One of the best salespeople on the planet has gone. Joe Terry, a Senior Principal with The Complex Sale for almost 15 yeas and a VP at MSA Software prior, passed away in November 2010.
We worked together for over 25 years. What made this man a great salesman is that he was first a great person. The two things are inseparable. Trust is built on character and assurance that a salesperson will never do something for themselves that is not in the customers best interest. Joe always said that if he wouldn't take an offer himself, he wouldn't offer it to a prospect.
Joe had courage, character, political savvy, competitive instincts, successful experience in a very competitive market, and could build lasting relationships of trust. His knowledge of sales effectiveness and process resulted in many innovations at TCS and MSA and many happy customers. Some of his customers bought from him at five or six different companies.
His presence and confidence filled a room when he was there. He was our top salesperson for 5 years and sold a $37 million dollar software system to the State of Texas when quota was about 5% of that amount.
And Joe was fun to be around. Always positive but realistic. He would always say, "Well, we are where we are" which always meant to not worry about the past but get focused about what we were going to do next.
If you were fortunate to have had him as an instructor or manager, then you learned from one of the best ever.
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