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In conversation with Kathrin Sänger, Senior Sales Managerin – Faces of Gigaset
11. July 2023 Published by Nina GoebbelsShe sells Gigaset products in a very good way. As Senior Sales Manager, Kathrin Sänger is responsible for marketing the Smart Care division at Gigaset. Find out here why a willingness to jump in at the deep end is essential to her role and to what extent playgrounds contribute to her work-life balance.
Tell us about your role at Gigaset.
I work as a Sales Manager in the Strategy Department and am responsible for the Smart Care division. My primary task is to incorporate sales requirements into product development. In my position, I play a central role in managing the new marketing of our Smart Care products at Gigaset in the European and international markets.
What are the biggest challenges you face in this role?
Smart Care products form a new area at Gigaset. This means that we not only have to integrate them into existing processes, but that we are also entering a completely new market for Gigaset – the care market.
What do you like most about your current job?
Smart Care is a new, exciting, but also a difficult topic for Gigaset. After all these years of development, we now have to make the leap into the market and generate sales. We in the sales team play a central role in this. In my eyes, there’s nothing better than being able to help shape a new area. You can try out a lot and be justifiably proud when it finally works.
What led you to your current role?
Building and marketing a new topic sounded very exciting to me. The time as KAM for Smart Care was also very exciting and at the same time very challenging, as we were moving into a completely new environment. But I like the cold water and challenging topics. Otherwise, I would never have left the comfort zone of marketing and gone into sales. Looking back, I can say that we had a lot of setbacks, but we also learned a lot of lessons from which we are now benefiting.
When you look back on your career, what is an important risk you took?
The biggest risk for me was my move from marketing at Media-Saturn to sales – then at Telefonica. I lacked any sales experience at that point. I’ve never regretted the decision because I’ve never learned so much in such a short time in my professional life. Much of what I learned still helps me in my job today, especially with regard to sales management mechanisms.
What qualities do you think are crucial for today’s leaders, especially after a pandemic?
The key for me is that leaders are able to act empathically and build closeness with their employees.
How has the pandemic changed the way we work?
The topics of home office and digital exchange have definitely become more present. I see it as positive that contact with colleagues and customers via MS Teams and other digital applications is now standard and that hours of business travel are not necessary for every appointment. For example, in my time as a KAM, I may well have sat on the train for 6 hours at peak times for a 45-minute call. I also like working at home – but at the same time I also like coming into the office to talk to colleagues in person about non-technical topics. As a part-time employee, the home office also makes it much easier for me to work. On the days I work at home, I have 1.5 hours more time to complete tasks than when I come into the office. And I’m convinced: If you don’t want to work on anything, you can manage to hide in the office.
What are you passionate about outside of work?
I love sports in all its forms. Before the kids, I spent a lot of time in the gym and in the mountains. In my eyes, there is nothing better to switch off and clear your head. Now my physical activity is more focused on the playground. 😊
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