From Sales to Teachers in the Philippines: A Journey of Reinvention and Channel Sales Success

In this episode of the Revenue Accelerators podcast, Deep Trikannad interviews Carin Moore, the Sales Director of Compendium. Carin gives an overview of her role at Compendium, a gift company that focuses on providing inspirational gifts for major life events. She manages the Channel sales aspect of the business, which involves working with large retailers and independent mom and pop shops.

Carin reveals that she has worked for Compendium on three separate occasions, with a total of 10-11 years of experience. She first started working for the company part-time in 2008, but moved to the Philippines with her husband and three kids due to the real estate market crash. They lived there for a year, with Carin working as a teacher. After returning to the US, Carin continued her career at Compendium in various roles, eventually becoming the Sales Director.

Deep Trikannad asks Carin about her experience in sales, particularly in the wholesale and channel sales side. Carin explains that she has always enjoyed the partnership aspect of sales, where she can strategically work with companies to create winning solutions. In her current role, she sees herself more as a sales coach, supporting a team of 100 remote salespeople across the US and Canada. Her goal is to help them be successful in selling Compendium products and adding value to their buyers.

Carin shares a painful lesson she learned in a previous role, where she shared behind-the-scenes drama with a buyer that ended up hurting their sales. She realizes now that she should have confidently communicated the plan without involving the buyer in the internal conflict. From this experience, she emphasizes the importance of being upfront and negotiating with customers while maintaining relationships and trust.

Regarding her role in assisting sales reps, Carin explains that she primarily focuses on training. She introduced a quarterly call and 15-minute touchpoints, where she imparts best practices and highlights product videos that tell stories to engage the sales reps. Carin emphasizes the scalability and relevancy of the training, which not only benefits Compendium but also helps sales reps improve their overall effectiveness in selling multiple lines.

Deep Trikannad and Carin discuss the challenges of the channel sales motion and the need to build trust and maintain relationships with partners. Carin shares her approach to mitigating conflicts and maintaining transparency without exposing the inner workings of the channel to customers.

In conclusion, Carin shares a sales technique she acquired during her consulting role called the "5-minute meeting." She found success in approaching busy individuals with the concept of a short meeting, which often led to longer conversations and captured their interest. While she doesn't need to use this technique in her current role, she believes it is still effective for closing deals.

The episode wraps up with Deep Trikannad thanking Carin for sharing her insights and experiences.