Marius van der Merwe
Consulting Business Development Specialist with 25+ years driving customer success — building sales motions from zero, leading consultative solution selling, and expanding market presence across ANZ and APAC.
Building sales motions that outlast the deal
With over 25 years in service, customer experience, and B2B sales, I help organisations solve business and technology challenges that go beyond the stated brief — from displacing entrenched incumbents to establishing a market presence from scratch. My work spans cloud and infrastructure, managed security, unified communications, and IT service management, always grounded in consultative discovery rather than a fixed pitch.
Most recently I established FRCI's Australian market presence from the ground up, building the initial local sales motion across data, communications, and security offerings and securing the company's first Australian customer. Earlier, I grew ARR by 36% and 15.8% across two consecutive years leading APAC sales for a customer experience technology vendor, and led a competitive displacement of ServiceNow at Australian Red Cross.
Focus areas
Market Entry & Expansion
Standing up a new market presence or sales motion from scratch for offshore or expanding companies — from first customer to repeatable pipeline.
Consultative Solution Selling
Discovery-led engagements that uncover the client's real underlying problem, not just the stated brief — applied across cloud, security, and CX technology.
Channel & Partner Leadership
Building and managing partner-led and direct go-to-market motions across complex, multi-market regions, with a track record mentoring small sales teams.
Experience timeline
Business Development Specialist, FRCI
Established FRCI's Australian market presence from Mauritius, building the initial local sales motion across data, communications, and security offerings, and securing the first Australian customer.
Specialist Sales Manager – Data, Rexel Australia
Managed WA sales growth across data, communications, and IP security. Built and launched dedicated Rexel Data Hubs in Osborne Park, Myaree, and Malaga, and engaged defence-approved contractors in regulated, compliance-conscious environments.
Senior Business Development Specialist, Exsead
Led regional sales and account management across Australia, focused on new-logo acquisition and enterprise pipeline growth. Executed a competitive displacement of ServiceNow at Australian Red Cross and led a 3-person sales team.
Regional Sales Director APAC, Anywhere365 / AnywhereNow
Owned APAC partner and direct sales engagement across seven markets — Australia, NZ, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong. Increased ARR by 36% in 2022 and 15.8% in 2023, including wins across federal government and top-4 banks.
Business Development Executive, Macquarie Telecom Group
Managed end-to-end enterprise sales for voice, data, mobility, and security solutions, selling consultative network transformation including SD-WAN, SASE, and SD-LAN.
BDM – Microsoft Cloud Solutions / CoE Ambassador, Crayon Channel APAC (formerly rhipe)
Worked with Managed IT Partners to deliver measurable Microsoft Cloud transformation results across technical, sales, marketing, and operations enablement.
Business Development Manager, Modis
Drove new business acquisition across government, mining, utilities, and defence-related engineering accounts. Added seven new enterprise clients, including the Department of Justice and City of Stirling.
Business and Channel Account Manager, ZettaGrid Pty Ltd / Zetta Group
Advised clients and MSPs on Private and Public Cloud strategy across Microsoft, VMware, Veeam, Zerto, Citrix, F5, and Riverbed. Client base included Apple Inc, Mitsubishi Australia, and Synergy.
BDM, Silverfern IT
Secured CFO buy-in for a full datacenter and Citrix desktop transformation for a fast-growing not-for-profit, authoring the business case for a $360,000 Lotterywest grant.
Application Support Engineer, Retail Systems
Installed and supported client-server applications and hardware for the hospitality and retail industry in WA.
BDM, Open Architecture Systems
BDM, Technology Systems Integration
Linux/Windows integration solution sales and resilient mail server solutions.