Episode 35

Transitioning from a Technical Career into Sales Leadership with Eva O’Keefe

Published on: 4th August, 2021

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In this episode of the Science of Selling STEM, I’ll be having a candid chat with Eva O’Keefe, the Vice President Sales at Azelis, a world-leading specialty chemicals distributor. She is an experienced vice president of sales with a demonstrated history of working in the chemicals industry. She previously worked for Horn/IMCD, where she was VP Strategic Accounts, and before that, she spent five years as sales manager for the former PT Hutchins, as well as with Dow as LATAM sales manager. She began her career with Arch Chemicals.

Eva is very skilled in sales, management, and specialty chemicals. She graduated from the University of Florida with dual degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering and later attended the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University where she earned her MBA. Eva will share her valuable insights on how one can translate their technical skills into sales leadership and emphasize the importance of continuous learning to succeed in sales. I can guarantee you that Eva won’t just be an inspiration but will also equip you with the knowledge you need to go out and kill it in your sales career. So stay tuned!

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

  • The incredible journey from getting two degrees to becoming VP of Sales (01:42)
  • Things that set her up for success as she transitioned from an engineer working in a basement to her current leadership position (05:43)
  • How her MBA taught her how to think strategically (06:45)
  • Leading better from investing in her personal and professional development (09:52)
  • Challenges she has had to overcome throughout her leadership career (12:35)
  • Starting in sales for a small business with 5% market share and scaling the market share to 75% (17:11)

Connect with Eva O’Keefe:

Connect with Wesleyne Greer:

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Transcript
Eva O'Keefe:

As a sales manager, you are judged by the

Eva O'Keefe:

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

Eva O'Keefe:

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

Eva O'Keefe:

how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every

Eva O'Keefe:

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

Eva O'Keefe:

science of selling stem sales leadership in the science,

Eva O'Keefe:

technology, engineering and manufacturing fields is

Eva O'Keefe:

difficult. You will learn from sales managers just like you

Eva O'Keefe:

that will give you actionable insights and tips on how to

Eva O'Keefe:

develop as a leader and achieve your revenue targets every

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

Eva O'Keefe:

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

Eva O'Keefe:

inspiration to ensure that you have actionable insights that

Eva O'Keefe:

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

Eva O'Keefe:

episode of the Snack size sales podcast today. I am so excited

Eva O'Keefe:

that I have the pleasure of interviewing Eva O'Keefe. How

Eva O'Keefe:

are you?

Eva O'Keefe:

I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.

Eva O'Keefe:

Some let me tell you guys a little bit more about Eva. She

Eva O'Keefe:

graduated from the University of Florida with dual degrees in

Eva O'Keefe:

Industrial and Systems Engineering. Later, she attended

Eva O'Keefe:

the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University, where

Eva O'Keefe:

she earned her MBA. She is currently the VP of sales at

Eva O'Keefe:

azelis. So tell us, how did you go from two degrees to becoming

Eva O'Keefe:

the VP of sales? Yeah, so

Eva O'Keefe:

obviously didn't happen overnight. You know, I started

Eva O'Keefe:

my career, actually my degrees in industrial and systems

Eva O'Keefe:

engineering. And my first job was actually working for Exxon.

Eva O'Keefe:

And I was actually doing hard core computer programming. I

Eva O'Keefe:

have spent of my first year at the basement of the Exxon

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building, programming C++ and doing all these things. I was 22

Eva O'Keefe:

years old. And I was like, Okay, this is not for me, I am a

Eva O'Keefe:

people person, I would go to the supermarket and I would start

Eva O'Keefe:

chatting with a cash register lady and things. So a friend of

Eva O'Keefe:

mine asked me, Hey, there is a job in chemical sales. I was

Eva O'Keefe:

living at that time in the Houston area. So I am like, I

Eva O'Keefe:

don't know much about chemical sales. I did take some chemistry

Eva O'Keefe:

classes during college, but I think I want to get into sales.

Eva O'Keefe:

So I started in sales. And I did that for a couple of years in

Eva O'Keefe:

the pulp and paper industry. Then I moved to chemical sales

Eva O'Keefe:

in selling for more like paint companies, then actually, I was

Eva O'Keefe:

born and raised in Venezuela. So I speak Spanish, the opportunity

Eva O'Keefe:

came to work for Angus, which then became Tao as an Latin

Eva O'Keefe:

American sales manager. So I did that for a couple of years, I

Eva O'Keefe:

actually traveled all over Latin America to actually learn

Eva O'Keefe:

Portuguese, even though I don't speak that much Portuguese

Eva O'Keefe:

anymore. So I went to, you know, the smallest countries, El

Eva O'Keefe:

Salvador, Costa Rica, to the big places like Brazil and Colombia.

