Andrew Barbuto’s Sales Journey – From $0 to $250MM in 8 Years
I’m Andrew Barbuto. When I first started in sales, I expected someone to teach me how to sell, but no one ever did. There was no step-by-step “How To” guide that walked me through how to sell starting from my first day, so I decided to write one to help new salespeople. This year, I’ll manage over $80MM in digital media revenue across 30+ software and services clients, as the top grossing sales rep out of more than 100. I’ve gone through many ups and downs, including a $5MM cancellation before getting fired by my client, just to get rehired and bring in the most revenue in my company’s history. Let me start my story back in college.
Finding My Path in College
Once I realized my dream of becoming an NBA player wasn’t going to happen after not making any of my Middle School or High School basketball teams (I was 5 feet tall until my sophomore year of high school), like many people, I had no idea what I wanted to be once I grew up.
All I knew was that I wanted to go to college. I had no idea what a syllabus was and thought it was just a week to party. Since I didn’t read the syllabus, I didn’t study for my first Psych exam and got a 40 on my test. I remember telling my parents that I wasn’t cut out for this and wanted to go home, but thankfully, they talked me into staying. I ended up getting a B in the class and finishing with a 3.65 GPA and a bunch of lifelong best friends.
In college, all I really knew was that I wanted to make a lot of money doing something I enjoyed and was good at. I felt my strengths were my personality and communication skills. Initially, I thought I might major in Journalism, but in my first class, the professor said he was 37, went here, and would be paying student loans until he died, so I figured, maybe writing could be a hobby! Then I thought maybe English, but when I was given 13 chapters to read on Monday by Wednesday, I realized it wasn't for me.
Finding My Career in Sales
I decided to keep it broad and hoped it would come to me. You know what’s broad? Business. Leading up to the summer going into my junior year, I realized that my short stints working in the concession stands at United Skates of America (exactly what it sounds like), Robert Moses Beach, and in the Men’s Department at Marshall’s Department wouldn’t cut it, so I decided to look for an internship.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car was recruiting on campus, and I thought that could be good experience, and I turned out to be right. I ended up being the top-producing sales intern on Long Island at selling our rental insurance. It was there I discovered my sales skills and passion for customer service, but the only issue was those pesky nightmares I would have reading my sales script while I was half asleep due to the stress. It was then I decided that B2C sales might be a bit much for my mental health.
My junior year, I took a class on Personal Selling, which became my favorite class, taught by a tall, upbeat professor with a positive attitude. I learned about B2B Sales and thought it might be a good option. At the same time, I saw the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” and thought it was incredibly cool that Jordan Belfort could persuade people to buy from him just by using his words.
Starting My Career
I decided that’d be my goal, but I wasn’t ready to graduate, so I went back to Albany for a Master’s in Human Resource Information Systems program since they had no Marketing program. I still needed to do something the summer after I graduated, and my dad helped me get an interview as a sales intern at the digital media subsidiary of GroupM. It was there I got my first real taste of B2B sales working underneath the sales team.
I did the grunt work (prospecting lists, competitive analysis, prospecting email drafts, etc.), but I also got to sit in on their sales calls and do mock sales pitches, which I thought were awesome and exactly what I would like to do.
Towards the end of the summer, I told my manager I would like to join the sales team, but she said not so fast. I first had to learn the ropes starting from the bottom as an Associate doing the real grunt work and then likely move into a client-facing Account Manager position before I could go into sales. She let me know how important it was to learn the back-end of what goes into digital media campaigns in order to properly sell it and she was spot on.
I made the difficult decision to drop out of the Master’s program before the end of the Summer and pursue a career in digital media. My dad had already put down a deposit on an apartment with my friends, but I told him that if he didn’t make me pay him back, I would never ask him for any money again, and I’ve kept true to my word.
For the next two years, I was an Associate where I did the busy work and learned the industry while keeping in contact with the sales team as I kept my ultimate goal in mind.
Rising Through the Ranks
I then raised my hand to manage a small account, the Museum of Modern Art, which ultimately led to me getting promoted once there was an Account Manager opening. However, I always knew I wanted to get back into a sales position, so I let it be known. I set up one-on-ones with the VP of Sales and head of Account Services and expressed what I wanted to do. When someone on the sales team left, the VP of Account Services said I should go for the role.
I was only 23 at the time, which was earlier than most people go into sales, but I decided to go for it. I memorized a sales pitch I put together and couldn’t believe it when I got it. I was terrified as I had never sold before, but I made a promise to myself that I would put everything I had into being successful and told my new boss that he might end up hiring better sales reps, but would never hire anyone who worked harder than me.
I got to work preparing, setting up meetings with as many of the sales reps that had been reaching out for my business as possible to listen to their sales pitches, see what worked and what didn’t. I also interviewed who I felt were the best sales reps we worked with, coming with questions for advice.
