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Erick Hadi: Flexibility that works in developing a company
(Courtesy of Sondang Grace Sirait)Erick Hadi believes local partners play an important role in boosting business
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(Courtesy of Sondang Grace Sirait) (Courtesy of Sondang Grace Sirait)
(Courtesy of Sondang Grace Sirait)
Erick Hadi believes local partners play an important role in boosting business.
IT business executive Erick Hadi said the best sales and marketing strategy needed to be one that understood and complemented a company's locale and environment, even if that meant doing business in a different way.
In he's case, it was a breakthrough initiative he proposed to his company's headquarters in Herborn, Germany, at the start of his career. The idea was simple. One, Indonesia was far too big for sales to be concentrated at a single point and two, locals always knew best.
That said, he turned to local players with a firm grasp in the information technology (IT) market and asked them to become partners. From day one, he envisioned Rittal Indonesia as a global company but with local taste.
'So far, the idea of leveraging the concept of channel partners is one of the few implemented in Southeast Asia, and it is only somewhat parallel to that in Vietnam and Thailand,' said the 35-year-old Indonesia country manager of German manufacturing and IT company Rittal.
'Usually, when you establish a company, you have to have finance, operations and sales departments. I chose not to have a sales department. Instead, I built a pre-sales department and our sales partners sell our solutions. That's also my way of showing our commitment to those partners,' said Erick of his company's marketing strategy in Indonesia, to collaborate with local partners throughout Indonesia in providing sales and after-sales services.
'What we do is to equip the partners with the right training and enablement, and motivate them so that they can develop their own unique solutions,' Erick said.
'What I always tell them is that I don't want them to just be sellers or resellers. I want them to become solutions providers. When they do that, they can sell our products and any other products in their portfolios.'
The strategy has worked. Last year, revenues grew more than 240 percent, mostly coming from the manufacturing sector, and this year, Erick and his team are expecting further growth of 40 percent, with a larger portion derived from the IT sector.
'Team' is another keyword in Erick's management strategy. When Rittal Indonesia was established in 2012, he handpicked every person for his team of nine. All of them are Indonesians.
'The criteria were character, attitude and skills. I didn't care so much about any fancy CV or extensive experience,' said the photography enthusiast. 'Why is that? It was because of the right attitude and character that I got to be in this position. I don't have all the skills, but I'm willing to learn. I always say to the team, you are here because you want to be here. It's not because I chose you to be here.'
His former colleagues dub him a 'people person', 'smart' and 'an absolute delight to work with'. At any rate, Erick is an intense guy whenever the discussion centers on his work, but can lighten up in the blink of an eye, at times even displaying some self-deprecating humor.
Despite his background in computer science, Erick claims he was never a techie.
'I would say I'm quite slow in adapting to the latest technology, but I love my profession,' said Erick, who described himself as more of a sales and marketing management strategist with experience in various industries, from IT to entertainment and services. In fact, his interest in sales and marketing is less to do with work; it is more of a passion.
For Erick, who worked for six different companies prior to joining Rittal, flexibility in doing business is treated as both a chance and challenge that he has been blessed with. And that is what he longs to share with his team.
'When I went to Germany for my first orientation, they told me, 'You have this great flexibility, just don't make the company bankrupt. Do your business legitimately',' he said with a big smile. With that, the father of two returned home and crafted his own message for the team in Indonesia.
'I provide the direction and I give them a mission. But in order to achieve the mission, you have to find your own way. Yes, we have guidance, policies and procedures, but the most important thing is to achieve your mission in the right way,' stated Erick, who looks up to Virgin Group founder Richard Branson for his broad, unorthodox business ideas.
A good corporate leader, he said, was someone who was on the street with the rest of his team, not just sitting in an office and barking commands at people. This is exactly the kind of CEO he sees in the English billionaire, and the idealist in himself seeks to become.
For now, Erick's got his eyes fixed on the company's existing local partners.
'My biggest challenge, because I chose to entrust them with full partnership, is to align this strategy. All these partners have their own ambitions and targets. The challenge is to align them to a state whereby we can all say, 'this is our mission'. And I have to maintain the balance between all of them, so that we work in sync.'
Erick Hadi
Place and Year of Birth
Jakarta, 1979
Experience
Rittal country manager/managing director (2012-present); IBM country manager for General Business Enterprise (2011-2012); IBM client director for Financial Services Sector (2008-2011); Luidia Inc. country manager (2007-2008); Eastman Kodak Company country sales manager for Entertainment Imaging (2005-2007); Berca Hardayaperkasa business account manager (2004-2005)
Education
Master's degree in Business Administration from Bina Nusantara (2002-2004); Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Bina Nusantara (1998-2002)
At Ease
Seeing life through the lens
Photography is also a medium for me to contemplate, relax and heal. I like to see the beauty of every single day. As I shoot, I learn more about myself, what I value and how I see the world. I actually met my wife in a photography club, 14 years ago. While I'm not a member of any photography club, I own Canon EOS series and Fujifilm X-series cameras.
Finding strength in my family
I try to spend as much quality time with my two children. Whenever I can, I play their games, help them study in the evening, read to them and fix things around the house together with them. I also go out with my kids.
Living a healthy life
I like running and I do my best not to use the elevator. At the end of a long day, I like to listen to relaxing and soothing tunes and drink tea.
