Derek Sentner is the VP of Sales & Business Development at Driver Studios, an award-winning media, and entertainment company focused on the development, production, distribution, marketing, and licensing of entertainment content. Derek is a highly motivated and entrepreneurial sales leader who is focused on driving revenue and building businesses. Employing a conversational sales style and a consultative sales philosophy, Derek has been able to achieve incredible results at Driver Studios and is consistently a top performer.
In this episode, Derek takes the audience through his sales origin story, speaks to his longevity at Driver Studio, and details why that is important to him as a sales professional. Derek lists the three main things he attributes his success to, which include having a scrappy mindset, persistence, and being focused on customer service, and building trust. For Derek, he’s all about providing value to his clients and ensuring a great sales experience. Derek speaks to his proudest accomplishment, which is the variety of work he’s been able to do and the success he’s attained at each level.
Derek takes the audience through a typical day in the life. From waking up at 5:30 am, hitting the gym, and getting the kids ready, to spending time reading industry newsletters, websites, and LinkedIn, Derek has a jam-packed day from the jump. He spends the final hours of his day preparing himself for the next day so he can hit the ground running. Finally, Derek poses an actionable challenge to the audience. He urges them to find new ways to connect and communicate with their clients by sharing information and being a resource in ways that do not make it all about the transactional sale. In doing so, you will position yourself as an expert that has information that is meaningful to other people’s businesses. In turn, this will serve as a way to open doors that may have been previously closed.
What We Covered:
00:01 – Scott thanks the sponsors of today’s episode: Outreach, Vidyard, and Proposify
00:39 – Scott welcomes today’s guest, Derek Sentner
01:10 – The top three attributes that Derek attributes to his success
01:28 – Number 1: Having a scrappy mindset
02:08 – Number 2: Persistence
02:34 – Number 3: Being focused on customer service and building trust
03:06 – Derek speaks to what being scrappy looks like, especially at Driver Studios
06:11 – Derek expounds on his role at Driver Studios
10:42 – Derek quantifies his sales results
13:12 – Derek’s sales origin story
16:04 – The point at which it all clicked for Derek
18:37 – What Derek would do differently in his career if given the chance
22:21 – Derek speaks to his longevity at Driver Studios and why that’s important to him
25:55 – Derek shares his favorite sales story
30:16 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Outreach
30:59 – Derek talks about the importance of being in constant communication with clients
34:30 – Derek’s proudest accomplishment
38:24 – Challenges and obstacles that David has had to overcome
40:22 – Derek talks about the typical sales cycle for the digital media industry
42:25 – Scott pauses to thank another one of today’s sponsors, Vidyard
43:10 – Derek takes the audience through a typical day in the life
49:23 – Derek speaks to why it’s so important for him to spend time reading up on industry news every morning
52:27 – Scott takes a moment to thank the final sponsor of today’s sponsors, Proposify
53:11 – Other habits and routines that are crucial to Derek’s success
55:14 – Derek’s annual goal-setting process
58:25 – Tools and apps that Derek utilizes throughout his daily routine
59:46 – Derek’s sales style and philosophy
1:03:11 – Scott and Derek discuss the intricacies of sales titles and the value of not being afraid to be labeled a salesperson
1:08:08 – What motivates and drives Derek
1:09:20 – One of Derek’s beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
1:10:34 – An average sales professional’s belief that Derek thinks is crazy
1:12:41 – Derek speaks to what he would like to learn from top sales professionals in other industries
1:15:26 – Final thoughts from Derek
1:17:36 – Derek’s actionable challenge to the audience
Tweetables:
“If I were to do this over again, I would start with a few years in really understanding the buy-side, make those relationships, understand what agencies and clients are really looking for. And then use that information and those relationships and that arsenal of insights and bring them over to the sales side.” (21:58)
“I’m a firm believer of finding as many ways on a constant basis to be in contact with your clients, either during the sales process, during this evaluation process, or quite honestly, before in those downtimes.” (31:16)
“I think what I’m most proud of is the variety of work that I’ve been able to do and the fact that I’ve been able to be successful in a variety of different settings.” (34:37)
“My sales philosophy is really consultative. My philosophy is that you want to be a consultative sales professional.” (59:50)
“My feeling is that there is never a bad reason to go back to your client or your prospective clients. My general philosophy is that you can’t overshare. As long as it’s relevant to their business and you feel like you’re adding value to the process and continuing to create ways that a conversation can happen, I think that’s an integral part to the process.” (1:09:38)
Links Mentioned:
[email protected]
2021 Sales Success Summit
Derek Sentner on LinkedIn
Driver Studios Website