Medallia’s Goldstein Recommends Young Salespeople to Get a Mentor Early On and Focus on the Process
I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Goldstein graduated from Syracuse University in 2010 with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Marketing. Michael always knew he wanted to be in sales and follow in his Father’s footsteps. Since 2010, Michael has worked in a variety of tech roles including being an SDR for 1.5 years and an Account Executive for the past 8 years. The last two (2) companies Michael has worked for have been acquired for over $800million dollars combined by industry heavyweights Workday (Peakon) and Medallia (Stella Connect).
Thank you so much for joining us!
How did you break into a career in tech sales?
My career in Tech Sales started in 2010 at the tail-end of the Financial Crisis of 2008–09. It was pretty rough sledding for new grads trying to find jobs in NYC at the time, however, I had a friend working at a tech company called Shoplet, who was actually leaving the business to join his family business. He recommended I “take over his territory”. That is how I got my foot in the door of Tech Sales. This ended up being a fortuitous break because it was at Shoplet that I met my first mentor. This mentor helped me tremendously and helped guide me to the path that I am on today. Finding a Mentor is something I recommend for all young, inexperienced Sales people; preferably early in their career.
What has been your biggest challenge in your sales career?
The biggest challenge that I’ve faced in my Sales Career was getting fired for the first time at the end of 2019 (unrelated to the Pandemic). As somebody who was a “high-performer” for most of my Sales career, this was an experience and challenge I never thought I would have to face. But by getting fired, it allowed me to reset and self-reflect at a rate that I wouldn’t have been able to do, if I was actively working. Getting fired ending up being the best thing to ever happen to me because it helped me understand the type of tech software I wanted to sell and what type of company I wanted to work for in the future. It also helped me build out a “career path” for myself and not just another “job”. Getting fired led me to Stella Connect, which was acquired by Medallia in September 2020. Now I am part of an industry-leading CX organization with the opportunity to lead a sales team on the horizon.
What is it that most excites you about sales?
A lot of people outside of Sales think or assume Sales is an “individual” sport, but what excites me the most about being in Sales is the teamwork and camaraderie it takes to book a big meeting or close a big 6-figure deal. Being an Account Executive is like being a Head Coach in Football. It’s your job to bring in the right people and resources at the right time to give your organization the best chance to win. Winning a deal and being able to share it with your colleagues and friends is an amazing feeling and something that never gets old for me. Another thing that excites me about sales is the ability to always be learning and improving. Sales strategies and tactics are constantly evolving and having the desire to learn and adapt is also really exciting to me.
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a new Sales Rep who’s about to start their career, what would they be?
My “words of wisdom” would be to focus on your Sales Process over Sales Results. If you have a really good Sales Process, the Sales outcomes you want (winning deals, booking meetings), will follow. If you only focus on Sales Results, you will find yourself losing a lot more deals than winning. This goes back to the mantra of “control what you can control”. Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that Salespeople can’t control when an organization makes a decision to buy (or not to buy) software, but the one thing you can control is your Sales process to get there.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I don’t actually engage much with Social Media as I find it a distraction, but you can find me on LinkedIn via this URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljasongoldstein/. Please feel free to connect with me and send me a message if you are ever looking for advice or guidance in your sales career. I would love to help!
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
