Summer Spotlight Series: Shannon Fleming

Let’s get to know Shannon Fleming! Shannon is the Sales Operations Manager at Choice Solutions and has been with the company for eleven years. She is a University of Central Missouri and Avila alum; she got her bachelor’s and one of her master’s from UCM and her second master’s from Avila. Shannon loves to bake; she is known for her cinnamon rolls.??

About Shannon:?

Go-to meal...?

Chicken tacos?

Favorite place she’s traveled to...?

Savannah, Georgia?

Something her friends all know about her that people at Choice might not know...?

Her nickname is Shizzle, and no one calls her Shannon except at Choice. There were two Shannon's on her freshman floor, and they had to distinguish between the two of them and a girl named her Shizzle. Even her friend’s parents call her Shiz.?

Favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks...?

Non-alcoholic: Unsweetened Tea??

Alcoholic: The Horse Feather?

About her family...?

Her grandparents immigrated in the 60’s and she has six family members here; she is very close with her dad and two little brothers. She met her husband in college and they’ve been married for ten years. They have a little girl Lyla, she’s three, and they have two pups.??

Her hobby...?

She likes to bake. Her husband was in a fraternity, and he always had his friends over, so she started testing different treats on them whenever they came over. She bakes for fun, and she always brings in treats to Choice as well as her husband’s work and eventually people started to pay her for it.??

An item on her bucket list...?

She would like to take an overseas trip with her husband, whether that’s Europe or somewhere tropical.?

Shannon and Choice Solutions:

Shannon has been a part of the Choice family for eleven years, when asked what she does, Shannon said,??

“I’m the Sales Operations Manager, I always tell people I know what it costs but not what it does, that’s the easiest way to explain my job.”??

Sales Operations has changed since she started working at Choice Solutions eleven years ago, so when asked what the difference between then and now is, she said,?

“When I first started at Choice, our proposals were an Excel sheet, it was really simple, but complicated at the same time. Account Managers also could/would do their own proposals, which took time away from selling. Now we have detailed proposals for everything including managed and professional services. Sales Operations is completely responsible for an opportunity from start to finish. We are entering everything from that initial deal registration and ticket to the final order and everything in between. We want to give our Account Mangers and Customers the Choice Experience and handle 99% of everything so they can focus on other things.”?

There have been several memorable customer experiences for Shannon at Choice so when asked which was the most memorable, she said,?

“The deal that stood out the most for me didn’t involve me at all! I was on maternity leave and Adam Mann was closing a large deal for our Managed Services Customer, Central States Group.?There was a lot of hardware which involves shipment details as well as software, just a lot of moving pieces and coordination. I was watching from the sidelines, and it was a very proud moment for me. I was proud of Adam for closing the deal, proud of my backup for handling everything (student becomes teacher moment!) and proud of Choice for gaining the business. I got to watch how well we worked, and I couldn’t have been happier for everyone involved.”?

After working with Choice for eleven years now, we asked Shannon what has kept her around, she said,?

“This is my family. Sappy moment, this is my family. We tell each other when we are wrong, we celebrate when we are right. We keep each other in check and most importantly we CHECK in on each other. We do it right here.”??

Shannon has had many accomplishments during her time at Choice Solutions, so when asked about a proud moment she’s had professionally, she said,??

“I am most proud of how Sales Operations has evolved. We’ve added new services and offerings internally and externally. More importantly, we?continue to think about how we can improve the experience for our Account Managers and our Customers.”?