#OpenForDelivery: If Not Now, Then When
Meet Jo White: Engagement Manager Lead, DoorDashWritten by: Myrna L. Datilus, Spotlight Blogger, SIS Jo White (Joanna White on Linkedin) is the Engagement Manager Lead at Doordash and I am ecstatic to share the additional layers of who she is. During our conversation I was able to learn some things that truly exemplifies how passionate Jo is about her life and her career. Jo was born and raised in London, to a South African mother and an English father. She has always traveled between South Africa and the UK to remain in contact with her cultural roots, and it was very important for her mother to expose her to the South African side of her family. When she would go on “holiday,” in South Africa which translates to “vacation,” her mother would encourage her to go to school with her South African cousins. “It was really important to her for me to know the different cultures and really experience them,” this helped to shape Jo into who she is today with that type of cultural grounding and competency. While getting to know Jo, she made it extremely clear that her value system consists of family first, loyalty, and being very goal oriented. Since she is very close with her family, and she values their opinion. Jo studied Economics at University of Bath in England, and when she graduated, she decided to venture to New York, which ties in her love of traveling. “I’ve always been passionate about experiencing new things and putting myself outside my comfort zone,” and her move to New York did just that. She came to New York and worked a job in Banking as a Business Manager on the sales and trading floor. This position helped to inform some of the decisions Jo was able to make for her next career move within the sales industry. Jo’s face lights up each time she speaks of family and traveling, especially New York City which she states is, “an amazing place…I absolutely loved it.” It was great to also discover that while working in NYC for 14 months, Jo was actually living in Hoboken, NJ, so she was able to enjoy the best of both worlds and truly immerse herself into the NY Metro culture. Despite how much she loves New York, moving back is not something she thinks she would do as she has found solace in Canada. Jo states,“I’m at a stage right now in my life where I’ve found a good balance between an outdoorsy lifestyle with mountains and hiking, coupled with a slight city lifestyle through working in downtown Vancouver. So probably not, but I’ll always go back and visit; I will always think of New York with such fun memories.” Sounds like Jo found a good balance between finding her peace, fun, and career, at home in the UK, NYC, and now Vancouver. Jo’s prior role in Banking, then Strategy Consulting, and as a National Account Manager at Kraft Heinz all helped to set her up with the professional tools needed for her to be successful at DoorDash. While working as the Business Banking Manager, she took notice of how her colleagues interacted with clients over the phones, and how they were able to interact face to face which made her realize that her personality really felt more in line with a client facing role. She found what they were doing to be really exciting and fast paced with very measurable goals, which profoundly resonated with her since she already possesses a competitive spirit. Despite carrying the necessary qualities to succeed in sales, I was shocked to learn that Jo never really viewed herself as a salesperson, which she knows sounds kind of strange. Whether it sounds that way or not, I can totally relate as I felt the same way before working within the sales industry; I believe while working in sales, that is when you realize if you were truly meant to be a salesperson or not. I asked Jo how she got the opportunity to be an Engagement Manager Lead at Doordash, and she first explained what her responsibilities are in her current role,“I look after some of our largest national partnerships in Canada personally, but I also look after one of our two post-sale teams under our Canadian Enterprise branch,” which sounds like a very demanding yet rewarding role. Yet, Jo’s journey to working at Doordash is quite an interesting one. Jo and her Partner who lived in London felt like they were on a “hamster wheel” while working these fast paced jobs with crazy working hours, so they applied and received their visas, “and we thought, you know, if not now then when, so we quit our jobs in London and jumped on a plane to Vancouver. Everyone told us we were crazy, and my boss at the time told me I was committing career suicide,” but that didn’t stop Jo. She actually moved to Vancouver with her Partner after doing a 3month road trip around the US…Wow! The fact that Jo was audacious enough to test her faith like that, should already let us know how fearless a person she is in and out of work. As anyone could assume, this decision came with some strong, yet shocking reactions from Jo’s peers. She shared that she had one group of people essentially thinking that she was making a crazy decision, and another group cheering her on and even confessing that they are jealous of her bold move and have always wanted to do that as well; goes to show you never know who you may be inspiring. Jo never heard of DoorDash before, until she fell upon the company while doing her job search. She found her first role as a Strategic Partner Manager (SPM), an Account Manager type role, which fit very nicely for her. She said during the interview process, “everyone seemed super driven, were really engaged with the overall mission of DoorDash as a company, just really smart people.” She kicked off her DoorDash career as a SPM for about four months, then worked her way into
#BreakIntoTechSales: Executive Leadership—The Path to the C-Suite
Angelique SlagleHead of SAP Human Experience Management Line of BusinessSAP North America I had the opportunity to interview Angelique Slagle, head of SAP SuccessFactors. Angelique is the highest-ranking Black executive at SAP and has profit and loss (P&L) responsibility. SuccessFactors is a world-leading provider of cloud human experience management, one of the fastest-growing areas in human resources. Angelique leveraged her unique skills to navigate her career from being an administrative assistant to managing a large national sales team for a solution product used by 43 percent of Fortune 500 companies, with 160 million end users in 42 languages. Q: What drew you to being a sales leader? A: I’ve always thought sales was a glamorous position. When I first went to IBM, I started out as an administrative assistant. After about a year, they moved me into a position as junior project manager and then eventually as project manager. I remember seeing these guys come into the office, and they were in their suits and drove Mercedes, and I wondered, “Who are they?” From my perspective, they just came and talked for a couple of minutes and walked out—I was the one taking all the notes and doing the work. I said to myself, “Who are these people, and how do I get on that success track?” Angelique shared that one of the keys to success as a sales executive is good decision-making. Critical Thinking Critical thinking is an essential skill, and yet, as sales professionals, we tend to accept the first proposed solution. Take time to evaluate a topic from all sides. Improving your critical thinking