Episode 113: James Doyle – Using the Triple C’s – Calm, Cool, Collected
A sales position may seem straightforward, but many in the role can attest to the fact that they’re constantly having to act as a jack of all trades. While an SDR’s main objective is to book a meeting, the ability to do that requires both a variety of hard skills refined in more formal sales training, as well as general soft skills that can be picked up through many different life experiences.
In this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, James Doyle, an Enterprise Solutions Specialist at Qlik, unpacks all the logistics that go into sales, the way memoryBlue Academy helped improve his sales skills, and the experiences that have helped him be a good leader and learn how to relate to a variety of prospects while cold calling.
Guest-At-A-Glance
💡 Name: James Doyle
💡 What he does: James is an enterprise solutions specialist at Qlik.
💡 Company: Qlik
💡 Noteworthy: Although he wanted to join the Marines after high school, James ended up going to DePaul University — one of the few schools that offers sales as a minor — where he studied business and communications. During high school, James was an executive at several different logistics companies and worked in sales and logistics at Pronova Group, where he gained a lot of good sales experience. In October 2021, he started working at memoryBlue as a software sales representative, and from there, he moved to Qlik. James played four sports in high school: football, basketball, lacrosse, and track.
💡 Where to find James: Linkedin l Website
Key Insights
⚡ Controlling emotions is very important for a leader. Playing sports in high school, James won several leadership awards, including the John Kyle Brave Leadership Award. He was going to camp where he learned how to be a good leader because he played quarterback, a player who leads the offense and handles the ball more than any other player. As James says, he learned to manage those leadership skills and be a professional and someone you can look up to. “Triple C’s — calm, cool, and collected — that was huge for me because I’m very passionate. When it came to sports, I would sometimes get emotional. My coach would pull me over, like, ‘You gotta keep yourself together. Be the leader. Don’t let those emotions get to you.’ And I think that helped me not only in sports and life but in work as well.”
⚡ The memoryBlue Academy improves sales skills. memoryBlue helps high-tech clients build skills for in-house sales reps through their signature memoryBlue Academy sales training program. James also went through this program. He emphasizes that he learned a lot and advises others to take advantage of this training. “The biggest thing I learned was building cadences and having your scripts. There wasn’t really a script for logistics. There wasn’t any taught. There was no academy. There wasn’t like, ‘This is how you should sell. This is what you should say. This is how you close.’ None of that. I did have experience, but I also learned a lot. The Bootcamp at memoryBlue is huge. Whether you work at or you contract outside of memoryBlue, I would send your employees there. And really, let them sit through those three days, let them take it home and study it, and it’ll be a game changer for whatever you sell and whatever company you work for.”
⚡ An SDR must be able to relate to a variety of people. A sales development representative is a sales team member responsible for reaching out to prospects, qualifying leads, and booking meetings with the salespeople who close deals. And depending on how much outreach SDRs want to do, they can make up to 60 calls per day to achieve their weekly goals. Therefore, each of them must develop their own style to keep customers on the phone and make an appointment. James explains what he was good at in the SDR role. “For me, it’s my opening statement and being able to tone match with people, read the vibe, read the persona, and feel the ambience on the call. And you can say, ‘Dial and smile,’ but it’s not always like that. You can call a guy, and he’s not going to be a nice guy, and you’re like, ‘Be all happy on the phone.’ So, you gotta match that energy. And I think that’s something I picked up — being able to talk to different people throughout the day; it’s really just flow with it, and don’t push anything, and let them do the talking.”
Episode Highlights
James on Logistics
“It was that you’re running not only the full sales cycle where you’re out trying to get new clients and new customers and move those shipments and logistics, but you’re also working on finding drivers to get those shipments. So, that’s a really 24/7/365 job. My phone will be blowing up at 11 o’clock at night, and a driver says, ‘Hey, this shipment is not ready. I’m going to be stuck here for three hours.’ So, you’re calling clients that move shipments, like Cisco or Tyson Foods, ‘Hey, we need to get this frozen chicken to one of our warehouses or one of our stores.’ So, they pay you for that, but then, you’d have to find a driver to go pick it up.”
Software Solutions Specialist at Qlik
“The first two to three weeks that I started calling for Qlik, I was getting ripped apart. I was calling the directors of BI and had no idea what to say. So, I was like, ‘We sell data analytics.’ He’s like, ‘What do you guys do? How are you going to help me?’ I was like, ‘Well, we work with VPs.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care who you work with.’ It was an eight-minute call, and this guy just ripped me apart, and I was like, ‘He’s right, though.’
I didn’t have any knowledge of the space; so, at first, for me, it was like, ‘I have to fake it until I make it.’ I have to sound like I know what I’m talking about without actually knowing what I’m talking about. And then, just putting yourself into it day to day. I was reading every solution and everything they had on the website, and I was calling people, and you just start to learn over time, and you really start to grasp the product. And I think the product is actually very beneficial; [we’re] selling something that’s going to provide some of these huge enterprise companies with tens of millions of dollars over the years. And that’s what brought the passion to me. You’re not selling something that’s just to make a commission check; you’re selling something that’s going to be helpful.”
James’ Current Job
“The biggest thing for me right now is vetting prospects, really looking for those net new deals.
I’m talking, going on LinkedIn, looking at what they like, following them, messaging them, connecting with them, really vetting them to the point where you know what to say that’s going to get them talking. There are 10,000 to 20,000 employees, so pick 20 or 30 from that company, and work that hard, focus on that small thing, one step at a time, and it’ll pay off down the line. […]
Right now, I’m in a mix of like the AE/BDR role, where I do a lot of client management. I do help because right now, I’m under a couple of account managers. They’re not account executives; they’re account managers. And they have pretty much all of the biggest gas in oil and energy companies that you can think of. I run a lot of my own meetings; I run a lot of my own demos; and I bring on my SCS and essays. And then, when it comes to talking licenses, and you know what they’re buying, that’s when I hand it off and let the AEs and the AMs run it.”
Transcript:
[00:00:00] James Doyle: I’m talking, going on LinkedIn, looking at what they like, what, like, following them, messaging them, connecting with them, really vetting them, like, to the point where, like, you know what to say that’s gonna get them talking.
[00:00:12] Like I said, there’s 10,000 to 20,000 employees, so pick 20, 30 from that company and, like, work that hard, focus on that small thing one step at a time, and it’ll pay off like down the line.
[00:00:43] Marc Gonyea: James Doyle in the house. How are you doing, James?
[00:00:46] James Doyle: Good, not too bad. How are you guys doing today? Mark and Chris?
[00:00:49] Chris Corcoran: Doing great. Thanks for joining us today.
[00:00:52] Marc Gonyea: I like how, uh, you got the, the Qlik polo on today and, like, I’m, I’m freezing.
[00:00:57] James Doyle: No, I mean, I’m from Chicago, so, the, the weather doesn’t do much to me, so.
[00:01:01] Marc Gonyea: They never missed school there for the snow, like, the cold rolling off the lake, like, nothing?
[00:01:06] James Doyle: Yeah, nothing. It’s warm here.
