Jo Weech on LinkedIn: Heartfelt congratulations to Brian Kaufman for a well-deserved promotion!… (2024)

I’ve been in deep thoughts this week. All in my feels, per say!I’ve had some really amazing wins, some great partnerships develop, and some really heartbreaking losses so far this year. (I know, it may seem dramatic, but when you invest so much time, attention, and energy into a potential client, we sales executives become attached to you - Even if you don’t.)A few things I’d like to share:— If you choose to go to another vendor, at least tell us why. It helps us learn ✏️ and helps us grow 📏personally and professionally to hear where we, or our organization, may have fell short. Feedback is SO appreciated.— Transparency goes a long way. If you want something, ask. If you see something, say something. You may sell yourself short by assuming we can’t exceed your expectations. — If you’re being sold a product instead of solutions to your problems, it’s probably not the right fit for you long term. Your sales rep is a direct reflection of your future experience.— If you are a happy client, and your sales rep really was great to you, offer to be a reference. You have NO IDEA how impactful you are to us, how much it means to us, and how it helps our careers. I am so thankful to every one of my clients who has and continues to take time out of their day to be an advocate for me, and for #Paylocity. I cannot even express my gratitude 🙏 Paylocity is an amazing organization, and I’m so thankful to be here.If you are a business owner, broker, financial advisor, or CPA who is looking for a long term partnership, reach out to me! ❤️. #forwardtogether #peoplefirst #paylocity

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10 years ago,I went through 5 rounds of interviews for an Account Executive position at Salesforce. I would be the 2nd Small Business Account Executive hire in New York where the SMB teams were growing. Itwas technically a step back for me at the time (having 5 years of commercial selling experience) but the initial exposure to leadersalong with the opportunity to be part of a new segment in NY encouraged me to take a leap of faith.It’s been an incredible journey going from a $4B company to $34B company as an individual contributor, 1st line leader and currently a 2nd line leader. Here are some of the takeaways I’ve learned along the way: 1) Hearts and minds should be a top focus. When you have your team's back and truly care, success will follow. (Adam Kirsh)2) Do what you say you are going to do and get it done by doing it right (Tony Rodoni & Mike Wolff )3) When you get your seat at the table make noise, you aren’t there to fit in (Aimee Frank)4) There is no such thing as work life balance, it’s work life integration (Stephanie Glenn)5) Your team works with you not for you, hire talented people and get out of their way6) Magic happens when you are outside of your comfort zone, embrace the struggle (Colin Nanka)7) The most compelling cases are made from understanding data and story telling. Get good at both (Zach Ciliotta-Young)8) Clear is kind and always work on your brevity (Aimee Frank)9) Always have a beginners mindset, the moment you feel like you have mastered it all is when you start falling behind(Warren Wick)10) Never.stop.having.fun (Adrian Fallow)Thank you Dan Ross, Mike Wolff and especially Adam Kirsh for taking a chance on me. I am grateful for the leaders/mentors who have shaped and inspired me throughout my tenure Adam Kirsh, Dan Ross, Mike Wolff, Colin Nanka, Tony Rodoni, Stephanie Glenn, Adrian Fallow, Evans Killeen, Rich Lind, Aimee Frank, Zach Ciliotta-Young, Tony Kays, Patty Hager, Samiran Dwivedi, Lizanne Kiel and Denise Holland Dresser.Cheers to 10 more!

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Are you really going 110% in your role or job search? Did you get a football star to make a custom cameo for the VP?A long time ago, I really wanted this open position with Salesforce. It was in my area, it was a cool division, and honestly it paid a lot. But....how do I stand out from the literal thousands of applicants all gunning for this 1 role?110% me comes in. Throw caution to the wind, and go for it.I found the Senior VP of the division was a proud Notre Dame grad. So, I went to Cameo, and found the most famous and recognizable ND grad I could find. Joe Theismann. Football hero.Spent $200 bucks, got this amazing video from Joe, and sent it off to the VP.........Feel free to watch the video (link in comments too).And, I didn't get the job (its okay). But, I honestly can say I gave it my very all. My current company is the best company ever anyway, so very blessed there :)But, I wasn't going to leave any stone unturned. Everything we do should be 110%, or else whats the point. Did Michael Jordan give 90%? Tiger Woods? No. If you want to stand out, especially in sales and or your job search, you gotta be different. And, you gotta give it 110%.#sales #jobsearching #cameo #prospecting #saturdaysales #110% #mambamentality #salesforce

