Technology Reseller v27

01732 759725 38 60 SECONDS 60 seconds... with Charlie Levitton, Enterprise Business Development Manager, SMART Technologies What’s currently having the greatest impact on your business? The greatest impact on my business is the growing number of competing manufacturers we now have within the IFP (Interactive Flat Panel) market. When SMART Technologies started over 30 years ago, there were two manufacturers; fast forward to 2020 and there are now over 50 manufacturers and the market is becoming commoditised. Some manufacturers focus solely on hardware and price, whereas at SMART Technologies we focus on providing the right collaborative solution that meets (and exceeds) the customers’ requirements. Where do you see the next big opportunity? For me, the next big opportunity is helping the corporate market make the most of the rapidly expanding variety of working spaces and environments we now see, for example remote working teams, huddle spaces and different meeting room environments. We recently launched our new Pro series IFPs, which, combined with our collaborative software solution TeamWorks, provides customers with a fast, flexible and easy to use solution for not only hosting video conferences, but allowing true collaboration between teams. What was your first job? My first job was working as a receptionist in a hotel in Kensington where I met interesting people like Ant & Dec and David Davies, the former Executive Director of the FA. The job taught me that customer satisfaction is key to making sure customers keep coming back. What would be your dream job? My dream job would be to have enough money in the bank (after winning the Euro Millions!) to spend all my time working with charitable organisations to eradicate child poverty and give each child an education. Fine dining and good wine, or curry and a pint? I prefer fine dining and great wine, but they have to be enjoyed with great company, otherwise what’s the point?. Money’s not an issue, what’s your perfect car… and where would you drive it? My perfect car would be James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and I’d spend all my time driving it around the Italian coastline. Favourite holiday destination? As a family, we have always enjoyed spending time in the South East of Spain (Casares near Estepona); we know the area well and it has beach bars within walking distance of our apartment (very important!) and plenty of restaurants to choose from. We’re off to Croatia this year, so looking forward to seeing what it has to offer! How do you like to spend your spare time? My twins Max and Tilly (13-year olds) take up most of my spare time, as I take them from horse riding to football matches to tennis. When I do get an hour to myself, I try to time it so that I can watch Liverpool play – Champions of the World! What would make your day job easier? An unlimited marketing budget would be nice, so that I could share information about our fantastic solution with everyone possible and highlight the benefits across all sectors and use cases. We love showing the corporate sector what our Pro series and TeamWorks collaborative solution can offer them – and seeing their reactions! What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given? Treat everyone as you’d like to be treated. All companies are made up of people and those people create a culture. If you don’t treat people well, then don’t expect a healthy culture. Businesses perform better and retain staff longer if there is a strong positive culture and that starts with treating your staff as you’d like to be treated. If you had had a crystal ball, would you have done anything differently? I don’t like looking back at what I could have done differently, as I can’t change the past. I prefer to look forwards and try to embrace each new challenge and opportunity in front of me. Describe your most embarrassing moment. I don’t really have one, but a fun fact about me is that I’m actually an identical twin, and myself and my twin brother both have twins too! As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun growing up as twins.