In this interview, I talked with Mandy Bynum McLaughlin, Director of Sales Development – Enterprise and Commercial at New Relic. Mandy also serves as Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at her company.
For those women just starting out in sales or for those women who’ve not considered a career in selling, I started off by asking Mandy how she got started in a career in sales.
Other questions we tackled:
Being a woman of color in sales – have there been specific challenges that you’ve faced? What about the opportunities?
You are a sales manager, Mandy. How would you describe your management style? What is unique about it?
You’ve worked with many different types of Salespeople (Account Executives) – what are the characteristics/habits of a great Account Exec, and what are key indicators that someone isn’t ready to be successful in their sales role?
Often the next step for a salesperson is management – or at least they think that is the next step. What does it take to make the transition from individual contributor to sales manager?
I’m a big fan of learn to earn. I believe that learning never stops. Learning/research is also a critical element to selling in that we should never go into a sales meeting or get on a sales call without having learned about them, their company, their industry, competitors, etc.
I asked Mandy if she believes in the importance of research. Second, I asked Mandy what kind of research or outside resources she has used throughout her career.
Another insight packed interview, which I encourage you to listen to and enjoy!
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About Mandy
Mandy Bynum McLaughlin. Mandy began her career as an Account Executive at Clear Channel Radio, using the phone book to prospect. Fast forward 10 years, 2 startups, and many different sales teams later, Mandy now runs New Relic’s Sales Development organization for North America.
Her greatest passion thus far in her career, is around empowering women and people of color and other marginalized groups in the workplace so that we in the Bay Area and throughout the greater corporate society can become more inclusive and end marginalization, and has been lucky enough to work for companies that share the same passion.
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She is the founder of Unbound Growth, a scientific sales development firm that eliminates the guesswork of hiring the right salespeople and develops sales teams using a science-based data and driven process that has helped salespeople to achieve 130-160% of quota in less than 6 months with a 98% annual customer retention rate.