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What. A. Ride! After 7+ years at Pivotal/VMware, it’s time for something new. I didn't want to step out the door without recognizing the leaders, colleagues and teammates who impacted my career and influenced me professionallyKelli Robinson For bringing me into the organization, allowing me to grow within my roles and even expand their definitions. Your confidence in me was always high. It was great learning from someone so calculated in their approach, well-regarded around the company, and empathetic throughout. I had believed that the Type A personality was the archetype for sales professionals.Craig Nowell You taught me about being authentic as a seller. The best representation you can (and should) put out there is unique to you and not manufactured.I candidly wish I could retain all the knowledge that I’m exposed to , but there are pieces of advice that are foundational. Bill Serino, we spoke about how, as an individual, one needs to take an active role in shaping their paths forward. Create your opportunities.Gregg Haviland For the importance of continuous learning, both internally, and for customers. Great seeing the effect of bringing field events to customers first-hand.Jaime Gonzalez Aguilar & Tim Green for your patience in explaining the gory details of our technologies.You’re never quite sure what the demands of being a leader are until you’re put in the position to lead.David McLaughlin I appreciate the nomination and trust to take an elevated responsibility guiding the team. Keith Kaplan For being an internal champion and sales acumen sherpaBrian Reeve For challenging me to test myself. Pace and intensity are the things we control and need to manage accordingly. Despite changing go-to-markets, team structure, portfolio expansion & contraction, process change, re-alignments, there was a lot youmanaged through and took the brunt of. Thanks for taking the hits and remain standing.Shoutout to some great salespeople, friends, and desk mates John V. Genovese, Paul Carey, Brian B., Ray Estevez, Francois Martel, James McGovern, Brett Cooper, Stuart A. McClain, Ed Wagner, Robert Beevers Mark D'Annibale, Ryan Ghaderi, Abigail Shrader, Frank Gaul, Ethan La For now, it's exciting to not know what the future holds - leaves the door open for anything. Time for a pivot... Thanks to everyone I mentioned, and to anyone I’ve regrettably missed.

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Day 1 of 30 for my gratitude posts in honor of those who’ve made a positive impact on me either personally or professionally🙏This first one goes out to one of my earliest bosses in my first “true” tech sales job at DocuSign, Nathan J. Cowan. I was 21 years old and my job was to cold call existing clients to try and find expansion opportunities. Making those first few cold calls I was scared sh*tless. But Nathan invested in me and instilled a certain confidence in me that after 3 weeks I was walking around the office with my headset talking to clients. Not gonna lie I felt like a complete bad a$$😏I'm not sure if I even knew what Salesforce was or what our product did, but Nathan made me feel like I had purpose. He wasn’t just trying to make sure I hit quota, he simply wanted me to succeed and grow. One day I remember we got lunch and he asked me what I wanted in life, my career, and my overall vision. I can’t quite remember what he said, but I remember he made me FEEL like I could do whatever I set my mind to. He completely changed how I thought about leadership and showed me that a true leader cares about the person FIRST. Funny thing is I actually sold Outreach to Nathan when he was at Convoy and I remember the grin on his face as he watched me give the demo. I was proud to show him the sales professional I’d become. Grateful to still call him my friend and mentor to this day. #gratitude #sales #leadership

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My career today vs. three years ago:Then:An Inside Sales Rep at a Series C -> D Salesforce Venture backed startupMaking 60+ cold calls and hundreds of cold emails every dayPosting product whitepapers and webinar invites on LinkedInSending 20+ cold DMs and connection requests to prospects on LinkedInRunning demos and intro callsNow:An Enterprise Customer Success Manager at a Fortune 500 companyManaging a book of Enterprise Accounts in Life Sciences and HealthcareSuccessfully pivoted from Sales to Account Management/Customer SuccessGrowing/building my local Austin and Texas communities/network The single most important decisions I made were:Mentorship (s/o Alicia Lewis, Michelle Huang)Going for it often and following through to the "No" until I got the "Yes"Working hard, while stepping back often to reassess and see the big pictureI've seen others post this exercise before, and I'm glad I did today to take a moment to be grateful, slow down, and celebrate progress. What does your similar career reflection look like? I'd love to hear it 👇

