In this special episode, Fuller Wallet’s Director of Sales Melanie Davidson is put on the hot seat. She shares her responsibility in bringing in business and guiding clients through their services. She discusses why sales is all about helping people identify their problems and find solutions instead of simply closing deals to earn a profit. Melanie also talks about her career transition to sales and the benefits of working in a hybrid workplace setup.
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Team Solo Cast Part 1
In this episode, we’re doing a little something different. We’ve got the whole team with us but we are interviewing one of our own, Melanie Davidson. Shout out to Melanie. Thank you for being a part of the show. You’re usually a cohost and now you are being interviewed. How does that feel, Mel?
This is a little bit scarier. It’s still fun though.
For those of you who don’t know, Melanie and I go way back to 2017 or 2018. We’ve known each other for a very long time. She’ll get into how we met but more importantly, what her role is now and how important that is. When she says what she does now, she preaches it because we’ve known each other since 2017. Melanie, tell us exactly what you do for Fuller Wallet because you’re an integral piece in this puzzle and in this organization. Take it away.
Thank you so much, Matt, for the kind words. For Fuller Wallet, I am the Director of Sales. In that role, I’m responsible for bringing in business and maintaining the client all the way through to the end. It’s about establishing a relationship that you have to maintain and take care of because you want that client for the remainder. That part is a lot of fun. I enjoy the sales side, meeting and talking to new people, finding out what their goals are, and what is important to them.
One of the most important things that I think a lot of salespeople or people, in general, have lost nowadays. It is that the customers are no longer number one. That’s the way that it has to be. A lot of it is within reason because people are more reasonable and understanding than we think they are. They may not hear certain things, but at the same time, it has to be said because you have to keep that level of honesty and everything with everyone. If they don’t know what’s going wrong or why there’s an issue, they can’t fix it or they can’t assist you in fixing it. That to me is one of the most important things.
Would you say that you’re more sales or you’re more service-oriented? You touched on that earlier. You were like, “I feel that it’s not sales.” You mentioned this a couple of episodes ago. I forgot what particular episode it was. You mentioned that it’s more of identifying a problem and then helping that person find a solution. When you do that, then it doesn’t feel salesy. It feels more like a helper. Do you feel the same way? Elaborate on that a little bit.
The long-term sales and the most important sales are more of a customer service-based role because your goal in the sale is to have them get the products. If they’re not getting what benefits them, helpful to them, or useful to them, then they’re not going to keep coming back if you didn’t satisfy that need or desire. That’s essentially what sales are. It’s the same with customer service. To me, they’re one and the same. You always have to take care of that customer.
Sometimes that’s certain things that may seem tedious. I’ve spent an hour and a half going over a standard contract with someone but that’s the way that they wanted to do it. It irritated me to an extent because it was basic for me. My need was irrelevant at that point in time. It’s what the customer wanted. They needed to see that way to make them comfortable, especially when you’re making these large purchases. That’s what everyone has to understand. From all areas of sales, whether it’s buying a basic simple item that you’re questioning about in the store to purchasing that vehicle, that home, or anything, it all comes into play because they have to be comfortable with that purchase.
I totally agree. I don’t want to monopolize the time here because I know Julie and Jeff are on the show too. Let’s talk about how exactly your role plays. I know you’re the director of sales but are you out there prospecting or do you build the relationships? You also cohost with me every once in a while. How do you insert yourself with the team as far as implementing it with the show and the guests? What exactly do you do?
That depends upon what they need because we will take it further, send out a proposal, and offer services to that client. At the same time, sometimes it’s not a fit at this point in time but we also like to keep a relationship so that six months down the road, we may be what they need. Three years from now, it may be. I’ve had stuff like that come back to me to where if they need a tip, suggestion, or refer them out to someone else that specializes in what they need, you’re still helping that potential client. Several years down the road, we may be what they need. You never know.