Eva O'Keefe:

Then I had some family changes, I got married, I had children.

Eva O'Keefe:

And I actually went to work for another chemical manufacturer

Eva O'Keefe:

for a couple years, and my territory was very large. I had

Eva O'Keefe:

12 western states, Western Canada, sometimes Mexico. So

Eva O'Keefe:

after starting a family, you know, I decided, okay, let me go

Eva O'Keefe:

something smaller. So I went into chemical distribution. And

Eva O'Keefe:

at the same time, actually, I decided to get my MBA. So I was

Eva O'Keefe:

trying to do it all, you know, having a family getting my MBA,

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traveling. And so I got into chemical distribution, chemical

Eva O'Keefe:

distribution is different because you have a smaller

Eva O'Keefe:

geographical area, a lot more accounts. And I started

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basically, as an account manager, and quickly I was

Eva O'Keefe:

promoted as sales manager. And I manage a team and I did that for

Eva O'Keefe:

a couple of years. Then I went to work for a competitor. And I

Eva O'Keefe:

was actually vice president of true strategic accounts, which I

Eva O'Keefe:

was giving them one very, very, very large account. Then my

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company was sold. And then I went to work for actually the

Eva O'Keefe:

same company that I work 10 years ago, and in actually 15

Eva O'Keefe:

years ago in 2005. And my original role here was actually

Eva O'Keefe:

vice president for Latin America, which I did for a few

Eva O'Keefe:

months. And then they said, You know what, I think your skill

Eva O'Keefe:

set is better suited to manage a territory so I'm now Vice

Eva O'Keefe:

President of Sales for the western region, which covers

Eva O'Keefe:

what 12 Western states. So that's that's kind of my career

Eva O'Keefe:

in a nutshell.

Eva O'Keefe:

So you had a such a dynamic career because you went from

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being just a traditional engineer to something completely

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different of chemical sales. And then you kept on that path of

Eva O'Keefe:

doing something different by getting into distribution, which

Eva O'Keefe:

I always say distribution sales is a world unto its own, because

Eva O'Keefe:

you're managing someone else that's not under your tutelage.

Eva O'Keefe:

And they're managing the customers. So what are the

Eva O'Keefe:

things that you think that really set you up for success

Eva O'Keefe:

going from being a engineer working in a basement to and the

Eva O'Keefe:

skills that you've been able to translate into your leadership

Eva O'Keefe:

position?

Eva O'Keefe:

Yeah, I think a lot of it is, I understood early on that this

Eva O'Keefe:

was not my right path, you know. So I think understanding

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yourself, you know, and taking that risk, you know, just

Eva O'Keefe:

saying, you know, what, I'm comfortable here, but this is

Eva O'Keefe:

not what I want. So I think that's one of the things hard

Eva O'Keefe:

work. I mean, they're, you know, I'm, I have kids right now, I

Eva O'Keefe:

have a 16 year old and unknown, almost 19 year old, and they

Eva O'Keefe:

think that they are just going to walk in and be the vice

Eva O'Keefe:

president of sales. And we're like, No, it just kind of

Eva O'Keefe:

doesn't work like that. You know, it just sheer spending the

Eva O'Keefe:

time getting my MBA, I think my I, again, my training as an

Eva O'Keefe:

engineer, I knew, you know, processes and things like that.

Eva O'Keefe:

But in reality, unless you're working for Tesla, or SpaceX, or

Eva O'Keefe:

something like that, you're dealing in business with

Eva O'Keefe:

customers, profits, p&l, and things like so, I think my MBA,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, was critical in basically teaching me how to

Eva O'Keefe:

think, you know, in teaching me about strategy, and teaching me

Eva O'Keefe:

is like, Okay, do I want to be the Neiman Marcus selling a

Eva O'Keefe:

couple of things that are very high margin? Or do I want to be

Eva O'Keefe:

