Tech Sales is for Hustlers

One of memoryBlue alum Kellen Robideau’s favorite memories is when three coworkers dressed up as him for Halloween. 

“I always want to introduce myself and make new friends … so I wanted to be that fun guy that people enjoyed being around,” Kellen says. Doing so earned him his nickname “Fun Guy Kellen” — which three coworkers dressed up as. “I was like, ‘Are you guys me?’ I was so shook.”

After graduating college with a degree in advertising and public relations in 2017, Kellen started his career as an Account Sales Manager at AroundCampus Group, a media company that sells planners, guides and books for college students. At first, Kellen had no idea how to sell planners — but then he realized it wasn’t that different from his old retail job at Scheels. 

Later on, he became a Sales Development Representative with us here at memoryBlue, where Kellen had to adapt from the door-to-door sales format to cold calls. 

“I never stopped cold calling,” Kellen says. “[It’s] how I sharpen my skills, because if I ever lose that, I know that my next role won't be as good.”

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Kellen discusses how he got comfortable calling rather than relying on emails to contact clients, how he got over his initial desire to give up when sales got hard and why it’s vital to set short-term, realistic goals.

Caity Cover learned everything she needed to know about people from waiting tables at Red Robin. 

“I really think that waitressing for so long taught me how to small talk and build rapport with people,” Caity says. “You make 100 dials and 10 people are going to answer, so how are you going to stand out to those 10 people? ... You have to be you.”

Since her more than three years in the restaurant business, Caity has worked as a banker for BB&T and Sales Development Representative with us here at memoryBlue. Now, she’s an Account Executive at the cybersecurity and data analytics company Blackwood. In spite of knowing little about tech or sales early on, she’s found success by networking with other sales professionals, accepting mentorship from her superiors and remembering that, at their core, people just want you to take an interest in them. 

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Caity discusses the importance of both working hard and playing hard, not letting yourself get intimidated by higher-ups and focusing on getting good at what you’re doing rather than worrying about a five-year plan.

We’re kicking off our five-part 2020 Phenom Finalists podcast series with the one, the only Conal Jaeger. Conal was a veteran at memoryBlue serving 19 months before finding his next role at Gartner. Today he’s managing full sales cycles as a Sales Development Executive at Gartner.

A glue guy is a person who keeps the team focused on the task at hand and ensure that they stick together through rough times. Conal has always been the glue guy in every team he’s been on, and you’ll be able to see why when you listen to this episode.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Conal shares the importance of list building, how to navigate your way into a closing role, and he breaks down what good company culture is.

When you become a manager your success is built from other people's successes. Arguably, fostering someone's else success is more rewarding than your own success.

After a relatively short tenure as an SDR Josh Crippen became a Delivery Manager for memoryBlue. He was now leading his peers - some of which were his close friends. Over the year that he was a DM, Josh learned what it took to be a good manager and he could see what qualities make a great SDR. Today, Josh is an Account Executive at Higher Logic.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Josh recounts his time as a DM, he shares what he looks for while hiring SDRs, and he walks through how to be a good leader.

Erin Anderson has always been a competitive person. That competitive spirit led her to join George Mason University's D1 lacrosse team and excelling within professional sales. During her student-athlete days, Erin made the Mason record books by having the sixth-highest game time play. After graduation, she joined memoryBlue before quickly getting hired out by her client, where she was employee number two. Today, Erin is an Account Executive at Salesforce.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Erin shares how being a D1 athlete helped her in sales, why it's ok not to know everything when starting a new job, and she breaks down what it was like going from being the second employee at a tiny startup to joining a Fortune 500 company.

Good mentors make great leaders. Every great leader has had a mentor to guide them down the right path. Tanner Luck's life has changed for the better because of mentorship.

Tanner has found numerous mentors throughout his life, but truly found impactful mentors that would help him launch his tech sales career at memoryBlue. Tanner had the opportunity to work with a variety of clients at memoryBlue and ultimately got hired out by his client, Stratifyd. Today, Tanner is a successful Regional Sales Manager at Splunk.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Tanner shares many pearls of wisdom including, how mentorship changed his life, why practice makes perfect, and he shares his personal growth journey.

Robbie Connors was memoryBlue's first-ever Rising Star in 2016. Backed with an irreplaceable SDR experience, Robbie interviewed with a variety of companies and captured a handful of job offers. He decided on ScienceLogic and has been with them ever since. The Rising Stars program has blossomed since then and Robbie has even brought on two other memoryBlue alums to his company. Robbie has been a two-time Alumni of the Year Finalist and is an Enterprise Account Executive at ScienceLogic.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Robbie walks through how he was able to make any system work for him, how to evaluate different job offers, and he shares a variety of sales techniques that helped him become a leading SDR.

If you want to be successful in high-tech sales it's going to take blood, sweat, and tears. Especially sweat.

Julianne Thompson, formally known as Julianne Sweat is no stranger to putting in hard work. Before she entered the world of professional sales she was dominant on the softball field as a pitcher for The University of Mary Washington. After college, Julianne joined the memoryBlue herd and has been a sales rockstar ever since. Julianne has gone on to become an Alumni of the Year winner and has found a love for managing other salespeople. Today she is the Head of Sales Development at Drift.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Julianne shares how she got into SDR management, the qualities of an exceptional sales leader, and what makes a great SDR.

Whether you’ve been in the conference room named after him, worked on his campaign, or seen him work in Marc’s office throughout the week you know the man, the myth, the Godfather, Sohale Razmjou. Sohale began his journey with memoryBlue when he was the third employee ever back in 2005. And since then he has gone through the complete memoryBlue lifecycle. He became a successful SDR, became an alum by getting hired out by his client, he has referred in new talent, became an Alumni of the Year winner,  his company became a client and has even hired out other memoryBlue alums through the Rising Stars program. Today, Sohale is a Federal Director at Blackwood.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Sohale recounts his start at memoryBlue when he was the third employee ever, the importance of networking, and he shares the differences between commercial and federal sales.

Last year memoryBlue launched the inaugural Phenom Award. The honor is given to a recent alum who is off to a fast start since departing memoryBlue. Over 50 applications were submitted and Aaron Bravo reigned supreme. After getting hired out by his client, Motorola Solutions, Aaron became a field rep with one of the largest territories on the software enterprise team and oversaw a team of five people. Needless to say, Aaron had a huge impact at Motorola which led to his inaugural win.

On this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustler, Aaron shares why listening is the key foundation in sales, how he was able to book multiple prospects on a single call, and he breaks down his climb up the corporate ladder.