Evan Thomas

	Inside Sales Representative GroupLogic (an Acronis Company)
	Time at memoryBlue:	3 Months
	Prior to memoryBlue:	Georgetown University

What type of background brought you to memoryBlue?

You might say that my career took a few different turns before arriving at memoryBlue. During high school, I was recruited to play basketball at a handful of Division I programs. Prior to making a commitment to enroll at one of those universities, I broke my hip. Recognizing that basketball may not play a role in reaching my long-term career objectives, I turned my attention towards other alternatives. Fortunately, I had always paid attention to my academic pursuits as well, which led to academic scholarships and acceptances at several Ivy League schools, as well as Georgetown University.

At the time, my brother, who had been recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, was a student at Georgetown. The match was perfect for me – I would get to attend a prestigious academic institution on a full academic scholarship, while getting to spend part of my time supporting my brother.

My experience helping my brother led me into social work after graduation. While I found the work rewarding, the room for growth seemed limited. It was then that I began my journey into sales, traveling with a promotional marketing team and selling Camaros and Volkswagens. I knew, however, that selling cars was not the right future path for me. That’s when I posted my resume online and caught the eye of the memoryBlue team.

Why did you choose to launch your sales career with memoryBlue?

I knew I wanted a career in sales, but wasn’t certain about what type of sales I wanted to do, or what type of company I wanted to work for. After getting connected with memoryBlue and meeting Chris and Marc, I was convinced that joining memoryBlue was the right move. During the interview process, it became clear that they truly take the time to assess and hire only the most committed and qualified candidates, so I knew I was entering into a first-rate organization.

In what ways did your memoryBlue experience set you up for a successful career in high tech sales?

The training at memoryBlue is the best in the industry, bar none. Chris and Marc were always available to help train and prepare me for all types of sales situations, and made sure I was on top of my game at all times. Everyone at memoryBlue works hard, and is willing to share advice, so I was able to learn a lot from my co-workers. Overall, it’s an environment that is conducive to success.

What are you doing now?

I’m currently working at GroupLogic in an inside sales closing role. We were recently acquired by Acronis, and that creates even more opportunity for me to grow and lead an expanding sales team.

How does your memoryBlue experience help you in your current position?

I always hear Chris’s voice in my head telling me to pay attention to the details – because the details separate the good sales people from the great sales people. My experience at memoryBlue taught me that creating rapport is essential when working with clients, and that has helped me build relationships with my clients at GroupLogic.

What is the most creative inside sales tactic you have used to close a deal?

Some people think that there is no room for creativity in inside sales – the people that say that are normally folks who have never experienced “moving” a decision maker to think differently about a product, solution or concept. But I think creativity is exactly what those types of situations call for.

Case in point: Not long ago I started a dialogue with the CIO of Coca-Cola about GroupLogic’s mobilEcho solution, which allows mobile devices and device users to share, edit, and save files to a company’s enterprise server. He was in the process of rolling out a deployment of 10,000 iPads, so it seemed like a golden opportunity to pitch our solution. Claiming that the company was not ready for a Mobile File Management solution, he issued rebuttal after rebuttal, and the call seemed to be coming to a screeching halt.

Drawing on my four years of Latin and my experience at memoryBlue, I took a risk and asked him if he had ever heard of the phrase “Amat Victoria Curam,” which translates to “Victory Loves Preparation.” He did not know what it meant, and asked me to explain both its literal meaning and what it signified to me. I outlined to him what I learned at memoryBlue – that in order to succeed, you must prepare, you must work hard, you must have a plan, and you must always be one step ahead. He agreed, knowing that our discussion would prepare him to discuss Mobile File Management with his CEO, and decided to take the meeting.

What is the highlight of your career to date?

I don’t think I can pinpoint one particular situation. The highlight of my sales career is the actual process of selling – closing a deal that someone else may not have been able to close, that’s such a rush for me. When I first came to GroupLogic, my predecessor had a number of deals on the table, but he wasn’t able to close. When I started, I revived those deals and ended up closing all of them. Being a part of the sales team and knowing that what I’m doing is helping the company and my co-workers thrive – that’s an awesome feeling.