Lessons Learned in B2B Sales

Since childhood, I’ve been attracted to the idea of giving back, making a difference, being the change you want to see in the world...you get the picture. As a professional, it’s been increasingly important for me to align myself with professional organizations that prioritize giving back as part of their corporate mission. As I’ve interviewed with and ultimately joined new companies, I’ve been surprised by how few companies incorporate charity & especially volunteerism. Many organizations have a charity component where they donate to X, Y, Z and get a tax break, but giving time and giving money leave most people with a different emotional outcome. In 2016, I was with British Branding Agency PHMG/. Each year they do a massive holiday toy drive. It’s an absolutely wonderful way to give back to the communities in which we work. For the past six years, I’ve always prided myself on taking the time to buy loads of individual toys and donate them to Toys for Tots. At PHMG/ most em...

Networking is not easy...actually sometimes it's just downright difficult.  We've all been to the event where you wander aimlessly through expo hall booths, exchange business cards with people you know you'll never follow-up with, and sit through hours of content lacking in any new ideas.  Over the past two months, full of hours upon hours of research and dozens of conversations with potential customers, it's been made clear that everybody wants to network. As much as everybody talks about wanting to grow their network, what they really want is to grow their network with peers and colleagues who can make a meaningful contribution to their success.  Bucket-List Networking in Napa At Carpathia, we get it. We are hereto revolutionize networking. In speaking with a colleague last week who is leading a VC backed Series A Startup, he said the biggest thing missing from the events he attends are opportunities to actually foster relationships. We talked a lot...

You may have read my post from 8 months about Starting From Scratch a Decade Later. I'd like to revisit that story - so full of optimism - and share the difficult, sad truth of what happened afterward. As a short recap, I left my job of nine years full of excitement and hope; eager for a new professional adventure. I was actively head-hunted by a British Audio Branding Agency - PHMG/ and the possibilities seemed endless. I spent two weeks at their Manchester, England Headquarters and was trained by a group of amazing people. I flew back to Chicago filled with passion and feeling prepared for the new challenges that awaited me. As I was responsible for supporting the brand launch in the USA by growing a large inside sales team and book of business, I expected the challenges to be finding the "right" people, onboarding, training, retention, motivation, KPIs, etc. Point being, I expected all of the standard challenges that come with opening a new sales office. Wha...

First published on Linkedin. Follow me at http://linkedin.com/in/leslievenetz After reading the below article published on the Randstad blog, I was thinking about the benefits of a female to female mentor/mentee relationship. Having spent my adult years in a profession heavily dominated by men, I've never had a female mentor. With that being said, I've been lucky to have a few exceptional male mentors. Still, I find myself wondering how the perspective of a successful female executive would help me push my thinking and abilities further. I am sending this message out to my LinkedIn network to seek a female mentor, words of wisdom, or a nudge in the right direction. Further, I've had the chance to mentor a few women in sales roles and have absolutely loved empowering them, investing in their growth, and pushing them to achieve their personal best. If anybody reading this is seeking advice or mentorship, message me! Following article found at: http://blogs.randst...

You may have noticed that it's been months since my last post. The reason - learning is exhausting! After six months in my role at PHMG/, I cannot count on all of my fingers and toes how many new and exciting skills I've learned. I can genuinely say that every day in this job has taught me a new lesson, new perspective, or new skill. Managing an Inside Sales Team requires you to be physically, mentally, and emotionally present all day long every single day. It's why I love the job. I have the opportunity to inspire people to greatness, to help them achieve financial goals they don’t know are possible, and to be in their corner. In exchange, a Sales Manager must always be turned on and tuned in.  Launching an office from scratch has been a tremendous challenge. Growing from employee 1 - me - to employee 24 over the span of 4 months has been extremely rewarding. It has also meant that I've had to learn twice as fast and at least once a week I still have to admi...

Having recruited, interviewed, and on boarded employees for eight years I felt like I knew a thing about the importance of how new hires feel in their first 30 days on the job. It turns out I have so much more to learn. When I took on a Management role with Marcus Evans, I realised straight away that the New Hire OnBoarding & Training process needed to be massively revamped. Over my Christmas break, I took it upon myself to update all of the training materials, the quality of the content, and increase the robustness of the overall course. It had an amazing effect. The average amount of business written by our Sales Executives nearly doubled. This was 5 years ago. The effects have worn off.  Since that time, I've read blogs, sales books, and listened in on countless webinars to see what else we could do. I implemented other small changes like lunch with the management team and anonymous evaluation forms. I deeply believe in continuous improvement, but the effects were m...

Ten years after my first real sales job, I am starting from scratch. What an incredibly humbling experience. No matter how many inspirational quotes you see or uplifting articles you read, I will be honest, starting a new job is scary.  After nine years with Marcus Evans ( www.marcusevans.com ) traveling the world with people I love and selling a product I deeply believe in, it was difficult for me to believe I could find another company I feel as deeply about. When you sell an extremely premium product for a market leader, it's a unique challenge to find another product that you can apply that same passion to.  My personal thought is that the age old adage;  "the grass is always greener on the other side"  is pure nonsense. I find that it is unfortunately rare for most people to find a job that they love in the first place. If you've landed on green grass once, it seems unlikely that you'd be that blessed a second time around. I am humbled and grateful to ...