Colorado’s 25 most powerful salespeople
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Kris Schroeder, 37
Territory manager, Milgard Windows & Doors, Aurora
What he does: Sells Milgard windows and doors to dealers that include home-remodeling companies, lumber yards and glass shops.
Company snapshot: Milgard Windows & Doors started as a glass company in Tacoma, Wash., in 1958
and diversified into windows three years later. It has 15 manufacturing plants nationwide.
Sales stats: Schroeder has been with Milgard for 14 years and has been the company’s top-producing salesperson nationwide three times. Through mid-December he was on track to sell $3 million worth of windows for 2008.
Recession-survival tip: “I always try to keep three times my desired sales goals in my pipeline. And remember, some will buy, some won’t … so what next!”
Troy Lerner, 32
Co-founder and director, The Booyah Agency, Westminster
What he does: Prospects for new clients, including “being out on the street as an expert and talking about what people can do with online marketing.”
Sales stats: Personal sales volume of $1.86 million in 2007 and projected sales of $2.1 million in 2008.
Most challenging sale: “Convincing the founders of Booyah Networks that they should start an online ad agency and let me run it.” They listened, and with Lerner in 2005 they launched The Booyah Agency, an online advertising boutique, as a business unit of Booyah Networks. “Today we are arguably the leading online agency in the Rocky Mountain region (named the fastest-growing agency in the U.S. by Inc. magazine in 2006).”
Sales secret: “I think I’m successful because I say ‘no’ more than I say ‘yes.’ We’ve found, particularly in a down economy, that it’s really important to have projects that are going to stick and projects we’re going to be successful with. Saying yes to anything that shows up on the doorstep, that’s a recipe to end up with a project that you’re going to be pulling your hair out about.”
Recession-survival tip: “We’re trying to really be picky about what we take on. It’s not because we think we’re so great, it’s just because we don’t think we can afford to make many mistakes.”
Shirley Watson, 63
Realtor for Coldwell Residential Brokerage, Fort Collins/Loveland/Windsor
What she does: The 28-year real estate veteran represents buyers and sellers in the residential home market in northern Colorado. She has been with Coldwell Banker for 21 years.
Background: As of early December, Watson logged sales of $24.7 million, within reach of her 2007 sales of $25.4 million.
Tough sales: Estate sales and sales spurred by life-changing events tend to be the most challenging since emotions play a larger role in the decision-making process.
Sales acumen: “I always treat others the way I would like to be treated if I was in their situation.”
Survival tip: “You have to maintain a positive attitude. …There’s a way to do everything. … Without a clear head and rational approach, many deals that could have closed fall apart because of a lack of seeing the big picture and keeping our eye on the goal at hand.”
Mike Lash, 43
President and senior account executive, Denver Advertising, Englewood
What he does: “I’m the one who brings in most of the business for the agency. My main job is to make sure our clients are successful in any of their advertising campaigns, whether it be getting (listed) first on Google, or a direct-mail campaign, or a re-branding of a company.”
Survival tip: ”We’ve been around 17 years. I think the key to our success is, we don’t discriminate. We’ve got clients who are spending 800 bucks with us; we’ve also had them spend way over six figures. We don’t care, we’re here to help.”
Recent success story: ”One of our smallest clients, we did a little brochure for him; it was probably a $700 deal, including printing. And he came back and is going to spend $60,000 next year. Sometimes it’s just rewarding to know that they had success at a small level and we were part of that. A lot of agencies want all the big boys, and the truth is, we want those, too, but those elephants can be brutal on you. I kind of like the middle of the road where the owner’s got the vision and we have a similar vision.”
Sales tip: “Never sell price. You’ll be looking for work every six months. Become a partner, not just a vendor. When the client invites you into their personal life, you know you are doing a great job. We had a client fly in to go to Vail for the weekend; he needed oxygen to enjoy his stay. Even though we are an ad agency, within 24 hours we found him some O2 and personally delivered it. How committed do you think he was to our agency after that?”
Merv Leaman, 66
Advance planning counselor, Horan & McConaty funeral services, Aurora
What he does: Works with families to make advance funeral arrangements for themselves or loved ones.
Background: Leaman joined Horan & McConaty in June 2006 with no professional experience in the field, but some personal experience: the illness of his daughter and her eventual death five years ago. “That’s kind of what stimulated my interest. I think it has enhanced my ability to relate to families on these issues. It’s been a really good experience for me.”
Production note: Through mid-December, Leaman was on track to surpass the company’s single-season sales mark.
