Episode 59

Problem Solving Sales with Alexis Scott

Published on: 2nd March, 2022

Get FREE Sales Leadership Resources at go.transformedsales.com/pod

In this episode of the Science of Selling STEM, I had a chat with Alexis Scott, the Partnerships Manager at Aspireship, an industry recognized reskilling and job placement platform that helps you pivot your career into SaaS sales. Alexis is a well-rounded sales leader with a diverse background of industry experience, from hospitality to technology. She has adapted and grown throughout her career. Her passion for building relationships and dynamic organizations, and her experience building sales teams makes her a powerhouse in the development of employer partnerships. 

The partnerships she builds with dynamic technology companies facilitates the hiring of Aspireship graduates and  individuals looking to start careers in software sales. Alexis has amazing views regarding sales, self-awareness, and the difference between being picky or particular. She will share all that and more in this episode. You won’t wanna miss out on the juicy sales tips she will share. Stay tuned.

And if you ever need help with a sales or leadership issue don't hesitate to book a complimentary clarity session with me HERE. You can also email us at podcast@transformedsales.com with any suggestions or comments about the podcast.

On Today’s Episode of the Science of Selling STEM:

  • The journey from a beverage cart girl at a golf course to a sales leader (01:46)
  • How her combined experience in customer service, hospitality sales, and marketing helped her move up the ladder (04:28)
  • Ending up with a team of 70 under her leadership within a short time (07:50)
  • Moving from a solo salesperson to the leader of a team and managing to keep every team member productive (12:44)
  • The trauma of being let go out of the blue with her entire team including her boss (14:37)
  • Deciding to follow her passion after the job loss within a global pandemic that eliminated job opportunities (18:10)
  • A mindset game: The internal tug of war of sales every salesperson has (22:59)
  • Why salespeople should focus on asking questions and solving problems (27:16)
  • From a dark place to changing lives at Aspireship (31:27)

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Connect with Alexis Scott:

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Transcript
Wesleyne Greer:

As a sales manager, you are judged by the

Wesleyne Greer:

performance of your team, and you're praised when they do

Wesleyne Greer:

well. But one thing that you've not been able to figure out is

Wesleyne Greer:

how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every

Wesleyne Greer:

single month. On the Snack size sales podcast, we discuss the

Wesleyne Greer:

science of selling stem sales leadership in the science,

Wesleyne Greer:

technology, engineering and manufacturing fields is

Wesleyne Greer:

difficult. You will learn from sales managers just like you

Wesleyne Greer:

that will give you actionable insights and tips on how to

Wesleyne Greer:

develop as a leader and achieve your revenue targets every

Wesleyne Greer:

single month. So pop your headphones in and get ready to

Wesleyne Greer:

listen to my guest today. They will give you information and

Wesleyne Greer:

inspiration to ensure that you have actionable insights that

Wesleyne Greer:

you can put into place today. Hello, and welcome to another

Wesleyne Greer:

episode of the science of selling stem today. I am so

Wesleyne Greer:

excited to be interviewing Alexis Scott, how are you?

Wesleyne Greer:

Alexis?

Alexis Scott:

I'm good. Wesleyne How are you?

Wesleyne Greer:

I'm doing leveling. Let me tell you guys a

Wesleyne Greer:

little bit about Alexis. She is a well rounded sales leader with

Wesleyne Greer:

a diverse background of industry experience, from hospitality to

Wesleyne Greer:

technology. She has adapted and grown throughout her career, her

Wesleyne Greer:

passion for building relationships, and dynamic

Wesleyne Greer:

organizations and her experience building sales teams makes her a

Wesleyne Greer:

powerhouse in the development of employer partnerships. So

Wesleyne Greer:

hospitality to technology. Those are like oil and water. How did

Wesleyne Greer:

you get started? And how did you transition to where you are

Wesleyne Greer:

today?

Alexis Scott:

Okay, so I got started on the golf course.

Alexis Scott:

Actually, I was in college, and I saw an ad for a job to be a

Alexis Scott:

beverage cart girl, which I know this is not the type of sales

Alexis Scott:

you're thinking right? And this is the story has a point. But

Alexis Scott:

basically, I took that job and I became friends with the food and

Alexis Scott:

beverage director. And he saw my interest in the business side of

Alexis Scott:

things. And so he's like, You know what, we really need a

Alexis Scott:

catering sales manager. I want to train you. I think it'd be

Alexis Scott:

amazing. And I'm like, Yeah, okay, that's great. So I ended

Alexis Scott:

up they opened up a new clubhouse. And so it was like

Alexis Scott:

the talk of the town. They had a big tournament there and

Alexis Scott:

whatever. So business was booming. I was booking

Alexis Scott:

essentially all the catering for the tournament's and special

Alexis Scott:

events and things like that. And he basically told me like,

Alexis Scott:

listen, you're doing a great job. But if you want to make

Alexis Scott:

more money, you should get into hotels. And I thought, oh, okay,

Alexis Scott:

that's interesting. I honestly, I had never even thought of

Alexis Scott:

sales as a career to be quite brutally honest. And now it was

Alexis Scott:

kind of falling into my lap. And so I started, you know, looking

Alexis Scott:

into what it would be like to be a hotel sales manager, and I

Alexis Scott:

ended up getting my first job, it was at the Marriott

Alexis Scott:

Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. And my career just

Alexis Scott:

kind of took off from there. But it was interesting. Like,

Alexis Scott:

personally, I ended up moving to Silicon Valley. And you know, in

Alexis Scott:

Silicon Valley, you're just obviously surrounded by

Alexis Scott:

technology. And I always wanted to get into technology sales,

Alexis Scott:

and I couldn't, and it was like banging my head on a door, you

Alexis Scott:

know, no one would give me a chance. I didn't have tech sales

Alexis Scott:

experience. It was very frustrating. And then I moved to

Alexis Scott:

Idaho. And this is where the story gets a little bit funny

Alexis Scott:

because you don't think of Idaho as a technology enabled location

Alexis Scott:

per se, but Idaho is also not a hospitality hotspot. And so I

Alexis Scott:

knew as I started researching potential job opportunities that

Alexis Scott:

my hospitality career was effectively coming to an end,

Alexis Scott:

there wasn't a lot of opportunity. The pay was

Alexis Scott:

abysmal. And I needed to figure out what I wanted to do next.

