Group sales manager shares his passion for people and Paratus

Staff Reporter Ian Grassow is a proud Namibian, born in Walvis Bay, and is currently in the Group Sales division of Paratus Namibia.Ian has been with Paratus for 17 years. He is a high-performance character who understands how to support and unlock the potential of his sales team to achieve success.He shares his expertise to empower his team, while innovating solutions that take their key clients’ service offering to the next level. He is a long game player too, understanding that success takes commitment and focus. This can also be seen in his personal life, as he has competed in extreme cycling events such as the Cape Epic and the Namibia Desert Dash, a gruelling 24-hour race across 373 km of Namibia’s gravel roads. His calm, logical, goal-focused approach is the key to Ian’s success and is balanced by his desire to cross the finishing line a winner, no matter how long it takes.“I love coming to work, I love cooking, I wanted to be a chef, and I love working with people and building relationships,” says Ian. “The favourite part of my day is – lunchtime, it’s usually my leftovers from the night before.” “One of my biggest challenges as well as my biggest accomplishment at Paratus was working on a bandwidth ring solution for one of our large financial clients in SADC. It took us over a year to sell the idea and implement the solution whereby we connect all their branches in SADC and they have control of the bandwidth. They are essentially an ISP within the company.“But getting the deal doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time to gain the client’s confidence – it can take a year or two, but with persistence and a no limits attitude, you will always come out on top. I am very proud to be part of growing Paratus and very proud of being part of a Namibian-born company.”The term ‘hold and defend’ – is what he applies to his customers. Once he has them on board, he looks after them and, for him, the customer is always right. The most important thing is keeping the customer happy.If he were able to make a difference in this world, Ian would look after nature and stop over-fishing and the people he most admires are Sir David Attenborough and Flip Stander of the Desert Lion Foundation. The person Ian would most like to have met is Mahatma Gandhi because he never gave up and he fought for what he believed in. Grassow’s parting words to everyone out there are: “stay humble and don’t ever give up.” 10 facts · He thinks big and, like a Formula 1 coach, he manages a high-performance team in terms of mentoring, sales and support. · He ensures the team works at optimum level of capability.· He lends expertise to ensure the team gets across the finishing line. · Endurance guy – he is in for the long-game and sees it through to the winning end.· Calm and resolved …and very committed.· Focused and goal orientated.· Loves nature. · Loves being active.· Loves cooking.· Loves travelling and camping.

Group sales manager shares his passion for people and Paratus

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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Group sales manager shares his passion for people and Paratus

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-06

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