From Routers to Revenue: A CEO's Journey in Sales with Tony Horwath

Better People Podcast

Dive into an enthralling talk with CEO Tony Horwath, as he shares his unconventional transition from computer engineering to founding Sales Focus. Hear about the evolution of sales and BPO, the internet's early days, and the challenges of creating a successful sales culture in today's fast-paced world.

Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Better People Podcast:

• Transition from tech to sales.
• The birth of sales BPO model.
• Hiring ethos in diverse sales.
• Culture impact on retention.
• Future of office work post-Covid.

Resources:

• Sales Focus
• MidAtlantic Employers’ Association (MEA)

Connect with Tony Horwath:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our hosts:

• Holly DePalma - LinkedIn
• Margaret Uhrich - LinkedIn

Quotables:

• 08:56 - For us it's really about, you know, painting that picture of value to a customer and being able to empathize with someone and really, you know, really provide them with something that's valuable to them. Whether it's, you know, reducing cost or increasing productivity or whatever the case may be. And you don't need to be an extrovert to do that. You just need to be, you know, you need to care about people, you need to be able to communicate well, and you need to be able to think. And if you can do those some really basic things, I think you'll, you can find success in sales. So I think it's a big misnomer that you have to be this big talker and extrovert. You don't need to be
• 05:41 - Once I started really opening up and going into different industries and bringing in other more intelligent people than me, it allowed us to really expand. And that's when we really started developing our culture stronger, developing our relationships, our skill sets, our tool sets. And it allowed us to grow year after year and still to this day, the last I think seven years in a row, even through Covid, we continue to grow and we continue to grow now and expand. So it's been a great ride.
• 13:32 - I think a lot of companies have is, is recruit, right? It's finding good people. It's a challenge across the board. So when it's hard to find people, turnover, attrition becomes even more of a focus, right? Once you get somebody you want to keep them, because there are a lot of companies out there trying to grab them and trying to pull them in when you find someone that's, you know, of quality. So it's a challenge.
• 06:60 - So you're solving business problems. And that was always the part that I enjoyed the most. I'm not the most outgoing person. I'm not an extrovert. I'm not, you know, that typical salesperson who talks to everybody or talks too much, I'm that, you know, thoughtful listening type salesperson who's gonna analyze and then give a response.
• 04:00 - I believe, eighth or sixth-largest company in the world. And they engaged with this tiny little company called Sales Focus. And it was Enron. So most people know the story of Enron, but it was a great six month run until they went bankrupt. But it was a great experience. 'cause what it did, it opened my eyes and said, Hey, we don't have to be an expert in the product. Right? That was the energy sector, but we are the expert in, is we're an expert in sales and marketing. So that kind of developed me to say, all right, let's go outside the, you know, outside our boundaries and outside our comfort zone and start looking at other types of businesses.