Welcome back to Part 2 of our interview with Evan Kelsay, Senior Director of Global Accounts at Seismic Software, the leading global sales and marketing enablement solution. Since his last time appearing on the show, Evan has transitioned back to an individual contributor sales role on the global accounts team at Seismic. Prior to this role, Evan worked at LinkedIn for about six and a half years as a Global Account Executive. He is an expert in the field of sales, strategy, and leadership as we unpack in this episode.
In this episode, Scott and Evan talk all about the motivation behind the decision to move back to the sales field. Evan speaks to his unique position as he now has invaluable leadership experience from his previous role at Seismic that he is actively imparting on members of his sales team. Evan reflects on the importance of passion, building a strong and effective team, and leveraging leadership to turn best practices into instinct. Evan’s sales mantra is simple: Let sellers sell. He embodies this mantra in his sales practices every day as an individual contributor.
Evan and Scott spark a meaningful conversation about leadership and the importance of asking the right leading questions so that employees and team members learn to self-educate and become better salespeople. Evan reflects on the appreciation he feels for being an individual contributor. He values the rewarding interactions with prospects and clients and the ability to drive a process through. Evan loves selling vision and selling the art of possibility. Finally, Evan issues an actionable challenge to the Sales Success Stories Podcast audience. He urges them to improve and fine-tune their financial literacy through books, podcasts, newspapers and any financial statements that their companies provide.
What We Covered:
00:24 – Scott takes a moment to thank today’s sponsor, Vidyard Go Video
00:42 – Scott Ingram welcomes back to the podcast, Evan Kelsay
01:23 – Evan provides a quick recap of his current ventures
04:20 – Scott takes a moment to promote his sponsor, Vidyard Go Video, once more
05:33 – Why Evan decided to take on this new leadership role
09:03 – What drove the decision to move back to the sales field
11:14 – Evan speaks to why he made this decision so quickly
13:33 – The importance of passion
15:55 – Getting clarity on what you want in a sales career
17:42 – Building a strong and effective team
22:15 – Scott tells the DeJuan Brown story
25:29 – Scott promotes the agenda of the upcoming Sales Success Summit
31:13 – Turning best practice knowledge into instinct when it comes to leadership
34:14 – The biggest challenge in the individual contributor space
37:11 – Looking at contributions through the lens of percentages
39:39 – Why the size of a company matters
40:44 – Leadership lessons Evan has brought to his individual contributor role
45:25 – The most rewarding part of Evan’s leadership role
48:45 – Evan talks about the importance of asking the right leading questions
50:48 – Striking a balance as a leader
52:19 – Scott shares his experience trying to establish credibility as a leader
54:06 – Leaving room for others to say ‘No’
57:18 – The decision-making process
58:53 – Unexpected challenges Evan experienced in his leadership role
1:03:55 – Evan talks about incorporating new learnings into his role
1:07:30 – The appreciation Evan feels for being an individual contributor
1:10:04 – Evan’s actionable challenge to the Sales Success Stories Podcast audience
1:11:47 – Resources Evan recommends to those looking to improve their financial literacy
Read the full transcript & show notes →
Tweetables:
• “I’ve never been the type of person to let things linger on and fester.” (12:44)
• “We’re looking for ya know, for lack of a better phrase, five-tool athletes, sales athletes. We’re not necessarily looking for disciplined specialists.” (20:28)
• “Really masterful leaders understand the leading questions to be able to get somebody’s mind to work on the answer instead of asking a question that kind of reveals the answer.” (46:10)
• “Growing with the company, you have to continuously envelop the different resources that will help you be successful and actually multiply your efforts in the short and long term.” (1:07:11)
Links Mentioned:
Sales Success Stories Podcast
2019 Sales Success Summit
Evan Kelsey on Linkedin
Better Sales Networks Harvard Business Review Article
Sales Success Stories Book
Podcasts Mentioned:
DeJuan Brown on Sales Success Stories Interview
Invest Like The Best
Books Mentioned:
Never Split the Difference by Chriss Voss
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster