I help organizations create modern learning strategies for their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Stories of Selling Human

Sometimes in your life it feels like you lose everything.  

Like the year I was laid off.  Interviews pushed from COVID 19,  But then the real bomb hit,

My Dad got diagnosed Leukemia.

Just 5 months later, unfortunately my Dad passed away.  Despite losing so much, I'll never lose what my Dad taught me about life.  Things like selflessness, a relentless work ethic, and a thirst for knowledge.

His best lesson was how to create genuine connections with everyone in your life.  I've taken that approach to sales my whole life.  I’m still the 8 yr old kid who loved meeting people so much that he went door to door selling Ham and Cheese out of a catalog.

I got genuine connections out of it and the Sony Boombox I won wasn’t half bad either!

Highlights from 15 years in professional sales:

🔥 I launched a new team where I successfully recruited financial producers for a firm owned by Fran Tarkenton, Hall of Fame QB.

🔥I was named the top sales rep in an office of over 50 media sales people.  Judged not just by sales attainment but also by activity.

🔥At Monster, I sold the biggest partnership contract in the history of our team. $300k ARR, 3 year deal. 

What am I most proud of professionally?

A 15 minute meeting.  I drove 3 hours to Chicago to meet a client I’ve never met in person.  For 15 mins to say hi and drive back.  It wasn’t to close a deal.  It was just a Tuesday. 

Those “Just Tuesday” moments are why I love this gig.

I’ve had success in my career because I genuinely seek to understand people. 

An understanding strategy IS my sales strategy.

My relentlessness isn’t driven by my product or a sales number. I'm motivated by digging deeper to discover the “un-discovered” problem.   Sales is something that happens for and with your buyer not to them.  You're a guide on a discovery together with the intention to help and add value.  ALWAYS.

The best feeling in sales isn’t ringing a bell, (even though that’s always fun). 

The real joy is in being told three simple words.

“I trust you.” 

That’s what really lights me up and what I'm going for.

Finally, my approach in sales is guided by attuning yourself to what someone’s entire world is like, actively listening without any agenda, being genuine, and putting them first.

I call these things, “Selling Human”.  I practice it daily.  I think we can all do it.

I choose to study it.

If you want to learn it with me, listen to my podcast:  Sell By Being Human 
(wherever you get your podcasts)

AND for more,

Follow #sellbybeinghuman

Alex Smith

It’s Wednesday, and instead of putting out a podcast episode, I’m putting out a shout out.

Shout out to my friend Jen Mueller.

I get reached out to by lots of people to be on the Sell By Being Human Podcast  

But I was absolutely giddy when Jen’s team reached out to me to have her on.

Jen is a long time sports reporter in Seattle.

She’s covered the Mariners, Seahawks and many of the famous teams and events in that region for years.

And if that’s not enough, she has an awesome cooking show and is an engaging keynote speaker.

I always say we all can sell things through the lens of human connection.

Jen sells the value of spending time with her to the players on the team.

She’s not just asking questions.

She’s building relationships.

It’s how she sees the players that gets them to want to tell her things most reporters don’t hear.

Take a listen to how she does that effectively in our episode below. 👇 

So it meant so much for me to see this pic this morning of her on the team plane with the Superbowl trophy!

Congrats Jen.  🏆. 

You are the Champion!

#sellbybeinghuman

I help organizations make learning enjoyable across their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Sell By Being Human

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I’m getting on a plane to see my mom this week but I also need your help.

Hoping someone out there has worked with a parent that is searching for assisted living or memory care.

This week we’ll be looking at some places and its a whole journey I’ve bever been a part of before.

So always good to find people that have travelled that same journey.

I also know its big to shout out birthdays on Linkedin recently so shouting out my Mom for turning 79 this past week!

79 has brought a lot of joy and tough realizations.

She’s the same age as my Dad was when he passed away 6 yrs ago.

As your parents age you start counting experiences you’ll have with them in person on your hands.

Trying to squeeze in more time because you know it’s finite.

I always hear people say, 
I’m not ready for my parents to get there.

But its not about being ready.

You’ll never be ready.

Its about being present.

So value the time you have before it’s too late.

Lucky that we have this week and hopefully more weeks in our future to be present.

Presence is the present at 79.  😊

She wasn’t trying for the Gold.

But she got it.

I love a good comeback story and what it can teach us all.

A skater that won world championships as a 16 year old in 2019.

Her whole life was skating.

Pressure.

But she said she didn’t have the time to know herself so she left the sport.

She found joy on a ski trip.

Instead of chasing medals.
She chased joy.

The medal was a residual of joy.

In practice rounds where others were thinking over every jump.

She was taking pictures on the ice.

So it’s no wonder she skated flawlessly.

Alyssa Liu teaches us all.

Find joy first.

Your goals will follow.

#teamusa #olympics

Hey, I know that guy on the TV!  Props to Keenan for an awesome move this weekend.

Jim Keenan aka Keenan . has been a huge mentor to me from afar with his book Gap Selling.

Excited for his coming book Gap Prospecting.

Anyone who wants to know the essence of sales, I always direct them to his book.

Sales is about finding problems worth solving and he outlines it perfectly in this book.

For Christmas this year, he surprised his family with a trip to The Olympics.

To make it even sweeter, one of his daughters is in serious competition to be an athlete there one day in moguls.

Dual moguls is wild, a race to the finish with tricks in between.

I love it bc you can fall but still win with the difficulty of your tricks.

