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Meet Zoe – National Sales Manager at Barn2Door!
798 Plays2 years ago
In this week’s episode, we are joined by Zoe, the National Sales Manager here at Barn2Door. We’re thrilled to chat with her about her career growth and what it means to serve Farmers across the country.
If you are interested in joining Barn2Door, we encourage you to visit our careers page at barn2door.com/careers
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Transcript
Introduction to Direct Farm Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Direct Farm podcast. The go-to resource for farms across the US looking to grow and manage their business. Tune in weekly to hear tips and tactics from our most successful farmers on how to increase sales, access more customers, and save time and money. We'll also speak with industry experts, business leaders, and partners to share the latest farm business trends selling direct to market. Welcome to the Direct Farm podcast.
Meet James and Zoe
00:00:29
Speaker
My name is James and I am the chief operating officer at Barn to Door.
00:00:33
Speaker
We've got a great conversation with Barnadore's National Sales Manager, Zoe Pappas.
Zoe's Career Journey
00:00:39
Speaker
Today, we're going to be talking with Zoe about her career growth over the past three and a half years since she joined Barnadore in December 2019. Starting initially as an account executive and then setting multiple records on closes and wins and new deals, Zoe was obviously and eventually promoted to a lead.
00:00:59
Speaker
then a manager, and now she's a national sales manager responsible for the entire Barn to Door sales team. It's been a pleasure to see Zoe's career flourish here over the last three and a half years, so I'm looking forward to diving into this interview with her. So let's go ahead and get started. Welcome, Zoe. How are you doing today?
00:01:23
Speaker
I'm doing great. It's fantastic to be here. I'm actually sitting here in our Nashville office. Wonderful to be with the team. Kind of surprising to see how much the company's grown since you joined us back in December 2019. It really is. Yeah, I love just meeting all the folks and being able to kind of be a part of the training and see how the team is developing, especially in terms of seniority and looking at the seasonality with farmers more specifically. It's definitely been really fun.
00:01:52
Speaker
Well, you've had a really impressive career over the last three and a half years. It's actually really hard for me to believe it's been that long because it's gone so quickly. Me too. But let's rewind a little bit and see if we can dig through the cobwebs and remember a few things from a few years back.
Why Zoe Joined Barn to Door
00:02:08
Speaker
I'd love to hear a little bit more about what you were doing before you joined Barnador. Where you went to school and what was your first job after college?
00:02:16
Speaker
Oh yeah, so I went to UCLA, lived in Los Angeles, which is really far outside of farming, right? I didn't actually know anything about farming when I came to my interview with Barn to Door. It's kind of funny to look back. Obviously lived in LA and then was living in Seattle when I originally applied for Barn to Door way back when.
00:02:37
Speaker
My first job out of college was actually working with a company called Conica Minolta, their Fortune 500 company. I really mainly sold copiers. I knew I wanted to be in sales and thought I would be really good at it because I am somebody who is very internally motivated and excited about seeing myself at the top of the leaderboard. So that really felt like the right direction for me, but I'm going to be honest, I just
00:03:03
Speaker
dove in and took a chance and tried something new. So Kanaka Minolta, was it definitely a learning opportunity for me? Well, a great brand to be working for, too. First out of college, a big Fortune 500 company like that. I used to have an old Minolta camera many, many years ago. Obviously, like you said, Kanaka Minolta probably has a pretty good training program and taught you a lot of good things as a young salesperson first out of college.
00:03:29
Speaker
So you worked there for, what, two or three years, and then you applied to Barn to Door. What motivated you to apply to Barn to Door and take the next stage in your sales career?
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good question. And I think you kind of hit the nail on the head. There's a good training process there. I think with any Fortune 500 company, you experienced a company that's been around for a little while. It already has processes just very well laid out, but it didn't necessarily have the ability to make as much change as I wanted when it came to
00:04:00
Speaker
the sales process or to our pitch. So it was really exciting for me as I looked for next roles. And I will say after Conoco Minolta, I also worked for Microsoft for a little while and worked for a couple of other large companies. And at that time I kind of realized I wanted to be with the company that was moving quickly and that I really got to be in charge of my day-to-day and not really that I get to be in charge of my own destiny and my own paycheck.
00:04:26
Speaker
So when I was looking for a role at that point in time, I came across Barn to Door and noticed a couple of things, one of which uncapped commissions. So that's always really fun for somebody who's self-motivated. But the other thing was the clients that we work with and just how interesting and exciting a position like this could be, especially for someone who is in sales and wants to be driven by
00:04:54
Speaker
passionate and big excitement for the clientele that we get to work with on a day-to-day basis.