will pay off with improved solutions, better client relationships, and increased sales. Q: Can you tell me more about how critical thinking leads to executive presence? Women, more particularly women of color, tend to lack dominant presence in the workplace. When we walk into a room, we don’t tend to command attention, and we’re not naturally assumed to be leaders or sales executives. We really must spend more time developing the ability to read and lead a room, understanding where people are, and figuring out how to bring them with us or get them to rally behind us. I think that kind of critical thinking skill set is something we naturally have in our DNA. We need to understand the psychology of the people we’re interacting with and then assess the situation while maintaining a highly professional presence. We already do so much of that work in our daily lives- we’ve mastered it professionally far better than our male counterparts. Cultivating Executive Presence Q: You have great executive presence. I have been admiring how this shows up in everything you do. How can women sharpen their executive presence skills to become sales leaders? It starts with having a positive mindset. Executive presence means you project self-confidence, approach unpredictable and difficult situations with calm and ease, and deal with conflict rather than avoid it while looking for an opportunity for growth or to demonstrate your executive presence. To achieve this, you must believe in yourself, and the impact and value you will bring to any room, team or company. Gaining P&L Responsibility and C-Suite Access There is a clear moral argument for increased diversity in top sales management. A recent HRB article indicates companies with more women in executive roles experience many benefits, including increased profitability, improved social responsibility, and the ability to provide higher-quality customer experiences. Ursula Barnes, former CEO of Xerox, was interviewed in 2017 about the lack of Black women in the C-suite. “HR isn’t going to get you there,” said Barnes. “Communications and the arts aren’t going to get you there.” The juice lies with people who are close to the product and the money. Barnes shared a critical tip: Taking a role that has P&L responsibility is a key responsibility for executive sales leadership. Having P&L responsibility involves running a business unit. You are responsible for driving revenue and managing all expenses—maximizing revenue and minimizing expenses to make a profit. Having a seat at the C-suite table as a sales leader requires a job that directly affects the company’s bottom line. Strategies for Successful Sales Leadership Q: How can women of color get into the C-suite or run a line of business? There are three things we can do to move into sales leadership. First, develop financial fluency and an ownership mentality. Seek out roles with P&L responsibility, be an innovator, position yourself as a strong organizational change agent, challenge the industry status quo, and be an industry disruptor. Second, think strategically and create a sense of direction. Ensure every team member is invested in driving revenue growth and improving the company’s financial situation. Develop the confidence and determination to identify savings and growth opportunities and to execute your ideas. Third, embrace your uniqueness. See your worth; don’t wait until someone acknowledges it for you. Q: What’s one thing women can do to help themselves on this pathway? Find a sponsor. Be visible. Sign up for something that puts you in the limelight, like finding a stretch assignment, booking a speaking engagement, executive sponsor an Employee Resource Group. Become a mentor—find and sponsor someone in the organization who you think could benefit from your skill set. And stay in the know. In the morning, I used to listen to music while starting my day until a mentor told me to use my time more wisely. Instead of listening to music, I now listen to a podcast or audiobook. I take what I am learning from those recordings and apply them to either the business I am running or my life. Q: In hindsight, what would you do differently? I would have demanded more for myself earlier on. From a compensation perspective, I was unknowingly the lowest-paid person on my team for several years. I would have changed that. I would have demanded to have more strategic accounts. When I first started, I was told you start at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up,
#BreakingIntoTechSales – From Business Leader to Tech Sales
Robin Whitaker, NA Business Architect Executive Advisory & Architecture at SAP Success Leaves Clues Robin Whitaker, NA Business Architect Executive Advisory & Architecture at SAP, is an inspirational, dynamic, elegant and articulate sales leader. Robin started her career path on the business side and not software as many do. Robin worked hard to master her knowledge of corporate industry and is valued for her ability to help businesses transform. From Business Leader to Tech Sales Leader Transitioning into sales for me was easy because I understood the perspective of the customer. You have many customers in sales. Your internal customer can be a member of the internal team that you’re supporting; specifically, the person responsible for the account. And of course, you have your external customer which is the entity you are trying to sell your products and/or services. I think it’s especially important when you move into a sales role that you always keep your customer and the customer’s customers in mind as you develop your strategy. Customer line of sight ensures your strategy will be impactful which brings credibility for you. This way, your customer knows that you not only know them, but you know what’s important to them. That’s how you build the relationship that is pivotal to your success. I was introduced to SAP as a Sr. Business Analyst, responsible for driving best commercial business practices for logistics and transportation. The customer was the US Army Materiel Command. They recognized that they were struggling with logistics in theater. This was an initiative that was sparked by Al Gore called the “Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program”. I was brought on board to introduce the US Army to best commercial practices. I modeled their current business processes by documenting what they were doing and how. Then I provided them with a forward-looking business model and a roadmap to where they wanted to be. Back then, we called it Business Process Re-Engineering and Analysis. It represented process improvements for the customer. Once we re-engineered the customer’s business model, then the question was, “What software would be needed to meet the new and improved business model?” And at that time, SAP was one of the software companies that had been selected. That’s how I was introduced to SAP. With my career progression, each role catapulted me to the next role. And what I liked about it was that each stretch was a split. I had deep expertise for 75% of the role, but I had to stretch my skillset another 25% as a growth and development opportunity. Don’t feel that you must know everything about a role you are pursuing. Look at it as a development opportunity. There are certain aspects of the role where you’ll be great, you bring significant value, but you also need to grow and develop