sail a 42 foot Catamaran in and around Hong Kong which is surrounded by over 260 islands which most people don’t realize. Also I coach/manage a men’s open Rugby team, play tennis, swim, golf and generally take the kids to the many sporting and after school activities they have. Never a quiet weekend in our house.

Q: Where in your background did you learn the most?
A: I have always tried to take something from each experience I have had good and bad alike. Fact is you never stop learning no matter how old you are or how much experience you have. Probably one of the most influential experiences was my sales professional development training at NCR. Twelve months intensive sales training, an early investment in my career and a solid foundation which I have counted on many times over the years.

Q: If you could meet one person in history, who would you meet and why?
A: Nelson Mandela - To have lived through and experienced the huge change in Africa would have been amazing. His continued positive impact and empathy with all races and ability to address all types of people makes him a true world statesman. It would great just to hear what he has to say and learn from all the tough lessons he witnessed first hand.

Q: What’s been your biggest surprise during your time at SuccessFactors?
A: The best surprise was when I first met with Lars and Jay and they both had such an incredible passion and belief in the company and more importantly the team that they had assembled. The "No Jerk" policy and the fact that everyone I have met clearly follows this golden rule. Having worked in a few other companies over the years I can honestly tell you it isn’t the case elsewhere.

Q: If you had 20 seconds to tell a new client about why they should use SuccessFactors, what would you say?
A: Gaining the most from your employees and keeping them motivated and driven is the biggest challenge any company can have. With Successfactors we make the job of managing, motivating, aligning, executing and rewarding your teams easier and simpler than ever before. We provide an ability to deliver the solution quickly and effectively over the web without tying up your valuable internal IT team or hiring expensive consultants for months on end. We can have you live and benefiting in a matter of days and more importantly we will have your employees and teams working harder and more effectively than ever before.

Q: Why are you proud to work at SuccessFactors?
A: SuccessFactors has established a great reputation in a very short time. To be part of growing that success in Asia and empowering the employees of Asian companies is a once in lifetime opportunity.