Director Of Sales: If Fuller Wallet is not fit to a certain customer at some point in time, they will still keep building the relationship with them. Several months or years later, they may be exactly what these people need.I’m so glad you brought that up because I wanted to point that out. You and I are a perfect example of this. We worked together years ago in 2017 and 2018. We had a great working relationship. You always called on me if you needed an issue, and I did the same thing. We had a great friendship and working relationship. After we go our separate ways, years later, I get a text message from you. You’re like “What do you do?”
It’s from a new number so you didn’t know who it was.
I didn’t even know if it was still my number. You’re like, “What are you doing? Can you talk?” I’m like, “I hadn’t heard from you in two years or whatever.” You brought me on to this great team, the Fuller Wallet Media. I’ve been introduced to Julie and Jeff. Now these guys are family. It’s a testament to what you preach about like, “I might not be able to help you now but you’re part of my network.” That’s what it’s about.
I find there’s a lot of loyalty in this industry and I’m an extremely loyal person. Any of the stress that I have in this job is that I can’t let Julie, the staff, and you down. That’s the environment I function best too. You have to be fully invested in it no matter what it is. If it’s 10:00 at night, 2:30 in the morning, 6:00 in the morning, or whatever it may be, it is what it is. It’s what we do. That’s one reason too. I have such a hard time talking about it because it’s what we do.
It comes naturally to you.
A lot of people don’t understand that.
Speaking of coming naturally to you, how are you feeling right now? You are on the other side of the mic and you are being interviewed.
I want to know myself. How do you feel that you are on the other side? It’s not as bad as I thought it was. I thought it was a lot worse in my head.
I’m curious to know because usually, you and I are hosting together. When you’re hosting with me, you do a great job as the host. You are informed and you know who we’re interviewing and things like that. You’re prepared. How does it feel now to not even know the questions and we’re rapid fire? I’m sucking all the air out of the show because no one else is talking. How do you feel?
Not bad at all because it’s questions about things that I’m familiar with. That’s where it makes it that much easier.
You made the transition and had a career change. You came over to Fuller Wallet Media. I don’t know what your knowledge of the digital space was. I know what industry you were in prior when we worked together. You are coming and transitioning to digital space in this great company. How did you handle that transition?
I’m still acclimating.
You’re doing a great job of hiding it.
My secret is out now. It’s been good and it’s still about finding that balance as with anything else. I do like the change a lot because I’m learning so much. I love that, as well as jumping in and doing something and figuring out, “I shouldn’t have done that.” I figure it out and learn because if it’s something that I do wrong, it will not happen again. I’ve probably gotten at least one text a week from Julie that’s like, “You’re still learning.”
They’re not so bad.
I know. I’m the one that’s impatient about it. I want it all now and it doesn’t work that well. I’m not that patient with something like that myself.
You’re doing a phenomenal job. I’ve known you for 5 or 6 years now. Where I saw you six years ago, you have transformed into something amazing because you’ve gotten out of your box or your comfort zone. Now you’re on the team and you work with family. We all work with family.
We contact each other about everything. That’s awesome, and the whole team too.
Everybody makes mistakes. I know for me, it’s easier to know that if I do make a mistake, I’ve got support and a team behind me that can help me. Jeff can tell me, “Matt, this is what you need to do.” Julie is like, “No, you need to link it here.” We all have our issues. I feel more comfortable knowing that if I fall and somebody is there to catch me. You’re doing an amazing job and I’m going to put that on wax right now, that you’re doing a great job.
I love working with everyone because you can always pick up the phone and call anyone and everyone or message them and you get a response right away. We’re all there for each other. That’s what makes it so nice. It makes it that much easier to do.
How was it coming from your regular typical brick-and-mortar 9 to 5 or whatever the hours were or Monday through Friday job to working from home and virtually working with all these people on a team from all over? What was that transition like for you? Do you see anything more positive or negative from transitioning from such a position?