Impact on Farmers
00:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, a little different aha when you sell to a farmer who's just animated and excited about what barn to doors can do for their business versus someone perhaps purchasing a new copier. Granted, you need copiers in an office, but usually people are excited about it. It's just a must-have.
00:05:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think when you look at the product that we're selling to farmers, I mean, we're changing not just their businesses, but we're also changing their lives. And so we oftentimes get to hear that day to day in our demos and in our follow ups. You know, sometimes you'll have a farmer come to follow up, meaning really emotional. And even in tears that something like this even exists. So you do get a lot of.
00:05:44
Speaker
excitement and gratitude and even being able to sign up a farm know that you are going to bring in some good money, but also that you're actually changing the scope of the firm's business long-term. Yeah, it's a big deal. It's nice to be a part of the change that can help them earn more money for their family because this is a digital transformation. Many of the times these farms, it's the first time that they've ever given used technology or software to operate their business.
Evolving Onboarding Process
00:06:08
Speaker
So let's talk a little bit about your initial onboarding when you got started with Barnadore back in December 2019, because a lot's changed since then. So for somebody who's thinking about applying to Barnadore, good for them to understand the evolution of the business. So walk us back when you got started. What did onboarding look like for you?
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. A lot has changed in the last three and a half or so years. So way back when I started, really the process was pretty simple, right? You got on board and got your toes wet and you really started to dive in and shadow your fellow AEs, do some role play with your manager and then start to make calls and just kind of trial by error in that you just dive right in and have the conversation with farmers and learn as you go.
00:06:54
Speaker
Fast forward to now, right? A lot has changed and that we've been able to uncover. There really is a process that needs to be put in place for new hires. So that way they can learn each stage of the sales cycle. So currently,
00:07:09
Speaker
We have a three month long training program. We have a ramp up period obviously for our AEs so they can look at just taking things one piece at a time. In month one, we're really focused on making sure that we can teach AEs about the industry. It's a new industry for a lot of people and about the company and how the company runs. From there, there's a lot to learn as far as uncovering how to use the CRM that we use, which is HubSpot. So really being able to understand
00:07:37
Speaker
the intricacies of adding contacts, adding companies, and feeling confident in how our team has built out and sequencing for marketing. So that's kind of work for new hires behind the scenes.
00:07:48
Speaker
After that, we really dive into cold calls. Cold calls are an art, and so we want to make sure that AEs can understand the different farm types that we're focused on, really diving into produce, proteins, dairy first, and then more niche farms later on. Yeah, those are what 90% of the farms we sell to, primarily proteins, produce, and dairy. Getting those three in the first three months is really critical because that's the majority of our sales.
00:08:16
Speaker
Once you get those down, you're pretty much good to go when it comes to hitting quota month over month from there. You know, you can learn this Marnish Farms as you go. Absolutely.
00:08:26
Speaker
So I think we've done a really good job if you take a step back looking at the first three months and uncovering how we can train you on cold calling, first and foremost, using our CRM and then diving into different farm types and how we can uncover pain points with those different farm types off the get-go and then book meetings to make the sale a pretty easy experience because the farmers understand this is where I'm going wrong in the business or this is where I'm missing out financially. And here's the value that Barnetador has to offer
00:08:55
Speaker
in order for me to catch the scope of the business. Yeah, it's been really fun to see from input from you and obviously from the other folks that we've hired over time, how we could break that training down to, like you said, cold call, demo, and closing. And more importantly, I think it's been really great to see over the last year.
00:09:15
Speaker
that we've added in these assessment tests, right? So we can give people very prescriptive guidance and scores on like each area of the cold call or each area of the demo. So to know how to improve, right? And get feedback, multiple folks, not just yourself, but even the other leads on your team, right? Yeah, the assessments are awesome because it really breaks down every stage of
00:09:36
Speaker
the sales cycle. So if you're looking at a demo, being able to assess a demo, everything from setting expectations with the farm to the discovery component to the actual pitch itself, and asking for the closed, those are really key elements to sales. And so this makes it really obvious for an AE to uncover, here's where I'm missing out on and here's where I can improve.
00:09:59
Speaker
in terms of my sales skills. That's great. Well, it's really obviously showing itself well from a productivity standpoint. It's great to see new AEs come on board, ramp up quickly and hit their numbers so quickly. That's super exciting. I know you and I were just discussing any AE that joined us literally just a little bit over six months ago and how she ramped up so quickly. She's hit her numbers every single month since joining Barnador. And that's exciting because that means she's not only making a lot of money, but that also means we're serving that many more farmers, success on both sides.
00:10:29
Speaker
You were eventually promoted to a lead and then a full-time manager. I'd love to hear from you. What did you learn about yourself as you took on more responsibility?
