Meet Caroline: Sharing an Inside Look into Workday’s Sales Team
I’m Caroline- an Account Executive on the sales team in France. I recently passed by two year anniversary at Workday. Reflecting on the past two years, I feel good knowing it was the right decision for my career and development. I see Workday as an excellent professional opportunity for others and want to share why I joined Workday, what it’s like to be part of the sales team, and why I recommend Workday as a great place to work for sales professionals.
Discovering Workday and My First Impression
Working in the services and technology industry for over 10 years, I heard Workday come up in discussions more and more as time went on. Many saw Workday as the innovative software solution tackling complex problems in a way customers hadn’t seen before.
I was curious to learn what makes Workday different, so I started doing my own research. With an impressive 97 percent customer satisfaction rating, I discovered Workday’s dedication to customer service is one of the best in the industry. I was also interested in Workday’s fast-growing global presence. With more than 30 international office locations and a long list of global customers, I knew the company was making a large impact and had an excellent reputation. On top of that, Workday seemed like a great opportunity to grow as a sales professional.
As it turns out, my research on Workday was spot on. I can now speak firsthand to Workday’s culture of customer care and innovation, and what it takes to close a deal within the first few months!
Why I Joined and My Journey to Workday
After spending six years working across Sydney and Singapore, the reality of the pandemic and lockdowns left me missing my home in France. So I decided it was time to start looking for my next career move, which brought up the perfect opportunity to see how Workday might fit into it. When I decided to move home, I had a shortlist of companies I was interested in exploring job opportunities with — Workday being on the list.
I decided to be proactive in my candidacy with Workday, so I reached out to a recruiter who asked to speak with me that same afternoon. I have rarely experienced such rapidity in connecting with a talent acquisition team, and it also meant a lot that the team was interested in learning more about what I could bring despite being across the globe.
When I was preparing to meet with the team, Workday’s core values stood out and there seemed to be no shortage of news that reflected Workday’s people-first mentality and doing the right thing. This was validated throughout my interview process by the way that the sales team shared stories of collaboration, support, and how Workday takes care of employees. As a result, I felt an immediate connection to the team as if I was already on it.
After meeting Workmates virtually, I felt even more excited about the opportunity, making Workday stand apart from other companies. It was clear employees are the number one core value and fostering a sense of belonging is an ongoing priority, and that ultimately sealed the deal for me.
Embracing a Digitized Onboarding Process
Workday was there for me right from the start. As soon as I accepted my offer and planned my move, my team was flexible and empathetic as I packed up my things and made the journey from Singapore to France. Once settled, I was ready to start onboarding with a company virtually for the first time.
Onboarding is critical in a new job because it paves the way for your future success. In a sales role, you’re a representative of your company’s brand, so it’s critical to understand a company’s mission, values, and products.
At the time I joined, the company was still operating on a fully-remote basis. Workday’s virtual orientation made it clear the company cares about the power of connection and fostering relationships. My fellow onboarding cohort and I were greeted with virtual breakout activities that allowed us to make cross-functional connections. Not only that, but my inbox was filled with more than 50 personalized emails from Workmates across EMEA who were eager to meet me. I didn’t expect I would feel so welcomed in a new job, especially in a remote environment! Seeing more recent new hire onboarding sessions happen in-person has me excited for the newest Workmates and what’s to come for them.
What to Expect When Joining Workday’s Sales Team
After the general company onboarding, sales professionals enter Workday’s Sales Academy, a powerful, 8-week onboarding that gives you everything you need for a successful start. We did deep dives into the product, teams, how we’d be working with others, and more. In the end, I felt well-equipped to work on my sales territory in autonomy.
Jumping into my day-to-day role was easy after such thorough onboarding and I was able to put everything I learned into practice within weeks. One of the things I was most excited to experience was the power of Workday’s brand and how the product precedes itself — you’ll find that many prospective customers are interested from the start.
When you start selling in your territory, you have autonomy but can always lean on fellow Workmates. The extended sales team, such as solution consultants and business development managers, regularly provide cross-functional support and share resources that allow account executives to make informed decisions. In addition, you have access to supplemental training, demo content, talking points about competitive positioning, marketing collateral, and more from the Sales Enablement team. Because I was supported by my team and equipped with the resources and skills I gained in sales academy, I closed my first deal within five months of joining the team.
If you are looking for your next career move in sales, I encourage you to consider Workday.
With a fantastic solution to sell, a great reputation, and a team powered by genuine values, you’ll find yourself excited to come to work and make a difference. Check out Workday’s careers page to learn more about opportunities in your area.
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