Meet the Optinaut: London Edition

As a way to get people to better understand our company and our culture we like to profile Optinauts from around the globe. Meet Phil Yates!

Phil joined Optimizely three years ago as the first sales engineer in our UK office in London. 

He now leads the Sales Engineering team in the UK and is a pillar of support and a fountain of knowledge for the rest of the team in the office.

What is your role at Optimizely?

I am the Lead Sales Engineer for the UK which is a combination of both an individual contributor & team lead responsibilities.

What does a typical day look like for you at Optimizely?

The Sales engineer is the technical counterpart to the Account Executive, so a typical day involves anything from RFP responses to prospect Demo builds, to prospect calls, answering technical questions, whilst also being the technical point of contact for the office. 

The Sales Engineering role at Optimizely is broad and varied and is therefore very enjoyable. If I were to list the names of companies that I have personally visited in the last 3 years, it would be a long list of the who’s who. I consider this to be a great testimony to Optimizely’s reputation.

What are you working on right now?

Right now I am supporting a number of high profile deals all of whom are interested in how Optimizely can help take their business to the next level.

Describe the London office in 3 words?

Friendly, Fun, Focused.

Describe the Sales engineering team in 3 words?

Dynamic, Talented, Supportive

What are your top 3 podcasts/books?

Start with Why – Simon Sinek (book)

5 Levels of Leadership – John C Maxwell (book)

Ted Talks – podcasts and videos, specifically anything that may or may not be related to work, its good to have broad horizons (podcast)