I love that I can work from home and work remotely. It’s actually a lot. I’ve acclimated a lot faster and easier than I thought I would. I was used to doing things virtually to an extent anyway, but not as much as we are. I like it because it makes it easier. If I’m traveling, I can work on the road and anywhere. At the same time, the double-edged sword is that you have to make sure you don’t burn yourself out because we literally can work anywhere. As long as you have internet, you’re good. That’s one of the things that you go anywhere and the first thing to do is check your phone or check before you get on your computer. If I pull up somewhere, I’m going to pull out my computer almost right away if I’m going to be there for a while, to make sure because I know that something is going to come up.
Anything can happen at any given time when we’re working in marketing and live traffic is running. That’s a lot of money for a lot of people. It is a double-edged sword because the accessibility is there. You need to learn how to turn it off too. If it’s 11:30 or 12:00 at night, you need to know, “I need to set this away until tomorrow because nothing is going to get done at midnight when everybody else is asleep.” You need to hardwire yourself. The accessibility is great but being able to say, “I need to take a break,” and walk away is what I’ve personally been learning how to do since I’ve been in digital marketing.I’m learning it myself.
That’s what I was going to say. I started doing that a couple of years ago. I started trying to set more boundaries because it seems like nowadays, there are so many, “I need it now.” It got to where any personal time, whether it be with family, I’ve worked Thanksgiving day and Christmas days, and it didn’t matter. Years ago, that didn’t affect me. I’ve worked 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hour days minimum. It was no big deal, and then when you see what that does to you years later, you keep that mentality and that mentality expands. It’s not healthy for anyone. That’s where I think it gave me a bit of an advantage because if I’d probably started this 10 or 15 years ago, it would’ve been a lot more difficult for me.
One last question I have for you. You deal with the clients. You’re the gatekeeper. You helped bring in the clients. You’re the liaison. What can you tell us about your experience from the client side? How is it for them to work with Fuller Wallet Media? When you bring in a client and we’ve had them for a while, what are you hearing from them about why they love to work with our team?
It’s due to the amount of communication and it’s usually not just myself or it’s not just one person contacting them. We’ll contact them as a team so that we can figure it out. Each of us plays our part to figure out what is going wrong or how we can improve it so we all feed off of each other. One of the things that helps out so much with Fuller Wallet is the experience that the clients do get. They don’t get just one of us. They get all of us.
A good team is composed of individuals who knows how to play their part well. They know how to improve together by feeding off of each other. Click To TweetIt’s the whole team.
That helps because what I may miss, Matt, Jeff, or Julie will see. There are times when Jeff tops us all.
That’s how we learn. We double-check each other’s work. We’re cross-training and that’s why it’s critical and so important as a team. We support each other not only in business but even in outside life. We’re family. We support each other in whatever, their dreams, aspirations, or anything. Also, book launches. Shout out to Julie for her number-one support. This isn’t about me. I want to show how collectively we are as a team. When we have conversations with clients, it’s not just Melanie and they don’t get to speak to me, Matt, Jeff, or anybody else on our team that could be doing work for them, whether it’s on social media, email, or funnels. Regardless of what it is, you get my fully qualified team that’s more trained than probably most teams in our industry. We have the best.
Jeff and I will hop on a call or all of us will. That’s what makes it so nice trying to figure things out because if it’s something that Julie knows more than we do, which is a lot of things. That’s when we’re able to figure it out. We’ve done that numerous times. It’s one of those where we keep learning every day, keep trying new things, and figure out what works for us. We’re a great team. It is nice that there are people you can rely on.
Melanie, thank you so much. I know it’s a different experience for you, but thank you so much for joining us. You get your own episode. You’re going to have the title. Now we need to go back and we need to figure out what we’re going to call it, Jeff. I got that covered.
It makes me nervous, Jeff.
Thank you so much for taking the time to switch roles and let us interview you. Also, let everybody know what you do and how instrumental you are to the successful team that we are. Melanie, kudos. You’re doing a great job and we love working with you. You are very appreciated.
Thank you so much. I love working with you guys. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Until the next episode, guys. We’ll be here next episode on Friday. We’ll talk to you soon. Thanks again, Melanie, for joining the show. Take care.
Thanks, guys.