[00:01:08] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, I was complaining to Chris, like, 23 degrees, you know, it was 70, 70 degrees in Virginia on Saturday. So, well, good to see you, thanks for coming in, let’s kind of hop into it, this is good for Chris and I because we knew you during your days here, but not how we’re gonna get to know you now along with us and people who listen to the podcast. Well, let’s start off by talking about where you’re from? Born and raised?
[00:01:30] James Doyle: Yeah. Born and raised, parents, I grew up in Naperville, originally from Buffalo, New York, um, you know, didn’t grow up in, like, a good area and, and made their way to, like, a really nice suburb. And then, I ended up going to school in Chicago in DePaul.
[00:01:43] Marc Gonyea: Okay. But what, so, where did you grow up? In Naperville?
[00:01:46] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:01:46] Marc Gonyea: Which is a suburb of Chicago?
[00:01:47] James Doyle: Yes, that’s correct.
[00:01:48] Marc Gonyea: Right, got it, okay. There’s, there’s some tech there.
[00:01:50] James Doyle: Yeah, there’s, there’s some good tech companies out there. Chicago, too, you know, I mean, there’s, it’s a big bubble for growing companies, and, and moving industries.
[00:01:57] Marc Gonyea: We need an office there at some point.
[00:01:59] James Doyle: Yeah, I think so, I was talking to Caroline about it, she’s like, “I want an office in Chicago.” And you’re like, “Nah, no, we’re not going there yet.” And I was like, “Hey, if you guys ever want, want someone to come open your office, you know, gimme a call.”
[00:02:10] Marc Gonyea: Okay, alright, dude, we’ll put you on the list, man, no, don’t, careful, I don’t wanna upset Qlik. So, what were you like as a kid?
[00:02:18] James Doyle: Yeah, I mean, personally growing up, you know, my dad was a really good football player, he played in the CFL. When I was a kid, he was on the Argonauts.
[00:02:24] Marc Gonyea: Really? Is that where the Rocket played? Does Flutie who played, Corcoran?
[00:02:29] James Doyle: Yep. It was Flutie.
[00:02:30] Marc Gonyea: Flutie, or who was Rocket’s brother? The other guy?
[00:02:34] Chris Corcoran: The Missile.
[00:02:35] Marc Gonyea: The Missile. Where did the Missile, did he play in that for, I…
[00:02:37] Chris Corcoran: Qadry, Qadry Ismail.
[00:02:39] Marc Gonyea: Qadry Ismail, maybe he was in the CFL too.
[00:02:43] Chris Corcoran: He played in the CFL, yeah.
[00:02:44] Marc Gonyea: Okay, alright. So, what position did your dad play?
[00:02:46] James Doyle: Uh, he was a strong safety and a kick returner.
[00:02:49] Marc Gonyea: Oh, really?
[00:02:49] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:02:50] Marc Gonyea: Okay. So, what about you? Did you play football?
[00:02:53] James Doyle: I did, yeah. So, growing up, I played four sports, in high school I played football, basketball, lacrosse, and track. That was kind of my thing, that’s, that was my whole life growing up as a kid.
[00:03:03] Any siblings? Little brother, five years younger. So, he’s, uh, he’s about 21 now.
[00:03:09] Marc Gonyea: Who’s the better athlete?
[00:03:10] Uh, we see he’s 6’3, so, but I, I gotta say I’m definitely a little bit more faster and a little more agile, but he played college basketball with his height, but yeah, no, I, I’d still give him unfair money.
[00:03:22] Marc Gonyea: There you go, especially the older brother, right? You got 11, know who’s in charge. Chris is the oldest brother, he’s the smallest of the three of them, but Chris is bigger than me, so I, I got nothing. What were you like? So, in high school, busy playing sports?
[00:03:37] James Doyle: Yeah. So, it was sports for me, you know, I won a couple leadership awards. There’s this thing
[00:03:41] Marc Gonyea: Tell us about it.
[00:03:42] James Doyle: in the Midwest, there’s, it’s called the John Kyle Brave Leadership Award. It’s kind of appointed to you by your, your coaches, your peers, and your, and your teachers. So, I won that a couple times in high school and, and you kind of, like, go to this camp where you learn about, like, how to be a good leader and, you know, when people,
[00:03:58] I actually look up to you, I played quarterback in high school, you know what I mean? Like, you’re, you’re leading your whole team, and, and that’s kind of where I learned kind of to manage those skills and, you know, be not only a professional, but someone that you can look up to, and that was kinda what built me into my career with sports, and
[00:04:14] Marc Gonyea: That’s great, yeah. So, you were, you went to this camp in high school, that’s great to get exposed to those sorts of principles. What did you learn?
[00:04:20] James Doyle: I think the biggest thing for me, um, was controlling my emotions, you know what I mean? My dad and, used to tell me, call it the Triple C’s, calm, cool, and collected.
[00:04:30] That was huge for me ’cause I’m very passionate, you know what I mean? When it came to sports, I would sometimes get emotional, you know what I mean?
[00:04:36] Marc Gonyea: So, both of you playing quarterback?
[00:04:38] James Doyle: Yeah, yeah. My coach would pull me over, he’s like, “Hey dude, you gotta keep yourself together.” You know what I mean? Like, “Be the leader.” you know what I mean? “Don’t let those emotions get to you.” And I think that’s kind of helped me not only in sports and life but in work as well.
[00:04:50] Marc Gonyea: Okay. When you were in high school, you playing sports, doing your schoolwork, right? What did you think you’re going to do? Kind of, you know, it was like, what am I, when I grew up, what am I gonna be?
[00:05:00] James Doyle: Yeah, honestly, you know, growing up as a kid, we all had our, our own dreams, like, I’m gonna be an astronaut, or I’m gonna be a fireman. For me, like, I did, I really wanted to play football. I had a couple D2 scholarships to go play sports out in New York, I didn’t do it, and I was just like, you know what?
[00:05:15] I didn’t want to go to school, I wanted to join the Marines, and that was kind of my goal. And my parents pulled me aside, and they’re like, “We’re not gonna let you do that. You’re not gonna do that. You’re gonna go to college.” So, I ended up going to DePaul, I studied business and communications. DePaul’s also one of the only schools that offers sales as a minor. So, I jumped on that as, as quick as I could, and after high school, both of my parents were very successful sales representatives.
[00:05:41] Marc Gonyea: Oh, let’s talk about that. So, both your, so, you grew up in kind of sales as part of the culture?
[00:05:44] James Doyle: Yeah, that was, like, and, and I know me as a person, that was my persona, you know what I mean? I’m, I’m a good at conversation, I’m, I’ll build report with you, we can talk about anything, you know, hang out for an hour, we don’t even have to talk about closing a deal, like, we can just enjoy each other’s company. My dad was a VP at IBM for a while.
[00:06:00] My mom’s, was at Oracle Teradata, she’s at Cloudera now. So, sales for me, and to jump into tech if we wanna jump into that after that was kind of, like, the pusher for me.
