Meet the driving force behind KORE's sales development team, a leader with a passion for driving innovation and creating impactful connections: KORE’s Vice President of Sales Development, Jim Bodwell. In this month’s edition of our KORE Connections series, we take a closer look at Jim's playbook for success, the secrets to his incredible organizational skills, and explore how he's leading the charge in shaping the future of sales development.
Q: Everyone has their own morning routine. It is important for people to get their day going. What are the 3 most important parts to your morning routine?
A: I make sure our three boys begin their days properly before school. That only occurs after I have brewed coffee for my wife & I while looking over our prospecting reports from the previous day along with reviewing that day’s schedule.
Q: How did you begin your career with KORE?
A: In October 2014 after a decade with T-Mobile, I joined Wyless, which was based in Massachusetts, where I was born and raised. In 2016 while overseeing the Southeast region for Wyless, we were acquired by KORE. I reported to Pete West until one important asset of Wyless was to be incorporated into KORE, which was Inside Sales. That is when my life changed forever, and I moved to Atlanta to join a team of inside sales leadership. The experience of witnessing our growth in personnel, enriched culture, and successful selling is why I am on a small list of people who can say they love what they do and do what they love.
Q: How do you stay organized and meet goals?
A: World class tools for lead generation as well as lead engagement including our Salesforce dashboards (special thanks to Nicki Brock and Luis Villalobos). The secret sauce though, is our four SDR Managers: Max Ingram, Brent Buxton, Bridget Hayes, and Scott Dockery. We are a global department that partners with every business development team across the Americas and EAP regions. They execute the vision, perform daily coaching, and assure everyone is moving in the same direction. Then of course there are our 25 SDRs who are performing the most challenging job in sales and are arguably the hardest working people in sales.
Q: What’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?
A: Never wear white socks with a suit. I had tremendous mentors at T-Mobile who held me accountable and forced me to grow up quickly in my early 20’s. I share that story often with SDRs on the brink of promotion. The lesson, besides “look good, feel good,” is the importance of attention to detail. If my mentors were so concerned about my socks, how do they measure my success and ability to represent our brand on the front line and with partners? It changed my general approach to any role or task overnight.
Q: What is one thing most people do not know about you?
A: I went to college to receive my bachelor’s degree in physical education. That’s right, I have built a 20-year career in wireless technology on the foundation of teaching gym class and playing football. The teaching background absolutely correlates with today’s role and responsibilities though, and I am proud of my background. I wanted to share this piece of information because you do not need an “IOT” degree to be successful in this industry. Instead, take pride in KORE and work passionately to execute your job better than anyone else could. One bonus thing most people don’t know: When my wife and I got married in January 2020, Ryan Chappelle was our Officiant, and now our kids fondly call him “Rev-Ry”.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give a new hire at KORE?
A: There are hundreds of different roles here at KORE that require different responsibilities. At the end of the day, whether you are in sales, engineering, support, finance, or quality assurance, we all report directly to our customers. It takes a total team effort to provide a world class experience through our customer’s journey. Obsess over making the customer’s journey world class, even if you are not customer facing.
Learn how you can make a difference #AtTheKORE by visiting our careers page.
In a world obsessed with connections, from fast streaming services, to building personal networks, to even connected cities and homes, it is the personal connections that matter the most – that is why we are proud to introduce KORE Connections. This forum is a Q&A series where our thought leaders and innovators can share their perspectives on life, innovations, and business which could help you in building your own connections.
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