Biggest Challenges Faced By A Solutions Specialist At IBM
Dylan, an IBM Solutions Specialist, identifies three key challenges: adapting to diverse colleagues and clients' styles ("a lot of different people that I have to work with"), handling frequent client rejection inherent in sales ("you're not going to win every deal"), and mastering the details of a wide-ranging solution portfolio ("seven or eight tools"). These challenges highlight the dynamic and demanding nature of a sales career, particularly within a large corporation like IBM.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Resilience, Sales, Adaptability
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Dylan Evans
Solutions Specialist
IBM
Lehigh University Class of 2010
UCLA Anderson MBA
Computer Science
Technology
Sales and Client Management
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Adapting to different working styles and personalities is crucial for success in sales and client interaction.
2. Handling rejection and maintaining persistence are essential skills in sales, where not every deal is won.
3. Staying updated on a wide range of products, licensing, and pricing information is critical for effectively selling multiple solutions and requires strong organizational and learning skills.
Transcript
What are some of the biggest challenges in your current role?
Here's the cleaned transcript:
I think there are probably three big challenges. I'll start with the first one. I know I said that working with people is one of the things I enjoy the most about IBM, and I definitely still stick with that. But with IBM and with the clients I'm working with, there are a lot of different people that I have to work with.
Being able to adapt to people's working styles, presentation skills, and their ability to work with others can be challenging at times, depending on who you're with. There are also many different people you end up working with over the course of your sales career. I've noticed there's been pretty much a revolving door of who covers these accounts.
So, year to year, there are a lot of different people, which means you have to adjust fairly frequently. The second challenge is the nature of sales, which often involves a lot of rejection from clients. You're not going to win every deal.
Fortunately, IBM has many market-leading solutions. Generally, once a client is actually looking at our solution versus a handful of competitors, we do fairly well. But that doesn't mean we'll win everyone. So, being able to handle rejection from clients and continue pressing forward is definitely a challenge.
This is something you really have to be capable of in sales. Lastly, given that I have a fairly wide-ranging portfolio of solutions to sell, one of the other big challenges I struggle with is staying on top of the information for each of these different solutions.
I think I have seven or eight tools that I can sell to clients. Making sure I understand what each product does, how the licensing works, how the pricing works, etc., can be a challenge. Fortunately, IBM does have a lot of resources that can help me with that. So, those are the three biggest challenges.