[00:06:11] Marc Gonyea: Interesting, alright. So, let’s talk about college. So, you, ’cause I wanna hit on that because I didn’t go to a school where sales was even part in the curriculum in any form of fashion and love hearing about it. What was your major?
[00:06:25] James Doyle: So, it was a business and organizational communications.
[00:06:27] Marc Gonyea: Okay. You had a minor in sales?
[00:06:30] James Doyle: Yeah, they offered, like, I think it was six courses in sales that you had to take to, to get the minor.
[00:06:35] Marc Gonyea: And you knew you were gonna do that?
[00:06:36] James Doyle: Yeah, I, I mean, I, I wasn’t planning on it, but once I got there and I saw that they offered it, I was like, why not? Why not six, six to eight courses? I’ll jump, I’ll jump in, you know what I mean?
[00:06:45] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. What’d you learn?
[00:06:48] So, the first thing that we started was reading that Dale Carnegie book, How To Win Friends And Influence People, that was probably my biggest takeaway from that course, and I, after that, I’ve probably read that book 15 times. Just kind of like the art of selling, you know, different types of books that
[00:07:03] Marc Gonyea: 15 times?
[00:07:04] James Doyle: Oh, I’ve read it so many times, yeah. I, you know, I’ve got it, it’s, it’s full of highlights and, and sticky notes and post-its. But I think the biggest thing that I learned, it’s not about making settles, you know, it’s not about being in sales, it’s about building relationships.
[00:07:20] That’s probably the biggest thing I took away from it is how big can you grow your network? How strong can you put your name out there and build relationships for sales you can make down the line? You know what I mean? A relationship right now that you could help you out in five years, I think is the biggest thing that I could do.
[00:07:38] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. So, when you were in school, you had some interesting jobs, right? Just talk about those.
[00:07:44] James Doyle: So, I started off in logistics, pretty much.
[00:07:47] Marc Gonyea: That’s big in Midwest.
[00:07:48] James Doyle: Yeah. Logistics is huge, and I really had no passion for logistics, not, not anything against logistics as a line of business or as its own industry, it just wasn’t, I didn’t have the passion for it, I didn’t have the fire for it, and, yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of money on logistics, there’s money to be made. My dad actually runs his own little cargo van company where he moves alcohol all around the Midwest.
[00:08:12] But that’s kind of what drove me to come to MB to, to come to memoryBlue. I was like, I was an account executive at, at a couple different logistics companies, and I was like, “This isn’t for me.” You know what I mean? My parents were always pushing me, “Go into tech, going to tech. That’s where you should be.”
[00:08:26] Marc Gonyea: So, but it’s interesting, right? What you learned, what you go to, end up doing, what you learn so much from. So, when you’re in school, this, this, working at, is it Prinova group?
[00:08:34] James Doyle: Oh, yeah, that, that was,
[00:08:36] Marc Gonyea: Start talking about that, we’re not even outta college yet. Um, so I was, I had a, my grandma used to work there, so I started actually working there in high school, like, during summers. I was, I would work in the warehouse eight to two, I was grinding, I was loading trucks, I was in the warehouse. And then, once I got into college, I got into, like, a nice little sales position where I, I learned about logistics and how to manage shipments and warehouses, getting from point A to point B.
[00:09:01] James Doyle: And a lot of good experience, you know what I mean? And I was lucky to have that connection and, and that relationship where I, I could start working when I was 17, 18 years old.
[00:09:10] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, and then you got a little sales experience, right? Okay, and then, when you were in school, what’d you think you were gonna do when you got out? So, you knew you were gonna do sales? But you didn’t get into tech right away, right?
[00:09:23] James Doyle: Yeah, no, it was hard for me to get into, to tech sales. I had a good degree, I had plenty of experience, I was applying to Oracle, NetSuite, Salesforce, and doing well in my interviews, and I just, I, it never came through, you know?
[00:09:36] Doing two, three round interviews, never got the offer, and I was, I was honestly, like, I was kind of, like, am, am I ever gonna get an offer somewhere where I think I should be working? And then, after that, I, I jumped into logistics.
[00:09:51] Marc Gonyea: Got it. I’m happy to hear that you didn’t get enough of this logistics. You know, probably so was Chris. So, talk to us about that ’cause that’s, that’s a hardcore sales role, role, yes. Tell us what you did, I’ve never actually had a conversation with someone in details, it’s been a while, maybe Chris probably knows more about the space than I do.
[00:10:10] James Doyle: Yeah, no, logistics. It was, you’re running the full, not only the full sales cycle where you’re out trying to get new clients and new customers and move those shipments and logistics, but you’re also working on finding drivers to get those shipments.
[00:10:24] So, that’s a, it’s, it really is a 24/7/365 job, you know, how my phone be blowing up at 11 o’clock at night, a driver says “Hey, this shipment’s not ready, I’m gonna be stuck here for three hours.” You know what I mean? So, you’re calling clients that move shipments, you know, like a, like a Cisco, or, like, a Tyson’s food. Like, “Hey, we need to get this frozen chicken to one of our warehouses, or one of our stores.” So, they pay you for that, but then you’d have to find a driver to go pick it up and
[00:10:52] Chris Corcoran: So, you have to go get the deal with Tyson’s or Cisco or whatever, and then you gotta go find the person to execute the, the agreement, this is the, the driver who’s, who’s an independent person?Where you at? What’s your hauling?
[00:11:05] James Doyle: Yeah, exactly, exactly how, you know, but there’s so much that goes into it, you know, I mean, there’s a lot of laws and a lot of rules, and, and it’s a hard job, you know what I mean? Like, there was really no day off, Saturday, Sundays, you’re paying layovers, and you, you know what I mean? You’re doing a lot of work.
[00:11:22] Marc Gonyea: Were you living in Chicago area outta school? Uh, so, yeah, out, right outta school, I was, I was still in the city, I stayed in Chicago. And I came to Denver when Covid hit.
[00:11:30] Okay. What inspired to move to Denver?
[00:11:33] You know, I had been out here a couple times. I, I thought about going to Boulder, my, my freshman, sophomore. I’m a big snowboarder.
[00:11:39] Marc Gonyea: Big snowboarder. Okay.
[00:11:40] James Doyle: I love going on the mountains. And then Covid hit, and I was like, “There’s nothing to do in the city. What am I gonna, why am I paying, you know, 1500 a month to do absolutely nothing in the city?” So, I just came out here, no plan, quit my job, and I was just like, “I’m going for it.”
[00:11:54] You know, I had a, had some money saved up, and I was like, “I’m just gonna come out here and go to the mountains and, and hike.
[00:12:00] Marc Gonyea: And how did you find out about us?
[00:12:02] So, I had put on my LinkedIn, you know, that I was open to work and looking for a job, I think I might have applied, I either applied on LinkedIn, or Andrew DiNardo had
[00:12:12] Marc Gonyea: Andrew DiNardo, another football player, yeah, I mean, he’s a kicker, does that count as being a football player?
[00:12:18] James Doyle: Yeah. That counts.
[00:12:20] Marc Gonyea: I mean, I had to play football, but that’s what you would always.
[00:12:23] James Doyle: So, yeah, so he had messaged me.
