Each month, we sit down with a CallSource employee to get to know them and their role a bit more.
CallSource prides ourselves on being a people-focused company. We care about our clients, and we care about our employees.
The support-client relationship formed between our teams and our clients is one of the unique attributes that makes CallSource stand out from our competition.
Although clients know their dedicated support team very well, we thought it was time that everyone else got to know all of the great people that work at CallSource with regular CallSource team member interviews.
For our second installment of Meet the CallSource Team, I chatted with Matt Widmyer, who I work with on the marketing team here at CallSource.
Name: Matt Widmyer
Title: Marketing and Sales Operations Manager
When did you start working for CS? March 2012…has it really been almost 7 years?
What position did you start in?
I was hired on as a Sales Opener (SDR) in the Home Services vertical.
What is your current position?
Marketing and Sales Operations Manager
How did you evolve from where you started with CallSource to where you are now?
The short story: Hard work, research, organizational shifts, collaboration, great mentors, and – what the heck – sprinkle in some luck.
The long story: I had some early success prospecting customers and I wanted to share this with others through best practices. An organizational shift gave me the responsibility of managing the inbound lead process, which at that time was a sales function. While reconfiguring our Marketing department a couple years ago, it was decided that this was a better place to nest our inbound team. By being part of a new Marketing team, I was able to get my hands dirty in by configuring our marketing automation platform. By doing this, I realized the importance of database management as it relates to both Sales and Marketing teams.
We all know that sales and marketing are tied together pretty closely…what are your opinions on how they align with each other?
They are both best friends that don’t know it yet. Sales wants more leads and better leads from Marketing, while Marketing wants production and feedback from Sales. The better collaboration is, the more we get to celebrate together. Here I’ve seen improved transparency, a greater sense of urgency with leads, and more communication.
What does a “typical” workday look like for you?
A typical workday consists of initiating, leading, and working on projects that can help Sales and Marketing initiatives (both short-term and long-term). No matter where it starts, it usually always ends up back at the database, and then in turn usually MS Excel. I’m the “Who” in the Sales and Marketing equation, so anytime any kind of an audience is involved (or excluded), I’m always involved to some extent.
What would you say is your greatest accomplishment so far with your career at CallSource?
I’ve put the technology, people, and processes in place to grow our marketable database by over 10X its original size. And we’re just getting started!
You travel a lot. I’m counting down until I have been here long enough to earn the same amount of vacation hours that you do (my five years is just around the corner!). What is the last trip you went on, and what is planned next?
Haha, you’ll get there. I have a tendency to use all my vacation days at once instead of throughout the year. The last big trip I went on was Tombstone, Arizona. If you haven’t visited there – do it! The next is September – we (my wife, friends, and I) are going to Italy and Ireland on the same trip. I’ve never been to either so I’m super excited.
What is your favorite place you’ve been to so far, and why?
I’ve actually never thought about this. If I had to pick one I’d probably say Thailand. It’s inexpensive, the food is awesome, the people are cool, and they love to party. (Did I mention the food is awesome?)
What is a country that you haven’t been to yet but want to travel to most?
Russia – St. Petersburg and Moscow. I’ve had a few people that went recently tell me that they had a great time there.
Besides traveling, you also make soaps and beard oil (correct me if I am missing anything). You also have a pretty great beard. Tell us more about that.
I always wanted to be part of the farmer’s market scene, and ever since I first saw the movie Fight Club I’ve always wanted to make soap. Through a lot of trial and error (and wasted product) I got it right, and, just like that, Renegade Soap Company was born. Before you ask, no I don’t use human fat in my soap.
The last time I was clean-shaven was December 2013 (don’t ask me why I know that) and I proudly sport my own product. I have to, right?
What else is a random fact that everyone should know about you?
I wanted to run a marathon but didn’t sign up for one so I ran 26.2 miles around a 0.6 mile park loop. If you’re going to try that I suggest packing a lunch – you’ll be there a while.
You’re telling me you chose to run a marathon on your own accord in a small loop and not even get a medal afterwards…I always knew you were crazy. Let’s finish off with your favorite CallSource story.
I always tell people about my final interview here.
I had to give a PowerPoint presentation about my 30/60/90 day plan at CallSource if I were to get hired. I don’t know if I’ve ever been that nervous in my life. I would have almost paid money to be let out of there halfway through. By some miracle I still ended up getting hired.
I found out years later (in good fun) that there was actually a 2-1 vote to not hire me (one of them still refers to this as the worst interview they’ve ever seen), but the third saw something there. I’m always mindful of this during interviews.
