Bandalier is pleased to introduce Ed Porter! Ed recently joined our advisory board to help us navigate our recent growth, and we wanted to take some time to talk about his journey.
Ed got his start in the outsourced contact center space during college. His experience was very much “sink or swim”, with little by way of training or guidance offered by his managers. After graduating, Ed focused on his education and professional development, building up his leadership skills in his free time. His hard work paid off and he quickly rose into a leadership position. By the time he was 26, he was overseeing more than a thousand employees across multiple locations.
Ed quickly realized that a “people first management philosophy” was key to his team’s success. Rather than embrace the closed-door policy of his past managers, Ed took the time to build relationships with his employees and coach them towards success. His teams continually delivered stellar results, and over the course of 20 years, helped shift a software company’s revenue from direct to channel, built an inside sales organization from the ground up amassing over $40 million in recurring revenue, and helped lead an organization to acquisition as the Chief Revenue Officer. Currently, he helps organizations as a fractional Chief Revenue Officer align marketing, sales, and customer success to help drive strategic growth.
“A lot of folks think about training and development as something that’s given, not taken. I think of salespeople more like athletes. You don’t just play when you’re required – you do other little things to build up your chances for success. Athletes go for runs, do stretches, lift weights; salespeople read, study, and share their education outside of the workplace.”
With decades of sales experience and education under his belt, Ed sought out more opportunities to share his passion for professional education. He found it with the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP). Ed initially discovered the AA-ISP while building up his own knowledge base, and opted to give back to the community by re-founding the Columbus chapter to support and connect local salespeople. Thanks to Ed’s efforts to build amazing content and bring in amazing speakers, they won “Chapter of the Year” several times. Ed also received awards from his peers for Excellence in Execution and Executive of the Year. Five years after kickstarting the chapter, Ed still leads it.
“The AA-ISP is a wonderful association. I’m glad to be a part of it, and I always will be.”
Ed’s dedication to professional improvement doesn’t stop with general education. Throughout his career, he noticed the gender disparity within the sales field, especially when it came to leadership positions. When Lauren Bailey, of Factor8 and the Phoenix chapter of the AA-ISP, founded #GirlsClub to help women excel in the sales profession, Ed joined the program as a mentor. Over the last three seasons of the program, Ed has worked with protegees to guide them toward success. Thanks to Lauren’s leadership and the efforts of mentors like Ed, this year’s program includes 400 people from 13 different countries!
With so much experience under his belt, Ed decided it was time to go solo, and offer his expertise as an independent business consultant. He wanted to share his success with as many teams as he could – and with Bandalier’s focus on internal training, he knew it would be a good fit. Ed has known of our company for a long time. He met Jeremy before our Binghamton location was established, and the two re-connected with the advent of our Talent as a Service program.
“The community that Jeremy is building is phenomenal. There’s evidence that these communities exist and thrive. There’s only one question – how can we differentiate value?”
We’re looking forward to finding out! We’re excited to continue growing with Ed. If you want to hear about Bandalier’s growth, you can follow us here and on social media. If you want to be part of our growing outsourced inside sales team, head over to our website to apply!
If you’re interested in connecting with Ed, the AA-ISP, or the Girls’ Club, you can visit their websites and LinkedIn pages to learn more.