Leadership and Team Growth
00:10:40
Speaker
from being an account executive to being a leader in the business. What did that look like? Yeah, I think that the room for growth here was something that was really exciting to me. I heard that it would be a possibility, but I was really excited and taken aback when I was approached at about eight or nine months to move into a lead and then a manager role. And yeah, I learned a lot about myself. I think anyone can say when they move into a leadership role in sales,
00:11:08
Speaker
It's a whole different game. Initially, I was able to take on just one or two AEs and really start to work into the role and understand what my day-to-day would look like and how that would change. All of a sudden, instead of being in charge of just your own pipeline, you're really responsible for making sure other AEs have good hygiene using the appropriate CRM.
00:11:32
Speaker
They're using HubSpot well, making sure that they have healthy pipelines, shadowing their calls and helping to give feedback and really become more of a coach. So that was my, I think, initial experience. The first six months was figuring out what am I good at as a leader and how can I harness that to help new AEs become better salespeople because that was the goal.
00:11:56
Speaker
I know you've certainly done that. I know AEs who've been under your tutelage in the past have really blossomed, and it's been fantastic to see them not only grow their careers at Barnadore, but grow their careers long-term. I know some of them have been plucked from us and recruited by other companies to go work at big companies like Amazon or Tableau, and we're happy for them as their careers progress. But it just goes to show what great training and investment you've made in coaching and building great sales executives. That's fantastic.
00:12:24
Speaker
Now more recently, obviously this past spring, you were promoted again. You are now the national sales manager responsible for the entire sales team. So now managers roll into you. I would love to hear from you. I know you're smiling. That's great. It's promotion. Well-earned, well-deserved, but I'd love to hear from you kind of what you've learned about yourself and particularly like how your responsibilities have evolved again.
00:12:47
Speaker
Well, so now what that looks like as a national sales manager is managing all of the managers who are then running their teams. And so it really gives me the opportunity to continue being a coach, which I really enjoy. The process is one piece of it, but I love being able to help.
00:13:03
Speaker
AEs fine-tune their overall sales skills. So I think first and foremost, it's given me an opportunity to actually take a step back from the day-to-day and look at how the entire sales team can continue to improve and also how we can help grow the entire sales team and really get the right people in place that are excited and have that momentum and motivation and want to make a lot of money. So
00:13:29
Speaker
between the leadership team, some of the things that we've been focusing on is making sure that we can really fine tune the training program that we have in place. One of the very first things that I implemented was actually our follow-up assessment or follow-up scoring system to make sure that it is felt really competent going into a closing call. Oftentimes, you know, for any folks out there that are doing closing calls right now,
00:13:54
Speaker
sort of feel like you're showing up and you're hoping that the answer is going to be a yes, but there's an art to the close. And I think that's something that our team has really gotten good at over the past couple of months due to that follow-up scorecard. Yeah.
00:14:09
Speaker
Certainly, by the way, for the listeners here, this is coming from the top closer all time at Barnadore. That literally approaches 50%. Pretty impressive. You are a closer and it's great that you bring your skills and your coaching, like you said, to the entire team now. Really helping refine and help people reach their potential, which is awesome.
00:14:31
Speaker
So as you look to grow your sales team, cause I know, geez, you have at least a dozen headcount you have to hire just in the next six months alone. What do you look for in interviewing potential account executives? I think you've got three or four interviews today. So like there's a lot of talent that's applying here, but we don't hire everyone. Like we were really looking for some specific people who can be and have the potential to be highly successful here long-term.
What Zoe Looks for in Candidates
00:14:56
Speaker
What are the two or three things that you look for in the interview process?
00:15:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the first thing is really coachability. I know this being a different industry than most people are used to working in, it's so important to be able to take feedback from others. I mean, our hire AEs, folks that are A2s and upwards, they want to give our new hires feedback. Same thing with the managers, same things with myself. So we're all really leaning in as a very collaborative team to help
00:15:27
Speaker
folks continue to rise up in this position and make the money that they want to be making. So that's the first biggest thing is can you listen to feedback even throughout the beginning processes in the first couple of months as we're training on cold calling, take that feedback and use it on your next call. There's a lot to learn there. So coachability is number one. That's the first thing you're looking for. What else? Is there other kind of skills or things you're looking for intrinsically in the individual?
00:15:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think having an internal motivation might sound like a funny one, right? But sometimes people want a job. They want to go to work every day just to do it, kind of go through the motions and make a set amount of money. The folks that are the best in this role are people that have that fire inside of them.