in your career path as well. “Because you are worth it” Best Career Advice I would say the best career advice I’ve ever received was from my Mom. When I started my career back in the early 70’s, the environment was not what it is today. I had to overcome many challenges and basically her advice to me was to stay laser-focused on my life goals and my purpose, and not allow anything or anyone else to disrupt that focus. Whatever my central target was, whatever my reasons for doing what I’m doing, keep my eye on the prize and never feel that there’s anything that I can’t accomplish. As a lesson learned, if I could go back, I would have completed my formal education sooner. That said, every step you take in life leads you to your next adventure. And I am happy where I am today, so I don’t really have any regrets. When you change, that means everything else changes. Embrace the change with no regrets. How to Grow into a Tech Role Final Words… I would also tell women, be patient and know your worth. The number of women in sales that look like us may not be as plentiful as I would like it to be, but it’s not what it was when I first joined the organization. So, obviously we are an organization that’s moving in the right direction. We have different resources such as the SAP Black Employee Network. Stay connected to the network. It’s a haven, a safe place where you can be yourself and network with others who have a alliance with you. Keep striving and you will reach your goals. To all my Sista’s In Sales: “Remember who you are and that you have an audience of one to please in life! Always be your true and best self!” So you want to get a job in tech sales? Excellent! Join us as the panelist of Tech Sales Professionals explain how to go about getting a tech sales job, even if you lack experience. This event is a panel discussion that will detail how women of color can market themselves for tech sales positions when their sales experience is not in the tech field. Attendees will also learn the different areas of SAP that showcase the various sales roles across the company. – CherilynnChief Learning Officer, SISWATCH THE RECORDING Cherilynn Castleman, Global Sales Keynote Speaker/Trainer/Executive Coach, has been a sales executive for 20+ years. With her natural talent for teaching and a drive to sell, Cherilynn uses her skills to coach and train other executives and sales professionals. Author of What’s In the CARDS? 5 Post Pandemic Sales Strategies. Sistas in Sales, LLC (SIS) is a community for women of color sales professionals to network, advance their careers and most importantly, find sisterhood – offering events, thriving Slack community with companies hiring now, and career coaching services. Learn more about Sistas In Sales membership here, connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Sponsored by SAP Learn more about SAP here! Sign up for job alerts
#LevelUp Your Sales Career: Finding and Leveraging Your Sales Superpower
Like many people, Joy Dempsey fell into sales. After studying English at Oxford University and an early career as a police officer, Joy transitioned to sales development. Joy was motivated to become a police officer because she wanted to make a difference in her community. As a police officer, people sometimes saw the uniform and not Joy. Not the empathetic, kind, and driven woman that she is. However, Joy’s empathy, one of her sales superpowers, has been critical for her success in sales. “I had zero sales experience going in and I really didn’t know much about it as an industry. In my experience, people from sales don’t come to career fairs and say ‘come and get into sales.’ Sales sometimes slips under the radar. Making the leap feeling quite uninformed was difficult, but I’m so glad that I did it because I found a career that I absolutely adore.” Currently, Joy is a Manager of Sales Development at Dataminr. Joy attributes her success to believing in herself, having the support of good leaders, and acting with conviction, empathy, and confidence. I asked Joy, what skills do you need to level up in order to become a sales development manager? “You are absolutely good enough. More than that, you are better than good enough…” Be Yourself Maybe it’s silly, but I worried so much about my hair coming into a sales role. I’m just so conscious that my hair is so big. And then with the pandemic this past year, people have had two schools of thought about what working online has done for equality. In a video conference, everyone is just a face and you take up the same amount of space on the screen. As a result, I’ve started to believe myself that my hair is professional, ‘I’ve come to feel comfortable in the fact that natural Black hair is professional too’. This is my natural hair, washed and clean, and this is what it looks like. One of my pieces of advice is don’t change what you look like in order to fit in. ‘One of my pieces of advice is your work, (not your hair!), is the measure of whether or not you fit in – energy spent worrying about what people think of your hair can be better spent doing the job’ “I want to say: you are absolutely good enough. More than that, you are better than good enough. And if you work hard, you deserve to be in the room that you’re in. Even if you don’t look like anyone else, you deserve to be there.” I think what successful SDRs do well is show that they are enthusiastic. As a hiring manager, I don’t prioritize experience. I prioritize enthusiasm and an ability to communicate. And another thing is just honesty and integrity. Just being honest about who you are, because when you’re working in sales development, you’re trying to connect with other people. And you can’t do that successfully if you’re pretending to be something that you’re not. Just be authentic. Creativity I wanted to be a manager because I really love competition, hitting targets, and being successful. But I realized when I was an SDR, I needed that element of helping others to really feel fulfilled. So, I thought, this mentality around competition and achievement could really work well in a management position. I will say that being an SDR and managing a team of SDRs takes a lot of different skills: coaching people, supporting people, and letting them try out those things. And it’s hard because you shift from doing one role to doing a very different role at times. You don’t just want to be that manager that’s always right. Being an SDR is about being creative and standing out. And it’s not just about replicating exactly what your manager has done in the past. The pandemic has really taught us that a multi-tiered approach to prospecting is always the best way. SDRs may have relied heavily on mobile phone numbers to contact people before the pandemic. Now, they have to pivot to email or to LinkedIn. And so just having a presence across all the platforms is the best way to be successful in sales development. About Joy Joy is training for her first triathlon in July 2021 and her experience summarizes her keys to career success: “I have an incredible triathlon coach who she is all about getting women of color into swimming, because I didn’t realize until I got into a pool that being a black woman in a pool is something that people don’t see every day. I had to seek out a swimming cap that would fit my hair, just one of the barriers to entry. When a sport focuses on you as the usual person participating in that sport, you don’t have to worry about barriers to entry. It’s really nice to have a triathlon coach that understands.” Whether you are looking to level-up your skills, your career, or your network, Kelley has shown us a successful approach – believe in yourself and take a leap. You may find yourself in an exciting new industry or company. Watch the #LevelUp Your Sales Career panel discussion here to #levelup your sales career with help and insight from savvy, global sales thought leaders. – CherilynnChief Learning Officer, SIS Cherilynn Castleman, Global Sales Keynote Speaker/Trainer/Executive Coach, has been a sales executive for 20+ years. With her natural talent for teaching and a drive to sell, Cherilynn uses her skills to coach and train other executives and sales professionals. Author of What’s In the CARDS? 