Walmart? Or do I want to be somewhere in between all those

Eva O'Keefe:

things I learned on my MBA, so I personally, I know, they're kind

Eva O'Keefe:

of, you know, not as viewed as favorable anymore. But for a

Eva O'Keefe:

technical person. And I tell the young people under me, if you

Eva O'Keefe:

have the time, your company's paying for it, do it, it was a

Eva O'Keefe:

very big sacrifice. Like I said, I had, oh, you know, already one

Eva O'Keefe:

child expecting the other. But I felt that it was very much worth

Eva O'Keefe:

it. And, you know, I think continuing your skills, I just

Eva O'Keefe:

finished a leadership course, at Cornell, you know, talking about

Eva O'Keefe:

women in leadership. You know, I listen to a lot of podcasts, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, how I built this, my son is starting at Northwestern, I

Eva O'Keefe:

found some very interesting podcasts there. So just don't

Eva O'Keefe:

think that you're you're ever done learning, if you consider

Eva O'Keefe:

yourself a lifelong learner, in every interaction, you know, in

Eva O'Keefe:

my company, even though I'm in sales, I have to deal with

Eva O'Keefe:

supply chain, I have to deal with customer service. And every

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interaction, if I learn about their business and how they do

Eva O'Keefe:

their job, it helps me do my job better. interpersonal

Eva O'Keefe:

connections, I think that's very important. I think in my

Eva O'Keefe:

industry, you know, I think people will hopefully view me as

Eva O'Keefe:

someone that is very generous, very, you know, generous with

Eva O'Keefe:

her time I invite people into my home, I, you know, back when we

Eva O'Keefe:

were entertaining a lot more, I did a lot of entertaining, a lot

Eva O'Keefe:

of socializing, building, not just the business. You know, I

Eva O'Keefe:

have a mentor. His name is Syriac Alexander. He's very well

Eva O'Keefe:

known in our industry. And he always said, you know, companies

Eva O'Keefe:

do business with people, not companies, with companies. So

Eva O'Keefe:

developing those personal relationships early on, and I

Eva O'Keefe:

still have relationships that I've kept for almost 30 years in

Eva O'Keefe:

this industry. I think that's very important.

Eva O'Keefe:

That's awesome. You talked a lot about personal and professional

Eva O'Keefe:

development. And I think a lot of times as leaders, that's not

Eva O'Keefe:

something that we value as much because we're going going going

Eva O'Keefe:

as a sales leader. We're like, Okay, I got to hit this number.

Eva O'Keefe:

I got to get the team doing this. I got this. I got that.

Eva O'Keefe:

But really taking time to slow down and do that development. It

Eva O'Keefe:

seems like it's really played Messrs for you in your career.

Eva O'Keefe:

So I'm curious when we think about your team and the people

Eva O'Keefe:

that you work with, how is that development, that growth that

Eva O'Keefe:

you have so inherent within you? How does that help you lead your

Eva O'Keefe:

team better? Yeah, I

Eva O'Keefe:

mean, again, I think I'm a firm believer for example, I belong

Eva O'Keefe:

to the Los Angeles Society of coatings technology. I'm on the

Eva O'Keefe:

board. have given them a six year commitment. Anyone that

Eva O'Keefe:

goes under me, you know, it's like, okay, you are you are

Eva O'Keefe:

joining the LSVT. And you are becoming a board member, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, and at the LSVT, for example, every single month, we

Eva O'Keefe:

have technical talks that we learn. So, again, to me, that is

Eva O'Keefe:

very important. And it's very important for the people that

Eva O'Keefe:

work for me to have that mindset to have that mindset about

Eva O'Keefe:

learning if someone is, for example, I do get some people

Eva O'Keefe:

that work for me that various technical levels, I will get

Eva O'Keefe:

someone with an engineering degree, and I will get someone

Eva O'Keefe:

with a marketing degree, you know, the guy with a marketing

Eva O'Keefe:

degree, he knows how to sell well, but maybe not is not as

Eva O'Keefe:

versed in the technical aspect, you know, so, again, send them

Eva O'Keefe:

to lab where he spends a week and Merce in, you know, in

Eva O'Keefe:

technical training and understanding, I think that

Eva O'Keefe:

people should always recognize what are their weaknesses, and,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, go and try to improve that is the person with a

Eva O'Keefe:

marketing degree going to be as technically proficient as the

Eva O'Keefe:

guy that's been, you know, 10 years in a manufacturing plant,

Eva O'Keefe:

creating polymers, no, but it doesn't matter, you know, and

Eva O'Keefe:

also understanding that there are resources available, none of

Eva O'Keefe:

us work in a vacuum, that if you're weak in one area, you

Eva O'Keefe:

bury yourself up with someone that is not weak in that area,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, and having that collaboration, I think makes the

Eva O'Keefe:

team a lot stronger.

