Podcast — AoS #12: From Marine Corps to Tech Sales with Todd Scarborough
Todd explains how the US military teaches veterans everything they need to succeed in technical sales.
This podcast is an excellent listen for anyone who:
- Is leaving the military and wants to begin a career in sales.
- Is interested in hiring military veterans for sales roles.
- Believes that trust is key to sales success.
- Wonders how to balance teams of various generations.
- Wants to begin or grow a career in tech sales.
- Wants to tie sales performance to incentives in a meaningful way.
- Understands that good mentorship is the cornerstone of success.
In this episode of The Art of Sales Podcast, we chat with Todd Scarborough, sales leader and founder of VetExec, about why veterans make an excellent fit for tech sales.
(1:49) Making the jump from Marine Corps to sales
- “My mom had always told me I could sell ketchup popsicles to a lady in white gloves, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”
- I knew two things: 1) I follow orders well so tell me what to do and I’ll get it done and 2) I only know one direction and that’s forward… and if I was going to fail, I was going to fail forward.
“Just coming back from deployment, sales was easy because at least nobody was shooting at us.”
- “I was given a goal of 50 calls and emails a day so instead I went out and did 75 & 75.” — We take a look at the Marine Corps’ unofficial motto of adapt, improvise, and overcome.
(7:19) Sales = being paid to solve problems
“Sales is a very noble profession, it’s all about trust.”
- Looking at new solutions to old problems.
- Building and keeping strong relationships is the key to sales.
- Why every sales team needs top talent… and how/where to find it.
“Sales is the infantry of the business world. It is the tip of the spear of your organization.”
- How to hire and retain A players.
- Having a mix of talent and experience in your teams is key to success.
- Leadership defines the culture of your organization.
(17:00) Managing Millennials
- Is this generation the same, or different form other generations?
- How to set targets, motivate and engage a millennial workforce.
- The importance of creating unity.
(21:21) Tech sales — breaking into the profession
- Companies understand that people are looking for a chance to prove themselves.
“My first base salary was $26K. I made $127K that year… which is why I fell in love with sales.”
- It’s about learning and you’ll have to do the parts that suck. It’s about prospecting, learning, and digging into those SDR-type roles.
- Looking at different career paths that lead into tech sales.
“Pick a product that you’re passionate about, that you care about, and that you believe in.”
- You don’t need to be a tech guy to do tech sales, you just need to learn what your limits are and when to ask for help from the tech team.
(30:37) Structuring KPIs with performance and incentives
- Using Salesforce to track metrics and maintain pipeline.
“We spend most of our time at the deal level — managing deals and looking how to move those forward… it’s about quality of information input.”
- Communicating goals, opportunities, and outcomes is what drives behavior.
- Good commission is very important to motivating sales staff… but it’s about much more than just money.
- Plan with the end result of hitting quota in mind, and work backwards to find out what gets you there.
- Don’t burn your people out on quota attainment. Make it flexible enough that a hard week or month won’t stress them to disaster.
(42:05) How can getting military veterans into sales have a positive impact on the global economy?
- We take a look at how Todd’s company Vet Exec and The Seller Factory trains people for sales and gets them on the path to success.
- The desire to use the skills of leadership, flexibility, and accountability to create great sales teams.
- Providing sense of purpose and camaraderie to military veterans as they enter the civilian workforce.
- Veterati is a veteran mentoring platform that connects transitioning veterans with excellent mentorship.
(52:46) Closing round
- What motivates Todd in life?
- What does Todd love about sales?
- Is Todd looking forward to the Marine Corps birthday on November 10?
- What does Todd hope listeners will take away from this podcast?
Background
Todd grew up in Austin, TX and attended Texas A&M University where he studied Speech Communication. The events of 9/11 drove him to enlist in the USMC-R as an infrantryman. Upon his return from a combat deployment in 2005 he began his career in sales.
The training he received and the success he experienced in that first gig propelled him down an accelerated career track, advancing in responsibilities across many different tech sales disciplines.
Over the past 12 years, he’s worked with everything from major companies to start-ups on global and local initiatives as an inidividual contributor, subject matter expert, Director, VP, and now Founder & CEO.
For the past 5 years he’s been planning and building the model for his dream company, VetExec. VetExec is a technology distributor, but its heart is a Veteran-Focused Tech Sales Training Program called, The Seller Factory which provides Veterans a path into a career in Tech Sales.
To learn more about sales motivation strategies, visit our website or request a demo today!
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