This week, we’re highlighting Lucas Yum at Milestone Technologies as Vendition’s Apprentice of the week. Lucas graduated from UC Berkeley in May of 2017, and he started working with the Vendition team a week after graduating. Four weeks later, he began his work as an Inside Sales Representative at Milestone and has since seen two promotions there.
Read the rest to learn Lucas’ Vendition story:
Due to his experiences on campus, Lucas shares that he knew he wanted to find the right fit within the tech space. “Leading up to graduation, I was doing a bit of networking and looking within economics and technology entrepreneurship. I was looking for somewhere I would fit in with a business development team. Then right around graduation, I heard about [Vendition].”
In regards to why he found the right fit with Milestone, Lucas says that there were several factors at play–the product and space being the top two. “What we provide is a MSP — a managed solution provider. It’s service based and oriented around hardware, where wireless networking for 4g and cybersecurity are the main pitch. I knew at the time this was a big market trend with the rise of cybersecurity and that aligned with what I wanted.”
Lucas shares that the learning curve was relevant from day one and then moving into his next role. “It was pretty tough at first — I feel that school teaches you the foundational concepts, but that’s it. Within enterprise companies there’s a process you have to follow. So I had to pick up the sales cycle — understanding a qualified lead vs. a qualified opportunity, and there was a learning curve. Moving from the ISR role to Strategy Analyst, I became a professional Googler, where I was doing a lot of research into background information to really figure out where the client is in terms of their sales process. You can apply the same methodology from the ISR role into a tech strategy framework–there are a lot of similarities. As an analyst, I was doing a lot of presentations, interacting with clients and internal teams. I felt that having a pitch ready as an ISR helps to be very to the point in a value proposition as an analyst.”
In regards to growing into the role, Lucas appreciates the value of building his soft skills most. “My biggest hurdle was the fear of cold calling. The soft skills are really under appreciated in a college experience or educational background. You learn hard skills, and nobody teaches you the aspects of public speaking and being to the point. Similarly, I felt that you don’t get negative feedback in college, but in a sales environment you get that every day.”
Top Tips for Future SDRs/ISRs:
“For me, it’s super important to know all the solutions your company provides like the back of your hand.
“On top of that, it’s really important to not only have a script for services/solutions but also to have a value prop, like an elevator pitch and a deeper conversation.”
Lucas’ successes even exceed the two promotions he’s had since starting at Milestone. “One thing I was recognized for while I was an analyst was that I did a lot of write ups for executive account directors, which involved a lot of comprehensive research. It would involve a lot of prospecting, figuring out on Indeed and LinkedIn what stacks companies use. I helped our sales reps, and I won Employee of the Year in July.”
Since February this year, Lucas has transitioned into a Sales Engineer role. “My first plan was to go down a product management role, managing the solution end to end, speaking with the entire internal team from engineering to business development. Our company is pivoting more toward AI, and I’m super interested in IoT, data analytics, and AI. In this role, I’m doing more sales presentations, prospecting, and figuring out what the clients needs are with a lot more of the technical nuances.”
In regards to his successes, Lucas shares this observation: “My biggest takeaway is that you have to be fearless. I really kept that as a mantra, and that pushed me towards the role. I believe that if you never ask, the answer will always be no.”
Keep being fearless, Lucas! There’s no doubt you’ll continue to see success in your new role at Milestone, and we cannot wait to see it.