[00:12:25] Marc Gonyea: Great recruiter.
[00:12:25] Reached out to me, and we hit it off on the phone, like, he called me, he’s like, we were, we, like, were laughing and, like, having a good time. As soon as Andrew called me and, like, I established a relationship with him, I was like, “This is where I want to be, this is what I want to do right now.” And from that moment on, from that first phone call, I, I had made my decision.
[00:12:44] Marc Gonyea: What was it though about the conversation? Do you remember? Was it, I mean, he obviously had a good job, good deal with
[00:12:49] James Doyle: It wasn’t, it wasn’t anything specific, I mean, there was one time, like, this was like our third or fourth call, and he called me, he’s like, “Hey, dude, like I know we were supposed to talk in like 10 minutes, I’m actually on my way to Miami, can I call you tomorrow?”
[00:13:01] And I was like, “Yeah.” And, like, you know what I mean? Just, like, random stuff, like, the way he communicated and presented himself and, like, just talked to me, like, a person, not, like, someone he’s recruiting, that’s, that’s kind of like the respect he had and the relationship that we built over that short month was like, “Like, this is cool.”
[00:13:17] Marc Gonyea: And then, you, did you come in for, in the office for interviews? Was it during Covid these interviews?
[00:13:23] James Doyle: I think Covid was, yeah, it was almost towards the end of Covid, 2021. I think I got hired in October. You have 2021, I had interviewed with Caroline and Joey.
[00:13:33] Marc Gonyea: Okay. Yeah. Wonderful. Caroline’s not here anymore, she’s an…
[00:13:39] Chris Corcoran: I hate it for her to be alumni.
[00:13:39] Marc Gonyea: So, you, you mentioned alum, I gotta ring the bell. So in, what was the job like, or what you think it was like compared to what you were doing at TQL?
[00:13:49] So, pretty much for me, I, I knew what to expect with sales, you know what I mean? It’s a grind. Sales is, is almost to me like another sport. And I wanna be the best, I’m competitive and I wanna win. So, I had known coming in that I was gonna have to work hard and, and put those numbers up, but what I wasn’t expecting was, like, to make such good bonds with the people I was working with. You, you talked to Sage yesterday, Sage is
[00:14:13] Marc Gonyea: Sage, yeah, I did, we did talk to him yesterday.
[00:14:16] James Doyle: I, I, Sage and I, I consider him one of my best friends, like, to this day, he, he picked me up from the airport this morning, yeah, you know what I mean? Like, he’s one, one of my really good friends, and especially McPhillips
[00:14:26] Chris Corcoran: Wait, he, he picked you up from the Denver airport.
[00:14:29] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:14:30] Chris Corcoran: Dude, that’s a good friend, man.
[00:14:32] James Doyle: He’s a good, he’s a good dude, and I, I
[00:14:34] Chris Corcoran: That’s a, that’s a hall
[00:14:36] James Doyle: He’s my guy, so.
[00:14:38] Chris Corcoran: Yeah, it sounds like it.
[00:14:40] James Doyle: But, like, with Phillips upstairs, too, I, I think,
[00:14:42] Marc Gonyea: James Phillips DM?
[00:14:44] James Doyle: Yes. DM, Jake Mann, as well.
[00:14:46] Marc Gonyea: Jake Mann, yep.
[00:14:48] James Doyle: DM?
[00:14:48] Marc Gonyea: No, he, only alums.
[00:14:50] James Doyle: Oh, only alums, yeah, that’s right, um,but Jake Mann and I were McPhillip’s first two employees on his, ’cause he had just started as a DM, it was his first or second day as the DM, and Jake Mann and I were his first,you know, SDRs.
[00:15:04] Marc Gonyea: Is this pre-Bootcamp for you? Or this is
[00:15:06] James Doyle: Right after Bootcamp.
[00:15:06] Marc Gonyea: Right after. Did you go to Bootcamp?
[00:15:08] James Doyle: I did go to Bootcamp.
[00:15:08] Marc Gonyea: Who was your roommate? Anybody who
[00:15:10] James Doyle: Jake, Jake Mann.
[00:15:11] Marc Gonyea: Jake was, ah. So, so, all these guys you met here are guys, you, you’re rolling pretty deep with here in Denver?
[00:15:17] James Doyle: Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I, I still consider almost our whole team at the beginning, like, some of my really good friends.
[00:15:23] Marc Gonyea: Who else?
[00:15:24] There’s Michael Litzov, Jules. Who else is my, Jake Anderson, he left as well, but still, you know what I mean? I’m seeing all of ’em this weekend, we’re going out, we’re, you know what I mean? We’re gonna
[00:15:35] Marc Gonyea: You guys still hang, get after it.
[00:15:36] James Doyle: Yeah, exactly.
[00:15:37] Marc Gonyea: That’s great. So, and you were in the office learning how to do, do the thing from here. Well, let’s ask about this. So, you went to, you had sales experience, and you went to memoryBlue Academy. What was Academy like for you? It was during Covid, but did you learn new things, the reinforcement? Did you have to unlearn some things? New twists?
[00:15:54] James Doyle: Yeah, yeah, good point. I would say the biggest thing I learned were almost building cadences, you know, having your scripts, there wasn’t really a script for logistics, there wasn’t any taught, there was no academy, there wasn’t, like, this is how you should sell, this is what you should say, this is how you close, none of that. So, I did have experience, but I also learned a lot.
[00:16:14] The Bootcamp at memoryBlue is huge, you know, whether you work or you contract outside of memoryBlue, I would send your employees there, and really, like, let them sit through that, what is it, four or five days?
[00:16:27] Marc Gonyea: It’s three days.
[00:16:28] James Doyle: Three days, let them sit through that and it, let ’em take it home, and really study it, and it’ll be a game changer for what whatever you sell and whatever company you work for.
[00:16:36] Marc Gonyea: Who was your facilitator? Do you remember? Was it Kelly Corfield.
[00:16:40] James Doyle: It was Kelly.
[00:16:41] Chris Corcoran: Kelly.
[00:16:43] Marc Gonyea: One and only.
[00:16:44] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:16:45] Marc Gonyea: So, you came back, who was your DM?
[00:16:47] James Doyle: It was, uh, McPhillips.
[00:16:49] Marc Gonyea: McPhillips Delivery Manager, excellent. And what was it like, just a transition from going to TQL to kind of working here? How was it different? How was the same?
[00:16:58] James Doyle: Yeah. So, I mean different in the sense that, you know, I had a set goal, I had an objective, I had an objective, like, a goal to reach, a number to hit, and like, a lot of it for me, like, shout out to McPhillips, like, he was awesome, like, we had a really good relationship and we communicated about everything and, and once our team got really big, we wanted to do well for him, you know what I mean?
[00:17:21] We wanted, like, there were days, you know, me, Sage and Nick were putting up 200, 300 dials a day, 15 C-whips, three books, you know what I mean? Sitting,
[00:17:29] Marc Gonyea: Those are big days right there boy.
