Six years and three roles within Sales at Uber

“I believe that everything is connected and that every job you have helps you develop transferable skills for the future,” shares Renan Alves, who drew on his sales and technical support experience to help launch Uber for Business in Latin America. Today, he’s our Senior Country Manager for Uber for Business working with teams and customers across the globe to reimagine an entire global industry for the better.

“I come from extremely humble beginnings. I was born in a countryside town called Franco da Rocha in Brazil where I began my career as a trainee in my city’s transit department to fund my schooling. My next job was working in a call center as a technical support agent for 5 years. During this time, I was also a student studying advertising and marketing, and taking English classes. Even though my entire paycheck was going towards my education, it was the foundation that allowed me to advance my career and eventually join a global social media company. But my start in tech was not smooth sailing. I remember having to record onboarding training sessions and initial meetings to relisten later as my English was still a work in progress. In this new role, I developed sales programs through a call center operation, drawing on my experience with call centers from years earlier. This is, in turn, what brought me to Uber. I believe that everything is connected and that every job you have helps you develop transferable skills for the future.”

“When I first joined Uber I led the Uber for Business team working to build scalable solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). We launched a team in Brazil to cover the entire Latin America region and I traveled to different countries to understand their needs and understand how to launch the business in that specific area. After our success in LATAM, we expanded the program to Europe, the United States, and India. The role allowed me to partner with different areas within Uber and this global collaboration helped make improvements in our acquisition flow and build a business case to grow the team and the channel’s relevance. 

After, I joined the Sales Operations team, where I expanded my knowledge of markets beyond SMB. This experience helped me develop my strategic skills and learn how to implement a strong go-to-market strategy. For my next career step, I decided that I’d like to move back to the business side and lead frontline sales teams within Uber for Business.”

“Uber for Business is our global solution for companies to manage and track business travel, courtesy rides, and meal programs for their employees, clients, and partners. It is a very sophisticated platform, while still easy and simple to implement and use, for companies to centralize their travel programs, configure their policies using our controls, track utilization, and process payments. 

For employees, we provide a huge improvement and ease to their travel experience. For example, we alleviate the need to do any paperwork or reimbursements. We are also seeing companies using Uber for business to optimize their operations and logistics, such as offering Uber as a car replacement for insurance companies, transportation for airlines on flight contingencies, transportation for essential workers staying late at work, or health companies sending nurses to client’s patients for blood collection and vaccines. Very recently, Uber for Business also launched an exclusive product, Business Comfort, enhancing and offering an even better experience for employees and employers globally.”

“An impressive combination of talented people with amazing growth potential. We are making incredible progress with our business solutions and how we help companies improve their travel program, logistics, and operational needs. We collaborate with teams and customers across the globe and are truly reimagining an entire global industry.”

“Definitely our team! Not just the Sales team for Uber for Business, but all of Uber Brazil. Everyone is so intelligent, helpful, and fun. Every day I see our core value of One Uber being brought to life.”

“Do the right thing. This is a core value for me in both my personal and professional life. To me, this value is a way to raise our own internal bar, prioritizing both responsibility and trustworthiness.”

“While we definitely look for experience and a strong sales record during the interview process, acting with a champion mindset and the ability to tackle any challenge are what help someone stand out. 

Be a team player. Although sales targets may sometimes seem like individual numbers, they are not. We always need to win as a team. We work together to do what’s best for Uber (we call that One Uber), not the individual or team. We actively support our teammates, and they support us. That is what helps us constantly drive value for our customers.”

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