Global
Meet Robert Withers, Vice President – Global Salesforce Practice Lead. Robert’s long history of helping clients meet their goals through technology plays a big role in his strategy for driving growth for the Ness Salesforce Practice.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your role at Ness and what you do.
A: As the Global Salesforce Practice Lead, I am responsible for driving excellence within our Salesforce practice. I lead a team of architects and Salesforce experts that supports sales and helps us put forth the right solutions for our clients. I’m also responsible for developing offerings that we can provide to the broader Ness team in which they can provide to their clients. Salesforce as a platform is very different than a lot of the other business we do here at Ness, so in turn, another part of my role is to help the broader Ness community understand more about Salesforce, and why it’s become so popular.
Q: How do you take your coffee or tea?
A: I’m a coffee drinker. I have nothing against tea it’s just that coffee wins out for me; I drink coffee like it is water, once my cup is empty, I’ll go refill it before too long. For me coffee is like pizza, it’s all good but some is better than others. However, normally I’m simple and prefer my coffee black with a splash of oat milk.
Q: What’s on your to-do list?
A: On a personal level I am planning a one-on-one trip to France with my mother. As I get older and my parent’s age as well, I feel it is more and more important to spend time with family. My mother is in her late 70’s but still pretty active, so she wanted to take a trip together before she felt she would be too old to actively participate and enjoy it. Also, on my list is to take some time this summer and go to Breckenridge with my family. Living in Colorado I am a big mountain guy, and luckily my family loves the mountains too so it will be nice to enjoy them together.
From a work perspective, the number one thing on my to-do list is to mature and better define our Salesforce offerings to help drive revenue on Salesforce. I’d like to expand upon what we have today and get the word out on what they are about, what’s included, and how the broader Ness team can drive value for our client.
Q: What does the future of this space/industry look like to you?
A: The future for Salesforce is massive on two fronts. For one, they continue to buy companies left and right. This drives new opportunities for companies such as Ness. Secondly, they have an incredibly strong footprint in the marketplace today that serves as a foundation for additional services such as AI, integration, and Billing. The Salesforce ecosystem is massive and continues to grow and we intend to grow with it.
Q: How did you get started in this industry?
A: I went to college for electrical engineering and honestly it was a really bad choice, but I was stubborn and stuck with it. About four years after college, I just admitted to myself that I wasn’t very good at it. I turned to consulting because I found that I loved solving business problems and helping clients through the journey of solving those problems. I’ve now found a career in consulting, I’ve worked with both large and small companies, and I’ve even had my own company but the consistent piece of it all is helping clients solve problems.
Q: What is the best career advice you’ve ever heard?
A: The best advice is always just to do the right thing. It may seem overly simplistic, but I think we all know what it is in our gut, and at times it may seem difficult. Taking a step back, I always find if we’ve done the right things for our clients, we’ve garnered respect through demonstrating that we have our client’s interest at heart.
Q: Which meal is your favorite – breakfast, lunch, or dinner and why?
A: I love breakfast, sometimes I get up early to enjoy the quiet of the mountains while I eat, and then after a break, I’ll end up eating breakfast twice – which I love.
But overall, my favorite meal is going out for sushi. I mean, there’s nothing better. I’ve trained my whole family to love it just as much as I do, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but everyone seems to get excited and have a good time.
Q: What’s the next place on your travel list and why?
A: Besides going to France with my mother, I am planning a family trip to Norway for the summer of 2022. My sister’s husband is from Norway, so she and her family recently moved back there to be closer to his parents. I’ve been to Norway before, but my family hasn’t so I am excited to show them how beautiful it is and allow them to experience it themselves.
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