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In this episode of the Science of Selling STEM, I had a chat with Alexis Scott, the Partnerships Manager at Aspireship, an industry recognized reskilling and job placement platform that helps you pivot your career into SaaS sales. Alexis is a well-rounded sales leader with a diverse background of industry experience, from hospitality to technology. She has adapted and grown throughout her career. Her passion for building relationships and dynamic organizations, and her experience building sales teams makes her a powerhouse in the development of employer partnerships. 

The partnerships she builds with dynamic technology companies facilitates the hiring of Aspireship graduates and  individuals looking to start careers in software sales. Alexis has amazing views regarding sales, self-awareness, and the difference between being picky or particular. She will share all that and more in this episode. You won’t wanna miss out on the juicy sales tips she will share. Stay tuned.

And if you ever need help with a sales or leadership issue don't hesitate to book a complimentary clarity session with me HERE. You can also email us at podcast@transformedsales.com with any suggestions or comments about the podcast.

On Today’s Episode of the Science of Selling STEM:

• The journey from a beverage cart girl at a golf course to a sales leader (01:46)
• How her combined experience in customer service, hospitality sales, and marketing helped her move up the ladder (04:28)
• Ending up with a team of 70 under her leadership within a short time (07:50)
• Moving from a solo salesperson to the leader of a team and managing to keep every team member productive (12:44)
• The trauma of being let go out of the blue with her entire team including her boss (14:37)
• Deciding to follow her passion after the job loss within a global pandemic that eliminated job opportunities (18:10)
• A mindset game: The internal tug of war of sales every salesperson has (22:59)
• Why salespeople should focus on asking questions and solving problems (27:16)
• From a dark place to changing lives at Aspireship (31:27)

Connect with Wesleyne Greer:

• Wesleyne’s Website
• Wesleyne on LinkedIn
• Wesleyne on Facebook     
• Wesleyne on Twitter
• Email Her at wesleyne@transformedsales.com

Connect with Alexis Scott:

• Alexis on LinkedIn

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Thanks for tuning into The Science of Selling STEM! If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn even more about what it takes to transform your sales, don’t forget to tune into our other episodes and share your favorite episodes on social media!

Join The Science of Selling STEM community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and visit my website for even more content, information, and resources.

As a sales manager, you are judged by the

performance of your team, and you're praised when they do

well. But one thing that you've not been able to figure out is

how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every

single month. On the Snack size sales podcast, we discuss the

science of selling stem sales leadership in the science,

technology, engineering and manufacturing fields is

difficult. You will learn from sales managers just like you

that will give you actionable insights and tips on how to

develop as a leader and achieve your revenue targets every

single month. So pop your headphones in and get ready to

listen to my guest today. They will give you information and

inspiration to ensure that you have actionable insights that

you can put into place today. Hello, and welcome to another

episode of the science of selling stem today. I am so

excited to be interviewing Alexis Scott, how are you?

Alexis?

I'm good. Wesleyne How are you?

I'm doing leveling. Let me tell you guys a

little bit about Alexis. She is a well rounded sales leader with

a diverse background of industry experience, from hospitality to

technology. She has adapted and grown throughout her career, her

passion for building relationships, and dynamic

organizations and her experience building sales teams makes her a

powerhouse in the development of employer partnerships. So

hospitality to technology. Those are like oil and water. How did

you get started? And how did you transition to where you are

today?

Okay, so I got started on the golf course.