[00:17:31] James Doyle: sitting right next to each other, just getting after it, like McPhillips was loving it, but like, we wanted, not only did we want to do that for ourselves, but like, we wanted to put the work in for him ’cause he was such a good boss.
[00:17:40] So, that was our, that was our goal. Like, I said before, with the Bootcamp and, like, coming from logistics and then going into tech, there was a lot to learn. Like, I, I still learn every day with, you know, selling data analytics, it’s, it’s something, it’s an ever-changing market and which is kind of why I wanted to jump into it, you know what I mean? There’s always something new to learn, always new tag out there, and I think that was probably the biggest difference.
[00:18:04] What did you kind of develop as a, as, like, a move or something you were good at when you were in SDR here or even now?
[00:18:12] James Doyle: Yeah, no, for me, it’s, I think, like, my opening statement and being able to tone match with people, kind of read the vibe, you know, read the persona, feel the ambiance and on the call.
[00:18:23] And, like, you can say, you know, dial and smile, but it’s not always like that, you, you can call a guy, and he’s not gonna be a nice guy, and you’re not gonna be all happy on the phone, you know what I mean? So, you gotta match that energy, and I think that’s kind of something I picked up, you know, being able to talk to different people throughout the day. It’s, it’s really just kind of flow with it and don’t push anything and let them do the talking.
[00:18:44] What did you learn from the others? So, when you were, when, you know, you’re sitting floor next to these people, everybody’s getting after it, besides yourself, who was the best? Right next to me, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake was really good, you know, obviously we were on different campaigns,
[00:18:57] Marc Gonyea: Not the guy that picked you up from the airport this morning?
[00:18:59] James Doyle: No, no, Sage is great, you know what I mean? And, like, that’s the thing, like, being in the office and being next to guys, everyone kind of has their own film cadence, they say different things and you kind of pick up on that.
[00:19:11] I remember Quinn, I don’t know if you know Quinn Merrell? There was this one time he, he said, I just, ’cause I still use this to this day, he’s like, “Oh, are you guys on cloud or are you on-prem?” And I was like, I’ve never said that in my life, I’m gonna throw that in, you know what I mean? So, just picking up on different, you know, cadences and verbiage and, and what people say was huge for me.
[00:19:29] Marc Gonyea: That’s great. And what, when you’re in the role, when you’re doing it?
[00:19:34] Chris Corcoran: Hey, James?
[00:19:35] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:19:36] Chris Corcoran: Are you on Cloud or on-prem?
[00:19:38] James Doyle: We are both actually, we, we do both. So, yeah.
[00:19:44] Chris Corcoran: Awesome.
[00:19:44] Marc Gonyea: Are you working at your house now? Yes?
[00:19:46] James Doyle: Yeah, fully remote right now.
[00:19:47] Marc Gonyea: What, what’s the difference?
[00:19:49] James Doyle: Oh, man, I, I do remote, you know what I mean? Like, I sit there and I can motivate myself to grind and crush and get what needs to be done, done, but being in the office with your boys, you know what I mean?
[00:20:01] Being right next to each other was so much more of a motivator because you just, like I said, it’s like a sport, you feed off that energy, you know what I mean? You want to challenge each other, like, “Okay, I’m gonna get five books today, how much are you gonna get?” You know what I mean? And that was what we had as a team, and I do miss it, like, I truly miss that feed and that energy.
[00:20:17] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, and the lows are as low, the highs are probably higher.
[00:20:21] James Doyle: Yeah, exactly. You’d get a book, everyone’s going, you know what I mean? I’ll get some books at home, and I look around and my dog is next to me, you know what I mean?
[00:20:30] Marc Gonyea: Dog’s happier there, but that’s…
[00:20:32] James Doyle: Exactly.
[00:20:34] Marc Gonyea: As you’re kind of doing this, what did you think you wanted to do? Like, ’cause you come into memoryBlue and we, we kind fire hose you guys a lot of things, you’ve got a different perspective ’cause you worked at TQL a little bit, and your mom and your dad are in sales. So, you kind of have, but still, like, what did you think you,
[00:20:51] James Doyle: I mean, I know for me, like, my long-term goal, I want to go up the ladder as far as I can, you know what I mean? If that’s a Director or VP or, or branching off one day and running my own thing 10 years down, I have, there’s no cloud up to that ceiling, you know what I mean?
[00:21:06] There’s, whatever happens, happens, but I know you have to work for it. But coming in, you know, from an accounting executive to the SDR position, I was like, “All right, I’m gonna take a step back here, but I’m gonna do that to be where I want to be in the future.” So, that was huge for me.
[00:21:20] Marc Gonyea: That’s hard to do. That’s hard to do. Were you surprised by, like, your experience here?
[00:21:25] James Doyle: Yes. I, I really did not think I would enjoy it as much as I did, a hundred percent, honestly. Like, I was, like, to this day, you know what I mean? Like, if Qlik wasn’t my campaign, I’d still be here,
[00:21:37] a hundred percent, if I, if I didn’t have Qlik, ’cause Qlik was the only, I was like, McPhillips was like, “Who do you want to be on? You can be on Qlik, or you can be with,” I forgot his name, Joey,
[00:21:47] Marc Gonyea: You got a choice?
[00:21:48] James Doyle: Yeah, I had
[00:21:49] Marc Gonyea: Man, that’s great.
[00:21:49] James Doyle: He let me pick, and I was like, “Dude, like, I want to be data analytics, I wanna be in tech, like, this is, this was my goal coming.” You know what I mean? And he was like, “All right, let’s do it.” Four months later and there it was.
[00:22:02] Marc Gonyea: There you were. And what was that transition like? Like, did you have to work that with the client? Like, how did they evaluate you?
[00:23:11] James Doyle: Yeah. So, like, ’cause they don’t,
[00:23:12] Marc Gonyea: They don’t do that just like on a whim.
[00:23:14] James Doyle: Yeah, no, we went through a whole interview process, had three interviews with, like, the managers over at Qlik, and they gave us that opportunity because we were grinding so hard, you know what I mean? Like, they saw the effort we were putting in and they were like, “Alright,
[00:23:29] like, these guys are working, let’s, let’s give them the interviews and see how they do.” So, we did work out, you know, I was talking to the managers, I was talking to my AEs, like, Hey, you should come over here, and I was thinking about it and I was, I talked to McPhillips about it and he was like, “Yeah, I think that’s what’s best for you right now.” Yeah.
[00:23:46] Marc Gonyea: How have you, uh, picked up on? So, it’s interesting, so, you’ve been on that client, like, since you started with us, right? And you left over a year ago, right? Actually, you started over a year ago, you left in February.
[00:23:59] James Doyle: February, yeah.
[00:24:00] Marc Gonyea: How have you picked up, how have you balance, like, the skills of an SDR with, like, learning space?
[00:24:06] James Doyle: Okay, yeah, a hundred percent. So, the skills of an SDR and then knowing, like, the technology you’re selling, but the first two, three weeks that I started calling for Qlik, I was getting ripped apart, you know what I mean? I was calling, like, directors of BI, and I had no idea what to say. So, like, I was like, yeah, like, “We sell data analytics.”