Congrats to all the medalists but especially Elizabeth Lemley who go on the podium with bronze after a tough fall.

And props to the entire Keenan clan cheering them on.

And also, like your sales skills, your sign game is on another level.

#teamusa #olympics

Today, I'm posting the last episode of my podcast.  Well sort of.  The last episode before a new look.

I've always thought that everyone in the world is in sales.
But the only ones that admit it are those with it in their job description.

So I set out to find people in every profession.
That sell things through the lens of human connection

Nurses
Magicians
Parents
Teachers
Entrepeneurs
Speakers
Marketers
HR Leaders
Learning Professionals

I've interviewed them all.

And some themes emerge when I ask people:

What does it mean to you to Sell By Being Human?

To Be Curious
To Align Yourself
To Care About The Person
To Find Value
To Listen
To Solve Problems

My 153'rd episode is with Amos Balongo.

Amos moved from Africa to America when he was a boy.
Learned English and how to make an impact through relationships.

He's now a keynote speaker and executive communications coach.

Unlikely road, maybe.  But not when you meet him.

I love his approach to speaking below.

There's a difference between:

Speaking At People
Speaking To People
And Speaking Into People

Can't wait for you to see a new look.  

More on this coming!

This year, I'm going hard into this.
Maybe it doesn't grow.  Maybe it does.
Or maybe it's a foundation for something else.

Either way, look to see more as I dig into even more professions that you never thought were in sales but are.  

And contrast them with professional sellers.

And help everyone unlock the human side of sales in your own work.

#sales #sellbybeinghuman

Electric Kite

I lead a team of in-house and consultant content strategists and content producers to produce best-in-class written and multimedia content and data-backed, user-oriented, story-driven content strategies to create authentic, enduring connections between clients and their audiences.

Our team works with clients to help them clarify and establish their key differentiators and create and hone messaging and supporting content to engage their target audiences. 

Create and implement frameworks and processes that guide and upskill junior team members and ensure consistently top-level content production and client presentations.

Build and manage a bench of talented writers, videographers, SEO specialists, social media managers, and content strategists.

Champion the role and purpose of authentically created, editorially driven, user-first content within and outside of the agency.

Direct production of all content supporting agency initiatives including editorial content, social media, and premium content, supporting team members across the agency to use the brand content platforms as well as their own to elevate their voices and share their insights.

Serve as Editorial Director for Volt (voltedu.com), eCity's editorially independent, fast-growing digital magazine covering higher ed marketing and leadership.

Senior Director of Brand Communications and Content Strategy

Oversee editorial strategy and operations for Electric Kite's editorially independent digital magazine covering higher ed marketing, communications and leadership.

Define and direct editorial strategy and objectives, managing a small-but-mighty editorial team to grow an editorial product across platforms.

Editorial Director, Volt

Leading content strategy and editorial operations for one of Philly's leading digital agencies and it's wide array of clients. 

Also managing editorial strategy and production of Volt (voltedu.com), eCity's digital magazine for higher-ed marketers.

Director of Content

Freelance Self-Employed

Work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Fatherly, The Washington Post, Time Out New York, Men's Journal and other digital and print publications.

Freelance Writer

Johnson & Johnson

Led content strategy and editorial development for J&J's umbrella consumer brand, Healthy Essentials. Built a branded content hub from scratch, managing a core team of freelancers, influencers and agency partners to create content that engages a wide variety of specific audiences, from new moms and beauty shoppers to allergy sufferers and caregivers for the elderly. By curating and tailoring the content to email, social media and paid and organic search, delivered results that consistently beat campaign goals and industry benchmarks.

Content Manager

NBC Sports Group

Sochi Olympics: Produced homepage of NBCOlympics.com, created featured content packages, managed livestream events, wrote original content.

Producer, NBC Olympics

London Olympics: Produced branded editorial content pages for sponsors including Coca-Cola, AT&T and BMW. Also wrote regularly for Olympic Talk, the NBC Olympics blog.  

Editor, NBC Olympics

EH Publishing

Managed editorial processes for Commercial Integrator and CE Pro magazines. Also produced, shot and edited original web video content for both websites.

Managing Editor

Managed two sites covering emerging technologies in schools; responsible for all video content across those and four other sister sites.

Content & Video Editor

K24 TV, Nairobi

Produced, filmed and edited feature-length news stories for national broadcast at Nairobi's K24 TV.

Producer/Videographer

WTTW/Chicago PBS

Newton N. Minow Fellow, "Chicago Tonight"

Potomac Almanac

Covered schools, politics, parks, business and anything else newsworthy that happened in this suburb of Washington, D.C. Wrote features, breaking news and profiles, and won 5 MDDC Press Association awards in 2009.
http://www.mddcpress.com/images/pdf/CONTEST-Edit09-F.pdf

Community Reporter

I help brands find their voice and articulate their value.

Communications strategies are incomplete without content strategies, and vice versa. I help brands create and activate each and align them with one another to drive maximum impact.

Then I help them activate those plans through multi-channel editorial production built on strategic insights, fitted to meet their real production capabilities and powered by SME-backed, creative content that users actually want to spend time with.

Areas of Expertise: 
Content Strategy | Communications | Social Media | Writing & Editing | Copywriting | Journalism
Video Production | Audience Research | SEO | Content Marketing | Digital Marketing

I am also a freelance writer and reporter whose work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Fatherly, The Washington Post and other national and local outlets.

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