Empowered to make Mistakes | Marie Brunet, Global VP of Sales at Uniphore

Marie Brunet, Global VP of Sales at Uniphore, joined James on Tech Salescraft to share her revealing career change story. From engineering to sales, Marie’s professional journey has been anything but linear. Yet this episode exposes us to just how beneficial the engineering mindset is in the sales environment. From a heightened appreciation for the process, to a comprehensive understanding of the solution you’re selling, we explore the technical transferable skills that Marie used to drive success in her sales career.

“When I first stepped into sales, I was greeted with a safe space to learn, and one in which I didn’t have to fear failure.”

Career changes are undoubtedly a daunting experience for anyone, but particularly when you are stepping into a completely new role or realm. That’s why Marie is so keen to share how important creating the right sales environment is. Embedding a culture into your organisation where people are able to fail, and then learn and grow from these mistakes, is a central belief of Marie’s. Speaking from experience, Marie reminds us that success in sales isn’t a linear experience, and it’s the comebacks from the pitfalls that really give us a boost. This intrinsically links to Marie’s thoughts on self-reflection, and the role that plays in allowing you to develop throughout your career.

“The people that can name their bad traits are the people I want to hire. Because I know they’ll be able to accept feedback, they can collaborate better, and are quick to act when something goes wrong.”

Ensuring you hire the right people for your business is a priority for any firm. And Marie gives us her advice that is applicable to every single team. In the interview process, Marie always asks for people to talk about their flaws, and what they are doing to better themselves. Those with a proactive response and acute awareness of where they could improve are the people Marie wants on her team. This is a reminder to not shy away from your weaker traits (everyone has them!) and take time to acknowledge them as they are a key part of developing a strong growth mindset.

Thank you Marie for joining us on Tech Salescraft! Your career journey is fascinating, and your insights into making new roles accessible to all are learns that should be adopted across the entire industry.

You can listen to the full episode here.