[00:24:26] He’s like, “Well, what do you guys do? How are you gonna help me?” I was like, “Oh, well, we work with BP.” And he’s like, “I don’t care who you work with.” You know what I mean? And so, I, I think I’ve literally
[00:24:36] Marc Gonyea: You not interested?
[00:24:37] James Doyle: It was an eight-minute call,
[00:24:38] Marc Gonyea: British Petroleum.
[00:24:39] James Doyle: I remember, yeah, I remember it was an eight-minute call, and this guy just ripped me apart, and I was like, “He’s right, though.”
[00:24:44] I didn’t have any knowledge of the space, so I think, at first, for me, it was, like, I just have to fake it until I make it, I have to sound like I know what I’m talking about without actually knowing what I’m talking about.
[00:24:55] James Doyle: And then, just putting yourself into it day to day, like, I was, you know, reading every solution and everything they had on the website, and I was calling people, and you just start to learn, like, over time you really start to grasp the product, and I think for me, the product is actually very beneficial, you know, selling something that’s gonna save some of these huge enterprise companies tens of millions of dollars over the years.
[00:25:21] And that’s, that’s kind of what brought the passion to me, it’s not, you’re not selling something that’s just to make a commission check, you know what I mean? You’re actually selling something that’s gonna be helpful. So, that was huge.
[00:25:31] Marc Gonyea: What personas do you call? Um, I’m all Directors, VPs and Managers. It’s, and, and I’m enterprise, too. So, you’re talking 10,000 20,000 employees. So, with that being said, I’ve also learned how to sell into almost every LOB possible, supply chain, HR, finance, analytics, you mean, everything they have, I, I can be able to, to pitch into.
[00:25:53] It’s nice isn’t it, to have an expertise? Like, you know, you’ve been able to work with them for over a year, and you know so much about them, the tech, and then what type, what, what roles?
[00:26:06] Like I said, I could do, you know, the director of supply chain, or I can do the vice president of data analytics, or the manager of business intelligence, VP of HR, and enterprise is hard, you know what I mean?
[00:26:19] James Doyle: It’s, you’re selling into something that’s hard to get into because only a couple people make those corporate decisions. So, like, there’s, you have to find that one person that makes the decisions for that LLB and that line of business, and there are, there’s so many different contacts to reach out to, but it’s hard to connect with them ’cause it’s so big.
[00:26:37] Chris Corcoran: Hey, James, are you trying to rip out some of that Teradata stuff that your mom used to, sell in?
[00:26:43] James Doyle: Yeah, exactly, no, she’s at Cloudera too, so she’s like you, you battle with me all the time. She’s like, she’ll call me, and she’s like, “Hey, yeah, I’m working with these guys. What are they doing over there?” I’m like, “I’m not telling you anything.” Like, you know?
[00:26:58] Marc Gonyea: You gotta go for Christmas, get, get into her cell phone, get into her Rolodex, that’s hysterical. So, you’re going after enterprise, how has your game changed since you started, like, you know, since you, obviously you, you’ve improved, but even, like, once you had three months under your belt, like, how is your, goal? Um, I think the biggest thing for me right now is vetting prospects, you know, like, really looking for those net new deals.
[00:27:23] What do you mean by that? Just to walk us through what that means.
[00:27:25] James Doyle: Yeah, I mean, like, I’m talking, going on LinkedIn, looking at what they like, what, like, following them, messaging them, connecting with them, really vetting them, like, to the point where, like, you know what to say that’s gonna get them talking.
[00:27:38] Like I said, there’s 10,000 to 20,000 employees. So, pick 20, 30 from that company and, like, work that hard, focus on that small thing, one step at a time, and it’ll pay off like down the line.
[00:27:49] James Doyle: Yeah. Absolutely. And then what are you looking for? Are you looking for things that you have an, in common interest, like an approach that other people aren’t doing? So, for me, like, I, I think, obviously there’s three really big, big players in data analytics. It’s Tableau, Power BI, and us, and Qlik. So, my first approach that I try to do is figure out what they’re using, like, and you know what I mean?
[00:28:13] Like, if they’re using Tableau, like, I know that, that Tableau struggles with specific things that Qlik does better. But I also know that some of my clients right now use both. They, we have clients that use both Qlik and Tableau. So, it’s not a rip-and-replace, which McPhillips taught me that line right there.
[00:28:28] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, what?
[00:28:29] James Doyle: It’s not a rip-and-replace solution, yeah, “You guys are using this, but why don’t you just take a 15, 30-minute demo and show you how, how we can help.” You know what I mean?
[00:28:38] Chris Corcoran: Hey, hey, James. Have you taught your mom rip and replace?
[00:28:42] James Doyle: No. We keep,
[00:28:44] Chris Corcoran: ‘Cause you’re coming for.
[00:28:45] James Doyle: We’re keeping the secret sauce.
[00:28:47] Chris Corcoran: There you go.
[00:28:49] Marc Gonyea: That’s so funny. So, you know, your game has evolved, like, certainly a more sophisticated approach.
[00:28:56] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:28:56] Marc Gonyea: Do you approach your date differently than in terms of your activity? Like, do you do more, is more of your day like rifle shooting?
[00:29:03] James Doyle: Yes.
[00:29:03] Marc Gonyea: Unless you’re still going outbound?
[00:29:05] James Doyle: So.
[00:29:06] Marc Gonyea: Obviously.
[00:29:06] James Doyle: With that being said, like, we do have good inbound as well, too, you know. I do get a lot of qualified leads coming my way, and say someone in my territory, and my account goes and looks at
[00:29:17] Marc Gonyea: What’s your territory?
[00:29:18] I’m South Central.
[00:29:19] Marc Gonyea: South Central Texas.
[00:29:20] James Doyle: I, I’m pretty much all gas and energy, BP, Exxon, Conoco.
[00:29:25] Marc Gonyea: That’s a good place to do calm right now.
[00:29:26] James Doyle: Yeah. So, I’ll hop in there everyday, but it’s not as many dials, it’s not as many cold call prospecting, it’s more focused and I wouldn’t say, like, hot leads, but warm leads. These guys have been interested, I know what they’re doing, I know their Q4’s coming up and they’re having budget talks. And that’s just being able to, you know, maybe you’re not gonna close the deal, but, you know, you know what’s going on within the company, which really helps.
[00:29:52] Marc Gonyea: That’s huge, man. Just all those things that’s, like, you’re obviously advanced, you got some advanced moves going on. How do you get paired up with AEs, with the salespeople?
[00:30:01] James Doyle: Yeah, so, right now, I’m like in a mix of, like, the AE/BDR role where, where I do, do a lot of client management, I do, you know, help ’cause right now I’m under an RD and a couple account managers, they’re not account executives, they’re account managers.
[00:30:16] And they have, you know, like I said, pretty much all of the biggest gas and oil in energy companies that you can think of, that they run those. So, I mean, I run a lot of my own meetings, like, I run a lot of my own demos and, and bring on my SCs and, and SAs.
[00:30:30] Marc Gonyea: That’s great.
