Diamond Executives’ Post

I just celebrated my 43rd birthday this past weekend, marking nearly two decades in what I consider my professional journey. Reflecting on this span of time, it's astonishing how swiftly it's passed, yet some memories from past jobs feel like chapters from another lifetime altogether. My career began in the realm of safety, conducting inspections and leading training sessions. Predominantly immersed in the railroad construction industry, I spent countless early mornings traveling five days a week. However, a pivotal moment arrived when Brad Near persuaded me to explore sales—an unexpected shift that uncovered not only a latent talent but also a genuine passion for the field. Over the years, I've traversed through various companies and encountered numerous managers. Remarkably, the catalyst for my departures often boiled down to issues with management itself. Here are just a few anecdotes from my professional odyssey: One manager exhibited alarming behavior, resorting to physical and verbal abuse, including destructive outbursts like taking golf clubs to walls and hurling computer monitors through windows. At another company, the president intentionally undermined my sales deals to evade his responsibilities, preferring to shirk work rather than engage in it. Then there was a CEO who not only mistreated employees but also habitually deceived us with false promises. Yet amidst these challenges, there were shining moments where exceptional managers stood out, offering unwavering support and guidance. Coinciding with my 43rd birthday was my one-year anniversary at PandaDoc. What sets this experience apart is the consistent excellence of the management team. Throughout my tenure, I've had the privilege of working with four different managers, each bringing their unique strengths to the fore. What truly astounds me is their genuine investment in my success, going above and beyond to ensure I thrive. In a career spanning two decades, encountering four consecutive exceptional managers is a rarity. It's one of the many reasons I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to be part of the PandaDoc family.

From milestones to growth spurts, Garrett's journey as an Account Manager has been nothing short of extraordinary. 🚀 #TidalManagement #ProfessionalGrowth #AccountManagerLife #GarrettSuccessStory #AccountManagerJourney #MilestonesAchieved #GrowthSpurts #ExtraordinarySuccess

It's always a party at Door No. 3! Hat tip for celebrating 30 years in business. I'm grateful to be part of writing this current chapter. From a new business perspective, it's no small feat to grow an agency. For 30 years, no less. Striking the right balance of growth is a delicate dance. Providing excellent care for your existing clients while running ahead to cultivate new clients. Building a sticky culture where top talent wants to stay while creating demand to grow the bench. Marketing for others, while also marketing for yourself. Staying heads down in the work while staying up on constantly evolving trends. You get it. Holding all of these tensions is the daily work of growth. It's the daily inputs, those little disciplines that compound over time. Keep at it today!

My first anniversary with Fortellar was a couple of days ago. The company, people, and the work I get to do has far exceeded my expectations. The best part has been the learning and growth. Here's a few of my learnings being new to a small and fast growing consulting and BPO agency. For the internal part of my role: ✳ Growth in a small consulting agency requires serious time in building a pipeline of awesome talent. There's no waiting until the ink is dry on a contract; attracting and vetting talent has to come long before the SOW is drafted. ✳ Selling and contracting stages never move at a predictable pace and we have to be ready for any speed and ready to go once the contract is signed. ✳ Team member engagement requires significant intentionality. Our team members spend most of their days with their clients, in their client networks, and engaging in the client culture. This can result in a detachment from their first team and a lack of alignment with our company's goals. For the external part of my role: ✳ It is incredibly rewarding to help organizations of all sizes with a variety of challenges. I thought this work would keep me at arms length and disconnected from the client team but my experience has been quite the opposite. I have built strong connections and get to take part in the impact of my work. This is in large part due to our company's strong values of client collaboration and client success. It's just not how we roll and I love it. ✳ Another misconception I had was that I would have to be a sales master - something I have never quite nailed. But in fact what I realized is that our growth is often predicated on doing great work and showing results. It requires listening to the needs of the client and providing potential solutions. These are things that I have always done with my teams. I am selling, but not in the way I had defined sales previously.

