His advice for those starting out: My greatest piece of advice is to trust your instincts. Don't make decisions based on dollar signs or what others tell you to do. If you are hiring sales reps, make sure they mesh well with you and the people in your office. If Jeff and I can't imagine hanging out with a candidate on the weekends or during a company event, we don't hire him or her. Jeff and I also have a firm "three strike" policy. If an employee makes a mistake, we call it an accident. If it happens again, we call it a coincidence. Do it a third time, they are let go. We've prolonged the inevitable in the past and it cost us time, money and stress. Also, so many people enter our industry, desperate for sales—any sales. Don't go after the lowest-hanging fruit just because it's easy. The sales that are the easiest can also be the least profitable (schools, attorneys, real estate agents, insurance agents, etc.). The second you start working with clients who spend their own money, and not their company's marketing budget, they want every option in the world to look at and the absolute cheapest price. Find companies that have a marketing budget and value your services and won't spend their entire day looking for the best pen to put their logo on. You'll book fewer orders throughout the week, but make five times more money.
Under 40, Over Achieving
Meet some of the industry's emerging elite