Sales Coach Justin

Over my career I have been fortunate to have worked for too many great leaders to count. Each one had their own strengths that I have happily stolen from and could tell stories for days about each of them. Some were just great, hard nose sales drivers, some were fantastic at accountability and some you would want to follow into battle.

This story is about Scott Richardson who I reported to for an excellent 6 year period. First and foremost Scott was a great human and cared about his people. Second, Scott hired incredibly well- so well that sometimes I was surprised that he even took a chance on me having zero experience in that industry. I like to think that I just sold him on myself so damn well that he couldn’t NOT hire me.

When I say Scott hired extremely well I mean he built a team of 8 amazing sales professionals- hard to believe they were all on the same team at the same time. Most impressively each person had wildly different styles and wildly different strengths. Instead of trying to mold anyone into what he thought a perfect seller was he allowed each of us to own our strengths and learn from each other. There was no mold or changing- the coaching was to harness our strengths and improve on our deficiencies. We were also always challenged to learn from each other. Stealing ideas and best practices changed my life… I was empowered to find a better path forward based on what works for me and resonated with my customers.

I learned that the best sellers are the ones who sell sincerely- true to who they are and earnest in their style. The days of being a cheesy used car salesman are over. Selling from the heart with a style true to yourself is critical.

I am grateful for Scott that he allowed me the time and space to be me and be authentically myself.