Today, we're celebrating Gregory Acampora, MBA ‘s 1st anniversary with Revenue Edge! 🏆 Greg's contributions, commitment to his clients, and upbeat attitude have made us immensely grateful to have him on our team. Here's to completing his first year and to many more successful years ahead! Congratulations, Greg! 🚀💪🥇 #dreamteam #accomplishment #team #multifamily #revenuemanagement #apartments #propertymanagement #multifamilyadvisory

Valentines Week is all about relationships and making sure our special peeps know how special they are to us. I think it has a place in the sales arena as well. How we sell is so important, sometimes far more important that what we are selling. Taking time to invest in the client relationship, to build trust and connection, might be the biggest stepping stone of all. Olivia 💜 #OliviaLockWood #OpenUpCoaching #SalesStrategy #SalesSuccess #SalesCoaching

You are so right Olivia Lockwood! This post really struck a chord with me today! I was literally on stage during our Global InVision Sales Kick Off meeting 2 weeks ago and I made this statement... "enterprise selling is not about WHAT you're selling, it's about HOW you are selling". The most important thing you can do is to prioritize finding ways to establish trust and connection with your client first. I told my team... "sometimes we have to slow down, in order to speed up". What do I mean by this? I believe the best way to connect with a client is to become a student of their company, their business, their industry, the challenges they face, the opportunities they may have. When you take a little time to do your homework, and then you show up with a point of view, where you can be provocative in your ideas for challenging the status quo and rethinking approaches to common problems, they start to see you in a different light. You elevate your conversation and they see that you are starting from their point of view vs. the point of view of our solutions. This completely changes the dialogue, the engagement, and ultimately the outcome!

I love this feedback! It reminds you that great recruiters (like Jodie and Louisa-Jayne) don't just contribute to the evolution of people's careers, but also the culture and pathway of the hiring business! #value #partnership #appreciation

#To50andBeyond☄️🚀 Gary Dean spent a few days with us last week. I think he can say he sees a change in us from a year ago. Check out his shirt-You like it don’t you??? One year ago… 🛞Spinning our wheels and not moving forward. 😩Stuck in “We’ve Always Done it This Way” and 0️⃣cooperation with even suggesting changing things up. 🦸♂️The team from Performance Matters came for a visit 1 YEAR AGO. I was just as scared as I was excited. ONE YEAR LATER… 💡During that first visit I was told in no uncertain terms we were selling ourselves short-I now know this to be true. 💡We’ve learned our worth. We now have the confidence to turn down or even release business which will send us backwards. 💡We have a team 100% stronger than we did a year ago. 💡We’ve started new relationships with many businesses. 💡Customers once lost have returned. 🤝We started new partnerships and continue to grow some others. ONE YEAR LATER.. I’m still scared. But much more excited than scared. We are two months away from our 50th anniversary. I’m excited we will reach this milestone!!! #smallbusiness #familybusimess #stlouis

A vulnerable and exciting update for my network: A little over a year ago, when I joined The Admin Effect as their Chief Marketing Officer, I stepped out of my comfort zone and really put my imposter syndrome to the test. I could confidently tell an office how many seminars they would need to hold to meet their growth goals for the year. I could identify gaps in branding and deliverables for a company, create and execute a social media calendar, and organize a client events schedule. However, I had no idea what Firelight was. I didn't know what a replacement application entailed. I didn't fully grasp the difference between a carrier and a custodian. The only thing I knew about a Roth IRA was simply that I had one. And don't even ask me to explain the difference between qualified and non-qualified funds. The list goes on... I share this because, in a matter of months, with the guidance and support of our incredible team, I learned what Firelight was (spoiler: it's not the song by Owl City). I learned the significance of IRA types in applications, and the difference between qualified and non-qualified funds. This knowledge allowed me to develop effective case management training, forecast how many applications our team can complete in a day, and streamline money movement timeframes and strategies. Let my experience during the past year be a testament to the true power of The Admin Effect. Our service offering, and ESPECIALLY our training program, was created with the framework that I followed to get to this point, and that our team has followed as well. A special shoutout to our Leadership Team for pushing me toward this opportunity and giving me the grace and confidence to take on this new role. I love what I do, and I feel lucky to be able to do it every day. Cheers to an exciting year ahead! 🥂