Eva O'Keefe:

I love that I always when I'm working with people, one thing

Eva O'Keefe:

that we do is we come up with an onboarding plan. And when we're

Eva O'Keefe:

working in these technical fields, it's there always two

Eva O'Keefe:

tracks, there's a technical track, and then there's the

Eva O'Keefe:

sales or the business track, because depending on your

Eva O'Keefe:

background, sometimes like you said, you need to go in the lab,

Eva O'Keefe:

and you need to say, Hey, let me present this to someone, let me

Eva O'Keefe:

go out and get my hands dirty, I always like to say, getting my

Eva O'Keefe:

hands dirty, like go out on the plant floor, go in the lab and

Eva O'Keefe:

really learn the process, because you're strong in sales.

Eva O'Keefe:

So we don't need to develop those skills as much. Whereas if

Eva O'Keefe:

you're a technical person by nature, then we do need to hone

Eva O'Keefe:

those sales skills, you need to be cold calling and talking to

Eva O'Keefe:

customers and doing all of those things. And so, really what you

Eva O'Keefe:

said, I love the way that your individualizing the development

Eva O'Keefe:

for your sales people. What are some of the challenges that

Eva O'Keefe:

you've had throughout your your leadership career? Well,

Eva O'Keefe:

early on, you know, I would say, How do I put it this politely,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, I was traveling to Latin America, as a young female

Eva O'Keefe:

29 years old, as a manager, you know, and they were basically,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, I was not being accepted, you know, and many

Eva O'Keefe:

times, if, you know, some of the distributors there would say,

Eva O'Keefe:

Hey, I do not want to spend time with you, or, you know, or bring

Eva O'Keefe:

your boss or something like that. So, I think that that was

Eva O'Keefe:

pretty challenging, you know, and I felt that I had to prove

Eva O'Keefe:

myself quite a bit, you know, the other challenges is, is, I

Eva O'Keefe:

think, you know, mentoring people to the point that they

Eva O'Keefe:

want to stay, but the grass is always greener on the other

Eva O'Keefe:

side, you know, in spending time with someone's spending, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, love and attention and care, and then, you know, they

Eva O'Keefe:

get a better offer. And you, you know, you say, Okay, this is

Eva O'Keefe:

business, I don't want to take it personal, but you do take it

Eva O'Keefe:

personal and you feel is like, what happened, what did I do

Eva O'Keefe:

wrong? What, you know, Why couldn't this person stay with

Eva O'Keefe:

me? So I think some of those, you know, in the environment, I

Eva O'Keefe:

mean, the last couple of the last year for everyone, we had

Eva O'Keefe:

to learn completely how to work in a different way, you know, I

Eva O'Keefe:

was used to, every week getting on a plane and travel and you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, and now we're home, you know, and we're like, okay, but

Eva O'Keefe:

I think we've learned quite a bit. And we've learned that

Eva O'Keefe:

also, there is a lot more collaboration and efficiency,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, that you can immediately get the person in

Eva O'Keefe:

New Jersey, you know, the person in Argentina and the person in

Eva O'Keefe:

California and old, you know, beat together at once, things

Eva O'Keefe:

that a year ago, before the pandemic, you just didn't do

Eva O'Keefe:

that it was not normal. So, you know, in challenges also, I

Eva O'Keefe:

think that as my personal and professional development is

Eva O'Keefe:

like, Okay, I've been doing this for almost 30 years. It's like,

Eva O'Keefe:

what do I do when I grew up? You know, where do I want to go? You

Eva O'Keefe:

know, I think you have to ask yourself those type of questions

Eva O'Keefe:

over and over again. Mm hmm.

Eva O'Keefe:

Those are some good but real life challenges right being a

Eva O'Keefe:

woman in this very technical Chemical sales type realm,

Eva O'Keefe:

especially when you're traveling to other countries, I think in

Eva O'Keefe:

different countries, there are different perceptions. And as

Eva O'Keefe:

you said, that we have to think about the closer of things. So

Eva O'Keefe:

when you're traveling to Latin America, it's culturally like,

Eva O'Keefe:

no, no, no, no, this is not what we do. And then having that

Eva O'Keefe:

turnover, especially in these days where, I mean, if you're a

Eva O'Keefe:

good salesperson, you're like a hot commodity, everybody's

Eva O'Keefe:

trying to steal you. And it's when you get to a salesperson,

Eva O'Keefe:

and they leave for 5000, or 10,000, or three or 4%. More

Eva O'Keefe:

commission, like you said, What did I do? Did I do something

Eva O'Keefe:

wrong? Why Why are you leaving? And then really thinking about

Eva O'Keefe:

this virtual world? Okay, yeah, it's very different. But these

Eva O'Keefe:

are the ways that we can actually build our business

Eva O'Keefe:

faster, we can meet with people quicker, we can be on back to

Eva O'Keefe:

back to back zoom calls, like I can start my day in London, and

Eva O'Keefe:

I can end my day California, right. And I think those things,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, what you really said is, it's like, yeah, these are

Eva O'Keefe:

challenges, but they're all things that I overcame, and

Eva O'Keefe:

they've made me stronger.

