Say hello to Rich, a Senior Midmarket Account Executive on our Restaurant Sales team. Rich’s#FiveStarCareerjourney began in January 2017 when he made the career leap to sales from the education and mental health space.
Today, Rich is diving into what surprised him most about working at Yelp, how sales has helped him to grow, and more.
What is something that surprised you about working at Yelp?
I’ve always been impressed by theculture. Yelp cares about its people and has always been great at fostering togetherness and community. I’ve worked at several other organizations in the past, but none have invested in the well-being of its people like Yelp. No matter what obstacles I face, I always feel supported in and out of work.
How has working in sales helped you grow personally?
There is no arena where sales skills haven’t added value to my life. I’ve deepened my intent to take initiative and increased my ambitions to include reaching for opportunities that I may have previously thought were unattainable. I’ve improved my confidence, and I’ve gained access to places, experiences, and levels of success that would have been previously unavailable to me had I not been brave enough to ask or wise enough to know how.
Thanks to my experience in sales at Yelp, I’ve learned that engaging strangers and asking for what you want has very little downside, but can sometimes be the skeleton key in life that can unlock any door – you just need to be thoughtful about how you go about asking.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
One thing that I love about my role in Multi-Location Restaurants is that no two days are the same. My days are generally made up of a combination of vetting, pitching, forecasting, recordkeeping, internal alignment, cold outreach, visiting restaurants, and preparing deliverables. I am typically pitching at least once per day, and I book at least one fresh pitch per day. I’ve found this cadence has led to replicable success. Some of my favorite days are when I have the opportunity to visit clients in-market or attend trade shows because these opportunities allow me to learn and grow my acumen the most.
During the very beginning and end of my day, while I do admin work or planning, I like to listen to sales or restaurant podcasts in the background. I always am trying to apply takeaways from podcasts and from other companies to improve my processes, presentation, and results.
What is your favorite part of the work you do here?
I legitimately tell people that I think I have the best job in the world. I love restaurants, and I love helping others. The fact that the results of a partnership with Yelp for Restaurants can be so immediately tangible means that every time I approach a restaurant, I can do so with confidence that I can help their business. I frequently share with clients how lucky I feel to work with the most popular restaurants and have conversations with such ambitious and successful people for a living.
Restaurants are such a fun work environment, and I take pride in knowing the work I am doing will help improve my clients’ outcomes in measurable ways. I love our product, and I feel that the work I do is meaningful.
What are your tips for handling a tough day in sales?
When I’m working, my advice, cliché as it is, is to trust the process and to keep an abundance mentality. If you’re always trying your best to help, you should never feel bad about what shakes out from a tough day. You can lead a horse to water, but sometimes the horse will splash you with the water instead of drinking any of it. The important thing to recognize is that you can almost always learn from the experience. Listening to your call or debriefing with a colleague are great first steps that will help you achieve growth while giving you time to breathe before continuing with outreach and pitching. Remember that if you keep an abundance mentality and remain confident in the platform, yourself, and the process, the deals will come. When all else fails to shake that not-so-great feeling, take a short walk outside. Sometimes literally moving forward is the best medicine.
工作之外,重要的是要有爱好,goals, and things you are looking forward to on the calendar, whether that be financial goals, concerts or music festivals, or some type of art or outdoor activity. Sales is not our whole identity, so it’s important to not let the job impact us like it is. When you have things outside your career that give your life meaning, tough days will have less of an impact on how you feel. I think talking with a professional, like a therapist, can be so beneficial. Anyone can benefit from having this sounding board and safe place to process and grow. Yelp employees also have the opportunity to give Bravely or Modern Health a try!
How does Yelp help you maintain a healthy balance between work and life?
Working from home, ourprofessional development reimbursementandYelp Employee Resource Groups (YERGs)all offer ample opportunities to structure our lives in ways that work for our personal lifestyles while having plenty of professional growth opportunities. Remote work is a gift that keeps on giving. For me, not having to take the train to the office both ways saves me $10+ per day, plus close to two hours. It allows me to run a load of laundry or be present for any home services while I work, which further allows me to optimize the use of my time. And time has value!
What is your favorite part of Yelp’s culture?
My favorite part of Yelp’s culture is the authenticity. I have never worked at a company where I felt so comfortable bringing my authentic self to work. That authenticity is one of Yelp’s core values, and it’s clear through our policy, messages from Jeremy, our CEO, and even the way our platform functions! In general, the culture is one of the things I’ve heard my colleagues mention most frequently when talking about why they love Yelp.
Tell us about a community you are proud to be a part of at Yelp
YelpCares is our YERG that is dedicated to spreading philanthropy at Yelp: whether it’s setting up virtual group volunteering events or organizing company-wide fundraiser campaigns.
This group has offered me valuable opportunities for professional development where I can give back to the local community and help enable others at Yelp to do so as well.
During my time being involved with YelpCares leadership, I was particularly proud of the recurring blood drives that I helped to organize, along with some of the other lasting partnerships. Engaging with those charities has helped lend recognition and round me out as more than a salesperson in the eyes of my clients who are aware of the organizations we’ve supported.
Want to work with Rich?
在我们的帮助下,全面培训总结m, ongoing support, coaching, and development opportunities, you can take your career to the next level at Yelp, whether you’re a seasoned sales professional or just starting out in the industry. Check out our open opportunities and apply today!
