happiness: the greatest gift that geeks possess
The newest recruit at Sales Geek has never been so happy!
In March this year (it seems so long ago, already), Melanie Horrocks took her life in her hands, entered the Geek Bunker and joined the team as Learning and Development Geek. With over 15 years of sales experience in a variety of roles, she was keen for a new challenge. Sales Geek had always been on her radar, but when she attended a training course herself, it opened her eyes to the what training could be be when done right, in a word it was “fun”.
'It was light bulb moment, the penny dropped and I knew that what I wanted to do was work with the Sales Geek team.'
She jumped at an opportunity to attend our very popular, ‘Train the Trainer’ course, then asked Group Sales Director, Jonathan Finch if she could shadow some of the trainers in order to improve her skills. Being proactive regarding her own professional development obviously struck a chord with Jonathan who informed her that Sales Geek were recruiting. The rest, as the popular phrase goes, is history.
Read Mel’s Geeky Bio Here
As the first female trainer on the Geek Team, Melanie is adamant she has the skills to make anyone on her courses sit up and take her seriously. When questioned how she might find working with an all-male sales team, she could have taken offence. Yet Melanie explained that she appreciated the sentiment behind the question and took a moment to give it some serious thought. She pointed out her work with male teams as part of previous roles, including members of the farming community, who are noted for bluntness and a tendency to cut to the chase pretty smartly. Yet she also acknowledged that all learners, regardless of their age, sex, or background, learn in different ways and all should be catered for.
When pressed for her top sales tips Mell gave the following pointers:
TRY SOME ROLE REVERSAL
Put yourself in your clients shoes. Would you buy from you?
WORK ON YOUR IMAGE (HOW PEOPLE SEE YOU). .
Think about how you want to be seen by your clients and peers
LISTEN – DON’T JUST WAIT FOR YOUR TIME TO TALK IN A CONVERSATION.
By being quiet and attentive you will learn a lot more and have earned your time to talk and your right to be heard when it’s your turn.
BE GENUINE – PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY FROM PEOPLE THEY LIKE!
‘Believe in the product you are selling and resist the urge to fill the gaps in the conversation with talk about yourself.’
Mel is so energised about her job and delighted to be a Geek.
'I'm treated like an adult, trusted to do the task in hand. It's so refreshing to work for a company who concentrate on the output of their employees rather than continually checking up on the hours they put in. They genuinely care about everyone on the team. My mental health has improved ten-fold over the last few months.'
Right back at ya Mel – we’d describe you as, ‘A pocket dynamo with an infectious personality and sneaky Ninja training skills.’
When our Wordy Geek spoke to her, she was much more modest about her abilities and insisted that successful training should be focussed on helping people get the best out of the opportunities they are offered. When asked how things had gone so far, Melanie responded with an emphatic, ‘Fantastic’ and went on to explain that she had never laughed so much at work as she had with the staff at Sales Geek.
Geeks Change the World is the Geek value closest to Melanie’s approach to life and it seems appropriate to leave the final words to her.
'I chose "Geeks Change the World" as my core value because it's one of the main reasons I applied to work at Sales Geek. My passion is helping people in any way I can and if the training I deliver can change just one person's world for the better, like the Geeks did for me when I trained with them, I'm delighted. Sales Geek has changed my world – I've never been as happy in a job!'
And don't forget...