00:16:13
Speaker
and want to be the best salesperson that they can be. So coming to work every day excited about the folks that we work with, with the thought in mind that they're going to be better than they were last month or 1% or better than they were yesterday. So I love those folks who come into me and they just always want to be learning. They always want to better themselves as salespeople.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. I know a lot of times in my interviews, you'll find people who are just looking for a job. We don't need to hire somebody who's just looking for a job. We want to find somebody who wants to invest in their career, somebody who wants to really grow professionally. And I know for me, the other thing I'm really keen on is people who are aligned with our mission, people who care about the farms we serve. Because this is a market in an industry where the farmers we serve are often
00:17:01
Speaker
highly underappreciated in their community. Most people can't even name five farmers yet. We all eat three times a day. And so people who can show up every day, sure, we want them to be money motivated and hungry to become better, but we also want them to understand our mission of helping improve access to local food from farmers.
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's the third quality would be just genuine, right? There's a lot of good sales folks out there that just have a sale cycle down, but if they genuinely care about the conversation that they're having, then they're genuinely going to be able to talk to the right types of qualified firms and make sure that they're actually, you know, fixing a pain point, fixing something with the business and making their business run smoother. So I love that quality in a person.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah, genuine and authenticity often say the same concept. So let's talk a little bit about somebody who's listening to this podcast who might be a potential
00:17:56
Speaker
candidate who's going to have an upcoming interview with you. If it's harder to get a job here than it is to get into Harvard, I think we're at about a 3% applicant to acceptance rate. Very, very different. So we put people through an assessment test, videos, multiple rounds of interviews, role plays. There's a lot of things to jump over, right? But we're obviously trying to make a good investment for them and for us. What would be your recommendations to somebody who's listening to this who might have an upcoming interview? How can they prepare
00:18:26
Speaker
for an interview with you. Yeah. I would say know your whys. Know why you've come to the interview. Know why you want to work with farms specifically. Know why you would like to change farmers businesses uniquely.
00:18:41
Speaker
I always like to hear the story behind the answer. I think anyone can come with an answer, but if you really are showing up with some intentionality and have an idea of why you want to hit your quota on a month-to-month basis or what it is about farming or ag that you love, those are things that always get me really excited about a candidate after a first interview.
00:19:04
Speaker
I completely agree. You can make money selling anything, but do you really want to make money doing something you care about? Absolutely. It just makes the entire experience, not quote unquote a job, not to say parts aren't tedious, but actually enjoyable. It's enjoyable to show up to work and actually make a difference in these lives so farmers would get the support.
Personal Values and Career Growth
00:19:24
Speaker
So lastly, I'd love to just ask you, I know at Barnadore core values are a big deal here and we have six core values. I'm curious, which of our core values do you feel you align with most? I'm hungry. I think I show up to work every day wanting to be better. And for candidates, I want those folks that always want to be 1% better every single day.
00:19:50
Speaker
So I just love having the ability to learn something new, talk to someone new, and create something new and feel like I've left work having been a better person and a better salesperson than I was the previous day.
00:20:05
Speaker
Well, I will say your contributions, Zoe, have helped us become a better business, better support farmers, and continue to improve our onboarding, training, and support of sales professionals at the company. So thank you for your ongoing contributions and investment in the company. It really is paying dividends. Before we sign off, I'd love to hear any final words or feedback you'd like to share about your experience at Barnard Door. Yeah.
00:20:31
Speaker
I can't believe it's already been three and a half years. I know we said that in the beginning, but it has been really the quickest years of my life, strangely enough, really to be able to see my own career development and also change as a person.
00:20:49
Speaker
because of the opportunity for growth. So really being able to go from an account executive to a lead and understand how to build a team from two to six and then to now being the national sales manager. I feel like it's just given me a lot of opportunity to continue to learn and to continue to grow as a person.
00:21:09
Speaker
Well, I'm excited to see your career continue to flourish and soar. So your contributions are important to the business. And I know Barnador has big ambitions too beyond just the national borders of the United States your term. Long term, we're hoping to go global. So I'm excited for your contributions as we continue to look to make an impact.
00:21:34
Speaker
I want to thank you so much for joining me today for an interview with Barnador's National Sales Manager, Zoe Pappas. Here at
Encouragement to Join Barn to Door
00:21:41
Speaker
Barnador, we are humbled to support thousands of farms all across the country. And we're always seeking people to join Barnador who are aligned with our mission of making food more accessible from local farmers.
00:21:52
Speaker
If you are someone who is aligned with our mission and curious about growing your career at Barnadore, I'd encourage you to go visit the Barnadore website and navigate to careers where you can view a variety of current job opportunities. And if you're interested, click apply, submit your application, your resume, complete the videos. We'd like to learn more about your background and your why. Thank you so much for tuning in and I look forward to seeing you next time. Cheers.
00:22:20
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in. For more free farm resources, tips, and tactics that are most successful farms used to grow and manage their business, visit barnadore.com slash resources. Also don't forget to subscribe to the Direct Farm podcast to automatically download our weekly episodes. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.