When I first started, I thought that I would be trained on how to sell, but I never was. I had to learn on my own by reading sales books and applying my learnings. I was not good at first. I sounded robotic, would cut off customers, and listened to reply instead of to understand. However, I knew I would become obsessed, had a passion for helping customers, and was willing to proactively request feedback to learn and improve.
Achieving Success
After six months of sales meetings, I still hadn’t closed any new business despite reaching out to 100 prospects per day and setting up 5+ meetings per week with new prospects. However, I set up mock sales pitches, requested feedback, listened to the recording, and continued to work hard and get better with each meeting. After that six-month mark, the first new service client deal came in, and everyone got easier after that as I learned from my experience and continued to improve with each deal.
After my first year, I had been cold calling using the “spray and pray approach” when I came across the opportunity of a lifetime. One contact who I had been persistently following up with finally relented and responded with, "Call me." So I did, and I quickly realized I was speaking with a major global shoe company with billions in revenue. Within a week, we booked a “small” one-month test worth $2 million, more than my entire quota. They quickly became my biggest client, and after two years of selling services, I had gotten the sale down to a science, closing 20 new clients each year, growing my book to over $10MM in revenue, and becoming the top-grossing salesperson at the company.
The Shift to Software Sales
However, because I was an internal hire, I was not getting paid like a typical salesperson. I found out that one of my colleagues was bringing in less than a third as much revenue as me and getting paid double, yet he was leaving because he was getting paid more elsewhere. I decided to seek out a new challenge where I would get paid my worth. A client recommended me to my current company, where they took their business. I decided to pursue it and met with the Director on the team who recruited me to join his team.
Selling software was a completely different ball game, with longer sales cycles, more decision-makers involved, and more change management. Three months into my tenure, the Director who recruited me left, and I was again left to learn on my own. I used the same playbook I used when I first started in sales, setting up one-on-ones with top sales reps, interviewing clients, and reading books on selling software. There was a learning curve of about six months again, but once that first one came in, each one got easier after that.
Overcoming Adversity
After six months, I had started to get it down, but then the Pandemic happened. Many of my clients were furloughed or laid off and my budget was cut, including a $5MM deal with my largest client who said they were unlikely to be able to continue working with us.
However, even if we couldn’t do business, I wanted to help provide value anyway I could so I provided LinkedIn referrals, WFH recommendations, TV suggestions and updates on the country re-opening.
I continued to get better at selling software and started to win new clients. Once things improved, my clients all came back. Over the last 5 years, I’ve amassed 40 software contracts while becoming the top grossing salesperson at my company out of over 100 reps.
Our budget grew exponentially from there, and by the end of the next year, they were spending $15MM annually to over $35MM annually to $50MM. I was promoted to Senior Agency Lead due to my revenue growth, have been the top revenue generating salesperson out of more than 100 sales reps for the last 3 years and this year.
Where I Am Today and My Vision for the Future
Today, I manage over $80 million in digital media revenue across 30+ clients, the most annual revenue in my company’s history. I’ve closed $250MM in revenue in my career.
My favorite part of my job is being able to help my clients solve their business challenges, whether it’s doing more with less or making them look like superstars in front of their bosses.
My journey from struggling to becoming a top sales rep has been incredibly rewarding, but I'm not stopping here. My vision for the future is to share the knowledge and strategies I've developed with others.
Sharing the Knowledge
I’ve also found a passion for mentoring new sales reps. My goal is to pay it forward and share my learnings with as many salespeople as possible, which is why I’m writing a book called “Top Sales Producer: How To Crush Your B2B Sales Quota” that is a step-by-step guide to my successful sales method, designed to help new salespeople expedite their ramp-up period and provide unique tips for experienced salespeople to close faster, more profitable deals while crushing their quota.
It’s the “How to” guide I wish I had when I started, including exactly what to say and do from day one while reviewing each stage of the sales cycle that includes:
Effective Onboarding
Prospect Research/Qualification
Prospecting
Sales Meetings – Questions and Script Writing
Demos
Advancing the Deal
Proposals
Financial Analysis
Contract Negotiation
Closing Deals
Conclusion
My story is a testament to the fact that with determination and the right strategies, you can overcome any challenge and achieve your goals. I continue to use this exact sales method successfully today to win and retain clients so I believe these strategies help for anyone selling in today’s remote working, AI-powered, data driven world.
By focusing on continuous learning, building strong relationships, and maintaining a customer-centric approach, anyone can achieve sales success.
Join the waitlist for my upcoming book to receive a FREE download of my Meeting Hack for how to secure next steps in 5 minutes at https://andrewbarbuto.com/top-sales-producer-book.
I also teach sales tips on my Youtube channel and please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn at www.LinkedIn.com/in/andrewbarbuto.
I hope my content can help you on your sales journey to maximize your commissions in a long and successful sales career!