Sales tip: “I try not to be presumptuous of people as to what it is they need or don’t need. I let them know right up front that my objective is to help them accomplish theirs. Sure, I have things in my mind that I believe are good for them, but I try to let them, in a dialogue, uncover those things themselves so they feel like it is their decision, not my decision imposed on them.”
Mark Kuta Jr., 49
Worldwide director of sales and marketing, Fiber SenSys, Denver
What he does: Directs sales efforts for a fiber-optic perimeter defense manufacturer, which Kuta refers to as “high-tech homeland security.”
Background: The 20-year sales veteran is the author of the recently released book, “Think Like a CEO — Sell to Any Company in Any Industry … Better and Faster than a Harvard MBA.” He generated $6.5 million in software and $1 million in services sales in 2007 and hit $20 million for 2008 by early December.
Sales tips: “It’s not about the technology. It’s not about the product features. It’s all about thinking like a CEO, like the guy you’re talking to. … The other guys are pitching their technology, their service or features. You’re there saying, ‘Let’s talk about your business problem and what this is going to do for your operating cash.’”
Sales strategy: Look for companies that operate on a fiscal year schedule — which means you still have time to secure their business for the coming year that for them begins in July. “I’ve really found that these guys are more likely to keep that longer horizon versus the guys who are just ducking until January comes around.”
Tips for these times: Sell how your product is going to save your client some money. “Elvis is dead. Cash is king. Everything even in today’s environment is totally focused to cash. So many sales folks, when they pitch their product, services or whatnot, they’re talking about, ‘It will do this for your productivity; it will do this for your bottom line,’ but I’m saying in today’s environment it all gets down to cash.”
Nora Heitmann, 30
New accounts manager, Forward Logistics Group, Denver
What she does: Forward Logistics Group coordinates custom freight shipping. Its customers range from retailers closing stores that need to move fixtures to a warehouse to manufacturing firms that need to replace a broken part in a hurry and don’t care about the cost. Heitmann joined the company in 2006 when the local branch was founded by some former employees of a freight company that filed for bankruptcy.
By the numbers: As of early December, Heitmann’s 2008 sales volume was more than $2.5 million. Though that’s down from the $3.2 million she tallied in 2007, she remains the No. 1 ranked salesperson in her company — and did it despite being on maternity leave for a few months and coming back to work only two days a week.
Sales tip: “The thing that I’ve done that’s definitely differentiated me from the competition is I don’t really sell on price, especially in this economy when cost is an issue. …What I try to do is carve out a niche in the service we provide where it’s too hard to re-create.”
Yves Lang, 40
Chief sales officer, ENLASO Corp., Boulder
What he does: Leads the sales and marketing teams, promotes enterprise-solution selling and manages many of the largest accounts for ENLASO, a language-services company.
Career snapshot: A 16-year veteran of the translation and localization industry, Lang speaks French, German and English. In 2004 he landed world dating-site leader Match.com as a client for ENLASO. The job involved translating websites into 16 languages and customizing the cultural expressions and social relationship values associated with each locale.
Sales secret: “Nobody likes being sold to, but everyone likes to buy. By focusing on
the people and building rapport on a personal level, it makes you stand out from the competition. Also, the two key words I always keep in mind are patience and persistence.”
Sales Association to host ColoradoBiz Most Powerful SalesPeople event
The Sales Association – Colorado Chapter is hosting an Executive Sales Panel on Feb.11 that will feature three winners from the ColoradoBiz Top 25 Most Powerful Salespeople.
The dinner event takes place at the Courtyard by Marriott — Cherry Creek, 1475 S. Colorado Blvd. Registration and networking begins at 4:45 p.m. For more information and to register, visit www.salesassociation.org
The Sales Association assisted ColoradoBiz with the Top 25 Most Powerful Salespeople program by spreading the word through the association’s e-mail newsletter.
The Sales Association, which has grown to 100 members since launching in April, is a professional group dedicated specifically for sales and business development professionals. The association organizes events where sales professionals can network and exchange ideas and is open to all business and industry sectors.
“Our mission is to provide members a powerful and strategic means to connect with one another, grow professionally, and drive profits within our organizations,” says Troy Davis, president of the association’s Colorado chapter.
Mike Cote is the editor of ColoradoBiz. Read his blog, "Poppin’ Circumstance," or e-mail him at
. Mike Taylor is the managing editor of ColoradoBiz. He writes about small-business money issues and how startups are launched. Read his "Green Giant" blog or e-mail him at
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