5 Post Pandemic Sales Strategies. Sistas in Sales, LLC (SIS) is a community for women of color sales professionals to network, advance their careers and most importantly, find sisterhood – offering events, thriving Slack community with companies hiring now, and career coaching services. Learn more about Sistas In Sales membership here, connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Sponsored by Dataminr Learn more about Dataminr below! Sign up for job alerts
#LevelUp Your Sales Career: Consider Taking a Leap
Making the leap into sales from a different field can be daunting. Kelley Johnson, Customer Success Manager at Dataminr, knows that all too well. Kelley is a results-driven manager extracting value from publicly available information, but she didn’t start out that way. Originally working in finance, Kelley made the switch to tech and has never looked back. She has a creative and agile leadership style that cultivates a highly productive and engaging team dynamic. I asked Kelley, what skills do you need to level up, in order to break into and become successful in sales? 1. Be Confident I always say, “don’t second guess yourself.” That’s my biggest advice. As a young Black woman, I wasn’t confident and at times experienced imposter syndrome. To counter this, it was crucial for me to remember my successes, aim to build upon them, and replay them while seeking the next challenge. As with confidence, exuding positivity is just as important. I maintain a positive attitude when engaging with colleagues and customers, and hope that it inspires others. When I started at Dataminr, I was excited to be a part of an entrepreneurial environment where my voice was heard and I was able to make an impact. Although my background was in finance, I was able to apply my client service learnings to my role at Dataminr. 2. Be Curious It’s important to be curious about your customers and their business, but also about the company you work for and what it has to offer. Dataminr’s customers want us to listen to their needs, engage in dialogue, and understand the business challenges they face — but they want us to do so as an informed consultant able to bring our knowledge and assets to the table. Sales success often boils down to connecting customer needs with your company’s capabilities. This means not only being curious, but being a proactive learner and engaging with the right stakeholders. This is also applicable to the world outside the office. Stay on top of current business trends and world affairs, as these things could well be affecting your customer’s businesses, and your familiarity with them could give you an edge in the market. 3. Networking Having a strong network is key. I learned about Dataminr and was referred by one of my mother’s previous interns. Almost every job that I’ve had came through a referral. And sometimes even if your background doesn’t align with the job description, reach out to people on LinkedIn and try to network your way through. Combat the negative thoughts and reach out. Make sure that you have advocates and coaches in your network, both internally and externally, to help you throughout your career. I think that’s huge. I received that career advice from my grandmother. She’s an executive coach and she’s always told me, “if you have a strong network, you can get far.” 4. Relationship Management I think that having strong relationship management is essential because that’s something that you can translate into almost any role. The ability to foster strong relationships with your customers, with anyone that you’re working with on a day to day basis, is important because you want someone to vouch for you when you’re not in the room. And whether they’re vouching for the company, the product, or for you as a person, you want them to be able to say positive things when you’re not there. As a new people manager, I’ve learned that you have to focus on the success of the team rather than yourself. Ensure your team has the tools to reach their personal goals which, in turn, will help me reach my goals. A mission-driven organization is amazing because every day you go in and you know that you’re making an impact, whether it be direct or indirect.” – Kelley Johnson, Customer Success Manager at Dataminr 5. Mission-Driven Organization The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging over the past year, especially the past two quarters. Believing in the product or platform makes a difference. The work we are doing here at Dataminr is significant. We help customers detect, understand and mitigate risks. We help them get ahead of potential threats to their business. About Kelley Kelley works hard and plays hard to maintain a healthy mind and body. She pursues an active and natural lifestyle, loves a good workout session, and enjoys spending time with her 3-year-old Shih-Poo and best friend, Leo (a cross between the Shih Tzu and Toy Poodle). Whether you are looking to level-up your skills, your career, or your network, Kelley has shown us a successful approach – believe in yourself and take a leap. You may find yourself in an exciting new industry or company. Join us on Wednesday April 28th from 2-3:30 PM to #levelup your sales career with help and insight from savvy, global sales thought-leaders. Register Here – CherilynnChief Learning Officer, SIS Cherilynn Castleman, Global Sales Keynote Speaker/Trainer/Executive Coach, has been a sales executive for 20+ years. With her natural talent for teaching and a drive to sell, Cherilynn uses her skills to coach and train other executives and sales professionals. Author of What’s In the CARDS? 5 Post Pandemic Sales Strategies. Sistas in Sales, LLC (SIS) is a community for women of color sales professionals to network, advance their careers and most importantly, find sisterhood – offering events, thriving Slack community with companies hiring now, and career coaching services. Learn more about Sistas In Sales membership here, connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Sponsored by Dataminr Learn more about Dataminr below! Sign up for job alerts
#KeepGrowing: If Given a Choice, Choose Challenge
