Freshworks, the SaaS company renowned for rivalling legacy players Salesforce and ServiceNow, has appointed Abe Smith to its executive leadership team to fuel its upward sales growth. Smith, who possesses nearly 25 years of field sales experience with renowned firms such as Zoom, Oracle, and Cisco(Webex), has been named Chief of Global Field Operations. In his new role, Smith will be spearheading the growth of field sales worldwide, a crucial component of the company's progression upmarket.
A growing number of large corporations seeking high-quality IT, Customer Service and CRM products at significantly reduced costs have turned to Freshworks. As a testament to its competitive pricing and enterprise-level solutions, the company recently closed its largest number of enterprise deals in Q4. Freshworks successfully added a record of over 200 customers each contributing over $50K ARR, an increase that continues a robust growth rate of 30% year-on-year. This cluster of clients now comprises nearly half (48%) of Freshworks' ARR, witnessing a 4% rise compared to last year when it stood at 44%.
The President at Freshworks, Dennis Woodside, highlighted Smith's unique qualities and how his appointment will reinforce the company's operations. "Abe is an impressive leader who has successfully scaled field sales from local to international and mid market to enterprise. This makes him exceptionally equipped to support Freshworks diverse customer base while helping us engage larger organisations," says Woodside. He further expressed his confidence that Smith's expertise would be invaluable in their vision of reaching $1 billion in annual revenue by 2026, as Freshworks accelerates field sales to match surging demand and supplement its in-bound motion.
Smith's successful tenure as Head of International at Zoom is testament to his capacity to drive growth. During his stint, Zoom's revenue soared from approximately $300 million to a whopping $4 billion, with Smith pioneering the expansion of the field sales organisation beyond the borders of the US. Prior to his time at Zoom, Smith held significant positions at Cision and Oracle, manifesting a track record of robust growth and impressive revenue generation.
Expressing excitement at his new appointment, Smith says, "Freshworks' success and global reach serves as a beacon of inspiration for millions of entrepreneurs around the world and I’m excited to be part of this incredible team and turn great beginnings into hyperscale." He further acknowledged the changing dynamics of work and Freshworks' apt position to leverage the revolution brought on by AI. "Work is changing forever and the next decade will be dramatically altered by generative AI – a tailwind Freshworks is rightly apt to ride," Smith added. He exuded confidence in Freshworks' potential to become a billion-dollar company through offering a range of powerful AI-enabled solutions in all aspects of the business.
In his position as Chief of Global Field Operations at Freshworks, Smith would be part of the executive leadership team, reporting directly to Freshworks' President Dennis Woodide and its CEO Girish Mathrubootham.