Actually, I was in college, and I saw an ad for a job to be a

beverage cart girl, which I know this is not the type of sales

you're thinking right? And this is the story has a point. But

basically, I took that job and I became friends with the food and

beverage director. And he saw my interest in the business side of

things. And so he's like, You know what, we really need a

catering sales manager. I want to train you. I think it'd be

amazing. And I'm like, Yeah, okay, that's great. So I ended

up they opened up a new clubhouse. And so it was like

the talk of the town. They had a big tournament there and

whatever. So business was booming. I was booking

essentially all the catering for the tournament's and special

events and things like that. And he basically told me like,

listen, you're doing a great job. But if you want to make

more money, you should get into hotels. And I thought, oh, okay,

that's interesting. I honestly, I had never even thought of

sales as a career to be quite brutally honest. And now it was

kind of falling into my lap. And so I started, you know, looking

into what it would be like to be a hotel sales manager, and I

ended up getting my first job, it was at the Marriott

Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. And my career just

kind of took off from there. But it was interesting. Like,

personally, I ended up moving to Silicon Valley. And you know, in

Silicon Valley, you're just obviously surrounded by

technology. And I always wanted to get into technology sales,

and I couldn't, and it was like banging my head on a door, you

know, no one would give me a chance. I didn't have tech sales

experience. It was very frustrating. And then I moved to

Idaho. And this is where the story gets a little bit funny

because you don't think of Idaho as a technology enabled location

per se, but Idaho is also not a hospitality hotspot. And so I

knew as I started researching potential job opportunities that

my hospitality career was effectively coming to an end,

there wasn't a lot of opportunity. The pay was

abysmal. And I needed to figure out what I wanted to do next.

And I had always thought digital marketing sounded really sexy.

So I ended up taking a job on the marketing team of a company

called the crazy coupon lady, which I don't know if anyone has

heard of them, but they are the largest coupon aggregate site in

America. I had used them I was super excited. And I thought,

Okay, this is great. I'm gonna try something new and something

different. It was not for me. It just was not, you know, it was

not for me, I'm sales is my heart. And so it just was very

interesting and kind of eye opening for me. But what it

allowed me to do was to build a network and establish some

relationships here in Idaho. And there was a company hiring,

they're like, hospitality meets technology. The company has both

factions. And so it was like, I found they're posting for Boise

tech week of all things. And I thought, oh my gosh, they're

having an open house. I need to get down there. And I wasn't

like truly looking looking for a job but I was curious. And so

when I got home from that experience of touring their HQ,

I looked online and I was like, Let's just see who they're

hiring for, you know, and I ended up reading what then

became my job description. And what they were looking for was

fascinating because they wanted customer service experience,

hospitality, sales experience, marketing experience, and I have

like a very odd resume, like it's not linear at all. And I'm

like, Oh my gosh, it's me on a piece of paper. That's crazy. So

I ended up taking that job. And the role evolved into me growing

a reservation sales team. That's not what I was hired for. I

ended up making a business case for that, and they accepted it.

And then COVID hit, and my entire team of 70 was gone. And

so yeah, this is where, you know, the story takes a turn, I

was unemployed for about six months. And I was trying to

figure out what I wanted to do. And I started realizing that I

was finding the most joy in helping people find new roles.

And so I didn't understand at the time, what that would look

like, for me in the future, I thought maybe I'll be a

recruiter, I don't know. And the company that I work for now a

sponsorship, ended up hiring some new folks on their team.

And so I actually applied to be a candidate experience

specialist, which essentially is like on the candidate side of

things, helping people prepare for interviews and get ready for

their new role. And when I had a conversation with one of the

founders, she said to me, we're just curious, why did you apply

for this role? That's not your background. And I said, I just

want to work with you. I just want to help people. And she's

like, love that. However, this is what we were thinking, you

have this amazing background in sales? And what if you worked on

our partnerships, and you helped us find amazing companies to

hire our graduates. And as someone who has lived that story

of consistently being turned down, because I didn't have a

specific experience, I was all over it. And so that's kind of

why I do what I do and how I got here and why I'm so passionate

about it.

Wow. Okay, we have a lot to unpack a lot. We

have a lot of facts here. But that's how I got here. Okay. So

the tip is that I pulled out from your story, the pieces that

I really like, and I guess I'll start at the end and circle

back. It's the fact that you saw this job, and it was like, This

is me, they are looking for exactly who I am a person who

has all of these different experiences. And if you

translate that all the way back to the beginning of your career,

we don't always realize why we're doing what we do. But it's

like, oh, if I could tell my younger self focus on this, or

put your all into this, and I really liked that there was

never a challenge that you didn't say, I'm going to do it.