Happy International Women’s Day! Every year on March 8th, communities around the world take the time to stop and recognize women’s accomplishments and contributions to society. To mark the occasion this year, I invite you to #ChooseToChallenge. Choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements because from challenge comes change. Today, I’m celebrating the accomplishments of Kristin Moore, a US Air Force veteran and current SMB Sales Manager at KeepTruckin. With her positive energy and enthusiastic outlook on life, Kristin chooses to challenge herself and those around her to make change for the better. She focuses on her growth to advance her career, she challenges her team to improve every day, and through challenges, she believes she can help sales newbies build successful sales careers. If you’ve wondered if you have what it takes to have a successful career in sales, I invite you to read Kristin’s story and learn how she went from serving in the US Air Force to a sales leadership role. The SDR Route – Here’s One Idea to Move Into Sales.One way to start a career in sales is to become a Sales Development Rep (SDR). SDRs are responsible for researching and reaching out to prospective clients (leads) and introducing the leads to your company. Transitioning from the Air Force to Sales After graduating from college on an ROTC scholarship, Kristin served in the US Air Force. She was stationed at Travis Air Force base, about two hours outside of San Francisco. With her proximity to Silicon Valley, Kristin saw so much opportunity bubbling up in San Francisco that she started working at Jhana, an online education-based company, and began exploring other industries once she finished her Air Force tour. The trucking industry kept coming up on her radar, so she decided to learn more. After conversations with recruiters and the high-energy, friendly team at KeepTruckin, it was an easy decision. Emerging and Groundbreaking Opportunities in the 21st Century Trucking Industry Kristin spoke passionately about the trucking industry. I don’t know about you, but prior to our conversation, I didn’t realize the crucial role trucking plays in the modern economy. With the explosion of e-commerce, every time you go to your door and there is a package, thank the trucking industry and the tech solutions that keep everything moving! The trucking industry in the United States: Q: First Kristin, thank you for your service! What sparked your interest in tech after your time in the Air Force? A: Honestly, if I hadn’t been stationed near San Francisco, I might still be in the Air Force! Seeing all the opportunity in tech in the city made me curious about what opportunities might exist for me in the tech space. I took a leap and found a 25-person tech startup where I started as a Sales Development Rep (SDR), also known as a Business Development Rep (BDR). I didn’t necessarily know that sales was what I wanted to do at the time. Still, I figured that cold calling, emailing, and reaching out to companies would give me the tech experience that I needed to pivot later with some experience. I just ended up loving it. I’m very goal-oriented; in sales, you have monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals, and I love to hit those milestones. Q: Tell me more about your journey from SDR To Manager. How did you make that happen? A: I carved a path to a team lead role and wrote the description for the job I wanted. It was terrifying when I proposed it to the internal leadership team, telling them my team could benefit from a team lead, and that team lead should be me. It was a big leap, but it paid off. I remember being scared in meetings. I would be so nervous about speaking that I could hardly speak up for myself. I didn’t know what I would be asked or what might be coming my way. Q: How did you get over your fear of speaking up in meetings to become the confident, poised, and articulate leader you are today? A: Practice! Planning and preparation will build your “Speaking Up Muscle.” Here what I do before a meeting: a) review the meeting agenda; b) identify 1 or 2 points where I feel my input could be beneficial or necessary; and c) research and make a note about what I want to say. Also, I make little goals for myself. Like, I’m going to go into this meeting, and I will speak three times at these specific points in the agenda. It might seem silly to count the number of times you speak in a meeting, but the more you do it, the more you build that muscle of speaking up, and the easier it becomes. Eventually, your confidence will make speaking up a habit. You will add value to meetings with cross-functional teams and company leadership. It’s all about building the muscle. Q: What does it take to be a successful SDR? A: Definitely adaptability and grit! SDRs are on the front lines of communication with prospects, other teams marketing and ETS, different sales teams. Enablement is always very curious about what we hear on the phones. As an SDR, you can get a lot of rejection in this role – a lot of people telling you they’re already in a contract, that don’t care about your services, and don’t want to hear from you. You have to realize that if you make that one additional call, that might be the one that gets you to quota or beyond. Q: What advice would you give someone applying to an SDR role? What’s one thing they could do to set themselves apart from other candidates? What makes somebody stand out as an SDR? A: Demonstrate two things: that you’re solution-oriented and self-driven. During the interview process, I always look for the applicant to demonstrate that they see challenges as a chance to move forward, regardless of what’s going on in their life. I’m not looking for
#KeepGrowing: From Retail to SaaS Sales: Growing Your Passion Through Sales
Growing through your sales career is just as important as advancing your career. For Ebony Wiggins, a Commercial Account Executiveat KeepTruckin, growth means challenge.From her first retail sales job at 16 years old to her current role in SaaS sales, Ebony is always looking for the next opportunity to grow and challenge herself. During our conversation, Ebony stressed that she likes to challenge herself, not just with her job, but beyond her career as well. She challenges herself to do less talking and more listening, to get to know people a little better, to have real conversations and not to shy awayfrom hard conversations. Q: You started your sales career at 16. You were so young! How did you end up in sales? A:I like the challenge of sales. Both then and now, I always feel like I’m growing in this industry. In sales, every day is different and as an extrovert I enjoy the social aspects of the job. I like talking to people, getting to know them, and with sales, I get to do that and make money. I also enjoy the fast pace and go-getter environment of commission-based sales. I startedmy sales career at 16 years old, in retail, here in Nashville in designer liquidation, selling high-end overstock apparel. Customers were spending their hard-earned money, and they want to walk out looking fabulous. It was important to me to be honest with them. I have always sold with integrity, honesty, and tact – it is who I am at my core. I think this foundation has helped me have a successful sales career. Later I worked in sales at Postmates, a food delivery service owned by Uber, for about two and a half years. I was promoted four times while working on enterprise accounts with national brands like Potbelly, Chick-Fil-A,Cold Stone Creamery, andSubway. It was great to achieve that level of success, butI wanted to take my career to the next level; I wanted to do more.I wanted to get to know my customers, build a relationship with them and help them achieve their goals over an extended period of time. One of my friends shared