Ihab Farag

Established a dynamic consultancy company empowering organizations and individuals to build strong and lasting business relationships.

>> Sales & Service Excellence: Executed a comprehensive Sales & Service Excellence transformation roadmap for Emerson Process Management’s engineering and leadership teams in the Middle East and Europe using the Acclivus R3 approach.
>> Business Growth: Led an ambitious Middle East business expansion project for the SK FireSafety Group. Built and leveraged a network of key business partnerships to fast-track critical local products approvals and market penetration.
>> Innovation: Built the first state-of-the-art fully‐immersive interactive training facility in the Middle East for the Etisalat Academy. Fostered corporate learning curriculum transformation trough interactive video animation and mobile-based multimedia learning “Pills”.

Recruited to launch regional products department from the ground up within the new products division and drive sales of fire alarm, security, automation, and networking products within 22 countries and 5 regions. Direct strategic planning, product management, and marketing, including technical support of integrated offerings.

>> Sales Maximization: Surpassed regional revenue 8%, attained 17% year-over-year growth, and sustained gross margins/EBIT, boosting product and automation sales. Leveraged coaching approach to foster cross-cultural transparency and guide regional contributions to global R&D product development.
>> Price Governance: Expanded sales margins, increased the visibility of pricing issues, and streamlined the sales cycle by revamping product pricing model. Tightened balance between product margin and sales volume, controlling pricing to reduce margin erosion.
- Cultivated early engagement, consultative sales approach to replace inherited discount practices.
>> Joint Engagement-Building: Paved the way for increased sales, profitability, and product knowledge, strengthening regional/country joint engagements with global strategic alliance partners.
Revived Honeywell partnership, championing approval of Johnson Control’s fire alarm system in multiple Middle Eastern countries. Tightened pricing accuracy, systematized regional staff training, and deepened product knowledge while forging buy-in with branch managers

Selected to convert team into proactive stance during recession and shift focus from sales to market share increases. Managed 3 teams spanning 4 offices with accountability for $46.5 million in annual sales.

- Business Development: Generated 87.3% YOY sales growth and record bottom-line revenues through strategic partnering, bundled solutions promotions, and aggressive staff hiring/development. Paired coaching with performance improvement to fuel $46.7 million in total bookings - 74.1% above goal.

- Market Share & Sales Growth: Doubled security sector market share and drove market share gains in 4 additional sectors for 2 consecutive years in the midst of economic meltdown. Led sales strategy innovation and cultivated consultative sales approach, instituting 3 x 3 engagement model.

- Produced 3% to 12% market share growth and honored with President’s Pinnacle Award.

Regional Sales Manager - Middle East & Africa, Life Safety \[2006-2008\]

Promoted from direct market to distribution channel division and challenged to increase sales and overcome poor distribution performance with oversight of third-party channels. Managed key regional product as single point of client contact. Led annual sales planning with 40 distributors spanning 20 countries.

- Sales & Business Development: Exceeded sales goals and boosted gross sales up to 12%, working with direct partners to win large projects. Bolstered distributor performance, eliminated non-performers, and sustained relationships through sales cycle.
- Forged consensus with distributors, promoted products to key influencers, coordinated training for local partners, maximized customer support, and participated in trade shows/seminars.

- On-Time Client Deliveries: Shortened delivery times and bolstered commitment date accuracy by improving forecasting and order processing procedures. Strengthened channel partner and factory trust, eased production planning, and eliminated delivery delays. Honored with Q4 Superstar Award.


Solutions Design Engineer - Fire & Security, Building Solutions \[2004-2006\]
Delivered engineering support to sales team, distributors, and clients throughout the Middle East, developing and sustaining relationships with specifiers, contractors, end-users, suppliers, decision makers, and trade associations. Conducted product presentations, reviewed bids, and designed fire alarm/security solutions.

- Six Sigma Green Belt: Increased sales, client satisfaction, and estimate accuracy while leading an estimation team with limited resources and conflicting priorities. Analyzed estimation process, defined key deficiencies, and instituted workload prioritization to realign sales.

- Sales Revitalization: Resuscitated fire alarm product line within 1 year, grew sales, and positioned Honeywell as key industry player in the region.