There’s a lot of uncertainty in the job market right now, but many companies are still hiring during the coronavirus pandemic. Case in point, the following seven Chicago tech companies, which are still growing and looking for talent, especially in their sales departments.
From sales and engineering roles at Tock to openings across marketing and sales at Lumere, a variety of opportunities across industries are still available to tech professionals looking to grow their careers.
To entice prospective employees, the following employers offer more than attractive job titles: think career development, mentorship and engaging cultures.
What they do: Infutor Data Solutions helps companies identify and target their ideal customers in their marketing efforts. The company’s CRM, inbound marketing tools and analytics work to help clients better understand customers and drive sales.
Unique team qualities: “The team goes out of its way to help each other win,” Beard said. “Tenured reps take it upon themselves to help newbies as best they can. Sales professionals constantly practice deal reviews, challenge each other to cover all the bases and meet prospect expectations. They frequently schedule “players only” training sessions related to product, market and use-case fits where reps share their successes with others.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “Hold yourself and your team accountable to the goals and standards you set. People want to be held accountable in order to feel accomplishment. That sense of accomplishment leads to confidence, which then leads to success. Sales leaders are there to show people the path to success. And falling short of goals can be a coachable moment to learn from that leads to corrective action. It doesn’t mean failure, it just means it’s time to recalibrate more for success.”
Infutor Data’s sales tech: “About a year ago, we committed to doing a trial of Gong.io. It’s a tool that tracks, records and logs sales personnel interactions with customers and prospects. Salespeople were listening to each other’s successful calls to see what they could learn. Sales leaders would listen to their reps’ calls on their train ride home so they could provide feedback and coaching. Then, solutions engineers started using it to get quick updates on opportunities in play before they jumped on calls to support reps. The product team started using it to uncover new ideas around product innovation. Within a year, what started as a trial of three or four licenses became an efficiency tool used across the organization.”
What they do: Spark Hire is a video interviewing platform. Its features include one-way and live interviews, post-interview evaluation tools and analytics, allowing companies to hire the perfect person for the job.
Unique team qualities: “We care about each other and function as a team,” Studway said. I feel comfortable expressing myself and going directly to my team or management with any challenges I may have. And any new ideas about how we can improve as a team are always taken into consideration.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “Trust the process. We all have our own styles and variations on how we do things, but having a clearly defined system of repeatable steps with our sales playbook has been a game-changer for me. Each time I noticed that my results don’t match my effort, I can typically point directly back to areas where I strayed from our workflow. A sales org that knows and documents its process is one poised for compounding success. In addition, our leadership provides a solid foundation that allows me to be myself and has been a catalyst for my personal growth.”
Spark Hire’s sales tech: “One of the most valuable resources Spark Hire provided was access to Sales Assembly. It’s important for me to continuously learn and have access to engaged tech sales talent in Chicago. The partnership we have with Sales Assembly grants me access to a brain trust that provides tactics and strategies to make me more effective. New technology can’t always replace human connection and idea-sharing.”
What they do: Tock’s platform allows restaurants worldwide to manage their reservations and guest services. It has integrations with Google, Facebook and Instagram and allows guests to build a unified profile to receive targeted marketing efforts tied to their dining preferences.
Unique team qualities: “I’m proud of how quickly our team pivoted to support our customers during COVID-19,” Koehne said. “Over a long weekend, we built a completely new product, Tock To Go, to help the hospitality industry keep going during these challenging times. The team sprung into action and worked together as a unit with one mission.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “Asking questions, listening and understanding is imperative to building trust and working with new partners in our industry. Many of our customers and prospects are in an unprecedented situation, and we need to understand exactly where they sit and what they need before we can be an effective partner.”
Tock’s sales tech: “We use third-party tools to connect our CRM with our team communication software, which allows us to log notes and data in a tenth of the time. In the current climate, the less time spent doing administrative tasks, the better. Now we have more time to help restaurants get their takeout or pickup offerings live and keep their staff employed.”
