Brandon Lawson, Signature Account Executive at IBM
Brandon Lawson currently works for IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) as a Signature Account Executive. Brandon decided to pursue an MBA to accelerate his transition into tech sales and prepare him for future leadership positions. Check out more about his graduate school journey here.
What is IBM?
IBM is a leading technology company headquartered in New York that sells their products to other businesses (B2B) to help them solve complex business problems. IBM sells products that land in three main categories - hardware and software and services. IBM employs over 345,000 people and had 60.5 billion in revenue in 2022. Brandon is particularly excited about IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat that has allowed IBM to create a “hybrid cloud” that gives clients the opportunity to connect with all major platforms.
What does a Signature Account Executive do?
The first item to define is “signature account”. A signature account at IBM is classified as one of the highest ranking accounts, typically companies that are top 50-100 Forbes list companies. Brandon was fortunate enough to land this role post business school.
While account executives are generally aligned with the sales organization, Brandon was surprised by the amount of similarities to Business Development (BD). Due to the customer first mindset at IBM, he partners with clients to understand their business goals, strategies, and problems and consults with his clients? to create solutions using IBM’s technology. Brandon owns the entire portfolio with IBM. Here’s an example of a workflow with a client. Workflows typically last 6 months-1 year depending on the project:
How did you get this job? Why did you make the transition into technology??
In 2020, Brandon reflected on the use of technology and realized that technology accelerated 5-10 years during the first year of the pandemic. He formerly worked in pharmaceutical sales and was interested in technology because it dictates how other companies operate and he wanted to be on the cutting edge of technological change.?
One day, Brandon was meeting with his mentor and was told that he was working in the wrong industry in terms of earning potential. Brandon has a family to support and felt like the transition would allow him and his family to live a more comfortable life. Brandon started networking in the tech sales space. Eventually, IBM reached out to Brandon upon graduation and identified him as a potential leader for the company. From there, Brandon went through the interview process and landed his role as Signature Account Executive.
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What do you like/dislike about your role?
Brandon’s likes and dislikes of his role are one in the same. Brandon’s job is to solve complex business problems. On the one hand, this can be challenging and gets him thinking outside of the box, but sometimes the business problems he’s solving can be frustrating. Brandon likes to utilize his network to get results and enjoys the satisfaction of solving?long-standing problems. Brandon was challenged in ramping for his role as he doesn’t have a technical background. It took him some time get up to speed?on IBM's technology and services.
What skills do you need to be successful in your role?
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Asking the right questions - It’s important to know how to ask open-ended questions and to be able to understand what the customer is saying. Gathering this information up front helps you to tell a better story.
Being resourceful - It’s important to come up with solutions. Use your resources and network to gather as much info as possible to deliver a thoughtful? solution. This shows initiative and planning.
Deck making - Sometimes this skill is underestimated! Having a visual to tell your story is key to getting stakeholders on board.
What advice do you have for people looking to pursue a career in sales?
For anyone looking to go into sales, Brandon recommends staying true to yourself and asking yourself, “How am I uniquely positioned to succeed?”. This is especially important in the interview process. He encourages professionals to research who you are networking with and interviewing with to make the best use of your time. Prepare for your meetings by generating a list of? thoughtful and specific questions.? In tech sales, Brandon will oftentimes get “no” for an answer. He advises other sales and BD professionals to reframe rejection into an opportunity to approach the problem in a new way. With this growth mindset, you will be able to overcome obstacles and remain resilient.
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