Alexis Scott:

And I had always thought digital marketing sounded really sexy.

Alexis Scott:

So I ended up taking a job on the marketing team of a company

Alexis Scott:

called the crazy coupon lady, which I don't know if anyone has

Alexis Scott:

heard of them, but they are the largest coupon aggregate site in

Alexis Scott:

America. I had used them I was super excited. And I thought,

Alexis Scott:

Okay, this is great. I'm gonna try something new and something

Alexis Scott:

different. It was not for me. It just was not, you know, it was

Alexis Scott:

not for me, I'm sales is my heart. And so it just was very

Alexis Scott:

interesting and kind of eye opening for me. But what it

Alexis Scott:

allowed me to do was to build a network and establish some

Alexis Scott:

relationships here in Idaho. And there was a company hiring,

Alexis Scott:

they're like, hospitality meets technology. The company has both

Alexis Scott:

factions. And so it was like, I found they're posting for Boise

Alexis Scott:

tech week of all things. And I thought, oh my gosh, they're

Alexis Scott:

having an open house. I need to get down there. And I wasn't

Alexis Scott:

like truly looking looking for a job but I was curious. And so

Alexis Scott:

when I got home from that experience of touring their HQ,

Alexis Scott:

I looked online and I was like, Let's just see who they're

Alexis Scott:

hiring for, you know, and I ended up reading what then

Alexis Scott:

became my job description. And what they were looking for was

Alexis Scott:

fascinating because they wanted customer service experience,

Alexis Scott:

hospitality, sales experience, marketing experience, and I have

Alexis Scott:

like a very odd resume, like it's not linear at all. And I'm

Alexis Scott:

like, Oh my gosh, it's me on a piece of paper. That's crazy. So

Alexis Scott:

I ended up taking that job. And the role evolved into me growing

Alexis Scott:

a reservation sales team. That's not what I was hired for. I

Alexis Scott:

ended up making a business case for that, and they accepted it.

Alexis Scott:

And then COVID hit, and my entire team of 70 was gone. And

Alexis Scott:

so yeah, this is where, you know, the story takes a turn, I

Alexis Scott:

was unemployed for about six months. And I was trying to

Alexis Scott:

figure out what I wanted to do. And I started realizing that I

Alexis Scott:

was finding the most joy in helping people find new roles.

Alexis Scott:

And so I didn't understand at the time, what that would look

Alexis Scott:

like, for me in the future, I thought maybe I'll be a

Alexis Scott:

recruiter, I don't know. And the company that I work for now a

Alexis Scott:

sponsorship, ended up hiring some new folks on their team.

Alexis Scott:

And so I actually applied to be a candidate experience

Alexis Scott:

specialist, which essentially is like on the candidate side of

Alexis Scott:

things, helping people prepare for interviews and get ready for

Alexis Scott:

their new role. And when I had a conversation with one of the

Alexis Scott:

founders, she said to me, we're just curious, why did you apply

Alexis Scott:

for this role? That's not your background. And I said, I just

Alexis Scott:

want to work with you. I just want to help people. And she's

Alexis Scott:

like, love that. However, this is what we were thinking, you

Alexis Scott:

have this amazing background in sales? And what if you worked on

Alexis Scott:

our partnerships, and you helped us find amazing companies to

Alexis Scott:

hire our graduates. And as someone who has lived that story

Alexis Scott:

of consistently being turned down, because I didn't have a

Alexis Scott:

specific experience, I was all over it. And so that's kind of

Alexis Scott:

why I do what I do and how I got here and why I'm so passionate

Alexis Scott:

about it.

Wesleyne Greer:

Wow. Okay, we have a lot to unpack a lot. We

Wesleyne Greer:

have a lot of facts here. But that's how I got here. Okay. So

Wesleyne Greer:

the tip is that I pulled out from your story, the pieces that

Wesleyne Greer:

I really like, and I guess I'll start at the end and circle

Wesleyne Greer:

back. It's the fact that you saw this job, and it was like, This

Wesleyne Greer:

is me, they are looking for exactly who I am a person who

Wesleyne Greer:

has all of these different experiences. And if you

Wesleyne Greer:

translate that all the way back to the beginning of your career,

Wesleyne Greer:

we don't always realize why we're doing what we do. But it's

Wesleyne Greer:

like, oh, if I could tell my younger self focus on this, or

Wesleyne Greer:

put your all into this, and I really liked that there was

Wesleyne Greer:

never a challenge that you didn't say, I'm going to do it.

Wesleyne Greer:

Somebody said, hey, get into hospitality sales. He said,

Wesleyne Greer:

Okay, sure. No problem. Yeah, not sure how you got to Idaho.

Wesleyne Greer:

But you said, I'm moving to Idaho. And you know what, this

Wesleyne Greer:

is what I do? Oh, let me figure out what to do. And then you

Wesleyne Greer:

said, you wrote your own job description, right, as a

Wesleyne Greer:

reservation salesperson. So my question for you is, that is

Wesleyne Greer:

what I want to hone in on. How did you end up you went to this

Wesleyne Greer:

company, they were looking for you this magical person that you

Wesleyne Greer:

are, and you started, transitioned that job hired 70

Wesleyne Greer:

People like talk to us about that?