Somebody said, hey, get into hospitality sales. He said,

Okay, sure. No problem. Yeah, not sure how you got to Idaho.

But you said, I'm moving to Idaho. And you know what, this

is what I do? Oh, let me figure out what to do. And then you

said, you wrote your own job description, right, as a

reservation salesperson. So my question for you is, that is

what I want to hone in on. How did you end up you went to this

company, they were looking for you this magical person that you

are, and you started, transitioned that job hired 70

People like talk to us about that?

Yeah. Okay. So the original job that I was hired

for was something that I had done in practice in a little bit

different ways. So I was hired to build partnerships with tour

operators and travel agents, the company is I'll just say the

name. It's called Bokassa. It's the largest vacation rental

property management company in America. And when you book

through them, you can either do it through a third party site,

you can do it directly, or, especially for overseas markets,

a lot of people book through travel agents, and tour

operators. And so they were looking for someone to come in

and manage those relationships and build them and negotiate

special rates, etc. And that's like, literally what I did for

hotels, pretty much. So I was like, Okay, I got this no

problem. But what I found was that they didn't have like a

true reservation sales team, meaning they had people doing

customer service. And if someone would call in and by chance

wanted to make a reservation, they would say, okay, sure, let

me take that reservation for you. But as a salesperson, and

someone who is revenue driven, I just couldn't believe it. I'm

like, How is this even possible in a company this size? And so

it turns out that the company had gone through some iterations

of what that look like. And at the time that I joined, there

just wasn't one. And so I brought this to the attention of

my boss. And he was like, Yeah, I know, kind of crazy, right?

And I'm like, yeah, so crazy. And he's like, so what do you

think we should do about it? And so luckily, I had built some

really strong relationships in my short time there at the time.

And I had a lot of support from others who had been at the

company longer, who had some insight into what would drive

the company to restart this initiative and to be enticed

into doing so. So I work together with some friends, I

guess you'd call them coworkers whenever I'm on a true business

plan. And ultimately, it's so funny, there was a leader there

when I was there. And what he always said was, I want you to

start things with what is the problem that you are trying to

solve for? Like, why are we even having this conversation? If

you're just throwing stuff out there, because it's an idea,

that's fine. But if you're not solving a problem, there's no

reason for us to push this through. So that's kind of how

this conversation blossomed. What was I trying to solve for

it? I was trying to solve for lost revenue because you don't

have any folks dedicated to bringing it in right now. And so

it It ended up getting approved a couple months later. And so I

remember I will never forget, I got a text message from my boss

and he said, you get an A team, you need to hire 10 people right

away, and I went, Oh, okay, here we go with, okay. And I was, I

mean, just like, I couldn't believe it, I really couldn't

believe they were listening to me, and that they believed in me

enough to give me this opportunity. And so hire 10

people. And then the company acquired a very large company.

And so what happened was the reservation sales teams of that

company, I inherited. Wow. So when I say like, literally

overnight, I mean, truly, within two months, I went from 10 to

70, and multiple managers underneath me, who I was now

responsible for. So it was figuring out onboarding,

training, you know, promoting people to managers, because we

had to manage all of these people, training managers, I

mean, it was an explosion. And on top of that, I was going to

these locations where the reservation sales teams were to

actually meet them. Because to me, as a leader, that's a huge

component, like I want them to understand who I am, and my

motivation to help them succeed, and how we're all going to

succeed together and remote is great, I will preach that till

the end of time. But once you can have that initial connection

with someone, even if it's once, and they understand that you're

genuine, and you want to help, it means the world, so was

kicking butt and all of that, and then COVID hit, and that's

where the story changes.

