Every sales team strives for success. But what’s the special sauce that entices new talent to join?
For some, it’s all in the approach. At vcita, Director of Sales Orel Levit encourages his team to focus less on closing deals and more on understanding each client’s operations, which has created a positive impact so far.
“We’ve noticed a 30 percent decrease in churn after one year, which goes hand in hand with an increase in our monthly recurring revenue,” Levit said.
And vcita isn’t the only local company looking for fresh sales talent to add to its team. As Infobip grows, the company aims to attract “customer-focused” professionals. According to Director of North American Digital Native Sales Peter Coleman, his team thrives in an environment where there are no wrong answers or ideas.
“Open collaboration and communication play a pivotal part in how we function and grow,” Coleman said.
Whether you’re an account manager or a sales specialist, companies throughout Seattle have plenty of open roles — and stand-out team cultures.
Built In Seattle caught up with Levit, Coleman and Getty Images Senior Director of Sales Enablement Kate Philpot to learn about their sales teams and the most valuable lessons they’ve gleaned throughout their careers.
Small and medium-sized businesses drive client engagement through web, mobile, email and social media using vcita’s app.
What’s something unique about your team compared with other sales organizations you’ve been part of?
Since we focus more on how customers will be using our product during the sales process, our customer success team is spending less time preventing churn and creating workarounds. Instead, they focus on providing value to our customers.
Look for the opportunity to improve and grow, even during tough times.”
What’s the most valuable sales lesson you’ve learned in the time you’ve been with your company, and how do you continue to apply it in your work?
Look for the opportunity to improve and grow, even during tough times. Like most companies, we started working remotely during the pandemic. I was worried working from home would have a detrimental effect on performance. Instead, the opposite happened. The team spent less time commuting and more time on the phone talking to customers, so our numbers went up.
Over time, we noticed some of our sales reps were struggling to keep their morale up after bad days. That’s why we gave them the option to come to the office to spend some time with their managers and colleagues. Now, we’re trying to strike a nice balance between work efficiency, employee satisfaction and high morale.
Getty Images offers an arsenal of visual content, which includes images, videos and music.
What’s something unique about your team compared with other sales organizations you’ve been part of?
While the sales enablement team isn’t involved in customer interactions, we’re dedicated to supporting the development of our people. Given that my teammates and I have all operated previously in sales or service, we understand what our people are experiencing on a daily basis. This lends us credibility and enables us to add value to our commercial teams while helping us deliver more effective training.
We’re a small team that works across several markets globally, so variety and change are our everyday reality. With all of us working from home during the pandemic, we’re actually more present than we were when catching planes and trains.
If you can show them how you will help them sleep more soundly, you’ll set both yourself and your customer up for success. ”
What’s the most valuable sales lesson you’ve learned in the time you’ve been with your company, and how do you continue to apply it in your work?
I’ve been in sales for nearly 25 years now. Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that you will only succeed if you’re curious about your customer, their business and the things that keep them up at night, regardless of the product you’re selling. Our customers are better informed than ever before and will only listen to you if you’re adding value. If you can show them how you will help them sleep more soundly, you’ll set both yourself and your customer up for success.
The process we use in selling and ultimately serving our customers is the same process we use internally. If you’re asked to come up with a solution to a problem, you need to first make sure you understand what that problem is before solving it.
Infobip allows businesses to use mobile messaging solutions to connect with their customers and employees.
What’s something unique about your team compared with other sales organizations you’ve been part of?
We are definitely a unique group of individuals focused on the customer. We are able to participate in water cooler conversations where there is no wrong question, comment or answer. Everyone on the team feels comfortable with each other, which has kept the group together.
Empathy and enablement have always been essential to our company.”
What’s the most valuable sales lesson you’ve learned in the time you’ve been with your company, and how do you continue to apply it in your work?
Empathy and enablement have always been essential to our company. We foster trust and build long-term relationships by putting the customer first and focusing on their needs, solutions and unique requirements.
