Larry Gordon: Insights from a Sales Leadership Journey

Sales Lead Dog Podcast

Join us on Sales Lead Dog where we're joined by Larry Gordon, Managing Director of Emtec Inc., for an enlightening conversation on what it takes to be successful in the world of sales and leadership. Listen in as Larry breaks down his three essential drivers for success: capitalizing on technology inflection points, collaborating with exceptional CEOs, and prioritizing leadership actions over titles. His unique insights on fostering relationships with top-tier CEOs, alongside reflections on his own journey through sales and business development, offer a wealth of knowledge for anyone looking to thrive in the tech industry.

In our chat with Larry, we unpack the transition into sales leadership and the invaluable lessons that come with it. Discover the traits Larry values in potential leaders, including integrity and a deep understanding of the intricacies of relationship-driven business. He shares his strategies for assembling a balanced team, with a mix of personalities to lead effectively. This episode is brimming with Larry's advice on keeping the focus on customer engagement and sales results, offering listeners a blueprint for fostering strong, accountable leadership within their own teams.

We also tackle the sometimes challenging world of customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Larry and I explore the delicate balance between the advantages of centralized customer information and the potential drawbacks of CRMs becoming overly complex or disconnected from sales team needs. Learn about the philosophy of "walking the Gemba" to truly understand front-line requirements, and the pursuit of a streamlined CRM that empowers rather than encumbers sales professionals. If you've ever felt weighed down by your CRM, this episode will guide you towards reassessing and reinvigorating your approach to drive your business forward.

Larry Gordon is Managing Director at Emtec and has been co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer and CEO of several successful start-ups in the IT services and digital engineering and AI spaces. Larry has held senior leadership positions at Cognizant and Capgemini. He has had successful exits and built enduring customer relationships in the AI, security, devops and digital transformation segments. He has also been a successful angel investor in the energy and cloud spaces.

Quotes:

"I love identifying good opportunities at an inflection point in the technology industry. It makes things a lot easier to market, easier to recruit salespeople, and it's exciting."

"Leadership comes down to doing leadership things as opposed to being a leader. That's one of my themes."

"Offering [CEOs] things that are really useful, in my case, it's about driving revenue... I say I can do this and be accountable for it and spend the money the right way."

Links:

Larry Gordon’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurencemgordon/

Emtec, Inc. - https://www.emtecinc.com

Get this episode and all other episodes of Sales Lead Dog at https://empellorcrm.com/salesleaddog/