So, a lot of times, you know, as

entrepreneurs or people who are becoming entrepreneurs, one of

the things I say that salespeople make really good

entrepreneurs, because as a salesperson, you have to do

exactly what you said, you have to make a business plan, you

have to think about the risk, you have to pitch your idea,

right? And so really having that experience to do that. And then

the saying yes and hire 10 people, I need this company had

to that business plan you wrote must have been rock solid for

you to go from zero to 10, literally overnight. And then

instead of them saying, Okay, we're gonna have the person from

other company, manage everybody, because they have 60 people and

you know, you only have 10, like, you know, I mean, like, so

just that the faith that they had in you as a leader. So you

said, Hey, I inherited these people, I was thinking about

onboarding, and training and all of these bits and pieces. So how

did because a lot of times, that's what happens when you're

a sales leader, I always say you get dropped to the middle of the

ocean, it's like swim, Don't Drown swim, bring the fish with

you. What were some of the tips that you can give the audience

on how you were able to go from having just being yourself to 10

to 70? And keep everybody straight?

Well, you know, I think, interestingly, on a

personal level, one to 70 is a huge ratio, right? So the

ability to identify strong leaders to work alongside of me

was huge. I had some folks on my initial team that won I mean, I

promoted after like, three months, because she was taking

the initiative to train new people, and to come up with

materials and all of that. So understanding that it's not just

about you, and really your team is who's going to like fortify

what it is you're trying to do. And finding those that you trust

and can align with is huge. Can't do it all on your own.

That's a huge component. And the other thing was, and I'm going

to be really honest, I struggle with this and like not

micromanaging, especially when it's your baby, like I get it,

we all want to take ownership and want things to go perfectly

well and what have you. But the ability to trust others to do

what you hired them to do is incredibly important when you

have a large team. And I remember I will never forget

this conversation with one of my managers. We were very close.

She was like my right hand. And she's like, girl, you gotta let

us do our job. And it was one of those like, very frank

conversations. And to this day, I remember it of me sitting back

and going, you're right. And I'm sorry.

I mean, yeah, that's a powerful statement.

Because a lot of times as leaders we're doing right, we're

in the weeds. We don't let our people it's okay to let them

fail. And you're watching from the sidelines, you're like, oh,

no, I want to catch them. But you have to let them tumble. So

you can say okay, so now this is what we're gonna do. So it

doesn't happen again. And that's one of the best learning lessons

totally. So you built this amazing team, and then the

bottom fell out of the world. How was it when you really had

to sit across from your employees and deliver this news,

funny

that you mentioned? I remember a couple

of days prior. So basically, we went from 70 people focused on

making reservations to a cancellation center in a matter

of moments. It was insane. I mean, we were working 16 hours a

day. It was like overtime didn't matter anyone you could get to

handle these cancellations. Please have them work, including

myself. And one of them messaged me privately and said, Are we

going to get fired? And I said, Absolutely not. I said, look at

the work we're doing right now they need us, they 100% need us

who else is going to do this? They're overwhelmed. And I had

woken up the next morning and I sent a video message to my team

thanking them for all of their hard work. And just saying, I

still appreciate you like your heart and soul shows right now,

like everyone was stepping up to the plate. And a couple days

later, we got like an email from the company, basically saying,

like, you need to show up on a zoom call at x time. And we all

got massively fired, including my boss, who had given me the

opportunity, he didn't even know it was coming. So thankfully, I

didn't have to deliver the news. Thankfully, I wasn't a liar.

When I said, you know, like, I had no clue that this was

coming. It was very traumatic. Like, it was one of those

moments in my life that like I will

never forget, wow, I've heard this a lot. Even

you know, in 2022, like, employees getting let go of

resume, right. And I think as an employee, when you pour your

heart and soul into something, especially like, you guys are

working extra time overtime, right? 16 hours a day, not

seeing your family not like and Okay, yeah, we don't need you

anymore. And so it makes you feel almost like you're

indispensable, right, like, discarded you.

Yeah, I mean, that is very much how I felt, um, I

was hurt. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was scared because

not only was I dealing with job loss and unemployment, but there

was no opportunity at that time. I mean, the whole world was

shutting down. So it's not like now where you're like, Okay,

fine, zoom, fire me. I don't care. There's 100 other jobs.

