Where do you think the most significant growth will occur at FantasySalesTeam in the next few years? How will you manage that growth?
Gamification in the enterprise, and especially within sales, is a rapidly growing space. This is because the value is now proven; as can be seen from a basic Google search or the case studies on our website. Our most significant growth will come from more than 90 percent of the market that is currently running incentive programs and sales contests through spreadsheets and whiteboards. These companies will soon realize the ROI they can achieve from implementing solutions like FantasySalesTeam, which can help them engage more of their team and drive improved results. In terms of managing that growth, we will continue to scale our team, as we have been for the last several years. Our product already has thousands of users with hundreds of games/contests being run each quarter.
What qualities or characteristics do you look for in members of your executive team?
They need to share our vision for where the company is headed and what we’re looking to achieve. We are changing the game by helping companies reimagine how they incentivize and motivate their sales and customer service teams. All members of my team, executives and employees, need to share our enthusiasm and drive for truly disrupting a market—not just selling a product.
How do you create a singular vision for your company?
By keeping it simple and not deviating from our vision with competing goals. We’ve found a unique model that keeps more of the team engaged for a longer period of time. That, as a result, drives increased performance and ROI. That’s our reason for being and we’ve stuck to it since the beginning.
What are the three most pivotal moments of your career and what did you learn from them?
The first is accepting an entry-level sales position with TechTarget. I was very fortunate to graduate and land at a company with a truly fantastic training program. I learned a lot of the basic skills necessary to succeed in sales, which have underpinned almost every other role I’ve had in my career. The second was transitioning from direct sales and sales management to run a product-based division of The Aberdeen Group. I learned a lot about product development, marketing, customer service, and a number of other skillsets that prepared me to run my own software company. The third, obviously, was making the decision to “jump in with both feet” and run FantasySalesTeam full time. Launching this company is easily the most exciting and rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my career. It was a difficult decision to leave a highly paid, vice-president-level position with a large public company to become self-employed without a salary. But I’m thankful every day that I did. I learned that you have to take significant risks to reap significant rewards.
How do you attract the right people to your organization?
Everyone wants to work for a company that’s truly making a difference with their customers. That’s incredibly easy to see when you come work for FantasySalesTeam. The best way we attract the right people is by having a stellar product that customers love. That makes it much easier for our sales reps, client success managers, marketing, and operations teams to enjoy their jobs.
