Selling success

Malissa Jacobs
Sr. Director, Sales Enablement,
Risk

In Sales Enablement it’s our job to work with teams across the organization to help create sales content to help sellers become a consultant in every customer conversation and ensure that every seller has the right message, at the right time, for the right customer. Our team is directly involved in customer experience, solutions consultation and selling to customers through the cross market accounts team as well as training, education and development for Client Engagement. We all work together to support our customers, the organization and members of our team.

To succeed in this role, we need to understand our business objectives, our customers and their objectives, and the overall market, so we can anticipate the needs of our sellers and provide them with the information they require. Collaboration is critical, it really does take a village, and everyone is willing to jump in and help. 

Our customer-centric approach helps to earn trust, and properly discovering the customer’s needs puts us in a position to advocate for the right solutions that will solve their business problems.  We make sure they understand the value we offer and how to optimize our solutions to make successful business decisions.

Of course, the best thing about working in sales is winning!  But you can’t do that without solving your customers problems and thinking strategically.  The best part of selling is that we can use various skills like strategic thinking, creativity when collaborating on messaging, presentations skills across broad audiences and technical knowledge when working with the team to implement the solution.

Damir Rakhmetov
Account Manager,
Scientific, Technical & Medical

My role involves establishing trusted relationships with customers across six countries in Central Asia. I am motivated by solving customer problems and helping to advance science by supporting researchers with our solutions and services.

This job requires a specific mindset to analyse each customer on a national, organisational and personal level and act accordingly while respecting all of the relevant rules and regulations. The region of Central Asia is dynamic and versatile with different levels of market maturity, so it requires agility and resilience from each team member.

Transparency in our communications, both with our customers and within our team is also key. It helps manage expectations and it builds great and honest ties with stakeholders. Being able to treat customers equally, with respect, by delivering well-prepared pitches that are tailored to solve customer challenges is another important skill.

I joined a sales team when I graduated from university in 2011. My realization during my first working year was that to be a successful salesperson you should be able to understand customer problems and challenges deeply and from different angles. Of course, I could use sales techniques to be successful, but I wanted to get as many diverse experiences as possible and genuinely understand customer needs. So, I resigned and began working as a network engineer in a local company.

Along my career path I completed my MSc degree, and by age of 30 was the first deputy general director in a national company where I was managing many great large-scale projects with a team of 700 amazing colleagues. In 2020, I was determined to join sales team in an international company and Elsevier was my top choice. The best thing about working in sales is that I finally can fully utilize all my skills I have gained through my career path.

Witnessing first-hand the benefits we can provide to customers has inspired me from first day I joined Elsevier.

Kelly Overton
Corporate Legal Account Executive,
Legal

I work with new customers and their legal, compliance, regulatory and government affairs teams to uncover their needs and help find solutions to their problems. That could mean anything from finding solutions to help with draft work, to identifying impacts of bills and regulations, to legal research, and much more besides.

To be successful, we need to listen, understand and then respond. We need to be clear communicators, self-motivated, relationship-building, and with a hunter mentality. We sell the value of the tools we offer, explain why they need them and how they help – don’t just talk about price.

I try to be as personalized as possible in my outreach to new customers, but I’ll often mention how LexisNexis can help reduce time spent on legal tasks, manage your outside counsel, mitigate risk, tackle more in-house, and help reduce legal spending. 

The best thing about working in sales is that you control your own destiny.  You have KPIs and goals that are expected, but if you go beyond what is expected, you will be rewarded. You also get to help people find solutions to their problems – they rely on you to make their job and life easier; it’s rewarding knowing you’ve been a part of others' success.

Every conversation you have is different and what’s cool is that as a salesperson, you are the expert on the products, you are the leader that is presenting and influencing others to make a decision, and to me, that’s powerful and exciting.  You get to make a difference.

As an example of what I do… I was once trying to get a leading biotech firm to make the switch to LexisNexis from their existing provider. The competitor’s rep had told the Director of Legal Operations that ours is a cheap product, that we offer stale data, and that we don’t have the information they were interested in. Immediately after hearing this, I set up a meeting to correct these false statements. I presented our solution, allowed her to ask questions and showed her that we had everything she was looking for. She agreed and immediately understood what the other rep was trying to do. She valued my time, attentiveness, patience, and willingness to help throughout the whole process, and ended up signing a 3-year deal.

Justin Mytton
Account Manager,
Scientific, Technical & Medical

My role involves creating trusted relationships with Universities and Government organizations to enable them to improve their research outcomes through partnerships with Elsevier.

This requires me to genuinely appreciate and respect the local cultures and traditions of different regions and to speak to them in their own language, and to have the patience to listen and sift through large amounts of information to find the important hidden doorways to bigger projects.

I like being able to meet such a variety of fascinating people - researchers, librarians, directors,  influencers and even ministers - and then to be able to find solid ways to be of value and to help them reach their objectives.  It never ceases to amaze me how complex we are as human beings and how each interaction can be so totally different depending on how well (or not) we prepare ourselves for it beforehand.

In a time where it is harder and harder to trust what we see and hear online, Elsevier is seen as a port of safety where information and content can be trusted, and where data can be drawn to make important decisions without reserve.  As well as our portfolio of databases and content, customers also know that they can trust that we have the skilled people to provide additional support such as training in local languages, internal marketing, strategic analysis of data, workshops and much more. This has real value for our customers in Latin America.

When I started working with Peru my Spanish was rudimentary and I was self-aware and concerned that this could be a potential barrier with our customers.  However, with support and encouragement from family and colleagues I realized that I could use this to my advantage in certain situations to break the ice with difficult customers or to get them to repeat and explain problems from different angles in more simple terms.  After I found the right tone to make fun of my weakness, whilst showing a willingness to improve my language skills, it helped me demonstrate a human side of me as an Account Manager that coupled with a real interest in solving the customers problems ended up gaining their trust.

