For Meaghan Crawford, Enterprise Account Executive at Oracle SaaS Applications, a career at Oracle means no limits to her professional development. From the revolutionary products to the supportive work environment, she’s finding every chance for success in the exciting, rewarding world of SaaS sales. Read our interview with Meaghan and discover what a sales career at Oracle can do for you.
Why did you join the Oracle SaaS Applications team?
I have been in IT sales for the past 12 years, specializing in financial solutions for clients. I am not only passionate about sales, but about the transformation of the IT industry, particularly in this era of cloud and cognitive. One of the reasons I joined the company is Oracle Cloud—its reputation is second to none, offering best-in-class SaaS services, innovation, and delivery excellence for its clients.
How is a day in the life of an ERP Applications Sales Representative in your team?
The Oracle SaaS Applications team is the most innovative and fastest-growing area in Oracle and the IT market. It’s exciting and no two days are the same. In the sales team is an environment of growth, team building, and change. There is always the opportunity to gain exposure to different solution areas, and to participate on large deals. It’s very dynamic, so it is critical to understand your clients, their needs, and what is important to their business. Creative and agile thinking are key attributes, as customers look up to you to solve their most pressing business needs.
What inspires you most in your role?
It’s a high-achieving part of the business at the top of its game—we are enjoying 100% year-on-year growth in Australia. Not only does this spur me on to strive for my best, but for the team’s best for our clients.
Tell us more about the meaningful work that you do in the Oracle SaaS Applications team.
Oracle SaaS is revolutionary: transparency in software products, identifying emerging latency issues, detecting trends using IoT, and providing frictionless innovation allow customers to achieve a competitive advantage.
What do you value most about Oracle’s culture and work environment?
Oracle has an inclusive culture—for a woman in IT, this is important. It is invigorating to work for a company that has a mission statement to develop, engage, and empower women. It’s important for me to give back by empowering my fellow female colleagues—I do this by being a part of the Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL) community.
How does Oracle support career mobility?
There are many diverse career opportunities available with the Oracle SaaS Applications team. We’re currently hiring Sales Representatives for CX, ERP, and HCM across a variety of roles and levels.
Wherever you may begin, our management team encourages open discussions around career progression—which is how I’m gaining the support, guidance, and coaching needed for my next role in Applications. However, if you’re looking to move outside of your current team, you’ll have access to mentors and sponsors to help you connect with the right people and prepare you for a change.
What career advice can you share with our readers?
- You have to trust your intuition. If you have a gut instinct on something, you don’t need to wait for other people.
- Be conscious of what ‘success’ means to your client. What I learned with my last IT employer is helping me now in sales at Oracle. I’m able to have more comprehensive and meaningful interactions with clients, based on my experience, beyond just selling solutions.
- Don’t rest on your laurels, thinking you’ve done a good job in the previous quarters. You always have to be at the top of your game.
- Continue to improve your skills. Oracle has so much training available online—I found a very valuable Agile Delivery course, as well as courses on soft skills like how to deliver presentations, how to have meaningful conversations, and how to manage your time effectively.
- Retain your femininity in what is often a male-dominated industry.
- Be aware of what you bring to the table and play to those unique strengths.
Finally, I really want to acknowledge my mentors once more; they’ve been instrumental in coaching me to better navigate Oracle, prepping me for key conversations, for having conversations with value. It’s important to have mentors and coaches in Oracle—if you don’t line up with the right people, it’s quite easy to get lost. I’ve been fortunate to have great employees support my career development here.
Why should people join the Oracle SaaS Applications team?
Oracle is a market leader. Its key attributes are that we are inclusive and diverse, with an equal work environment, offering exciting opportunities for employees to work nationally, regionally, and globally on customer projects.
Oracle’s SaaS business is enjoying a 100% year-on-year growth in Australia. The Oracle SaaS Applications team is progressive and innovative. As an employee, you get the chance to implement the latest versions of Oracle SaaS assets, and help clients achieve success.
Do you want to join Meaghan’s team? Explore Oracle’s Application sales opportunities to learn more about a career at Oracle.