Ask Impact: Sales Managers

In our new series, Ask Impact, experts at Impact Networking answer questions about business, technology and more. Here, Impact General Sales Manager Mike Lepper and Sales Manager Jake Furgason trade advice on leading and training sales teams, and talk about Impact’s unique approach to sales.

Video Transcript: Impact Sales Managers

Mike Lepper: Hey, I’m Mike Lepper, General Sales Manager of the Impact Bolingbrook branch, and a partner in the company.

Jake Fergason: And I’m Jake Fergason, one of the Sales Managers as well here at the Bolingbrook facility.

What sales traits do you look for in a sales team member?

ML: When we’re interviewing and going through the process, we want to find individuals that are motivated, high-energy, that want to go out there and be the best. So for us it’s really that we don’t want to have them be complacent, we want them to be strong-minded and want to go out there and make a difference.

JF: I think also what goes into that too is being persistent. Throughout the interview process, but also that really turns into them as a rep here, being aggressive, having that “team first” mentality. I think that takes things really far here.

What tips can you offer a manager who is building out a sales team?

JF: Really what I could offer them is patience. Not always and only looking at the numbers, but really being patient with your team, you understand that there’s a new team, again not only look at the numbers, looking at, for them, building out the pipeline’s going to take time. So having fun with it, not always being negative and just looking solely at the numbers.

ML: You can’t really just manage a team, right, you gotta manage the individual too, because everybody’s different. And when you get to understand those people and what makes them tick, I think it’ll make you a better manager, you want to understand all those things.

Can you tell us about Impact’s approach to sales?

ML: Yeah, absolutely, it’s different, it’s dynamic. You know, we don’t just take the approach of coming in and pushing a product or pushing a solution, we want to come in and understand their business. Following the Impact process is our biggest differentiator, one of our biggest differentiators as a company, and walking them through and trying to figure out where their current challenges are. Discovery from us from the beginning is the biggest piece. Ask a bunch of questions, understand how the business operates, and from there you can move them through the process.

JF: Yeah, absolutely. I would also add to that too, it’s letting the challenges drive what solution we have. You might come in there thinking it’s one thing, but then you come back, you have a bunch of resources in your arsenal, and you sit there and you talk with–you know, hey, this is an ES99 opportunity, but then you come back and tie in managed IT services or strategic services or print. They all come into play and have to make sense for the customer financially and operationally.

ML: It just goes back to asking those questions. Doing that discovery on the front end and figuring out what’s best for them.