Donya Behbahani
International Key Account Manager,
Exhibitions

I am in charge of all German speaking customers who exhibit at our international healthcare shows (such as Medical Japan and China Medical Equipment Fair). I do networking with associations and partners, including national and regional export development bodies, and I try to acquire new companies who want to grow in the markets where we offer the events.

When speaking to a potential new client, the first thing is to understand their business and strategy. I then aim to build customer relationships by delivering powerful arguments, building trust and by not pushing them too much.

The best thing about working in sales is the interaction with customers – especially in person – I love speaking to different people and giving them helpful advice on how to expand their business. As a senior sales person I am always the first contact person for decision makers and I am the representative of our RX events – so when it comes to global events in the healthcare industry, they normally reach out to me.

It makes such a big difference that we can offer our clients not only an exhibition space but also the whole package and the support they need for their participation. With our local offices we can interact much easier with the local customers, by speaking their language and being available in their time zone.

One particular situation I remember was of a prospect who was quite skeptical to join an event in China, even though their products were sure to be successful in the market. After two years of lots of calls, meetings and many emails, I finally convinced him to join the CMEF in Shanghai. They were glad they attended, and collected many leads, then a few months after the show, one of their new clients in Shanghai placed the biggest order in the history of that company. He called me on the phone to tell me the great news, saying that I am his hero and from now on he will follow my advice more often!

Kody Brentlinger
Telephonic Client Manager,
Legal

I manage 740 customers in Texas, comprised of 1-2 attorney law firms. I manage, protect, and grow revenue through the sale of LexisNexis products, services, and content to my existing customer base. I am the point of contact for all inquiries such as billing, technical questions and product demonstrations.

My role requires proficiency in the use of time management techniques, problem-solving, critical thinking, and being goal driven. There are a lot of competing priorities in this position. Not only do you have to upsell and renew customers, but you must resell the value of their current services, work through complex issues, and be able to pivot all while creating the best customer experience possible for our customers. The best thing about working in sales is getting to build new relationships every day with clients. I also enjoy having the autonomy to manage my book of business how I choose to.

My main source of motivation is providing for my family. They provide me with encouragement, and a sense of purpose, which greatly influences my goals and aspirations. When facing challenges or pursuing my dreams, the thought of my family drives me to work harder and strive for success.

One memorable customer success story was when I reached out to a customer who was unhappy with the capability of a product and wanted to cancel her subscription. Through a thorough investigation into her practice areas, I uncovered the main priorities, and the areas LexisNexis could expand upon the customer’s specific needs. After identifying what mattered most to her, I replaced her existing content with our Personal Injury Suite. The excitement about the potential benefits it could bring to her, and her firm was extremely rewarding.

Robert Pistor
Director of Sales,
Risk

I have a hybrid role, managing a team of five salespeople as well as also carrying an individual quota. My team sells to major financial institutions including multi-national banks, broker dealers and super regional banks within the US and Canada.

To do this role requires assertiveness, empathy, curiosity and confidence to name a few. I am motivated by my own standard of excellence. I take pride in the ability to communicate effectively, build relationships, drive the sale and win the business. My motivation is quite literally the reverence for the art of sales.

I’ll often start a new customer conversation with, “How can I help you?”. As simple as it sounds, our customers have problems and we have solutions, so I don’t spend a lot of time mincing words when it comes to sales.

The best things about working in sales are the relationships that are built through trust. The thrill of the win. The pride that comes from closing a complex deal, and of course, the commission cheques!

As I have become more confident in my career, there have been several times when I’ve told the customer “I don’t think we should be doing business with each other anymore.” Although it may sound counter-intuitive, I have found that it is a great equalizer. If my clients are not using our solutions optimally, it damages the reputation of myself, the solutions, and the company. These truthful moments tend to elevate the relationship and the partnership. It builds trust because the client now knows that there is an expectation of quality, service, implementation and partnership. 

Quinny D’souza
Sales Team Leader,
Exhibitions

My role mainly involves guiding and helping our sales managers to manage their sales portfolios. To succeed in my role, I need a variety of skills including an understanding of the sales process, time management, good organisation and the ability to work as part of a team.

It is important to have strong communications skills, both with our clients, and the rest of the team. Patience is a key quality as there will often be bumps along the road, including rejection and objections from clients, so we need to be able to navigate those challenges. Understanding how to motivate and guide the different members of a team is also key, as everyone has different strengths and we all learn in different ways.

When I first engage a new potential customer, I normally ask them to help me to understand their business so we can jointly work out a solution for a perfect ROI. Working closely with the customer is very important for everyone involved. It’s clear that our exhibitors value our advice as we have a very consultative approach rather than a transactional one. We make sure that we clearly understand their requirements so we can guide them and match our products to their needs.

As an example, we were recently approached by a company who were looking to showcase a new machine at the JCK jewellery show. Unfortunately the show was already sold out, so we didn’t have any space to offer them on the show floor, and I was also apprehensive about showcasing a machine at a jewellery show. It didn’t sound like a good fit. However, after several detailed and productive discussions - in person and by phone – we understood exactly what they were trying to achieve. We then offered them a private meeting in another part of the show and reassured them that we could still lead enough potential clients to see them (something we achieved through enhanced digital and onsite marketing items). At the end of the show they were thrilled to meet their objectives and to exceed their target for the number of retailers that they were able to see. This motivational feedback made me more confident and also helped me to generate additional revenue through their participation in JCK.