SalesTechStar Interview with Kacie Finance, Global Account Manager at Bizzabo

 2020 was a year of learning and adjustments (amid the pandemic) but 2021 is a year of creativity with a renewed focus on emphasizing the ‘’human’’ element in sales; Kacie Finance, Global Account Manager at Bizzabo delves deeper in this chat with SalesTechStar:

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Hi Kacie, welcome to SalesTechStar! Tell us about your time at Bizzabo – your experience leading strategic account strategies in times of a global pandemic?

I’ve been very fortunate to have built upon my skill set as a people leader and to now have the opportunity to grow in this exciting customer-facing role. Of course I had no idea that my transition would overlap the beginning of a global pandemic and I found myself upboarding at the same time most of our strategic customers were cancelling their flagship events en masse and suffering the impact of this historic event in other ways. There have been so many tremendous learnings since March 2020, but “leading strategic account strategies” really meant helping my customers survive the pivot to virtual in a highly reactive way. It brought many of us closer together and made me a true part of the team, especially as we all thought through ways to elevate, differentiate and innovate for each brand and their audiences. Like many things, the role changed weekly (sometimes daily) and the only way to be effective was to absorb the trends and best practices of the market and share those back to my customers almost in the same moment.

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What are some of the processes and practices you’d suggest sales teams follow when nurturing strategic accounts through the funnel given today’s business challenges?

Understand your customers’ pain points and their problems and recognize that, in an instant, they might change. Today’s business challenges are so much more than that – they are human challenges and each of us in this role need to lead with empathy, compassion and patience to the best of our ability with an unwavering commitment to our product and company values. And if we can’t do that, we need to reassess the situation entirely.

Can you share a few thoughts on the state of sales today and what trends (in terms of sales / marketing technologies) will drive the theme for 2021?

Sales is (finally) human again. We’ve invited our prospects and customers into our homes for many months and we’ve become teammates. The name of the game has been agility – adoption of new technologies, adaptation in new circumstances and environments and the constant need to shift perspective and refocus on goals as they come.

For that reason, I think video conferencing, call coaching, capacity management and CRM enhancement tools are absolutely critical in driving the theme for 2021. More than ever, I need to be able to tell my story (to my prospects, leadership, company board, etc.) and the more technologies that help me do that in a comprehensive and streamlined way, the better.

Can you talk about some of your most successful sales outcomes and customer facing takeaways through the years?

Be a human. My most successful sales outcomes are tied to the fact that I’m a human. It’s a lot more difficult than meets the eye because there are quotas and activities KPIs and PG coverage and incentives but, if you set those aside in the moments you’re connecting with your prospects and customers and focus on their feedback and concerns, you’re much more likely to win or renew (or even grow) their business. It’s still important to be professional, skilled and polished but those things can be infinitely more authentic when you put the right energy and intentions toward achieving each goal.

A few hacks for sales reps / account executives to prospect better in 2021?

Thought leadership. It’s not really a hack as much as it’s a best practice. I’m shocked at the amount of Sales people who continue to fall back on due diligence (reading a 10K can only get you so far) without any real competitive knowledge or industry benchmarking to aid their talk track. 2020 gave birth to countless technologies that now either pose a threat or could help your sale, but many folks are too caught up in the reactive nature of today’s new reality that they are not remembering that we’re all in Sales to learn and to lead.

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A parting thought on your most memorable moment in tech and the learning that came from it!

When I was at GA I got the opportunity to move to Santa Monica on a moment’s notice (i.e. less than 3 days) in order to focus on a new and important market for the growing EdTech company. Randomly, and in a rather uncharacteristic fashion, I said Yes. With a couple suitcases in tow I flew to LA from SF and began one of the most challenging and rewarding projects of my career. In 4 months I took 4 days off (and used them fully) and spent the rest of my time getting to know my new town’s industry, inhabitants and the market’s potential. With a focus on experience and product market fit our little team was able to turn the beautiful 2nd Street campus around and sell out inventory faster than it opened up. The friendships, the connections and the skill set are with me to this day and, fortunately for me, I have many more memorable moments in Tech that followed because of it…