“I was never the best student. But luckily it’s a relationship...

“I was never the best student. But luckily it’s a relationship driven world. I’m in sales. And it’s important to be knowledgeable, but my job is primarily to get clients to like me more than the next guy. All of our competitors sell very similar products. The differences between us are very small. So it comes down to one thing: ‘Who does the customer like more?’ And I want that to be me. But it’s a lot of work. Relationships don’t just materialize. I’m always on my phone. I answer emails immediately. I send ‘thank you’ notes for everything. And if I ever read an article that reminds me of a conversation we had, I’m sending it along.”