I'll get one. You know, it was truly like, you know, what am I

going to do? It was very, very scary and even unemployment

like, Okay, well, you got unemployment. Well, at the time,

unemployment was so inundated with applications. You weren't

getting unemployment. You were in the line. You were on hole. I

remember I was on hold. This is a really funny story. I was on

hold for so long, and then it would hang up. I had my husband

on his phone. I was on my phone. And then I figured out I said,

You know what, kind of push the button for Spanish. I know

Spanish to get me by and I'm not kidding you. That day. I got my

unemployment.

Wow. And I know that the person who spoke

Spanish also spoke English, right? So

no, but she wanted to do it in Spanish like to

like, you know, she wanted to be fair, I'm sure. But I could tell

she was like, totally kind of laughing inside as I was

hobbling through. And then also she'd like, try to help me like,

if I didn't know understand the question quite right. She'd be

like asking you again, real slow. And then if I still didn't

get it, she'd be like, Okay, let me just ask you an English.

Girl,

I would appreciate you. That's what I

call a sales sales, right? Because thinking in the moment,

like only a salesperson be like, try something different. I mean,

the worst they can do is tell me no. That's all you can do. Slam

the phone in my face. Like no, go back into you. Okay, so you

had this time of soul searching? I mean, the world fell out. I

mean, march 2020, I lost 50 years of my contract. It was a

horrible time all over the world, right? And so you took

time. And during this time, you said, What do I want to be when

I grow up? Like, what do I really want to do? How did you

get to a place where you decided this is where my passion lies?

It was

not easy. So I was very fortunate in the sense that

I had a lot of people who wanted to help me. And they would ask

me, okay, what do you want to do? The problem lies within

myself, because I didn't have an answer. And everyone immediately

went to sales, right? Like, and I'm like, I don't want to do

sales. I'm so tired of sales. I don't want to sell anymore.

Girl. If you asked me today, I would still say that and I still

am so passionate about my job. So it's like this inner war with

myself because there's so much challenge that comes with sales,

but yet there's so much gratification and success and

like, I love what I do. So that's another story for a

different day. However, what I will tell you is I was applying

for I started out doing I think what most people do, which is

like, I'm going to apply to everything and see what hits and

it was not fruitful, of course. And then I started focusing on

roles that other people were referring me for not necessarily

like 100% in my wheelhouse, but like wheelhouse adjacent that I

thought I could do that. I could be happy doing that. That's

fine. And I would get to like the last round, and then I would

get not chosen I would get rejected but it was like weird

reasons like one company. They decided after three rounds of

interviews that I didn't have child development experience.

And so therefore they were not going to hire me and I'm like,

Hi friends. You knew this interview one reason for me like

why did we go through all of this another one The owner of a

company had approached me and said, Would you be interested? I

have this opportunity. I think it would be great. And I

thought, yeah, I mean, I'm super interested, because I want you

to meet my right hand. Perfect, okay, first interview, have a

conversation. And his feedback for me was that he felt I was

too managerial. And that this role would not be like, I don't

know how he phrased it, but the to managerial I'll never forget.

And I remember thinking to myself, Wow, that is a very

interesting comment. And what I wonder is if you feel that I am

too qualified for this job, and therefore you are not willing to

give me the opportunity, but at the time, that was the first one

I cried at, because it was like, just such an emotional like, Oh,

God, I can't even get a job. I'm overqualified. For now. Like,

this is crazy. So long story short, it was a process. And I

remember about four or five months in my husband being like,

Listen, what is the deal? Like? Are you going to take a job? And

I'm like, No, I said, I have made it this far. I am like,

gonna find my frickin dream job at this point. Because no, I am

not settling. And about that four to five month mark is where

I had started to make really incredible connections on

LinkedIn. I mean, I call it like my COVID. Crew, we are still

friends, we still talk quite often. And these are people who

lost their jobs, successful people who had lost their jobs,

and were navigating this same process with me. And so people

were starting to slowly get hired, it was like, okay, things

are coming back. And I had joined a sales committee, I'm

huge on community, like online communities can change your

life. And I mean that, and I will swear up and down by that,

who you know, will change your life. And it doesn't need to

just be in person. So with that aside, but I had joined a sales

community. And I had started interacting with some folks from

Aspire ship, the company that I work for now on LinkedIn. And

like I told you, at the beginning, when I saw that they

were hiring, I just thought, wow, like, this is the

intersection of everything that I love, I love I remember my

first conversation with Cory, the founder, the last thing I

said to him was, Wow, you have found a way to help people and

make money. I love that. And so that's just how I perceived it.