her positive experience at KeepTruckin, soI decided to learn more. I joined KeepTruckin in September 2020 and it’s been a great experience so far. Q: Tell me a little bit about your ramp-up. What was it like getting started at KeepTruckin? A:The ramp-up period was excellent! It definitely exceeded my expectations.KeepTruckin hastools in place for ongoing virtual collaboration and communication. I was able to connect with the sales engineers for the demos, and sales managers are always available to offer solutions, navigate the sales process or the client buying journey and provide leadership and insight.My coworkers and other team members are ready and willing subject matter experts, there to offer help and assistance or just there to cheer you on.Also, KeepTruckin provides an incredibly detailed training program that got me geared up, ready to sell, and hit my quota. Q: When you’re not selling or working, how do you like to spend your time? A:So when I’m not selling and not working, I’m a Planned Parenthood activist, human rights advocate, andtravel enthusiast.I do a lot of advocacy work. I was a national speaker for Planned Parenthood and did a lot of lobbying.I attended the extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Christine Blasey Ford accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault. I’ve spoken on behalf of Planned Parenthood, advocating for safe and legal access to reproductive healthcare. I’ve spoken at presidential forums, including the 2018 presidential forum, and had the opportunity to speak with Bernie Sanders. I also spoke at the first-ever presidential forum that focused on reproductive rights. All of the 2020 presidential candidates were in attendance, includingElizabeth Warren, Cory Booker,and now President Biden and Vice President Harris. During the pandemic, I have spent more time on phone banks and virtual coaching with storytellers to register people to vote and encourage people to vote. Q: That’s awesome! In terms of your career, what’s something you’re working on right now that inspires you, or something exciting within the industry that you’d like to share? A: Something that separates KeepTruckin from a lot of other SaaS solution providers is that our technology is developed in-house, and it’s designed to ensure it’s easy to navigate. It’s easyfor the drivers to use, and it’s easy for safety and fleet managers to view, monitor, track, manage and ensure compliance. The ELD (Electronic Logging Device) rule – congressionally mandated as a part of MAP-21 – is intended to help create a safer work environment for drivers and make it easier and faster to accurately track, manage, and share records of duty status (RODS data). We focus on providing a complete solution: trucking companies get everything they need with the dashcam, and it syncs with that vehicle gateway, the asset gateway and tracking devices onthe trailers. All three of the devices can sync together and be managed and operated from one place, so I think that sets us apart. Additionally, we are continually adding new features. We just launched the smart load dashboard, which allows drivers or companies looking for a load to pick up and dispatch. Drivers can go on to the smart load dashboard and find jobs for their drivers. Q:It sounds fascinating to work withthese new cutting-edge technologies! When you think about your career and where you are, what’s the best career advice you have been given? A: Make sure that whatever you’re doing, you do it with integrity. Also,put your best foot forward. Work with dignity, respect, and humility. It’s easy in sales to get a big head, but it’s critical to remember that you’re not any more important or any better than anyone else. Whether it’s a customer or a coworker, it doesn’t matter their position. Everybody deservesthe same level of respect, and everyone deserves to see the best parts of you. Ultimately, it always comes back to integrity which has been so critical and
#TAKETHELEAD: Three Tips to Advance Your Sales Career
Building your career during a period of economic recovery requires initiative and creativity. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Taneishia Fields, an Experian sales leader, about her career and the importance of taking the lead in building her success. She highlighted three key areas of focus that were critical to her career development: understanding critical business drivers, focusing on key leadership priorities and increasing her visibility. Taneishia Fields’ educational achievements and college internships laid the foundation for early career success. She was recruited by IBM to join their Atlanta team immediately after graduating from college to sell infrastructure services – optimizing servers, storage, and data centers. Over the course of ten years, Taneishiawas promoted, relocated to Chicago, and expanded the complexity of her solutions with cloud and networking services which enabled her to sell into larger accounts. While selling into these larger accounts, Taneishia discovered her sales superpowers – she realized she excelled at solving problems and connecting with clients. Smooth Transition to Financial Services While Taneishia was happy at IBM, she was eager to expand her experience, and joined Equifax to selldecision management solutions.She was intrigued by financial servicestech solutions that affected everyday life – solutions that connected data with customers’ unique financial needs through predictive analytics, machine learning, and explainable artificial intelligence (AI). She dove deep into understanding the industry, product knowledge, and client needs. Two years later, a friend who was a successful Experian sales professionalshared an open sales role with Taneishia and she submitted an application.During the interview process, Taneishia was enthralled with the Experian recruitment team. She found them to be kind,approachable, and willing to help, and sheadmired and connected with the company’s leadership team. Additionally, Experian’s commitment to a culture of innovation, and diversity & inclusioncaptivated her. Here’s what Taneishia shared about her career journey. Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to advance their sales career? A:No one is going to tap you on the shoulder. Don’t wait– you have to take the lead and take control of your career. I remember when I wanted to be promoted to a more seniorrole with greater responsibility. I asked questions, become more observant and perceptive, and I networked. I talked to peers and colleagues up and across my chain of leadership. When there were conferences, happy hours, or other events, I made sure to attend them.I sought out information and discovered three things: 1) critical business drivers – what was essential to the business that I need to learn about; 2) key leadership issues and areas of focus, and 3) visibility – the more leadership sees your faceand willingness to help, the better positionedyou are for a promotion. Finally, here is a tip to expand your knowledgeabout a business area or product: find the smartest person in the company, the SME in that field, and set up a 30-minute informational interview. Ask themwhat excites them about what they are working on? Where do they see their product or solution1-5 years in the future? Learn more about taking the lead. Join us – we are here to #TAKETHELEAD! Sistas In Sales & Experian are