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Kreft Michael
Executive Sales Director Advantech Service-IoT at Advantech
Professional Background
Kreft Michael is a highly accomplished professional with extensive experience in sales leadership and management, particularly in the fields of Internet of Things (IoT) and enterprise mobility solutions. He currently serves as the Executive Sales Director of Advantech Service-IoT at Advantech, a global leader in IoT hardware and software solutions. In this pivotal role, Michael drives strategic sales initiatives and oversees the development of innovative service solutions, ensuring that Advantech meets the ever-evolving needs of its diverse clientele. Michael's expertise in IoT sales and service is complemented by a rich history across various roles in the technology sector, showcasing his ability to adapt and lead in a fast-paced environment.
Prior to his current position, Kreft was the Head of Global Sales at Advantech-DLoG, where he played a critical part in expanding the company's footprint in the global market. His adept leadership and strategic vision facilitated significant sales growth, positioning Advantech-DLoG as a key player in the IoT landscape. Additionally, he held the position of Sales Director for Central Europe at Toughshield, where he successfully developed and implemented sales strategies that drove market penetration and customer engagement.
Michael boasts a formative career with Motorola Solutions, where he excelled in various sales roles. From Sales Lead Manufacturing Germany to High Touch Account Manager Manufacturing, he demonstrated a consistent track record of exceeding sales targets and cultivating lasting client relationships. His progression within Motorola's Enterprise Mobility Business underscores his professional growth and commitment to delivering exceptional customer service.
Education and Achievements
Kreft Michael studied Dipl. Verw. Wiss / Dipl. Arb.Wiss at Universität Konstanz, establishing a solid educational foundation that has contributed to his impressive career in sales and business management. His deep understanding of both administrative sciences and labor sciences has equipped him with analytical skills and a comprehensive view of business operations, essential for navigating the complexities of global sales environments.
Throughout his career, Kreft has achieved numerous accolades, including awards for outstanding sales performance and recognition for his ability to enhance team collaboration. His efforts in building high-performing sales teams and fostering an innovative sales culture continue to drive results and inspire those around him. Michael’s commitment to professional development and lifelong learning has been a cornerstone of his career, and he often shares his knowledge with peers through mentoring and industry workshops.
Achievements
Kreft Michael’s professional journey is marked by several notable achievements. At Advantech, he has led initiatives that not only enhanced product offerings but also improved customer satisfaction rates dramatically. His leadership abilities have also been recognized through his influence on company strategy, contributing to landmark partnerships and collaborations that have opened new market opportunities.
While at Advantech-DLoG, Kreft successfully launched several sales campaigns that garnered significant accolades, driving up market visibility and brand loyalty. His unwavering focus on customer relationship management allowed him to maintain high retention rates while expanding the customer base.
In his tenure at Motorola Solutions, Kreft was instrumental in many successful product launches, significantly impacting the company's market share within the enterprise mobility sector. His commitment to integrating technology solutions that meet unique customer needs has made him a trusted figure among clients and colleagues alike.
Kreft Michael’s career is a testament to his expertise in sales management and his ability to adapt to the evolving landscape of technology. His academic background, extensive work history, and a series of impressive achievements underline his status as a respected leader in the sales and technology industries.
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Clay 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.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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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
Clay 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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay 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. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay 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.
Clay 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. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay 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. Clay 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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Clay 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. Clay 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, Clay 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.
Clay 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.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay 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. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay 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 Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay 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, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay 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. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay 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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Clay'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. Clay 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 Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay'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, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay 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 Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.