[00:30:30] James Doyle: And then, like, when it comes to, like, talking licenses and, and you know what they’re buying, that’s kind of when I hand it off and like, let, let the RDs and the AMs run it. So, yeah, that, that’s kind of how it runs.
[00:30:40] Marc Gonyea: So, you got, you, like, you kind of graduated into a two ’cause your goal is especially to be a closer?
[00:30:45] James Doyle: Yes, a hundred percent.
[00:30:46] Marc Gonyea: They just don’t give the keys to those cars to anyone?
[00:30:49] James Doyle: No, you gotta earn it, for sure. My, my year actually comes up in February, which I’ll be up for that promotion, which I think is gonna be huge.
[00:30:56] And my, my head boss knows I’m going for it. So, he is like, “Just keep getting after it and putting up numbers and,” you know what I mean? It’s not a hundred percent, you know what I mean? It’s, like, you’re, you’re up there, for sure, yeah.
[00:31:06] Marc Gonyea: And you’ve, but you’ve graduated into a world where you do two things, it sounds like, so, you’re still responsible for, like, I guess some of these inbounds coming in, you gotta qualify those, you’re certainly doing strategic outbound work, and what’s this other piece?
[00:31:18] James Doyle: Like, the client management?
[00:31:20] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. Yeah. So, does, does that happen naturally, or did you
[00:31:23] James Doyle: Yeah, no, that, that’ll come in, that’s, that’s that
[00:31:25] Marc Gonyea: Was that part of the process, or did you not earn it? But did you, how did you get the right to do this? That part of it?
[00:31:30] James Doyle: That just kind of came along.
[00:31:31] Marc Gonyea: That’s great.
[00:31:32] James Doyle: You know what I mean? It wasn’t, like, I was going for it, or, like, pushing forward it, it was like, “Hey, like, you’re already good at doing this.” Like, I have a bunch of the inside sales teams, like, shadowing my calls, you know what I mean? Like,
[00:31:41] Marc Gonyea: Really?
[00:31:42] James Doyle: Yeah, ’cause, like, my manager would shadow my calls sometimes, it’s like, “Dude, I don’t know how you do that or how you say that, like, I want, like,” you know what I mean? I make my own cadences, like, front spin, like, or we use sales off now, but, like, I’ll go in there and I’ll make my own emails and my own calls, like, and I’ll build everything and then I’ll send it to our team. Like, “Hey, you guys,
[00:32:00] Marc Gonyea: People are like, “What is this guy doing?” That’s great, that’s all stuff you did here, right? Excellent, I love hearing that.
[00:32:06] James Doyle: Yeah, it’s nice.
[00:32:06] Marc Gonyea: So, there, you gotta send, give him to Academy, man. Come on, let’s go.
[00:32:11] James Doyle: Send him over, yeah.
[00:32:12] Marc Gonyea: So, so, it was like game recognizing game, like, “Hey, James can do these other things for us.” And that’s, obviously, helped you get ready for the next role ’cause you’re doing some things on your own, do more discovery, it probably
[00:32:25] James Doyle: Yeah, no, I, I, I would say I do a lot of our discovery calls, and like, I think my experience here at MB, you know, putting in those numbers and putting in those dials and, and spending months on end figuring out what to say, how to say it, what questions to ask. I think that’s the biggest thing that MB and the Academy teaches you is how to ask those open-ended questions and let the, the ball be in their court to respond.
[00:32:48] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, notice some opening questions, you are good, that you like
[00:32:51] James Doyle: I mean, my favorite question to ask that’s, like, very broad is like, what are your current initiatives of life with now? Or what is your company, like, focusing on, like, do you guys have digital transformation currently?
[00:33:02] Like, you know what I mean? Just, like, bringing random things that I throw in there, and it also depends on who we call, you know? If I’m calling supply chain, like, how are you guys managing your OTIs? You know what I mean? On time and full orders, like, just random stuff that you pick up on that, you know what to ask.
[00:33:17] Marc Gonyea: And so, you’re experienced, you’re doing this, you’re working to the next step. This is a quick Corcoran question. How are you keeping your skills sharp? Or how are you improving? How do you know you’re improving? That’s a, like, not getting complacent ’cause the other side of the coin is you’ve been working on this client for over a year,
[00:33:33] right? So, you know, you might rest on your laurels a little bit, but, you know, these for marketing are coming over, he says things look pretty good, like, how are you?
[00:33:41] James Doyle: So, like I said before with, like, kind of the continuous change in technology, like, we just brought on, we just acquired a, this company called Big Squid, and it’s a huge autoML company. And we just implanted that.
[00:33:52] Marc Gonyea: So, Big Squid?
[00:33:53] James Doyle: Yeah, that’s, yeah, but they’re, it’s, it’s one of the best auto machine learning products in the game, and we bought, bought ’em out, right, and we are implementing it now. So, what something, like, for example, on me trying to grow and keep learning and take initiative, still getting better is learning, like, tech like that, like, I don’t know much about auto machine learning,
[00:34:14] and with that being said, that has to be SaaS, that has to be Cloud. So, I have to learn how to try to get my current on-prem clients or on, companies that I’m calling to want to come into Cloud and into SaaS. So, just, you know, learning how to have that conversation, you know what I mean?
[00:34:30] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. So, you’re calling people about product you don’t even know.
[00:34:33] James Doyle: Yeah, exactly.
[00:34:34] Marc Gonyea: I mean, you kind of know about it, not, you have been doing it for over a year.
[00:34:37] James Doyle: Yeah, I haven’t, I haven’t really sold autoML ever, you know what I mean? So, that’s something new that we’ve been working on it, and learning and learning how to pitch.
[00:34:45] Marc Gonyea: So, and what’s you, how do you approach that?
[00:34:47] James Doyle: I’m just, like, right now, I’m just kind of free balling it, I’m just like, “Hey, you know, we just picked up, we just implemented a huge auto machine learning solution into our cloud SaaS servers, like, would you guys be interested in looking at, you know, what the benefits of it are?”
[00:35:02] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, yeah. And then, do most of the people already have something like that, or they don’t have?
[00:35:06] James Doyle: I don’t think, I mean, a lot of companies that do have data analytics, I wouldn’t say, have auto machine learning yet, and if they do, it’s probably very minimal.
[00:35:15] Marc Gonyea: Wow, okay. What, um, as you’re getting ready, ideally, hopefully, in preparation, what do you think the skills are you’re gonna need to develop once you get to that next gig?
[00:35:25] James Doyle: I’d say the skills I need to develop and the skills that you need to stay consistent with is your hunger, you know what I mean? Like, that, that go-getter attitude, like, you want to be good in sales, you want to be the best, like, you have to put the most work in, it’s, it’s, you’ve gotta bury the fruit of your own neighborhood. That’s, that’s what sales is. But I also say continuously learning,
[00:35:46] you know, I constantly like learning something new, and kind of what you said before, don’t stay complacent, like, there’s always something new, there’s always a better way to do things, and I think that’s the biggest thing, not only in sales but in life, like, hey, like, you don’t do everything perfect, and you’re never gonna be perfect,
[00:36:01] keep learning and growing, make mistakes, don’t be afraid to fail is probably my favorite thing, like, go out there, like, like Michael Jordan, like, how many free throw shots did he miss until you, you know what I mean? Shots. So, it’s like
[00:36:13] Marc Gonyea: Chicago guy got Michael Jordan, there you go. How are things, like, structured now there? Do you have a, you got a team, is it similar to memoryBlue? You have a team of SDRs you work with?