Eva O'Keefe:

Absolutely. Actually, I have a little funny example. I was

Eva O'Keefe:

talking to this gentleman that I've talked to him a couple

Eva O'Keefe:

times. And all of a sudden, he mentioned something about being

Eva O'Keefe:

in Argentina. And I'm like, wait a minute, you are in Argentina,

Eva O'Keefe:

I had no idea. I thought that he was in Charlotte, North Carolina

Eva O'Keefe:

or something like that. So I love

Eva O'Keefe:

it. I love it. I mean, the world that we're living in today, it's

Eva O'Keefe:

a global world. But it seems like we're so much tighter knit.

Eva O'Keefe:

Like in this past week, I've talked to somebody in London,

Eva O'Keefe:

I've talked to somebody in Lebanon, I've talked to somebody

Eva O'Keefe:

in Norway, and I want to talk to somebody right here in Texas,

Eva O'Keefe:

all on Zoom. Right? And so I think that being able to embrace

Eva O'Keefe:

what I like to call sales technology, and helping our

Eva O'Keefe:

sales people really upskill right. So it's yes, we can do it

Eva O'Keefe:

as leaders, but are we showing our sales people how they can

Eva O'Keefe:

actually use this to build their business? Correct. So it's give

Eva O'Keefe:

me a success story, whether it's in your current position, or in

Eva O'Keefe:

a previous position that you had on something that you're really

Eva O'Keefe:

excited about a person a sale? Anything that you're really

Eva O'Keefe:

excited about?

Eva O'Keefe:

Well, I would I would, I can actually start I will go back to

Eva O'Keefe:

when I first started in sales in my career, you know, I was mid

Eva O'Keefe:

20s, okay. And the product that I was selling over, I was

Eva O'Keefe:

actually selling one specific product, then when I came over

Eva O'Keefe:

here, we had very, very, very little market share, I would

Eva O'Keefe:

say, I don't know, 5% market share. So basically, the way

Eva O'Keefe:

this product worked it, do you know what pH is the pH works at

Eva O'Keefe:

a higher pH, the product that was in the market worked at a

Eva O'Keefe:

lower pH. So I would actually go into Home Depot and buy paint,

Eva O'Keefe:

and I would send it to my lab, and I would have it analyzed.

Eva O'Keefe:

And I would go to all these major corporations making paint

Eva O'Keefe:

and I would say, do you think your product is protected? And

Eva O'Keefe:

they would say, of course it is, you know, I've been using, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, this product, and I you know, so I would actually go and

Eva O'Keefe:

show them the data is like, hey, no, your product is really not

Eva O'Keefe:

protected. You, you know, and when the homeowner opens his can

Eva O'Keefe:

of paint and I you know, a year later puts it in the garage and

Eva O'Keefe:

wants to paint again, is not going to be protected. So I went

Eva O'Keefe:

and I methodically went to all these companies pitching the

Eva O'Keefe:

message over and over and over again. And by the time in two,

Eva O'Keefe:

three years, I went from like 5% market share to probably I don't

Eva O'Keefe:

know, 7075 in 20 years later, okay. A lot of these companies

Eva O'Keefe:

are still using the product that I recommended, you know, and are

Eva O'Keefe:

still basically my recommendations kind of, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, shaped that industry. And, you know, I was I think I was

Eva O'Keefe:

young and naive. And a lot of the times I remember one

Eva O'Keefe:

gentleman said, What makes you think that you're going to gain

Eva O'Keefe:

my business. I've been doing business with this large company

Eva O'Keefe:

for all these years. We played golf with, you know, but I think

Eva O'Keefe:

that my young age and my naivete basically said, I don't care.