thrilled to invite you to a virtual experience for Black History Month. Join Sistas In Sales, the global leader for women of color in professional sales, and Experian, the world’s leading global information services company, on February 26th from 1:30PM – 3:00PM for a two-part experience – learning, networking, and recruiting. Register Here Q: In your experience, what does it take to be successful at Experian? A: A competitive spirit. Experian is a competitive company and competitiveness breeds high performers. Additionally, you have to be open-minded and committed to continually learning both through corporate training initiatives and self-directed learning. Take the initiative, identify your knowledge gaps, and formulate learning goals, resources, and strategies. Keep your commitment to helping build trust andleverage your critical thinking skillsto drive strategy and execute. The sky’s the limit. Be too good to be ignored. Q: How important is a tech background or a finance background to consider a sales position atExperian? A:I didn’t have a finance background at all. I have the technical experience, but I think that Experian looks at the value you bring. During the interview process, talk about your dynamic skillset, knowledge, and your superpowers. These may not align with the role you are applying for, butthis approach will get you noticed. Sell yourself and the value you bring. Another quick tip: Have a 30/60/90-dayramp-up planthat clearly details how you wouldapproach the position andclose your skills and product knowledge gap to jumpstart your performance. A ramp-up plan shows that you’re serious,thoughtful, and you’re ready and willing to hit the ground running. It sets you apart from other candidates. Author’s note: Check out the 30/60/90-day plan. The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins, is a tremendous 90-daysurvival guide that offers strategies for quickly getting up to speed in your new Q: When you look back on your career so far, is there anything you would’ve done differently? Is there anything you wish somebody would have told you, early in your career? A: I would’ve asked more questions. I think that when you’re younger, you’re afraid of asking dumb questions. I realized too late that this was one of my biggest early career mistakes. When you’re new in your career, this is the time to reach out to as many people in leadership as possible and say, “hey, I want to learn.This is my goal. What does it take? What do I need to do? Who do I need to talk to?” You can’t play the newbie card when you have been in an industry for 15 years. Q: What’s your bestpiece of career advice? A: Always be prepared. Prepare for everything: your next role, meetings, or a conference. Have something to say, so when you are called on, you have something impactful to say – that’s how you get noticed. That’s how you move to the next level. Be bold, leverage your knowledge and your skill set. Have courage and
#TAKETHELEAD Strength in Numbers: Why Asking for Help is a Sign of Strength
As we continue to navigate our careers in the ever-shifting economy, it is important to keep in mind the value of asking for help. While some may associate asking for help with inexperience, remember: success leaves clues. By asking questions and seeking out the advice of successful performers in your industry, you will be able to leverage their insight to develop your own success and learn from their mistakes to avoid making the same ones yourself. Asking for help is a sign of a success-oriented mindset and one of the easiest ways to level-up your career by learning from others. Even what may feel like a stupid question can be an excellent opportunity to learn something new and take a step forward in your career. For more on the importance of asking for help, I would like to share a conversation I had recently with Shante Whitaker, a sales leader at Experian, who successfully navigated a career shift from human resources to financial industry sales. Shante began her career selling staffing solutions to financial institutions. After receiving her BS/BA from University of Delaware , she joined Delaware’s first Black woman-owned staffing agency – and quickly found sales to be a lucrative field. Shante also learned a lot about working with people and gained valuable management and leadership skills. As the Delaware economy took a downturn, major manufacturing plants closed and large financial institutions merged. As a result, Shante proactively shifted her focus and began selling technology staffing services to the federal government in Washington, D.C. Here’s what Shante shared about her tech sales journey. Q: Tell me more about your career shift from IT recruiter to IT project manager. What prompted you to make that shift? A: It’s all about identifying your transferrable skill set . In 2010, I decided it was time for a change. I thought, “if I can package up software candidates and sell them to companies, then I can package up code and get projects into production.” Transitioning into a new industry, it was important for me to have the skills and competencies I needed to be successful, so I obtained my Project Management Professional and Professional Scrum Master certifications to help establish credibility with my clients and colleagues. My first IT project management role was at a major financial services company, and I worked in that role for about four years, then moved into Credit Risk project management where I ultimately became a PM Team Lead. During my years of IT project management, I became known as the crisis PM, meaning, when a project was not going well, I was called on to navigate out of the choppy waters and return the project back to smooth sailing. In 2018, I was tapped on the shoulder and requested to support a large initiative to help Experian become further integrated within our credit decisioning processes I loved that Experian had been recognized for years as a great place to work, and the team was collaborative and transparent. I was drawn to their approach to solutions and their high energy, passion, and intelligence. I applied for a sales role, met with an interview panel, completed the hiring assessments, and joined Experian in 2019. Best career decision I’ve made in a long time. Q: That’s a big move – leaving your employer to go work for one of their clients. What advice would you give about making that kind of move? A: Don’t burn bridges. It’s very important to demonstrate value to both organizations, to show them how this will be a win-win. It’s really important to build and value strong relationships because you never know when you’re going to run into someone again, especially in the financial institution industry, or in sales generally. The industry may seem huge, but it’s smaller than you think. Q: What would you tell women about taking the lead and getting a seat at the table? What’s it like at Experian? A: One of the things that I think is important when you take the lead is to ask the stupid or obvious questions. I know it may make people a little uncomfortable, but it has been very helpful for me. It’s something I didn’t do earlier in my career because I didn’t want to look inexperienced, but I’ve learned that to show I have control over the situation means asking every possible question, and normally there are three other people who had that same question. Don’t be afraid to ask and ask with