What do the career path and day-in-the-life look like for the VP, Inside Sales at BlueConic?
We connected with Kevin Elliot to find out!
Interested in working at BlueConic? Check out all of the company’s job openings on the list to the right.
Where did you grow up? What did your parents do for work?
I grew up south of Boston in Scituate, Massachusetts. My father spent the majority of his career in tech and about 15 years as the CEO of a few software organizations. My mother started and ran a pre-school in Scituate for about 20 years.
Where did you go to college? What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?
UMass Amherst. I studied managerial economics and finance. My first job out of UMass was as a Fund Accountant at State Street. They acquired Investors Bank & Trust in 2007 and I worked on the conversion team moving them over to State Street accounting systems. Looking back at those days there were a lot of long hours, problem-solving and implementing new processes. I kid around about it today, but other than the 40,000 employees. It was a lot like working at a growth stage software company!
What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?
There are a number of things at different points in time; however, the one constant has been the people that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. They challenge me to be better every day, but you can learn a lot from your colleagues if you pay close attention and have an open mind.
Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as VP, Inside Sales at BlueConic?
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Helping marketers realize that individualized marketing is a reality and helping them put plans in place to help them achieve a unified and actionable single view of their customer.
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Coaching, hiring, and retaining exceptional members of our Business Development, Sales, and Sales Engineering teams.
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Collaborating across departments to create and implement strategies for both inbound and outbound pipeline generation.
- Analyze historical data and trends to build models for scaling our sales organization as efficiently as possible.
Any tips for someone considering a career in Sales?
Be incredibly curious and always focus on how you can improve. Regardless of how great the training program is at your current company, always look outside of your company to learn as well. I’d say the same to someone who has been in sales for 10+ years. New ideas and new approaches create good habits and prevent laziness or bad habits from forming.
Jim Collins speaks about “the window and the mirror” in his book Good to Great. The concept is perfect for people starting out in sales. If things are going well, look through the window and give everyone around you credit. If things aren’t going well, look in the mirror, take ownership of finding how to fix things. Far too often sales reps do the exact opposite.
Day in the Life
Coffee, tea, or nothing?
Coffee, one in the morning and another around 2:30 PM every day.
What time do you get into the office?
Usually between 7:30 and 8 AM.
What are three things that motivate you in your role?
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The people I work with. Their passion and work ethic are absolutely relentless.
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Knowing that we’re doing something different. No one has built this company, in this category, with these people. There are new challenges and new achievements every single day.
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The opportunity to help define the Customer Data Platform (CDP) category and helping change the way marketers think about individualized marketing.
Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?
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Before Work: I like to work out in the morning before commuting. During the commute, I run through my calendar to make sure I’m prepped for the day and then will run through the pipeline to make sure we have plans in place each day to move things forward.
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Morning: Before 9 AM, I’m doing deeper analysis and tasks that require more focus. I try to most of my coaching in the morning so we can focus on statistics and I can focus on my team before too many distractions come up.
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Lunch: I’m a creature of habit, most of my lunches are spent working at my desk and 9 times out of 10 it’s a salad from UDG or sweetgreen.
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Afternoon: I’m almost always on sales calls with my team or collaborating with other departments in internal initiatives.
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After Work: While commuting home I’m making sure any materials or information that I’ll need for the following day are prepped and ready or I’m making sure all of my action items for the day are taken care of.
What time do you head out of the office?
It really depends on what is in my calendar but usually between 5:30-6:30 PM.
Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?
I try really hard not to log back in every night, but sometimes it can’t be avoided. I probably log back on 50% of the time. I’m always available if one of my colleagues needs me via Slack or email.
Any productivity hacks?
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Figure out what the best way is to organize your to-do list and commit to it. Some use tools like Trello and some use a notebook. Figure out what works for you. I’ve tried a number of apps, but always come back to my pen and pad.
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Try to organize your day by when you focus best. I tend to be more analytical in the mornings and more creative in the afternoons. In knowing that I try my best to organize my tasks to optimize my day.
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Music! Create a playlist that you listen to when you need to really concentrate and only listen to it while you’re focusing.
What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?
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Slack
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Spotify
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Food/Coffee Loyalty Apps: Starbucks, Dunkin’, sweetgreen
What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?
Watching people that I’ve coached and trained get promoted and excel in their new role is incredibly rewarding. I think my most proud accomplishment is still being developed. We’re writing an amazing story here at BlueConic. That story won’t be my individual accomplishment, but I’m extremely proud to be an element of what we’re building.
Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?
There’s a long list of people that I have admiration for and who have helped me in various situations. A number of my good friends hold similar roles at relatable companies and often act as a sounding board. My father loves to share stories from his career and tie them back to what I’m working on. Lastly, my colleagues and team members at BlueConic have been an incredible resource.
Colin Barry is the Content Manager on VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter @ColinKrash
Images courtesy of Kevin Elliot
