Two years… a LOT can change in 24 months. I began employment with TouchPoint Software two years ago today after over 17 years as a pastor (and teaching music at Baylor University before that). Making a career change in your forties is not for the faint of heart 😂, but I knew I needed to give it my best. I interviewed for over 150 jobs with different companies before hearing that TouchPoint was hiring and I was honestly a bit nervous about going into a sales position.
I had ZERO “actual” sales experience, but I eventually learned that I had a TON of the experience that I actually needed to be successful in my role and THAT was what my friend and colleague, Michael Faulkner, saw during my interview process. I also felt strongly that I could only be in sales if I believed in what I was selling and if I understood the target audience… thankfully, I came with a pretty good grasp on the inner workings of a church staff and all that entails! I made the age-old mistake in the beginning of exhausting my personal network of ministry connections, so it made it look like I actually knew what I was doing right off the bat 🤣.
Then came the great slump of early 2023…😬 It seemed that nothing I tried was working and there were a ton of conversations with my new supervisor, Hayley Whitworth, in which she would try to help keep me positive, but I was beginning to polish up the old résumé again because I knew that the company couldn’t just continue to pay me without me producing at a certain level and I was far from it. The fact that the company didn’t give up on me during that time may have just come down to the fact that everyone genuinely cared about one another and, to their credit, they kept encouraging me and cheering for even the small victories.
I will save what changed for another post on another date, but once things turned around, they turned around for good and I have been able to meet or exceed goals in every single month for fourteen consecutive months and have now been given the opportunity and challenge of continuing to do this while also coaching the rest of our team to increase the team productivity.
If you’re curious about what my secret sauce is (again, I will unpack this further later), it could best be summarized as this… I try to begin conversations with as many people as I can, but NOT to get business… to start and/or build relationships with people… some of those lead to business, some don’t, but I view it as a win regardless if I am able to strengthen a bond. I am naturally introverted yet LOVE to meet new people and hear their stories and I learned as a church planter just how valuable a conversation with someone can be (especially when it comes in unexpected situations). I have now booked TWO demos of our software while on flights and while almost every sales person has crafted their “elevator pitch,” I actually booked a demo in an elevator as well! 😂
Thankful for my TouchPoint family & looking forward to the years ahead!
Joining your team sounds like an incredible opportunity! Nadia's story is truly inspiring and provides valuable insights into the world of tech sales. Looking forward to exploring more about the life of an Account Executive at Workday!