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Gerry Van Aken
Head of sales & partnerships Belux bij Eneco eMobility
Professional Background
Gerry Van Aken is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in sales, marketing, and business development across multiple sectors, including eMobility and finance. With a strong focus on creating value through collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches, Gerry has demonstrated a remarkable ability to bring together diverse teams that lead to mutual benefits for all stakeholders involved. In his current role as the Head of Sales & Partnerships at Eneco eMobility BE, Gerry is responsible for driving sales and fostering strategic partnerships that enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction in the burgeoning electric mobility market.
Previously, Gerry held pivotal positions that honed his skills in managing client relations and developing robust marketing strategies. As a Partner Manager at Eneco eMobility BE, he excelled in cultivating partnerships that bolstered the company's market presence. His earlier experiences include notable roles such as Manager of Marketing & Business Development Belux at Alphabet Belgium Long Term Rental NV and Business Development Manager at LeasePlan Belgium, where he was instrumental in formulating business strategies that resulted in significant growth and revenue generation.
Education and Achievements
Gerry's academic journey is characterized by a steadfast commitment to continuous learning and professional development. He has acquired a wealth of knowledge through various prestigious institutions, resulting in a well-rounded skill set that complements his professional endeavors.
- Agile Project Management: Gerry studied this discipline at the Institute for Business Development in Gent, equipping him with the agility and responsiveness necessary to navigate today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
- Advanced Marketing Management: His studies at STIMA have infused him with advanced marketing strategies that have been integral to his success in driving effective marketing campaigns.
- Project Management PRINCE2: Trained at Cap Gemini, Gerry understands the essentials of project management methodologies, enabling him to lead complex initiatives efficiently.
- Professional Bachelor in Marketing: His foundational studies at Karel de Grote Hogeschool provided him the marketing acumen needed to succeed in various managerial roles throughout his career.
- Post-University Studies in Financial Management: By studying at VLEKHO Business School in Brussels, he has deepened his understanding of financial principles, essential for executing strategic decisions that positively impact company profitability.
Notable Achievements
Throughout his career, Gerry Van Aken has reached numerous milestones that reflect his dedication and expertise in enhancing business performance. Some notable achievements include:
- Successfully leading sales teams that consistently meet and exceed sales targets in the competitive eMobility space.
- Establishing strong partnerships that significantly enhanced service offerings and customer reach during his time at Eneco.
- Driving innovative marketing campaigns at LeasePlan that captured market attention and translated into actionable business outcomes.
- Contributing to the business development strategies that resulted in substantial revenue growth at Alphabet Belgium, showcasing his ability to merge creativity with analytical thinking to produce effective solutions.
Gerry’s passion for fostering a positive workplace culture where team members feel valued and engaged is a cornerstone of his professional philosophy. He firmly believes that happy teams lead to happy customers and ultimately drive profitable business results. This approach not only enhances employee satisfaction but also cultivates loyalty and trust among clients—key components of long-term success in any business.
In summary, Gerry Van Aken is a dedicated and dynamic professional whose diverse educational background and extensive career experience establish him as an influential leader in sales and marketing. His commitment to collaboration, team happiness, and stakeholder value sets him apart in the industry, making a remarkable impact on the businesses he is part of.
Achievements
Tags
sales management
business development
marketing strategies
partnership management
eMobility industry
project management
team engagement
customer satisfaction
financial management
strategic partnerships
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.