It was like, I could still help people and do what I was

passionate about. But I could also take my career skills and

what I was good at. And it was this crazy intersection of the

two. And I just thought this is like the universe talking to me.

They literally created my job for me, it was never posted.

They just wow, me. And it was like we work together on my job

title. We work together on my job description. We work

together on my salary. And let me tell you salary was a huge

hot topic over COVID I was fighting to get peanuts, you

know? And they were like, no, we want to pay you what you were

like, Let's talk about this. Let's find your numbers. It was

just such a night and day experience to all of the

heartbreak that I had been experiencing in the six months

prior that I just like, knew this was the right thing for me.

Hmm. You know, I think that really when we set

our intentions, right, we talked to people, we put it out into

the universe, we let people know, this is what I want to do.

This is what I'm doing. It seems like the stars just become

aligned. I want to drill down a little deeper into something

that you mentioned the tug of war of sales, that internals of

a war that we all have. I don't want to be in sales. Yeah, I

like sales. I don't want to do this. Talk to me about those

things that you may still feel or have felt in the past? And

how do you work through those things.

It's the highest of highs and the lowest of lows

and sales. You know, at one minute, all those contracts are

coming in. I'll give you an example. Last month, I had a lot

of conversations, a ton of conversations. And I was so

frustrated because these dang contracts, were not coming back.

And it's February 2, and it's what my boss calls it the

contractor lanch. She's like, Man, she's coming because I'm

like, Oh, my God, they're signing, they're all signing

this is great, you know. And so that frustration that you can't

control to a certain degree. I mean, you can control what you

put in, right, but you can't control other people. And

unfortunately, in sales, it's like the 31st versus the first

means something to them, it might not mean something, but to

you as a salesperson, it means something right? And so that's

hard, that's hard to tackle emotionally. There are days

where I'm like, I'm horrible at this, I suck at this. And then

there are other days where I'm like, okay, you know who you're

talking to, you know, it just totally depends. And it's such a

mindset game. It really is. So understanding that you know,

your your sales numbers doesn't make who you are, it doesn't

define your skill set. All of those things are super important

as you embark on a sales career because like I said, you will

have the highest of highs and you will have the lowest of lows

and it doesn't change who you are as a person doesn't change

how like strong of a salesperson you are like, it just is what it

is. And for me, I always struggle like probably my

biggest struggle is I am a multi passionate individual. This is a

new term that I just learned. And I'm so excited about it

because it took me so long to articulate what I mean by this.

I love a lot of things. And I can do a lot of things and I can

be passionate about a lot of things. And so the ability to

identify what is most important to me or my why and how I can

take what I'm good at and apply it to that has kind of been an

adult lifelong challenge. And what I am finding is that no

matter how far away I try to get from sales, I always come back

to it. So there is something inherent about me that I don't

know if it's because I'm, quote unquote good at it. I don't know

if it's because I'm good at people and relationships,

communication. I mean, if you think of all of the soft skills

that it takes to be really good at sales, I have a lot of those.

And so at some point, you just got to stop fighting it just

right. One of the jobs that you had that you

you hated. It's funny, because you talked about the crazy

coupon lady. And at one time in my life, I was a crazy coupon

lady. I was actually I was one of those people who had the

binders. This is when the show was I wasn't that crazy. But

like I had my binder and I was like, I was like, focused on it.

