Sales Development with Attitude, with Faith Thomas of KeyNode Solutions

​When it comes to Sales Development, Faith has seen it all. From her first sales position while still in high school to working for a stockbroker where she had to make 300 dials a day (all without the aid of a dialer), she knows exactly what it takes to succeed. 

She took time out of her busy schedule to talk with the Tenbound team about having the right attitude, the sales challenges startups face, and what the future of Sales Development looks like. 

Having the right attitude 

For Faith’s first staff position she had to get three sales in each shift—one sale every hour. Faith quickly realized your attitude and energy had to show through in a phone call. Her manager made everyone put mirrors next to their phones and she would walk around saying “let them see you smiling.” 

Faith has held many different sales positions since then, but the key theme has been that she loves interacting with people. She loves getting to know them, understanding their story and how she can provide real value. 

Humility is also key, a lesson Faith learned from her father and the way he ran his multiple businesses. We shouldn’t be afraid to admit when we mess up. Pride gets in the way, but when you can admit you’re not perfect, you can work on making things right. We all like to say that we have humility, but when push comes to shove, is it really there?

Sales challenges for startups

As a startup, lead generation is a big challenge for KeyNode Solutions. They work closely with a Salesforce account executive and are getting leads that way, but it’s wise not to rely on just once source. One of the other solutions has been using LinkedIn, especially with some of its new features (such as being able to leave a voicemail message).

From a CRM standpoint, they ‘live, breathe, eat, and sleep’ Salesforce, specifically Salesforce Lightning. It’s vital that nothing falls through the cracks, and Salesforce is robust enough to do that.

For Faith, it’s like building a house—you've got to get the foundation built correctly. For any sales department, that foundation is your platform. When it comes to bottom-line revenue, reporting, and forecasting, choosing the right tool and creating that strong foundation is going to allow you to scale effectively.

The future of Sales Development

To be successful in 2020, you’ll need to consider the total customer journey from start to finish. This will likely mean leveraging an all-in-one platform—somewhere every part of the customer journey can be tracked. That’s why every company is recruiting for customer experience positions. We want happy, satisfied customers who are going to stay with us long term. 

That means a continual assessment of what we’re providing and how we’re providing it. Do we make it easy for them to buy from us? Do they love our product? If not, how can we improve? We need to focus on that full customer journey, from the time they find you through to becoming happy, satisfied customers. The trend has already started, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. 

Conclusion

When you’re working with a startup, you’ll face a whole new set of challenges, but it’s possible to overcome them. Bring the right energy to your sales calls, and always stay humble. Reliable lead generation from multiple sources and having a good platform as a foundation is critical. But to stand out and succeed, you’ll need to consider the complete customer journey, from start to finish, to keep your customers coming back for more.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your Sales Development program and overcome those challenges, contact us at Tenbound today for a no-obligation exploratory call.