Varun Arora
Product, Portfolio, Business Development and Client Success.
Dubai
Summary
Experienced and highly determined Product and Sales Manager passionate about developing innovative methods to drive sales. Specializes in leading teams through product design and distribution. Comfortable working in fast-paced and deadline-driven environment.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Product Manager - Corporate Cards & Pre-Paid Cards
Emirates Islamic Bank
03.2023 - Current
- Currently managing currently a portfolio of 400+ clients based in UAE
- To represent and manage the relationship of corporate and SMEs with Key clients and stakeholders
- Develop sales content, training manuals and initiatives for banks' internal stakeholders on existing and new products, ensure that the product, procedure documents and marketing material are up-to-date
- Prepared competition scan analysis for EI corporate cards
- Increased the corporate card portfolio spends from AED 40M to 125 M in span of 18 months
- Delivered product trainings to the branch staff, business banking and wholesale banking RMs
- Assisted with re-designing of application forms and introduced rebate forms after seeking necessary approvals from business, compliance and legal
- Worked closely with marketing and designed the roll up banners and EDMs
- Prepared the RM referral bonus data and vetted the client rebate/ cashback payout data
- Support and assist in new projects and product launches as per the strategy of the Bank such as launching new card propositions and virtual cards (ICMP) demo
- Identify and prioritize prospects lists, lead sales discussions and corporate client engagements and discuss existing product suite, vendor and partnership management (ongoing activity), pitch Client's products to end customers
- Leverage company's resources, when applicable, to deliver the support on the above-mentioned responsibilities, work closely with corporate RMs/unit heads on client introductions and support, with client key stakeholders to maximize commercial cards sales and client onboarding, implementing project management framework
- Managed full product lifecycle, from ideation through post-launch support, ensuring consistent quality control measures were in place.
Relationship Manager - Commercial Cards
Mashreq Bank
08.2018 - 02.2023
- Establish and maintain trusted relationships with CEO and VP- level decision-makers, utilizing a consultative sales approach to understand unique needs and conduct product demonstrations to pitch the merits of various solutions
- Collaborate with Corporate Banking, Risk Management, and other cross-functional teams to source and evaluate new opportunities, define commercial strategy and pricing, and develop clear value propositions to meet organization set targets
- Generated overall revenue of AED 4.7M in F2022 & AED 4.1 M in F2021 from coverage of 160+ corporate accounts
- Oversee account planning and management to troubleshoot client issues, review monthly activity, and perform data analytics by geography, spend type, and volume that supported the origination of cross-selling opportunities
- Manage the end-to-end sales cycles from prospecting to pitching, negotiation, and close, acting as the product expert and primary point of contact to grow wallet share of existing accounts and elevate new-to-bank customer acquisition rates
- Introduce standardized reporting and forecasting templates to gain greater visibility into prospects by product and market
- Played an instrumental role in migrating the portfolio from MasterCard to Visa in 2022
Sr. Personal Banker
Mashreq Bank
05.2014 - 02.2023
- Responsible to source only paid credit cards to the HNI clientele of the bank
- Had to ensure that 80% of cards were spent active in the first 60 days since the sourcing
Asst. Manager - Operations
United Health Group
09.2012 - 05.2014
- Oversaw a team of 15 claim adjudicators, managing all aspects of recruitment, hiring, training, and performance management to ensure consistent service delivery and all internal policies and SLAs were adhered to
- Completed and validated documentation of all claims data by updating and auditing various databases to ensure complete data integrity and accuracy while retaining confidentiality sensitive personal information
- Developed performance metrics to evaluate progress over time, internal targets and held one-on-one and group consultations with associates to identify barriers and drive enhancements
Associate Manager
World Network Services
06.2010 - 08.2012
- Managed team of 9 ops associates
- Served as the point of resolution for employee problems and disputes, applying diplomacy and conflict resolution skills to mediate issues and offer amicable solutions without incurring customer impacts
- Evaluated global trends, technologies, and best practices and championed the business case to re-skill and up-skill employees internally through insightful training and development opportunities
- Oversaw the CPV (Contact Point Verification) and CBU (Call Back Unit) of Mashreq Bank in the UAE, conduct root-cause analysis of escalations, and offer recommendations on workflow management, SOPs, and service delivery
- Coordinated with the onshore client and provided weekly update of the overall performance of the department
Asst. Team Leader
Royal Bank of Scotland
05.2007 - 05.2010
- Pitched and closed cross-sell retail banking opportunities over the phone, contributing to AED 500K of incremental revenue driven through the center each year
- Maintained and updated all statistics periodically and ensured effective scheduling planning to provide adequate cover and validate that all shift duties were completed within deadlines
- Took the initiative to step into the Team Leader's role while on holiday and handled escalation calls on his behalf
Education
Bachelors of Commerce -
DAV College
Skills
- Product lifecycle management
- Product vision and strategy
- Project planning
- Consultative sales approach
- Powerful Communication & Negotiation
- Dealing with C-suite
- B2B sales
- P&L management
- Operations
- Key account management
- Strategic planning & implementation
- Issue resolution & de-escalation
- Market and competitor analysis
- Customer success
Accomplishments
- Improved spends for EI’s 2024 corporate cards business by 100%. Spends volume increased from 50 million to 100+ million in span of 1 year.
- Generated overall revenue of AED 4.1M in F2022 & 3.2M in F2021 from coverage of 180+ corporate accounts and consistently met and surpassed revenue quotas each year underpinned by a customer satisfaction rate of 82%.
- Top performer Corporate cards- Cash Management Award, Year 2020
- Top Performance Corporate Cards H1, 2021
- Top Performance Corporate Cards Q3 2020
- Top Performance Corporate Cards Q3, 2019
- Winner - Sales Convention 2015 at Phuket, Thailand
- Holding a valid UAE Driving license.
Area Of Expertise
- Consultative sales approach
- Powerful Communication & Negotiation
- Dealing with C-suite
- B2B sales
- Product presentation
- P&L management
- Operations
- Key account management
- Strategic planning & implementation
- Issue resolution & de-escalation
- Market and competitor analysis
- Product development
- Customer success
- Service Delivery
Certification
Understanding & managing card payments
Timeline
Digital Payments (Card & POS) tools and strategies
07-2024
Tokenization and encryption in digital payments, Fintech
05-2024
Product Manager - Corporate Cards & Pre-Paid Cards
Emirates Islamic Bank
03.2023 - Current
Understanding & managing card payments
01-2023
Relationship Manager - Commercial Cards
Mashreq Bank
08.2018 - 02.2023
Sr. Personal Banker
Mashreq Bank
05.2014 - 02.2023
Asst. Manager - Operations
United Health Group
09.2012 - 05.2014
Associate Manager
World Network Services
06.2010 - 08.2012
Asst. Team Leader
Royal Bank of Scotland
05.2007 - 05.2010
Bachelors of Commerce -
DAV College
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