Teila Evans on Why Flockjay: 1:1 with Flockjay’s Expert Network
Teila is the Head of Alliances at Envoy. In this blog, she discusses her selling style, how sales is a universal skill that can be learned, and why she decided to lecture at Flockjay.
By Yemi Olorunwunmi
What drew you to Flockjay?
There are two ways to think about diversity and equity and inclusion in tech. One way is pre-hire: what’s the process for diverse candidates to be reviewed in the hiring pipeline? How does a company make sure they remove bias from the interview process? There are many tools and strategies to try and make this successful, but what happens when people are actually hired from diverse backgrounds? Do people feel safe and included when they are brought in?
The area that isn’t very addressed, except in engineering, is how do we provide access to resources from people in underrepresented communities that in many other cases wouldn’t have been able to learn the skills and science portion of sales. Most people already know the art of sales: they know how to hustle and how to sell their dream and stay afloat. There’s so much of that art that is already in people, but Flockjay is teaching the science portion. Flockjay refines skills and gives education to people who may not have been able to access professional opportunities.
What would you say to someone considering a career in sales?
Selling is an ability we naturally already have, so it’s up to us to decide how much we want to invest in that resource.
In my previous job, I worked in the customer service industry. Actually, I’ve been in customer service for most of my life, from 16 to 23. I was talking with people, hearing them, making eye contact. There’s a lot of ways we’ve been subtly exposed to sales. For example school — when you’re working in group projects and you have to find your voice to when you advocate for something while also bringing people together. It’s not that you’re working on a sales skill all of a sudden, you’ve always had it.
I’d been working in education previously and just wondered if I was hip and cool enough to be in a tech company. I knew I could relate to people, but what I realized was that I could learn the science part of sales. You may not know sales acronyms and protocols when you’re born, but it is learnable.
Do you have a selling style?
Well, there are so many different kinds! Need-oriented selling, or product oriented, or competition oriented. I think about my selling style as consultative. It’s my job to be a consultant. It’s my job to really hear what someone is trying to do and then articulate how our product can or can not do what they want. A customer sets the expectation, and I make a recommendation. The last thing a salesperson should do is have someone commit to buy their product that doesn’t meet their needs.
What do you wish you’d known sooner?
The same thing that makes you a great Account Development Representative will not make you a great Account Executive.
People should reflect on what the goal of their job is and know that they do not have to reinvent the wheel each time. People have done this before, so you can crowdsource the best practices. When people make the decision to move into a tech tole, there are some skills that will help them, but there are others they need to let go of to make space for new skills. In each stage and each role, you have to pivot.
Reflect on all the things that helped you get to that point and what will be beneficial for you, then consider what you have to let go of and prioritize for your new role. Have a moment of reflection in each of the transitionary phases of your career so you can circumvent the skills that will slow you down.
Any advice for those making a professional transition?
Ask yourself what you need out of your job to make you happy. There’s no written rule that says you have to go from an inbound role to outbound or that you need to be a manager. Find the job that feels right for you. Take a leap of faith. If you’re going to gamble, why not on yourself? Know yourself and your capacity to do things. The moments of growth happen when you jump. You may be at step two but, say yes to step five and figure out all of the remaining things on the way.
Final thoughts to current Flockjays?
You don’t need permission and you don’t need validation to break into tech. You also don’t have to know everything. Give yourself permission. You validate yourself through the experiences you’ve had. There is no experience that is invalid. We need more representation and everyone around the table. You can do it. Don’t be scared. You are not alone. You are deserving of an opportunity to transform your life. There is something to be gained that shouldn’t just be accessible to one type of person. Why not you?
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If you want to launch your own career in tech, submit an application. (app.flockjay.com)