[00:36:23] James Doyle: Yeah, so we got a team of, like, BDRs, SDRs, inside sales, and then, like, we kind of work in the demand center, so that’s, like, demand for products and, and growing and, and, and building new relationships, but it’s all virtual so it’s, I wouldn’t say it’s,
[00:36:38] I wouldn’t really say it’s anything close to being here because, like, it’s not that camaraderie or it’s not that, like, go-getter everyday attitude, it, it’s more, like, separate individual, this is, you know what I mean? Get your stuff done and figure it out how you’re gonna do it by yourself. Do you guys get together, do they ever
[00:36:54] Chris Corcoran: Uh, they did fly us out, they flew us out to Philly, they’re based out of, uh, Pennsylvania. King Prussia.
[00:36:59] James Doyle: Yeah, KOP. So, they flew us out there a couple months ago, got the whole team together, it was fun, you know, I mean, we took a nice little party bus, we had, like, a couple, like, in-class sessions, it was cool. What do you think, you know, the, I mean, you can assume a family and salespeople. What do you still think, like, the biggest misconception is about people in sales, you know, or, or, you know, being an SDR, but, or just being in sales in general? I’m kind of curious.
[00:37:25] I mean, for me, I think the biggest misconception is just kind of, like, “The guy that’s calling you just to make a commission check,” you know what I mean? Like, I was just a sales guy trying to make some money, you know what I mean? Like, “He’s just trying to rip me off, he’s probably lying about what he’s selling,” you know what I mean?
[00:37:40] I think that’s the biggest misconception, which is why I am passionate about what I’m doing, and especially memoryBlue, like, you guys have some of the greatest tech clients you could possibly have, like, you’re selling something that’s beneficial. So, I’d say the probably biggest misconception is that, like, “He’s just a sales guy trying to make some money.”
[00:37:56] Yeah, right. And how do you avoid that? Just by being honest in general, you know what I mean? Like, I’d say like, “Hey, dude, like, I’m not trying to close a deal right now, I’m just trying to have a, a brief conversation with you,
[00:38:07] see what your current initiatives are, like, what are you guys working on? What gaps do you need filled? And if down the line that’s a closed deal, then so be it, if not, we can still have a relationship.”
[00:38:20] Marc Gonyea: Okay. You, uh, have any advice for yourself, like, you know, from the night before you started at the company, looking back, what kind of advice would you give yourself now?
[00:38:30] James Doyle: I guess the best advice I could possibly give myself is just stay open-minded, you know what I mean? Like, you never know what’s gonna happen, you know what I mean? Like, even if you’re doing really well, at any point, you could lose your job at, you know what I mean? Like, at any point, like, things could go really well, or things could go really bad. So, just keep an open mind and just stay focused on what you have to get done.
[00:38:50] Marc Gonyea: And are you, um, you see yourself like you, you hit on it, but just walk me through, like, where you want to go with this, and you told us a little bit earlier, but like, you know, do you want to be in IC for a while? Did you wanna be a manager eventually?
[00:39:03] James Doyle: Yeah, so, for me, you know, I would love to climb the ladder at Qlik if that’s, like, a huge opportunity for me down the line, I would love to stay there and grow, it’s, it’s a great company to be at.
[00:39:12] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, sounds like it.
[00:39:13] James Doyle: Yeah, and I would, I mean, like I said before, growing up in high school, like, being a leadership award, I would love to be able to run my own sales team, you know, whether that’s a director or sales manager, whatever the steps are to get there, like, I, I think that’d be a good goal for me in somewhere that I know I’d be successful and be able to motivate the people around me to do well.
[00:39:32] So, yeah, and you never know, like, I could come back to MB one day, like you, it’s, there’s no, there is no, like, set goal and direction, it’s, it’s more or less, like, if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll take it.
[00:39:44] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. Did you ever move from Denver?
[00:39:46] James Doyle: Oh, I live in Chicago now.
[00:39:48] Marc Gonyea: Oh, you live in Chicago now?
[00:39:49] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:39:49] Marc Gonyea: Oh, shit, okay, I missed that. Oh, that’s great. Oh, so, so, the answer is you have moved, oh.
[00:39:55] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:39:56] Marc Gonyea: He picked you up from the airport.
[00:39:57] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:39:57] Marc Gonyea: I thought it’d be quicker.
[00:39:59] James Doyle: No, yeah, so, I, once I got, like, full remote, I could have stayed here and, like, lived it, had a house with somebody’s, and I was like, “You know what, I’m gonna go home for a couple months, save some money,” ’cause I was remote, I was watching the need for me to be buying gas and save up some money. And then, I was at home for a couple months and, and now my brother and I are looking to buy a place to rent.
[00:40:19] Marc Gonyea: That’s great.
[00:40:20] Chris Corcoran: Whereabouts?Um, Lakeview Area, Chicago.
[00:40:25] Awesome. What’s your brother do?
[00:40:27] James Doyle: My brother is actually a, he’s in logistics as well at US Foods.
[00:40:32] Chris Corcoran: Does he wanna be in SDR?
[00:40:35] James Doyle: I don’t know. He makes pretty good money.
[00:40:37] Chris Corcoran: Alright, we, we missed the boat on him. Had to ask.
[00:40:40] James Doyle: He’s still young, so you never know. He’s only 21, so
[00:40:45] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, it’s early. Keep, keep time.
[00:40:47] James Doyle: keep running.
[00:40:48] Marc Gonyea: Of course. We’d love to get another one of you guys in the company here. Well, what can you, great, so you can do all this from Chicago?
[00:40:54] James Doyle: Yeah.
[00:40:55] Marc Gonyea: Okay. Excellent.
[00:40:57] Well, James, man, I think that’s about it, I appreciate you coming in, like, like Chris and I were saying before, it’s a pleasure to do these podcasts with folks that we didn’t get to work with personally.
[00:41:07] Chris Corcoran: Yes.
[00:41:07] Marc Gonyea: Right, it’s gratifying, it’s inspiring, and it’s great to hear y’all’s story or your story in particular. And now, on LinkedIn., I know what I’m looking for, right? So, thanks for coming in, thanks for being part of the alumni.
[00:41:20] James Doyle: Yeah, no, Marc, Chris, pleasure, thank you guys so much for having me on here. All you youngins out there, you know those, those fresh grads if you want to get into tech sales, MB is the place to be, and if you were like me, stuck in an industry that you know you didn’t want to be in, this is the spot you want to be. So, thank you guys so much.
[00:41:37] Marc Gonyea: Dude, well said.
[00:41:38] Chris Corcoran: Thanks. Awesome. Thanks, James.
[00:41:41] James Doyle: Thanks, guys.