Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

I think that the philosophy is if it’s not good for them it’s horrible for me. It really is. But I’ve also learned you know I was really thinking about this yesterday and thinking about our conversation together. I have people who are not immensely. I don’t think anybody’s ever 100 percent happy with anything but people who I know would not leave Wiley because of me. That’s the philosophy is the connection. I think there is times when people would love to see us improve something whether it’s in our content whether it’s in our technology but they make a decision at some point to say I’m sticking with you because I know that this will get better and that Dana will challenge me to think in a different way and she’s going to make it. She’s going to make it happen. So if there’s a point and sometimes that’s happened where people have had to leave me and I say we’ll be back together at some point. We will be back. And ironically I start a lot of my presentations with saying you shouldn’t take business personally I take business very personally. I do not in that personal way that oh I’m going to be upset or angry with you. But I take it on personally that ethically I’m going to do the best job for you that I can because you’re doing something very important. You are educating the the next leaders the next doctors or nurses or accountants people who make very important decisions for people so I take that on very personally.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

For me ironically it’s a Wiley book so I’ll make a plug. It’s called Selling with a Noble Purpose. That one really spoke to me and I don’t know if it would have spoken to me as much in my early part of the career probably because I was a former teacher. Lisa McLeod if I’m pronouncing her name correctly and Wiley actually brought her into one of our meetings and that I also follow her on Facebook as well. That book really spoke to me as a sales professional because that goes into the passion piece. If you don’t like what you’re selling or think that you wouldn’t be using it it’s hard to fake it for that long. It really is and it is to me so important to know that what you’re selling has a greater ethical purpose. So that book was amazing to me. I think that was one of the you know I really enjoyed Mathew Dixon’s Challenger Sale but the Selling with a Noble Purpose I think for my industry really spoke to me.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

In fact just recently last year I looked at this new professor and I said if we can get this done you won’t have to see me for a while she said. OK. And so I think having a sense of humor if I could add that as being a and that’s sort of the passion that’s I view my sense of humor as part of the passion. And ironically I didn’t use my sense of humor probably in the first five to almost seven years of me doing this job. And that’s a regret I think I could have been a lot more successful using my sense of humor early on. And now I use it. That’s one of my big tools in my arsenal for sure.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

I love the intentionality of that because I actually think of what I do very very similarly I look at it as leading from the field right. So certainly there have been opportunities to move into sales management and sales leadership. But for a variety of reasons I feel like I can have a more significant impact. Oh absolutely. In an individual contributor role but that doesn’t preclude me from being able to help with the rest of the team achieve higher results and contribute to what marketing is doing and contribute to what product is doing and all these other things. Scott I’m so glad you said that because for a short time I was in management and I did it for about nine months and it was awful. It just was not for me. I think it was a complicated situation any way honestly. But I felt like I had lost all my power. It sounds strange. I felt like I had lost connections. I didn’t feel like I was in front of people enough. And and I think we’re doing better to try to address how that doesn’t happen. But it’s amazing how much influence I have in the position I have. And I would not trade that for anything for sure.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

The biggest challenge I see among those I speak with and mentor and it’s interesting sometimes they’re not always the new people but I do find the new people gravitate. The biggest challenge I see is them wanting instant gratification. I think that whether we call them Millennials or Generation Z or whatever is happening now I really think and that’s not a bad thing. I think sometimes when we talk about oh millennials want so much so fast there’s good to that and I think that companies need to really work hard to figure out how they can capture that excitement and keep young people engaged and happy and keep them there. But I find that it’s the understanding of the sales cycle of how publishing works and that everything that you do will be a step forward to really grow a true sales relationship. And so I think it’s patience and understanding of the industry that’s the greatest challenge for them for sure.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

Really take it personally as a challenge when someone puts me off is ignoring me. And we get this in our field a great deal. It is very hard to find the customer. I mean you know the true customers the student but the person who makes a decision is the professor. This was with Tulane University and I was desperate to connect with this woman because I knew she controlled the financial accounting course it was big. I knew I knew everything I could about her. I even sat in on one of her classes. She was a fantastic teacher. And finally I just hunted her down and I told her what is it going to take for us to partner together. I like you. I like how you teach and I see you as a part of Wiley and that just stopped her. She said well let me tell you what it’s going to take. I would need someone to convert my current assignments from this system to your system. I mean she listed almost impossible things and I said yes to every single one of them. I love that and I’m sure the end of this story is they’ve been amazing customer for many years since. Yes yes absolutely. In fact I just recently just last week was there. I always go talk to her first day of classes. Talk about the system we have partnered together she’s created things for us. I think she’s going to be a potential author with us for content. And she really and she told me this recently she said I never would have done the things in my classroom if you wouldn’t have pushed me to.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

First thing what I would do is think about what you love and I you know even people I always forge relationships with people where I shop and I’ve seen incredible talent in the retail space whether that’s at like Banana Republic Starbucks I mean incredible. And I urge these people to really look at what is it that they love that they like and begin to contact those companies. So if it is clothing wear maybe it’s on a different space maybe it’s being something for Ralph Lauren or you know you know things that you like if it’s things and translating that. And I actually wish I would have hired a career coach. I think that was something that was not really big when I was looking but looking at you know you know whether it’s reading something or connecting with someone that can help you figure out how to put your talents into something different that you would be interested in.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

I think I would have taken more classes whether it’s in management or marketing or sales. And frankly zoned in on people that I wanted to mentor and leaders that I appreciated. I don’t think I did that enough. I don’t think I sought out I think because being in that retail space for so long I don’t think I sought out what other industries where you can make a career and a very successful one at sales. So I wish I would have gotten into more professional sales much sooner than I did for sure.

Continue Reading …

Clip from Episode 37: Dayna Leaman, Senior Account Manager at Wiley – Building a Sales Career:

My first job was at The Limited and I can remember I was too young to actually. They wouldn’t let me sell. And I was in the back taking you know that you know like the clothes come in a box and I was supposed to hang them on a hanger and I wanted to sell so badly that I said if you give me a shot just tonight it was like a Friday night and I said I can sell this stuff. And I outsold everyone who had been there for years at 14 years old. So it’s it was great. And I knew I felt so comfortable doing it and what I really love about retail. It prepares you for being uncomfortable. It prepares you to make very instant decisions but that they have to be based in always putting the customer first but also protecting your company. And sometimes those can be hard to juggle.

 

Continue Reading …