Scott Upham is a current team member at Bandalier who after 4 months at Bandalier is moving in-house to his client, Sales Boomerang! Below he details why he ended up pursuing Bandalier, what he’s gained from his time with us, and tells us more about his new job at Sales Boomerang!
What were you doing prior to Bandalier and what motivated you to start looking for a new opportunity?
Prior to Bandalier, I was working as a housing retention specialist. I was unhappy in my role and my nerves were completely shot. I had been waking up every morning with severe anxiety and nausea from my current job and I knew something had to change for my mental health.
What made you choose Bandalier specifically?
When I came across Bandalier on the internet, I was actually really skeptical. Sales and cold calling often don’t have the best stereotypes associated with them and I didn’t think it was for me. For one, I had never done it before and honestly, I was convinced I probably couldn’t. That being said, I was at a crossroads, and knew I needed a change.
So, after looking through Bandalier’s website, I decided to take a chance and put in my application. Long story short, I interviewed soon after, and was given an offer to come onboard shortly after that. It felt right, so I took the jump and couldn’t be happier with how it paid off.
Describe what your Bandalier training experience was like:
From day one, I knew something was different. The training, the support, and the culture gave me confidence and I started to realize after a couple of weeks that despite never selling anything in my life, maybe I really can do this! After a while, I was paired up with a wonderful client and I scheduled my first meeting. I was absolutely ecstatic. Bandalier’s training had taken a complete novice and turned him into, well, still a novice, but one who could sell! As of this writing, I am happy, fulfilled, and honestly get up and look forward to doing my job every day.
How have you grown while at Bandalier?
When I first started with the company, I had never sold anything in my life, and I really lacked a lot of confidence in my sales abilities as a result. The kaizen culture that Bandalier embraces is centered around personal and team growth or “continuous improvement.” From the moment I started here, this kaizen process began with thorough training, feedback, and constant encouragement from team members and mentors.
As my time with Bandalier progressed, I learned, to my pleasant surprise, that I wasn’t “selling” people. I was developing relationships with them and helping them meet a need. If they didn’t want the need met, they moved on. Bandalier isn’t about trickery or slick sales tactics. It is genuinely about meeting people where they’re at and helping them solve a problem that is costing them time and money.
As I embraced this culture, I became more confident in conversations and responding to common objections. I am truly thankful that Bandalier was always available for me and only augmented my client’s training efforts as I continued to grow.
What does a typical day look like for you as an SDR?
I do sales development work for my client, Sales Boomerang, which is centered around building prospect relationships and filling a need within the banking and mortgage industries. This involves making cold calls, sending emails, reaching out to prospects on LinkedIn all with the goal of trying to determine if our solution could be a good fit for them. My end goal is to schedule interested and qualified prospects in for a meeting with my client to learn more about Sales Boomerang.
Congrats on moving in-house to work as an SDR with your client, Sales Boomerang! In a few sentences, what does Sales Boomerang do?
Sales Boomerang offers customizable, real-time alerts that tell our clients when one of their customers is ready for a loan, shopping for a loan with a competitor, has a major life event, etc. This intelligence provides a major advantage for those looking to improve their retention rate and, as a result, generate new and sustainable business.
Who do you think Bandalier would be a good fit for?
I think there are a lot of people out there who may be in similar points in their career to where I was a handful of months ago. Unhappy in their current role, seeking a career change, but skeptical of the options out there and unsure of what’s attainable for them regardless. People may read this and say it sounds nice, but I doubt it could work out that well for me. The best advice I can give those people is talk to me or anybody else who is at or has worked for Bandalier because you can do this. Bandalier will show you how, all you have to do is be willing to learn and put in the work. You don’t have to be a sales expert. You don’t have to be an expert on any one product. You just have to have a dream, a bit of confidence, and a willingness to learn.