Right. And that was when I really realized you're a really

good negotiator because I went in with vague like I was, I had

this thought, and I was not in sales. At that time, I was

actually a chemist working in the lab. And I was like,

everything is negotiable. Even if you go and try to buy a TV,

you can get something off, right? And so when you talk

about having that tug of war within yourself, it's like, ah,

but that was like years before I even stepped foot into sales,

right? And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, I'm gonna go up in

the ranks. I'm gonna be a supervisor in the lab, I'm gonna

be the chief chemist, this is what I'm gonna do. And it's

like, you fight those things that you're so good at. And one

thing that I tell emerging sales people, especially the new ones

coming in, the thing that people tell you is annoying. Or that

irritates them to your their core. That's what's gonna make

you good at sales. The gift of gab, if it's pushing the

envelope, if it's like my seven year old is like he questions to

the nth degree. He's like, Well, why mommy? But why, but why? I'm

like, Oh, my gosh, you would be a really good salesperson,

because you ask so many questions, right? And you get

deep, you know what I mean? And so I think that tug of war that

we have within ourselves, a lot of times, we just have to lean

into it. You know what I mean? And say, this is just who I am?

Well, totally. And the other thing, too, it's funny, I had a

conversation with a potential partner yesterday. And he was

talking about the personalities of Aspire ship graduates. And I

said, first of all, we don't have a typical personality

profile, like, everyone is so different. And that's just life.

That's any sales team anywhere. Nobody's

all the same. I mean, that's just not normal.

But anyway, his question was, is everyone extroverted? And

everyone like, you know, kind of that pushy salesperson. And I

said, actually, what we teach is the opposite. We teach them to

ask questions, and to understand their buyer. The point is not to

push a product, the point is to solve a problem, but how do you

know someone's problems if you're not asking the right

questions? And so it's this trickle down effect of being a

great question asker and a great listener. And if you can do

those really well and connect with people, that is what I

believe will make you a great salesperson, you know, really

understanding your buyers and what is motivating them and

driving them and what they're trying to solve for. You can

make a sale all day long. If you're like, hey, you know that

broken foot, I got a cast for you. You want it?

It is I mean, and the thing is, is I am like

you it's the opposite of what people think. And a lot of

people think about oh, sales, it's like the used car

salesperson following you around a lot. And it's pushy. But some

of the best salespeople I know are introverts. They don't talk

that much. They question they ask, they really try to get to

the root of the problem. But then you have those extroverts

who they're so bubbly that they keep the conversation going. And

so there, you're right, there's not a one size fits all. So what

do you guys do at Aspire shift? You mentioned you know, the your

graduates tell us more about that.

So Aspire ship is an on demand, SAS sales training

platform. So we train anyone interested in learning software

sales, essentially. And it is a full cycle course. So we're

teaching you sales methodology and the sales process. And if

you are able to prove competency through a final assessment, we

will actually help you get hired for free, all of it for free. So

literally anyone interested in getting into software sales, I

can't not recommend it. It costs you nothing like you have

everything to gain, nothing to lose. And it's just an

incredible program. So what I actually do as I find companies

who are interested in hiring for potential, like this is where I

see myself as the piece of the puzzle without me doing my

sales, my hard work, there's no jobs to be had. And my number

one thing is I really want to help people transition into

these careers and especially those who have said this is my

biggest thing is like when companies say must be SAS

experience, I get so frustrated because that was me and you can

do the work. There's a methodology and I told I agree

that yes, it should be learned to be successful. But just

because you haven't learned it already doesn't mean you can't.

And these are people who are willing and able to put in the

work with no guarantee. What does that say about them? When

they join your team? How are they going to treat this job,

they're going to put in the work.

And the thing is, it's crazy to me, because

when I got into sales, so many years ago, that was the thing,

you can't get a sales job with no sales experience. And there

was a company that was like, We don't want salespeople, we want

chemists, we want engineers. And so that is how I got my first

sales job. But so many years later, companies are still

telling you the same thing. Like I work with them. And they're

like, but they have to do this, this, this and that I'm like, so

listen, here's the thing. If your product is as good as you

think it is, you can teach them the product, you need somebody

who has solid sales skills, some of the best salespeople I have

gotten come from cross industries, and I tell these

companies stop hiring your competitors rejects. Because

that's all you're doing. You're hiring your competitors rejects

when you say they must have this experience, why not open your

eyes a little bit?

No, I completely agree. And what I tell people

is, Listen, I'm going to find you, the people, you can't find

yourself, because you're not looking for him.