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Very good interview tips

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Day 10 of 30 for those who've made a positive impact on me either professionally. This one goes out to the guy who made me move out to New York City, David Rubinstein (aka the Professor of Sales)👇In early 2020 David had just left Salesforce to join Outreach as the VP of the East. After about a month on the job he gave me a call one morning while I was living in Seattle, "So.. we're building out this team in NYC to open up our office, want to do it with me?" Not once had I ever considered moving to NYC and tbh there was zero part of me that felt excited to do it. So I replied to, "No, probably not but I appreciate it." Well... over the course of that day I let it sit, shared it with a few people close to me, and started to envision myself living in NYC. It felt like a new life, a new path, and an opening to something BIG although I didn't know what. It also felt scary, which is when I knew I had to do it.So I called him back that afternoon, "DR... you still go that position?" Low and behold I moved to NYC in August of 2021 and we built out our NYC office, hired a bunch of AE's, and ended up being the #1 team out of 45 in 2022. One of the best experiences I've ever had. DR was an incredible mentor, friend, manager, and true sales leadership professor. Some of my favorite DRisms: 1. The 3 frames to look at your business - People, Pipeline, & Big Bets2. The first question to ask in any deal analysis - "What's the problem we're solving?" 3. Clear is kind4. What's your ONE thing? 5. A sales leader can be 2 of 3 things - 1) Coach 2) Closer 3) Operationally efficient So grateful for DR in more ways than one🙏#grateful #sales #leadership

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Adam Robinson has learned a valuable lesson. Balance. The Entrepreneur's Dilemma is easier to solve when you focus on fundamental and foundational truths. Having ambitious growth goals and sometimes non-data driven expectations can set you up for a costly failure. Scaling too fast or being too lean both have there disadvantages. Being lean shouldn't be a profit model to keep shareholders happy, but throwing money by pressing your thumb on the scale isn't the answer either.Patience and consistency in the distillation process improvements (like a great bourbon) wins the long game. It's repeatable and predictable. When you master that then you can slowly add fuel to the fire. 🏎

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When I started at ServiceNow 3 years ago I was turned down from 8 other companies for this 1 thing... and ServiceNow was the only one who viewed it as a net positive reason to hire me...I didn't have any tech sales background...Selling is a universal skill set, I had 4 years of medical device sales (inside and field) experience under my belt, but the issues was, companies that didn't choose me were thinking .."How would he be able to teach tech sellers if he never sold tech or software?".Vs ServiceNow asked the question."What added value can this guy bring to the team with his experience?"..As leaders we sometimes only look at the technicalities of hiring someone... They have experience so they are good... they look like me so they are good.... which is not always the case and this often leads to hom*ogeneous teams vs divers teams which can be detrimental to your long term success as shown in the research below.....Diverse sales teams are more profitable.A McKinsey & Company study found that companies with the most ethnically diverse executive teams were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians...Diverse sales teams are more innovative.A study by the Boston Consulting Group found that companies with a more diverse workforce are more likely to generate revenue from innovation...Diverse sales teams are better at customer service.A study by Salesforce found that diverse sales teams are better at understanding the needs of different customer groups...Diverse sales teams are more attractive to employees.A study by Glassdoor found that companies with diverse workforces are more likely to be rated as "Best Place To Work"..My journey with ServiceNow has reinforced the profound value of diversity in sales teams. It's not just about being equitable; it's about driving profitability, fostering innovation, delivering superior customer service, and creating a great place to workplace. Let's remember that diversity of thought and experience is not just a checkbox; it's a recipe for long-term success...If your company is looking for more ways to improve the diversity within their sales teams send me a DM. I'm currently working on a platform to help bridge the gap between companies looking for sales ready talent from underrepresented communities and I would love to partner up!..I look forward to connecting and until next time Be Kind, Be Bold, Be Significant. ..#DiversityMatters #SalesSuccess #Innovation #CustomerService #WorkplaceCulture #sales

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