Eva O'Keefe:

You know, another time again, talking about developing the

Eva O'Keefe:

personal relationships. I believe in the personal

Eva O'Keefe:

relationship, this same gentleman, which basically

Eva O'Keefe:

brushed me off and you know, I got his business at the end. He

Eva O'Keefe:

asked me he said that he was sponsoring a race instead the

Eva O'Keefe:

juvenile diabetes foundation we did it for paint for the paint,

Eva O'Keefe:

you know, foundation, but it was for diabetics. And he's like,

Eva O'Keefe:

Okay, I hear that you run is uh, yeah, I do. He's like, Okay, I

Eva O'Keefe:

want I can you run this race for me and I said, you know, his

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name is was Marty to Marty. I don't know if I can run this

Eva O'Keefe:

race. And he's like, why? He said, well, because if I run the

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race, I want to win it, you know? And he said, Oh, right,

Eva O'Keefe:

okay, come on, come on, you know, so I go run the race. And

Eva O'Keefe:

I went in, I won the race, you know? So he was like, Okay, this

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lady is serious. And after God, you know, he was so happy that I

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won the race. You know, I developed my personal

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relationship with him, I raised a bunch of money for his

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charity. And eventually, I got his his business, my product was

Eva O'Keefe:

superior. And like I said, to this day, they're using this

Eva O'Keefe:

product. But you know, it took persistence, it took, you know,

Eva O'Keefe:

basically, sometimes you you think, Well, someone has done it

Eva O'Keefe:

already. And they fail. Well, that was them. That's not me.

Eva O'Keefe:

You know, just because they fail doesn't mean that I'm going to

Eva O'Keefe:

fail. I'm going to look at a different angle, I'm going to

Eva O'Keefe:

find another way. So yeah, so I think early on in my career, you

Eva O'Keefe:

know, I had a lot of success, by just chipping away little by

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little

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tenacity, I love, love, love that story. Where if you really

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were thinking outside the box, right, you're like, I'm just

Eva O'Keefe:

going to Home Depot, and I'm gonna buy all their stuff up.

Eva O'Keefe:

And hey, send it off. And to me, the results I can remember is my

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first year in sales, I was like, I don't know what to do. They

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didn't give me a framework. So I would load up my car. And I

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would literally, like fly to Colorado, and I'd be driving all

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over the Midwest, and then I'd hop up to North Dakota. And I

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was just doing lunch and learns, right. And so I would literally

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have like a whole week of luncheon, learn scheduled at

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universities at client sites. And that's how the momentum got

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going. Right? And is that, like you said, it's the tenacity.

Eva O'Keefe:

It's not that they're gonna buy tomorrow. But it's the fact

Eva O'Keefe:

that, hey, I'm staying with it. And then I love your story about

Eva O'Keefe:

the charity, because what you did was, and I tell salespeople

Eva O'Keefe:

all the time you served before you sold, right? You served him,

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this is important to you, so I can make it important to me. And

Eva O'Keefe:

again, he didn't. And it wasn't just because you had such a

Eva O'Keefe:

great relationship, you solve a problem that he had with your

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item with your product. And then and the relationship was there.

Eva O'Keefe:

And so I think a lot of times, salespeople, they think that

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they can only live on the relationship. But know, what is

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the problem the customers having, right? Like those two

Eva O'Keefe:

have to be aligned in order for you to build that relationship.

Eva O'Keefe:

I love it. I love it. I love it. Well, so tell us how can people

Eva O'Keefe:

get in contact with you? If they want to have a quick chat with

Eva O'Keefe:

you or learn more about what you do?

Eva O'Keefe:

Sure. I mean, I'm on LinkedIn, I would say that would be the

Eva O'Keefe:

preferred method under Eva O'Keefe, you know, so I mean,

Eva O'Keefe:

social media, too. I think Twitter, I'm like, Vita 1209 or

Eva O'Keefe:

something like that. But I think LinkedIn would be the preferred

Eva O'Keefe:

method.

Eva O'Keefe:

Awesome, awesome. Ava, thank you so much for joining us today,

Eva O'Keefe:

and sharing your pearls and your wisdom and really helping us

Eva O'Keefe:

understand how you have gone from working in the basement in

Eva O'Keefe:

that ExxonMobil hearing that you sit for where I am you being

Eva O'Keefe:

this wonderful VP of sales. Thanks so much for your time.

Eva O'Keefe:

Thank you. Thank you for interviewing me. Thanks for the

Eva O'Keefe:

time. And that

Eva O'Keefe:

was another episode of the Snack size sales podcast remember, and

Eva O'Keefe:

everything that you do transform your sales. Until next time.

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sales podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and

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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