Exactly. You're looking for the wrong things.

They're looking for the absolute wrong things. So you have had

such a diverse career, I mean, all the way from the greens, to

helping graduates find jobs in SAS sales, what is one thing

throughout your life throughout your career that you're really

proud of accomplishing?

I would say probably my landing my job at

Aspire ship, simply because I was coming from like one of the

darkest places emotionally and professionally, of just feeling

like the rug had been ripped out from under me. I mean, when I

was at the cost, I thought this is it. I am climbing the ladder,

I'm doing the things I'm going to do this at the other and it

was like, Oh, actually, no, you're not. And so that was very

hard to process emotionally, and to go from feeling like garbage,

you know, just thrown out at the first sign of trouble to feeling

like a treasure that they had uncovered, and that they were so

excited about working with me that they would create an

opportunity to work with me. Like that felt incredible. You

know, it was very touching to me, and I'll remember it

forever, huh?

Yes, someone took a chance on you. Right? And

they took you out of that dark place. Because a lot of times

when we're down in those deep depths, it's hard to pull

ourselves up and getting some of that external validation. Like,

yes, Alexis, you are just as amazing and awesome as you were

the year before the company came in and said wish or the world

just went to a caboose. Right. And so knowing that this is

something that I love to say that your company's insides

matches outside, like the external thing that you guys are

doing helping people get jobs and fast sale, but knowing that

they're practicing what they preach, helping people get into

this industry within their company and actually co creating

this job for you. I think that that is amazing. And your CEO,

hopefully, they're listening. They definitely hats off. Hats

off.

Yeah, well, it's funny, I some of my former co

I'm still friends with very many of my former co workers. And at

the beginning, when I first took this job, I don't know, maybe

three, four or five, six months in, they follow me on LinkedIn.

And so they see all my posts, and they text me, okay, tell us

the truth. Do you really love your job as much? It's true. And

I know it's very hard for some people to understand how you can

be so connected to your work your mission, your co workers,

you know, be really passionate about what you do, and express

that authentically. I think sometimes people are like, like,

just like them, like, Come on, tell me the real story, what's

going on over there. But really, everything that I share is 100%

true, my feelings, my thoughts, my emotions about how it is we

do what we do and my relationships with those that I

work with both internally and externally. And my goal is to be

honest, and to portray a truly honest situation to give people

hope. That's one of the biggest reasons that I post so much on

LinkedIn is because even though you know, some people seem like

they have everything together, no one does. I don't care who

you are, I don't care how long you've been doing this. We have

all struggled at some point and are potentially struggling now

you just don't know it. And so if I can tell my story, if I can

share insights and connect people that's a huge thing for

me. I love connecting people I posted about that today. I will

do whatever I can to help those around me be successful in their

own right and those who want to get started. Yes, like let's do

it. I will help you however I can.

I love it. I love it. I love it so much so

much. I really thank you for your candor and saying you know

this, this is the real deal. This is really what happens in

Sales and when you're laid off, let go and when you have to

literally kind of say step back, and what do I want to be when I

grow up? What is my next step going to be? Right? And so thank

you so much. And I know you're a big LinkedIn person. Is that the

best way for people to get connected with you if they want

to chat?

Yes. If anyone is curious, anyone wants to chat

please find me on LinkedIn. Alexis Scott, if you type in my

handle, it's Alexis J. Scott. And but I work at Aspire ship.

Picture me with big smile. I'm happy person. Come say hi.

Awesome. Awesome. So thank you so much,

Alexis, for sharing your time, your story, your energy and your

expertise with us. We truly appreciate it.

Thank you so much for having me. Wesleyne This has

been amazing. And I look forward to connecting with your folks

and chatting. Anyone who wants to talk sales again. Say hi.

Awesome. That was a another episode of the

science of selling stem podcast. Thank you so much for being

loyal listeners. I truly appreciate it. Keep those

comments coming in and those questions rolling and remember

and everything that you do transform your sales. Until next

time.

Thank you for joining us today on the snack sized sales

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