Alexis Scott:

Yeah. Okay. So the original job that I was hired

Alexis Scott:

for was something that I had done in practice in a little bit

Alexis Scott:

different ways. So I was hired to build partnerships with tour

Alexis Scott:

operators and travel agents, the company is I'll just say the

Alexis Scott:

name. It's called Bokassa. It's the largest vacation rental

Alexis Scott:

property management company in America. And when you book

Alexis Scott:

through them, you can either do it through a third party site,

Alexis Scott:

you can do it directly, or, especially for overseas markets,

Alexis Scott:

a lot of people book through travel agents, and tour

Alexis Scott:

operators. And so they were looking for someone to come in

Alexis Scott:

and manage those relationships and build them and negotiate

Alexis Scott:

special rates, etc. And that's like, literally what I did for

Alexis Scott:

hotels, pretty much. So I was like, Okay, I got this no

Alexis Scott:

problem. But what I found was that they didn't have like a

Alexis Scott:

true reservation sales team, meaning they had people doing

Alexis Scott:

customer service. And if someone would call in and by chance

Alexis Scott:

wanted to make a reservation, they would say, okay, sure, let

Alexis Scott:

me take that reservation for you. But as a salesperson, and

Alexis Scott:

someone who is revenue driven, I just couldn't believe it. I'm

Alexis Scott:

like, How is this even possible in a company this size? And so

Alexis Scott:

it turns out that the company had gone through some iterations

Alexis Scott:

of what that look like. And at the time that I joined, there

Alexis Scott:

just wasn't one. And so I brought this to the attention of

Alexis Scott:

my boss. And he was like, Yeah, I know, kind of crazy, right?

Alexis Scott:

And I'm like, yeah, so crazy. And he's like, so what do you

Alexis Scott:

think we should do about it? And so luckily, I had built some

Alexis Scott:

really strong relationships in my short time there at the time.

Alexis Scott:

And I had a lot of support from others who had been at the

Alexis Scott:

company longer, who had some insight into what would drive

Alexis Scott:

the company to restart this initiative and to be enticed

Alexis Scott:

into doing so. So I work together with some friends, I

Alexis Scott:

guess you'd call them coworkers whenever I'm on a true business

Alexis Scott:

plan. And ultimately, it's so funny, there was a leader there

Alexis Scott:

when I was there. And what he always said was, I want you to

Alexis Scott:

start things with what is the problem that you are trying to

Alexis Scott:

solve for? Like, why are we even having this conversation? If

Alexis Scott:

you're just throwing stuff out there, because it's an idea,

Alexis Scott:

that's fine. But if you're not solving a problem, there's no

Alexis Scott:

reason for us to push this through. So that's kind of how

Alexis Scott:

this conversation blossomed. What was I trying to solve for

Alexis Scott:

it? I was trying to solve for lost revenue because you don't

Alexis Scott:

have any folks dedicated to bringing it in right now. And so

Alexis Scott:

it It ended up getting approved a couple months later. And so I

Alexis Scott:

remember I will never forget, I got a text message from my boss

Alexis Scott:

and he said, you get an A team, you need to hire 10 people right

Alexis Scott:

away, and I went, Oh, okay, here we go with, okay. And I was, I

Alexis Scott:

mean, just like, I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't

Alexis Scott:

believe they were listening to me, and that they believed in me

Alexis Scott:

enough to give me this opportunity. And so hire 10

Alexis Scott:

people. And then the company acquired a very large company.

Alexis Scott:

And so what happened was the reservation sales teams of that

Alexis Scott:

company, I inherited. Wow. So when I say like, literally

Alexis Scott:

overnight, I mean, truly, within two months, I went from 10 to

Alexis Scott:

70, and multiple managers underneath me, who I was now

Alexis Scott:

responsible for. So it was figuring out onboarding,

Alexis Scott:

training, you know, promoting people to managers, because we

Alexis Scott:

had to manage all of these people, training managers, I

Alexis Scott:

mean, it was an explosion. And on top of that, I was going to

Alexis Scott:

these locations where the reservation sales teams were to

Alexis Scott:

actually meet them. Because to me, as a leader, that's a huge

Alexis Scott:

component, like I want them to understand who I am, and my

Alexis Scott:

motivation to help them succeed, and how we're all going to

Alexis Scott:

succeed together and remote is great, I will preach that till

Alexis Scott:

the end of time. But once you can have that initial connection

Alexis Scott:

with someone, even if it's once, and they understand that you're

Alexis Scott:

genuine, and you want to help, it means the world, so was

Alexis Scott:

kicking butt and all of that, and then COVID hit, and that's

Alexis Scott:

where the story changes.

Wesleyne Greer:

So, a lot of times, you know, as

Wesleyne Greer:

entrepreneurs or people who are becoming entrepreneurs, one of

Wesleyne Greer:

the things I say that salespeople make really good

Wesleyne Greer:

entrepreneurs, because as a salesperson, you have to do

Wesleyne Greer:

exactly what you said, you have to make a business plan, you

Wesleyne Greer:

have to think about the risk, you have to pitch your idea,

Wesleyne Greer:

right? And so really having that experience to do that. And then

Wesleyne Greer:

the saying yes and hire 10 people, I need this company had

Wesleyne Greer:

to that business plan you wrote must have been rock solid for

Wesleyne Greer:

you to go from zero to 10, literally overnight. And then

Wesleyne Greer:

instead of them saying, Okay, we're gonna have the person from

Wesleyne Greer:

other company, manage everybody, because they have 60 people and

Wesleyne Greer:

you know, you only have 10, like, you know, I mean, like, so

Wesleyne Greer:

just that the faith that they had in you as a leader. So you

Wesleyne Greer:

said, Hey, I inherited these people, I was thinking about

Wesleyne Greer:

onboarding, and training and all of these bits and pieces. So how

Wesleyne Greer:

did because a lot of times, that's what happens when you're

Wesleyne Greer:

a sales leader, I always say you get dropped to the middle of the

Wesleyne Greer:

ocean, it's like swim, Don't Drown swim, bring the fish with

Wesleyne Greer:

you. What were some of the tips that you can give the audience

Wesleyne Greer:

on how you were able to go from having just being yourself to 10

Wesleyne Greer:

to 70? And keep everybody straight?

Alexis Scott:

Well, you know, I think, interestingly, on a

Alexis Scott:

personal level, one to 70 is a huge ratio, right? So the

Alexis Scott:

ability to identify strong leaders to work alongside of me

Alexis Scott:

was huge. I had some folks on my initial team that won I mean, I

Alexis Scott:

promoted after like, three months, because she was taking

Alexis Scott:

the initiative to train new people, and to come up with

Alexis Scott:

materials and all of that. So understanding that it's not just

Alexis Scott:

about you, and really your team is who's going to like fortify

Alexis Scott:

what it is you're trying to do. And finding those that you trust

Alexis Scott:

and can align with is huge. Can't do it all on your own.