What they do: Staffing agencies use Shiftgig to provide clients with platforms that help manage their businesses. The company’s software allows workers to choose shifts and gives operations teams more insight into client and employee performance.
Unique team qualities: “How involved the sales team is in the end-to-end process of building our product,” Bowman said. “They are key in our early-stage validation conversations with clients and prospects as we prioritize what to build and where to take our technology. They’re also experts in the platform and are able to answer detailed technical questions to consult prospects on how our product Deploy could be implemented in their staffing agency. Our sales team gives valuable input on the product and how we prioritize new features and iterations.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “It’s actually not just about the sale of the platform itself. We are here to guide our clients through fundamental change at their staffing agency. Our sale is not only about licensing the technology, but incorporating a new way to approach the scale, efficiency and interactions our customers have with their talent and their own clients. So it’s key that we take the time to educate, work through fears of change and find the right business areas to pilot and prove our value.”
Shiftgig’s sales tech: “Because a key part of our platform is a native mobile app, we use Android and iPhone emulators to demonstrate the in-app worker experience for our prospects. It’s a seamless way to show off the technology without switching back and forth from sharing a computer screen to a personal cell phone.”
What they do: Lumere, a GHX company, is a leading provider of evidence-based data and analytics solutions, helping healthcare organizations build clinically integrated supply chains and optimize medication formulary management. The company seeks to eliminate costly, unwarranted variation in healthcare.
Unique team qualities: “Our sales organization is driven to continuously learn and improve,” D'Arcy said. “They are also focused on cross-team collaboration and work diligently to deliver for their prospects and clients. I think their desire to grow and learn combined with how they view the idea of a team throughout the organization is inspiring and enlightening.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “A sales team can’t only consist of salespeople. The more we integrate with marketing, product, operations and other teams, the more successful and powerful the outcome. It has been inspiring to watch my reps grow into business collaborators across the organization. On the other side of that, it has been wonderful to see my peers in various parts of the business contribute and influence our sales team.”
Lumere’s sales tech: “Showpad has been an incredible resource for our team and revolutionized the way our sales team operates, learns and practices. It’s streamlined our sales process and given us analytics on what our team, prospects and customers are doing.”
What they do: Braze is a customer engagement platform that enables companies to give their consumers engaging experiences with their brands. Its features include AI that can make data-driven predictions on ideal next steps to take in a marketing campaign and a tool to map and influence a customer journey in real time.
Unique team qualities: “Our sales teams are highly creative, fast-paced, and goal-oriented. Collective intelligence is embraced and team selling is the standard from our executives to our AEs. We believe in the fundamental, albeit simple principle: Say what you are going to do, and then do it.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “Never lose or win alone,” Hughes said. “Everyone across teams — executives, marketing, solution consultants, legal, finance and more — has a vested interest in the success of our salespeople.”
What they do: HomeAdvisor is a home services marketplace that connects homeowners with contractors for repair, maintenance and improvement projects.
Unique team qualities: “We have different personalities and a high level of diversity,” Moseley said. “I take pride in everyone that works on my team, and they know I would do anything for them. In turn, they would do anything for each other and are willing to help one another to make sure everyone is successful. There are times that people disagree, but everyone is so passionate and competitive each person wants be the best rep, manager or trainer they can be. Our team culture has helped lead us to many successful months and multiple people getting promoted.”
Most valuable sales lesson learned: “From the outside looking in, sales is all about making as much money as possible,” Leggett said. “Although that may be true, my time at HA has shown me the power of implementing consistent procedures the right way, day in and day out. That habit truly separates those at the top and bottom. It took me time to perfect it, but my days now are aligned in a way for me to have continued success. Finding what works for me on and off the phone has led to my continuous growth in the company.”
HomeAdvisor’s sales tech: “Our top salespeople report that having a productive CRM tool is critical in their ability to close deals,” Bierschank said. “We also use VPI Empower, a digital software that records phone calls live. This tool helps with our ability to coach, strategize and develop sales professionals as they move our costumers down the sales channel.”
