Gerben Sikkema

Inquirer
DISC Type : cd

Vice President Loyalty at Finnair

Hilversum, North Holland, Netherlands

Overview

Gerben Sikkema is the Vice President of Loyalty at Finnair, leading the Finnair Plus program. With a comprehensive background in M&A, strategy, and corporate sales from his time at Air France-KLM, he is a recognized leader in the airline loyalty sector. He holds a Master of Science from Technical University Eindhoven.

During his university years, Gerben was highly active in student life, serving as the president of the Eindhovens Studenten Corps. This early leadership experience involved significant organizational and stakeholder management responsibilities. His interests also appear to include Dutch national football.

Unique fact: He successfully led a strategic project that resulted in a major financing deal with Apollo Global Management for the Air France-KLM Group.

Personality Overview

ROI Conscious

Hard To Convince

Demanding

They respond well to confident salespeople.  They don’t always try to control the conversation but neither do they like yielding it fully. They focus on objectivity in a pitch and pay little attention to bells and whistles.

Topics They Care About

Airline Loyalty Strategy
He leads the Finnair Plus program and has extensive experience transforming loyalty programs into lifestyle-oriented commercial assets, as he did with Air France-KLM's Flying Blue.
M&A and Financing
Possesses deep expertise in M&A and asset monetization, highlighted by his leadership of a major financing deal with Apollo Global Management at his previous role.
Innovative Partnerships
Focused on creating commercial value through innovative partnerships, such as implementing "earn and burn in checkout" concepts and card-linking technologies in loyalty programs.

Media Appearances

Gerben has no verified media appearances

Work History

1-2026
Vice President Loyalty at Finnair
1-2024 - 12-2025
Strategic Advisor at Pointspay
7-2022 - 12-2025
Senior Director Strategy and M&A at Air France-KLM
11-2020 - 7-2022
Senior Director Of Partnerships at Air France-KLM
2-2017 - 11-2020
Director Loyalty Partnerships at Air France-KLM

Education

1999 - 2006
Master of Science (ir.) from Technical University Eindhoven
1993 - 1999
Secondary education (VWO) from Cambreur College

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : N/A Location : Hilversum, North Holland, Netherlands Job Level : N/A Designation : Vice President Loyalty at Finnair
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Insights For Selling To Gerben

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Tell them that you are there to help them create visible impact within their organization
  • Make sure that you you respond to any queries from them quickly
  • Be crisp while making the pitch

DONT's

  • Don't try too hard to get friendly, let it happen with time
  • Don’t expect them to change their mind quickly if they say no once
  • Don’t try to be an alpha salesperson, give them equal space

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Gerben is

  • Confidence in the product plays an important role, followed by powerful testimonials.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Gerben

  • They might hesitate a little, but they will say no if they are not convinced.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Gerben move?

  • They are neither the fastest decision makers nor the slowest.
  • Can Gerben take some risk or not?

  • Once they have analyzed the pros and cons, they can take some risks.

You And Gerben

Personality Compatibility


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