Alexis Scott:

That's a huge component. And the other thing was, and I'm going

Alexis Scott:

to be really honest, I struggle with this and like not

Alexis Scott:

micromanaging, especially when it's your baby, like I get it,

Alexis Scott:

we all want to take ownership and want things to go perfectly

Alexis Scott:

well and what have you. But the ability to trust others to do

Alexis Scott:

what you hired them to do is incredibly important when you

Alexis Scott:

have a large team. And I remember I will never forget

Alexis Scott:

this conversation with one of my managers. We were very close.

Alexis Scott:

She was like my right hand. And she's like, girl, you gotta let

Alexis Scott:

us do our job. And it was one of those like, very frank

Alexis Scott:

conversations. And to this day, I remember it of me sitting back

Alexis Scott:

and going, you're right. And I'm sorry.

Wesleyne Greer:

I mean, yeah, that's a powerful statement.

Wesleyne Greer:

Because a lot of times as leaders we're doing right, we're

Wesleyne Greer:

in the weeds. We don't let our people it's okay to let them

Wesleyne Greer:

fail. And you're watching from the sidelines, you're like, oh,

Wesleyne Greer:

no, I want to catch them. But you have to let them tumble. So

Wesleyne Greer:

you can say okay, so now this is what we're gonna do. So it

Wesleyne Greer:

doesn't happen again. And that's one of the best learning lessons

Wesleyne Greer:

totally. So you built this amazing team, and then the

Wesleyne Greer:

bottom fell out of the world. How was it when you really had

Wesleyne Greer:

to sit across from your employees and deliver this news,

Wesleyne Greer:

funny

Alexis Scott:

that you mentioned? I remember a couple

Alexis Scott:

of days prior. So basically, we went from 70 people focused on

Alexis Scott:

making reservations to a cancellation center in a matter

Alexis Scott:

of moments. It was insane. I mean, we were working 16 hours a

Alexis Scott:

day. It was like overtime didn't matter anyone you could get to

Alexis Scott:

handle these cancellations. Please have them work, including

Alexis Scott:

myself. And one of them messaged me privately and said, Are we

Alexis Scott:

going to get fired? And I said, Absolutely not. I said, look at

Alexis Scott:

the work we're doing right now they need us, they 100% need us

Alexis Scott:

who else is going to do this? They're overwhelmed. And I had

Alexis Scott:

woken up the next morning and I sent a video message to my team

Alexis Scott:

thanking them for all of their hard work. And just saying, I

Alexis Scott:

still appreciate you like your heart and soul shows right now,

Alexis Scott:

like everyone was stepping up to the plate. And a couple days

Alexis Scott:

later, we got like an email from the company, basically saying,

Alexis Scott:

like, you need to show up on a zoom call at x time. And we all

Alexis Scott:

got massively fired, including my boss, who had given me the

Alexis Scott:

opportunity, he didn't even know it was coming. So thankfully, I

Alexis Scott:

didn't have to deliver the news. Thankfully, I wasn't a liar.

Alexis Scott:

When I said, you know, like, I had no clue that this was

Alexis Scott:

coming. It was very traumatic. Like, it was one of those

Alexis Scott:

moments in my life that like I will

Wesleyne Greer:

never forget, wow, I've heard this a lot. Even

Wesleyne Greer:

you know, in 2022, like, employees getting let go of

Wesleyne Greer:

resume, right. And I think as an employee, when you pour your

Wesleyne Greer:

heart and soul into something, especially like, you guys are

Wesleyne Greer:

working extra time overtime, right? 16 hours a day, not

Wesleyne Greer:

seeing your family not like and Okay, yeah, we don't need you

Wesleyne Greer:

anymore. And so it makes you feel almost like you're

Wesleyne Greer:

indispensable, right, like, discarded you.

Alexis Scott:

Yeah, I mean, that is very much how I felt, um, I

Alexis Scott:

was hurt. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was scared because

Alexis Scott:

not only was I dealing with job loss and unemployment, but there

Alexis Scott:

was no opportunity at that time. I mean, the whole world was

Alexis Scott:

shutting down. So it's not like now where you're like, Okay,

Alexis Scott:

fine, zoom, fire me. I don't care. There's 100 other jobs.

Alexis Scott:

I'll get one. You know, it was truly like, you know, what am I

Alexis Scott:

going to do? It was very, very scary and even unemployment

Alexis Scott:

like, Okay, well, you got unemployment. Well, at the time,

Alexis Scott:

unemployment was so inundated with applications. You weren't

Alexis Scott:

getting unemployment. You were in the line. You were on hole. I

Alexis Scott:

remember I was on hold. This is a really funny story. I was on

Alexis Scott:

hold for so long, and then it would hang up. I had my husband

Alexis Scott:

on his phone. I was on my phone. And then I figured out I said,

Alexis Scott:

You know what, kind of push the button for Spanish. I know

Alexis Scott:

Spanish to get me by and I'm not kidding you. That day. I got my

Alexis Scott:

unemployment.

Wesleyne Greer:

Wow. And I know that the person who spoke

Wesleyne Greer:

Spanish also spoke English, right? So

Alexis Scott:

no, but she wanted to do it in Spanish like to

Alexis Scott:

like, you know, she wanted to be fair, I'm sure. But I could tell

Alexis Scott:

she was like, totally kind of laughing inside as I was

Alexis Scott:

hobbling through. And then also she'd like, try to help me like,

Alexis Scott:

if I didn't know understand the question quite right. She'd be

Alexis Scott:

like asking you again, real slow. And then if I still didn't

Alexis Scott:

get it, she'd be like, Okay, let me just ask you an English.

