#98 – A Day In The Life Of An Enterprise Sales Leader – Mark Birch

For Episode 98 of The CareerMetis Podcast, we will learn about: 

A Day in the Life of an Enterprise Sales Leader from our guest Mark Birch.

Guest Introduction – Mark Birch

Mark Birch is an Enterprise Sales Leader at Stack OverFlow. He is also the Founder of the Enterprise Sales Forum.

Episode Summary 

1. Mark describes what an Enterprise Sales Leader does, and what goes into managing a sales team. He shares some of the responsibilities, and the types of jobs that come with the role.

2. Mark shares about how he went from the trading room floor into software, and then how a situation within the company left him as the only available salesman in his office. He followed the sales trail and went from large scale sales to helping start ups in New York City. The result has been working with Stack Overflow, and how he is enjoying the experience.

3. Mark goes through his day to day, and what he handles in terms of tasks and responsibilities. He enjoys the team building and the coaching opportunities within the role. He also really likes sales. Being able to develop a team, and solve problems for customers and clients makes his career pretty satisfying

4. Administrative tasks tend to be something Mark doesn't enjoy. He'd rather find more effective and efficient ways to deal with those kinds of jobs, so that he and his team can spend more time honing their sales skills.

5. Mark talks about the credentials needed for sales, and how people can become much better sales people. He narrows in on a few specific skill sets that a sales person can truly benefit from learning and mastering.

6. Mark also talks about the value of tenure, and why someone may want to build tenure within a few companies.

7. Mark gives some perspective surrounding an environment's impact on sales performance. Often times, when a person is struggling with sales, it isn't necessarily the fault of the individual, and can be linked back to a few factors within their environment.

8. Finally, he leaves us with a thought surrounding the objectives and goals certain employees may have, and how that can impact a person's career trajectory.

Quotes

“I never had an objective or a goal to be in sales”

“I really enjoy being able to spend the time to coach others”

“You've got to be able to build up your confidence and your skill set”

“You're not going to be successful if you think the product you're selling is terrible”

“Often times, the reason you're discouraged in sales is because you're in the wrong environment to be successful”

“Have the conversations, that's where you're going to learn the most”

“Not everyone wants to climb the ladder”.

Links & Resources

To learn more about Mark Birch, you can connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.

During our interview – Mark recommended Radical Candor by Kim Scott.

Intro Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack – Siren Kickback

Ending Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack – No Need to Rush    

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