confidence. Taking the lead definitely means coming in with confidence and a vision. You don’t want to waver, and you want to be respectful of the people who have already been there. Don’t demean people—work with people. Taking the lead really just means showing up, being confident in your abilities, and staying laser focused on the path forward —and don’t be afraid to ask for help or to ask the obvious questions. Be positive in your interactions with others, connect with people, and work with people. Say, “Thank you for doing that.” “What are you working on now?” “What excites you about that?” Talk a little bit about the pandemic and how you are reimagining or reinventing something. Learn more about taking the lead. Join us – we are here to #TAKETHELEAD! Sistas In Sales & Experian are thrilled to invite you to a virtual experience for Black History Month. Join Sistas In Sales, the global leader for women of color in professional sales, and Experian, the world’s leading global information services company, on February 26th from 1:30PM – 3:00PM for a two-part experience – learning, networking, and recruiting. Register Here Q: What excites you in your current work? A: Ever since the pandemic began, we’ve had to shift our approach because a lot of our clients were used to us showing up on site. It took some time to rework my approach in order to have that same level of engagement through a camera lens, but now I have three key tactics I
#StrongerTogether: Leveraging Collaboration to Drive Sales
The key to success in today’s sales environment is the ability to empathetically connect with customers. By leveraging insights gained through collaboration with clients, teams are able to tailor solutions that fit clients’ changing and specific needs. With that in mind, I met with Principal Functional Consultant, Jolanda Porter, to learn about her success with post-sales implementations. Jolanda is part of Salesforce’s strategic services team that focuses on advisory and implementation projects. She has worked on Salesforce’s solutions that are designed for nonprofits and educational institutions and her job is to go to the customers first, do discovery, work with them to decide what the implementation will look like, and execute the build. Q: How do you establish a trusting client relationship? A: One of the first things I do is meet with the major stakeholders in a project to make sure we’re on the same page. I want to ensure that what was originally outlined in the sales process is accurate and aligns with what is being done. I ask the customer questions like “What does your organization need? Why do you need it? Who will be using it? What obstacles might you face and what can I do to help?” Establishing a connection is a huge part of having successful engagements. Before coming to Salesforce, I was in the nonprofit space for fifteen years and worked closely with consultants. I know what it’s like to have consultants come in and feel like they don’t understand what you’re looking for. And I know what it’s like when a topline manager makes a decision for end-users without getting the users’ input. My goal is to ensure customers are delighted with the implementation process and that we’re working toward their goals. Q: What role do you play in the sales cycle? A: I am often solutioning. One of the things that happens when you focus on solutioning is that you establish trust with a customer. You can help customers understand that your objective is to make their job easier by taking their organization or business to the next level. When that conversation happens, other ideas emerge organically from that process. Frequently, when we’re doing an implementation, we’ll identify new requirements or a different perspective to a pain point that can be helpful for the customer. Many times, this can lead to the introduction of a new solution and product. When you’re actively listening to a customer during an implementation, you’re getting much more detail than you would otherwise. Also, it is as important to listen to what they’re not telling you as much as what they are. It is our job to see the problems and the missing pieces. It’s common that we’ll discover new solutions that will help further our clients’ goals throughout the process. Q: How did you make the shift from the nonprofit space to tech implementations? A: I was in the nonprofit space for quite a long time. Anybody who knows the nonprofit world knows that you wear a thousand hats and there are never enough people. When we were introduced to Salesforce in 2008, we needed someone to be the administrator, and I was already tech-savvy, so I volunteered. I am the kind of person who is going to learn a skill if nobody else in the office knows it. Through this initial introduction to Salesforce, my interest in the connections between leadership, technology, and data grew, and over time I became the Director of Evaluation. I quickly became a person that other nonprofits came to with questions about Salesforce and data because I didn’t just understand the product, but I also understood what it was like to be the organization using the product. Fast forward to 2016, I was a Deputy Director reaching the point in my nonprofit career where I’d probably become an executive director (ED), but I didn’t want to be an ED. I liked collaboration. I liked technology. I really liked Salesforce, and I really liked data, so I decided to go back to school to bridge the gap between my nonprofit background and the business world. After graduating from NYU’s Stern School of Business with my master’s in business analytics, I decided I was ready to make the switch to tech. Many of my classmates took jobs at Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but I had a nonprofit heart. I was looking for a tech company with a social impact vision. My peers discouraged this saying, “There’s no way you’re going to be doing socially good work and technology without going into the corporate space.” And then RoundCorner found me. RoundCorner was the first Salesforce.org Platinum App Partner for the nonprofit market in North America. It provided fundraising solutions and industry expertise to meet the needs of the largest global organizations in the social sector. My first projects were with the ACLU and National Geographic – I was getting to work with some of the world’s most influential nonprofits. Ironically, soon after I was hired, RoundCorner was acquired by Salesforce.org and I haven’t looked back. Today, I am thankful to work for a company that believes in and encourages mission-driven work while providing cutting-edge technology. Q: That’s a big career change! Tell me about what it took to successfully make this shift. A: It took drive and knowing my own talents, as well as learning how to be okay with being uncomfortable. When people think of technology, sometimes they are intimidated, especially when there’s no one who looks like you. You think, “What skill can I bring to the table?” Yes, there are going to be baseline technical skills, but that’s something you can gain. I wanted to be more experienced in data analytics, so I got a master’s degree, and I specifically put myself in a program where I was surrounded by computer scientists. I knew I had the talent to succeed, but I had to get comfortable being uncomfortable and learning what I did not know. Today I use Trailhead as my go-to resource for