Alexis Scott:

Girl,

Wesleyne Greer:

I would appreciate you. That's what I

Wesleyne Greer:

call a sales sales, right? Because thinking in the moment,

Wesleyne Greer:

like only a salesperson be like, try something different. I mean,

Wesleyne Greer:

the worst they can do is tell me no. That's all you can do. Slam

Wesleyne Greer:

the phone in my face. Like no, go back into you. Okay, so you

Wesleyne Greer:

had this time of soul searching? I mean, the world fell out. I

Wesleyne Greer:

mean, march 2020, I lost 50 years of my contract. It was a

Wesleyne Greer:

horrible time all over the world, right? And so you took

Wesleyne Greer:

time. And during this time, you said, What do I want to be when

Wesleyne Greer:

I grow up? Like, what do I really want to do? How did you

Wesleyne Greer:

get to a place where you decided this is where my passion lies?

Wesleyne Greer:

It was

Alexis Scott:

not easy. So I was very fortunate in the sense that

Alexis Scott:

I had a lot of people who wanted to help me. And they would ask

Alexis Scott:

me, okay, what do you want to do? The problem lies within

Alexis Scott:

myself, because I didn't have an answer. And everyone immediately

Alexis Scott:

went to sales, right? Like, and I'm like, I don't want to do

Alexis Scott:

sales. I'm so tired of sales. I don't want to sell anymore.

Alexis Scott:

Girl. If you asked me today, I would still say that and I still

Alexis Scott:

am so passionate about my job. So it's like this inner war with

Alexis Scott:

myself because there's so much challenge that comes with sales,

Alexis Scott:

but yet there's so much gratification and success and

Alexis Scott:

like, I love what I do. So that's another story for a

Alexis Scott:

different day. However, what I will tell you is I was applying

Alexis Scott:

for I started out doing I think what most people do, which is

Alexis Scott:

like, I'm going to apply to everything and see what hits and

Alexis Scott:

it was not fruitful, of course. And then I started focusing on

Alexis Scott:

roles that other people were referring me for not necessarily

Alexis Scott:

like 100% in my wheelhouse, but like wheelhouse adjacent that I

Alexis Scott:

thought I could do that. I could be happy doing that. That's

Alexis Scott:

fine. And I would get to like the last round, and then I would

Alexis Scott:

get not chosen I would get rejected but it was like weird

Alexis Scott:

reasons like one company. They decided after three rounds of

Alexis Scott:

interviews that I didn't have child development experience.

Alexis Scott:

And so therefore they were not going to hire me and I'm like,

Alexis Scott:

Hi friends. You knew this interview one reason for me like

Alexis Scott:

why did we go through all of this another one The owner of a

Alexis Scott:

company had approached me and said, Would you be interested? I

Alexis Scott:

have this opportunity. I think it would be great. And I

Alexis Scott:

thought, yeah, I mean, I'm super interested, because I want you

Alexis Scott:

to meet my right hand. Perfect, okay, first interview, have a

Alexis Scott:

conversation. And his feedback for me was that he felt I was

Alexis Scott:

too managerial. And that this role would not be like, I don't

Alexis Scott:

know how he phrased it, but the to managerial I'll never forget.

Alexis Scott:

And I remember thinking to myself, Wow, that is a very

Alexis Scott:

interesting comment. And what I wonder is if you feel that I am

Alexis Scott:

too qualified for this job, and therefore you are not willing to

Alexis Scott:

give me the opportunity, but at the time, that was the first one

Alexis Scott:

I cried at, because it was like, just such an emotional like, Oh,

Alexis Scott:

God, I can't even get a job. I'm overqualified. For now. Like,

Alexis Scott:

this is crazy. So long story short, it was a process. And I

Alexis Scott:

remember about four or five months in my husband being like,

Alexis Scott:

Listen, what is the deal? Like? Are you going to take a job? And

Alexis Scott:

I'm like, No, I said, I have made it this far. I am like,

Alexis Scott:

gonna find my frickin dream job at this point. Because no, I am

Alexis Scott:

not settling. And about that four to five month mark is where

Alexis Scott:

I had started to make really incredible connections on

Alexis Scott:

LinkedIn. I mean, I call it like my COVID. Crew, we are still

Alexis Scott:

friends, we still talk quite often. And these are people who

Alexis Scott:

lost their jobs, successful people who had lost their jobs,

Alexis Scott:

and were navigating this same process with me. And so people

Alexis Scott:

were starting to slowly get hired, it was like, okay, things

Alexis Scott:

are coming back. And I had joined a sales committee, I'm

Alexis Scott:

huge on community, like online communities can change your

Alexis Scott:

life. And I mean that, and I will swear up and down by that,

Alexis Scott:

who you know, will change your life. And it doesn't need to

Alexis Scott:

just be in person. So with that aside, but I had joined a sales

Alexis Scott:

community. And I had started interacting with some folks from

Alexis Scott:

Aspire ship, the company that I work for now on LinkedIn. And

Alexis Scott:

like I told you, at the beginning, when I saw that they

Alexis Scott:

were hiring, I just thought, wow, like, this is the

Alexis Scott:

intersection of everything that I love, I love I remember my

Alexis Scott:

first conversation with Cory, the founder, the last thing I

Alexis Scott:

said to him was, Wow, you have found a way to help people and

Alexis Scott:

make money. I love that. And so that's just how I perceived it.

Alexis Scott:

It was like, I could still help people and do what I was

Alexis Scott:

passionate about. But I could also take my career skills and

Alexis Scott:

what I was good at. And it was this crazy intersection of the

Alexis Scott:

two. And I just thought this is like the universe talking to me.

Alexis Scott:

They literally created my job for me, it was never posted.

Alexis Scott:

They just wow, me. And it was like we work together on my job

Alexis Scott:

title. We work together on my job description. We work

Alexis Scott:

together on my salary. And let me tell you salary was a huge

Alexis Scott:

hot topic over COVID I was fighting to get peanuts, you

Alexis Scott:

know? And they were like, no, we want to pay you what you were

Alexis Scott:

like, Let's talk about this. Let's find your numbers. It was

Alexis Scott:

just such a night and day experience to all of the

Alexis Scott:

heartbreak that I had been experiencing in the six months

Alexis Scott:

prior that I just like, knew this was the right thing for me.

