Meet Kristine, a Director on our Local Sales team! Eleven years ago, Kristine was a recent college graduate on the hunt for a career. After applying for an operations position at Yelp, she met with a recruiter who helped her to realize that her personality and skills were more aligned with a career in sales, so she took a leap of faith and joined our Local Sales team. Now, she is celebrating her 11th Yelpiversary as a Director!
What is your advice to someone interested in sales?
Sales requires a strong work ethic and resilience. In the beginning, you have to work extra hard to overcome the obstacles, and the learning curve is steep. To push through that initial learning curve at the start, you need to be resilient and able to handle rejection, inconsistent results, and failure. And be a sponge! Be open to feedback, coaching, learning a different way, other perspectives, and learning from your mistakes. It’s a numbers game in every sense of the phrase – the harder you work, the more successful you’ll be. The more mistakes you make, the more you learn. The more open you are, the better you’ll perform.
Why did you want to work at Yelp?
I already used the app, so I knew it as somewhat of a household name, and it something I was already familiar with. Everything I read about Yelp said great things about the culture, the people, and the training, so I knew if I was going to start a career in something I’ve never done before, Yelp would be a good jumping-off point for me to learn and grow quickly.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
I sign on around 8:00AM and check in with the eight managers on my team, respond to any emails I got overnight, and get a morning email out to my group of sales managers and sales representatives. The remainder of my day is spent in meetings which consist of things like coaching sessions with my reps and managers to help them improve on a skill or metric, training on a new product or concept, meetings about any organization updates with other directors, and 1:1s with my boss. After those are all done, I’ll get any last administrative work done and sign off typically around 6:00PM to go hang out with my dogs and my boyfriend, make dinner and watch all of our favorite shows.
How do you stay motivated to hit your goals if you’re having a tough day?
I’ve had so many tough days, weeks, and even months in my 11 years at Yelp. It’s honestly an expectation that those will happen to everyone at some point or another. Some people are motivated by money, it’s what keeps them going even when things are tough. But for me, it’s more about personal responsibility. I have a team of roughly 80 people, so I can’t “turn off” for a day just because I’m having a tough time. I owe it to them to show up, bring my best, and accomplish everything I set out to that day. The day will be a lot tougher for me if I drop the ball and pass the buck, so I know that showing up and getting it done will serve me better than calling it quits.
Tell us something you learned from the Yelp Sales Development Program that made you a better salesperson
I learned everything I know about sales from the Yelp Sales Development Program, so I guess my answer is everything! I think the biggest thing I’ve learned and gotten better at is how to be direct and assertive, while also being respectful and pleasant. It’s a hard balance to strike, but once you figure that out you’ll perform better and sell more. It transfers to life skills too. Those skills have made me better at handling conflict, negotiating, and asking for what I want in life.
How does Yelp support your work-life balance?
We all have naturally gotten some time back in our days since transitioning to a fully distributed workforce, which opens up more time to spend with loved ones and do extracurriculars. Yelp also gives us a monthly stipend for things like gym memberships or any other wellness activities. We also run a lot of fun time off incentives, have a great Wellness/PTO package, and we don’t require or encourage employees to work overtime.
How does your manager or Yelp’s leadership let you know that your work is valued?
I’ve worked with my boss for the last 11 years in some capacity or another. He has been there through every step of my career and knows me well. He knows when to praise, but also when to push me, and he’s really good at taking time in our 1:1 conversations to show gratitude for how hard I work and give me recognition when it’s due. Yelp as a whole is great at shouting out wins and highlighting top employees for going above and beyond.
Want to work with Kristine?
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