Wesleyne Greer:

Hmm. You know, I think that really when we set

Wesleyne Greer:

our intentions, right, we talked to people, we put it out into

Wesleyne Greer:

the universe, we let people know, this is what I want to do.

Wesleyne Greer:

This is what I'm doing. It seems like the stars just become

Wesleyne Greer:

aligned. I want to drill down a little deeper into something

Wesleyne Greer:

that you mentioned the tug of war of sales, that internals of

Wesleyne Greer:

a war that we all have. I don't want to be in sales. Yeah, I

Wesleyne Greer:

like sales. I don't want to do this. Talk to me about those

Wesleyne Greer:

things that you may still feel or have felt in the past? And

Wesleyne Greer:

how do you work through those things.

Alexis Scott:

It's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows

Alexis Scott:

and sales. You know, at one minute, all those contracts are

Alexis Scott:

coming in. I'll give you an example. Last month, I had a lot

Alexis Scott:

of conversations, a ton of conversations. And I was so

Alexis Scott:

frustrated because these dang contracts, were not coming back.

Alexis Scott:

And it's February 2, and it's what my boss calls it the

Alexis Scott:

contractor lanch. She's like, Man, she's coming because I'm

Alexis Scott:

like, Oh, my God, they're signing, they're all signing

Alexis Scott:

this is great, you know. And so that frustration that you can't

Alexis Scott:

control to a certain degree. I mean, you can control what you

Alexis Scott:

put in, right, but you can't control other people. And

Alexis Scott:

unfortunately, in sales, it's like the 31st versus the first

Alexis Scott:

means something to them, it might not mean something, but to

Alexis Scott:

you as a salesperson, it means something right? And so that's

Alexis Scott:

hard, that's hard to tackle emotionally. There are days

Alexis Scott:

where I'm like, I'm horrible at this, I suck at this. And then

Alexis Scott:

there are other days where I'm like, okay, you know who you're

Alexis Scott:

talking to, you know, it just totally depends. And it's such a

Alexis Scott:

mindset game. It really is. So understanding that you know,

Alexis Scott:

your your sales numbers doesn't make who you are, it doesn't

Alexis Scott:

define your skill set. All of those things are super important

Alexis Scott:

as you embark on a sales career because like I said, you will

Alexis Scott:

have the highest of highs and you will have the lowest of lows

Alexis Scott:

and it doesn't change who you are as a person doesn't change

Alexis Scott:

how like strong of a salesperson you are like, it just is what it

Alexis Scott:

is. And for me, I always struggle like probably my

Alexis Scott:

biggest struggle is I am a multi passionate individual. This is a

Alexis Scott:

new term that I just learned. And I'm so excited about it

Alexis Scott:

because it took me so long to articulate what I mean by this.

Alexis Scott:

I love a lot of things. And I can do a lot of things and I can

Alexis Scott:

be passionate about a lot of things. And so the ability to

Alexis Scott:

identify what is most important to me or my why and how I can

Alexis Scott:

take what I'm good at and apply it to that has kind of been an

Alexis Scott:

adult lifelong challenge. And what I am finding is that no

Alexis Scott:

matter how far away I try to get from sales, I always come back

Alexis Scott:

to it. So there is something inherent about me that I don't

Alexis Scott:

know if it's because I'm, quote unquote good at it. I don't know

Alexis Scott:

if it's because I'm good at people and relationships,

Alexis Scott:

communication. I mean, if you think of all of the soft skills

Alexis Scott:

that it takes to be really good at sales, I have a lot of those.

Alexis Scott:

And so at some point, you just got to stop fighting it just

Wesleyne Greer:

right. One of the jobs that you had that you

Wesleyne Greer:

you hated. It's funny, because you talked about the crazy

Wesleyne Greer:

coupon lady. And at one time in my life, I was a crazy coupon

Wesleyne Greer:

lady. I was actually I was one of those people who had the

Wesleyne Greer:

binders. This is when the show was I wasn't that crazy. But

Wesleyne Greer:

like I had my binder and I was like, I was like, focused on it.

Wesleyne Greer:

Right. And that was when I really realized you're a really

Wesleyne Greer:

good negotiator because I went in with vague like I was, I had

Wesleyne Greer:

this thought, and I was not in sales. At that time, I was

Wesleyne Greer:

actually a chemist working in the lab. And I was like,

Wesleyne Greer:

everything is negotiable. Even if you go and try to buy a TV,

Wesleyne Greer:

you can get something off, right? And so when you talk

Wesleyne Greer:

about having that tug of war within yourself, it's like, ah,

Wesleyne Greer:

but that was like years before I even stepped foot into sales,

Wesleyne Greer:

right? And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, I'm gonna go up in

Wesleyne Greer:

the ranks. I'm gonna be a supervisor in the lab, I'm gonna

Wesleyne Greer:

be the chief chemist, this is what I'm gonna do. And it's

Wesleyne Greer:

like, you fight those things that you're so good at. And one

Wesleyne Greer:

thing that I tell emerging sales people, especially the new ones

Wesleyne Greer:

coming in, the thing that people tell you is annoying. Or that

Wesleyne Greer:

irritates them to your their core. That's what's gonna make

Wesleyne Greer:

you good at sales. The gift of gab, if it's pushing the

Wesleyne Greer:

envelope, if it's like my seven year old is like he questions to

Wesleyne Greer:

the nth degree. He's like, Well, why mommy? But why, but why? I'm

Wesleyne Greer:

like, Oh, my gosh, you would be a really good salesperson,

Wesleyne Greer:

because you ask so many questions, right? And you get

Wesleyne Greer:

deep, you know what I mean? And so I think that tug of war that

Wesleyne Greer:

we have within ourselves, a lot of times, we just have to lean

Wesleyne Greer:

into it. You know what I mean? And say, this is just who I am?

Wesleyne Greer:

Well, totally. And the other thing, too, it's funny, I had a

Wesleyne Greer:

conversation with a potential partner yesterday. And he was

Wesleyne Greer:

talking about the personalities of Aspire ship graduates. And I

Wesleyne Greer:

said, first of all, we don't have a typical personality

Wesleyne Greer:

profile, like, everyone is so different. And that's just life.

Wesleyne Greer:

That's any sales team anywhere. Nobody's

Alexis Scott:

all the same. I mean, that's just not normal.

Alexis Scott:

But anyway, his question was, is everyone extroverted? And

Alexis Scott:

everyone like, you know, kind of that pushy salesperson. And I

Alexis Scott:

said, actually, what we teach is the opposite. We teach them to

Alexis Scott:

ask questions, and to understand their buyer. The point is not to

Alexis Scott:

push a product, the point is to solve a problem, but how do you

Alexis Scott:

know someone's problems if you're not asking the right

Alexis Scott:

questions? And so it's this trickle down effect of being a

Alexis Scott:

great question asker and a great listener. And if you can do

Alexis Scott:

those really well and connect with people, that is what I

Alexis Scott:

believe will make you a great salesperson, you know, really

Alexis Scott:

understanding your buyers and what is motivating them and

Alexis Scott:

driving them and what they're trying to solve for. You can

Alexis Scott:

make a sale all day long. If you're like, hey, you know that

Alexis Scott:

broken foot, I got a cast for you. You want it?

Wesleyne Greer:

It is I mean, and the thing is, is I am like

Wesleyne Greer:

you it's the opposite of what people think. And a lot of

Wesleyne Greer:

people think about oh, sales, it's like the used car

Wesleyne Greer:

salesperson following you around a lot. And it's pushy. But some

Wesleyne Greer:

of the best salespeople I know are introverts. They don't talk

Wesleyne Greer:

that much. They question they ask, they really try to get to

Wesleyne Greer:

the root of the problem. But then you have those extroverts

Wesleyne Greer:

who they're so bubbly that they keep the conversation going. And

Wesleyne Greer:

so there, you're right, there's not a one size fits all. So what

Wesleyne Greer:

do you guys do at Aspire shift? You mentioned you know, the your

Wesleyne Greer:

graduates tell us more about that.

Alexis Scott:

So Aspire ship is an on demand, SAS sales training

Alexis Scott:

platform. So we train anyone interested in learning software

Alexis Scott:

sales, essentially. And it is a full cycle course. So we're

Alexis Scott:

teaching you sales methodology and the sales process. And if

Alexis Scott:

you are able to prove competency through a final assessment, we

Alexis Scott:

will actually help you get hired for free, all of it for free. So

Alexis Scott:

literally anyone interested in getting into software sales, I

Alexis Scott:

can't not recommend it. It costs you nothing like you have

Alexis Scott:

everything to gain, nothing to lose. And it's just an

Alexis Scott:

incredible program. So what I actually do as I find companies

Alexis Scott:

who are interested in hiring for potential, like this is where I

Alexis Scott:

see myself as the piece of the puzzle without me doing my

Alexis Scott:

sales, my hard work, there's no jobs to be had. And my number

Alexis Scott:

one thing is I really want to help people transition into

Alexis Scott:

these careers and especially those who have said this is my

Alexis Scott:

biggest thing is like when companies say must be SAS

Alexis Scott:

experience, I get so frustrated because that was me and you can

Alexis Scott:

do the work. There's a methodology and I told I agree

Alexis Scott:

that yes, it should be learned to be successful. But just

Alexis Scott:

because you haven't learned it already doesn't mean you can't.

Alexis Scott:

And these are people who are willing and able to put in the

Alexis Scott:

work with no guarantee. What does that say about them? When

Alexis Scott:

they join your team? How are they going to treat this job,

Alexis Scott:

they're going to put in the work.

Wesleyne Greer:

And the thing is, it's crazy to me, because

Wesleyne Greer:

when I got into sales, so many years ago, that was the thing,

Wesleyne Greer:

you can't get a sales job with no sales experience. And there

Wesleyne Greer:

was a company that was like, We don't want salespeople, we want

Wesleyne Greer:

chemists, we want engineers. And so that is how I got my first

Wesleyne Greer:

sales job. But so many years later, companies are still

Wesleyne Greer:

telling you the same thing. Like I work with them. And they're

Wesleyne Greer:

like, but they have to do this, this, this and that I'm like, so

Wesleyne Greer:

listen, here's the thing. If your product is as good as you

Wesleyne Greer:

think it is, you can teach them the product, you need somebody

Wesleyne Greer:

who has solid sales skills, some of the best salespeople I have

Wesleyne Greer:

gotten come from cross industries, and I tell these

Wesleyne Greer:

companies stop hiring your competitors rejects. Because

Wesleyne Greer:

that's all you're doing. You're hiring your competitors rejects

Wesleyne Greer:

when you say they must have this experience, why not open your

Wesleyne Greer:

eyes a little bit?

Alexis Scott:

No, I completely agree. And what I tell people

Alexis Scott:

is, Listen, I'm going to find you, the people, you can't find

Alexis Scott:

yourself, because you're not looking for him.

Wesleyne Greer:

Exactly. You're looking for the wrong things.

Wesleyne Greer:

They're looking for the absolute wrong things. So you have had

Wesleyne Greer:

such a diverse career, I mean, all the way from the greens, to

Wesleyne Greer:

helping graduates find jobs in SAS sales, what is one thing

Wesleyne Greer:

throughout your life throughout your career that you're really

Wesleyne Greer:

proud of accomplishing?

Alexis Scott:

I would say probably my landing my job at

Alexis Scott:

Aspire ship, simply because I was coming from like one of the

Alexis Scott:

darkest places emotionally and professionally, of just feeling

Alexis Scott:

like the rug had been ripped out from under me. I mean, when I

Alexis Scott:

was at the cost, I thought this is it. I am climbing the ladder,

Alexis Scott:

I'm doing the things I'm going to do this at the other and it

Alexis Scott:

was like, Oh, actually, no, you're not. And so that was very

Alexis Scott:

hard to process emotionally, and to go from feeling like garbage,

Alexis Scott:

you know, just thrown out at the first sign of trouble to feeling

Alexis Scott:

like a treasure that they had uncovered, and that they were so

Alexis Scott:

excited about working with me that they would create an

Alexis Scott:

opportunity to work with me. Like that felt incredible. You

Alexis Scott:

know, it was very touching to me, and I'll remember it

Alexis Scott:

forever, huh?

Wesleyne Greer:

Yes, someone took a chance on you. Right? And

Wesleyne Greer:

they took you out of that dark place. Because a lot of times

Wesleyne Greer:

when we're down in those deep depths, it's hard to pull

Wesleyne Greer:

ourselves up and getting some of that external validation. Like,

Wesleyne Greer:

yes, Alexis, you are just as amazing and awesome as you were

Wesleyne Greer:

the year before the company came in and said wish or the world

Wesleyne Greer:

just went to a caboose. Right. And so knowing that this is

Wesleyne Greer:

something that I love to say that your company's insides

Wesleyne Greer:

matches outside, like the external thing that you guys are

Wesleyne Greer:

doing helping people get jobs and fast sale, but knowing that

Wesleyne Greer:

they're practicing what they preach, helping people get into

Wesleyne Greer:

this industry within their company and actually co creating

Wesleyne Greer:

this job for you. I think that that is amazing. And your CEO,

Wesleyne Greer:

hopefully, they're listening. They definitely hats off. Hats

Wesleyne Greer:

off.

Alexis Scott:

Yeah, well, it's funny, I some of my former co

Alexis Scott:

I'm still friends with very many of my former co workers. And at

Alexis Scott:

the beginning, when I first took this job, I don't know, maybe

Alexis Scott:

three, four or five, six months in, they follow me on LinkedIn.

Alexis Scott:

And so they see all my posts, and they text me, okay, tell us

Alexis Scott:

the truth. Do you really love your job as much? It's true. And

Alexis Scott:

I know it's very hard for some people to understand how you can

Alexis Scott:

be so connected to your work your mission, your co workers,

Alexis Scott:

you know, be really passionate about what you do, and express

Alexis Scott:

that authentically. I think sometimes people are like, like,

Alexis Scott:

just like them, like, Come on, tell me the real story, what's

Alexis Scott:

going on over there. But really, everything that I share is 100%

Alexis Scott:

true, my feelings, my thoughts, my emotions about how it is we

Alexis Scott:

do what we do and my relationships with those that I

Alexis Scott:

work with both internally and externally. And my goal is to be

Alexis Scott:

honest, and to portray a truly honest situation to give people

Alexis Scott:

hope. That's one of the biggest reasons that I post so much on

Alexis Scott:

LinkedIn is because even though you know, some people seem like

Alexis Scott:

they have everything together, no one does. I don't care who

Alexis Scott:

you are, I don't care how long you've been doing this. We have

Alexis Scott:

all struggled at some point and are potentially struggling now

Alexis Scott:

you just don't know it. And so if I can tell my story, if I can

Alexis Scott:

share insights and connect people that's a huge thing for

Alexis Scott:

me. I love connecting people I posted about that today. I will

Alexis Scott:

do whatever I can to help those around me be successful in their

Alexis Scott:

own right and those who want to get started. Yes, like let's do

Alexis Scott:

it. I will help you however I can.

Wesleyne Greer:

I love it. I love it. I love it so much so

Wesleyne Greer:

much. I really thank you for your candor and saying you know

Wesleyne Greer:

this, this is the real deal. This is really what happens in

Wesleyne Greer:

Sales and when you're laid off, let go and when you have to

Wesleyne Greer:

literally kind of say step back, and what do I want to be when I

Wesleyne Greer:

grow up? What is my next step going to be? Right? And so thank

Wesleyne Greer:

you so much. And I know you're a big LinkedIn person. Is that the

Wesleyne Greer:

best way for people to get connected with you if they want

Wesleyne Greer:

to chat?

Alexis Scott:

Yes. If anyone is curious, anyone wants to chat

Alexis Scott:

please find me on LinkedIn. Alexis Scott, if you type in my

Alexis Scott:

handle, it's Alexis J. Scott. And but I work at Aspire ship.

Alexis Scott:

Picture me with big smile. I'm happy person. Come say hi.

Wesleyne Greer:

Awesome. Awesome. So thank you so much,

Wesleyne Greer:

Alexis, for sharing your time, your story, your energy and your

Wesleyne Greer:

expertise with us. We truly appreciate it.

Alexis Scott:

Thank you so much for having me. Wesleyne This has

Alexis Scott:

been amazing. And I look forward to connecting with your folks

Alexis Scott:

and chatting. Anyone who wants to talk sales again. Say hi.

Wesleyne Greer:

Awesome. That was a another episode of the

Wesleyne Greer:

science of selling stem podcast. Thank you so much for being

Wesleyne Greer:

loyal listeners. I truly appreciate it. Keep those

Wesleyne Greer:

comments coming in and those questions rolling and remember

Wesleyne Greer:

and everything that you do transform your sales. Until next

Wesleyne Greer:

time.

Wesleyne Greer:

Thank you for joining us today on the snack sized sales

Wesleyne Greer:

podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us

Wesleyne Greer:

a review. Learn how to continue increasing your bottom line by

Wesleyne Greer:

getting simplified sales strategies delivered to your

Wesleyne Greer:

inbox weekly by going to www dot snack sized sales.com. Trust me,

Wesleyne Greer:

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About the Podcast

Transformed Sales
Transforming Sales Managers to Lead Using Behavior-Based Skills Development
As a sales manager, you are judged by the performance of your team. And you're praised when they do well. But one thing that you've not been able to figure out is how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every single month. Sales leadership is difficult.

The Transformed Sales podcast equips sales leaders with the skills to develop high-performance teams. We provide coaching strategies for improving sales team performance, mentoring developing sellers, and providing ongoing support for best practices. As a result sales leaders can guide, create, and nurture long-term relationships with their teams.

You will learn how to enhance your ability to engage in productive conversations with internal team members, resulting in a collaborative, dynamic environment where sellers feel supported.

Transformed Sales assists businesses in developing and building the culture necessary to build high-performing sales teams. In this leadership coaching program, coaching strategies are offered that can be used to improve the performance of sales teams. These strategies provide ongoing support and reinforcement of best practices