Meet the Team: Keith Getz, Senior Sales Engineer

Meet Keith Getz, senior sales engineer for Spruce!

This month, we sat down with Keith Getz, Senior Sales Engineer, to learn more about him and his role within the Spruce team.

ECI: Describe your role in 50 words or less.

Keith Getz: I assist the sales team with technical presentations of ECI’s Spruce software solution. As a team, we determine the goals of a potential partner and present a solution that closely aligns with their needs. My responsibility is the actual demo, and I really enjoy responding to our clients with solutions.

ECI: What and where did you study?

KG: I studied marketing and accounting at Siena College in Latham, NY.

ECI: Tell us a bit about your background and the path that led you to your current role?

KG: In college, I had a job repairing and building PC’s and as college came to an end, I was looking for something different. My first interview for a job was for a support position at Spruce. I accepted the offer and spent four years supporting a product called Spruce Plus, while our current more modern product was being built. In the end, I became responsible to install SpruceWare.Net, and managing projects for new clients. As we grew as a company, an opportunity emerged to join the sales team in a technical presenter role. I have been in that role now for eight years and have loved the experience of serving our clients.

ECI: What does your day-to-day work life look like?

KG: My day-to-day is never quite the same. Which keeps things exciting! Sometimes we are traveling onsite to meet potential clients face-to-face, and sometimes we are doing remote presentations. I generally average two or three presentations a day and field phone calls and emails from the team. Prior to any presentations, we take a discovery from our sales team to customize the presentation, and this also includes analysis of all web presence and social media. We strive to deliver turn-key solutions for our customers, going above and beyond the competition.

ECI: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your industry? Any words of wisdom?

KG: Get out there and really understand the people and the products! Our industry has unique challenges with the types of products they offer, and by understanding those challenges it’s easy to see why our solution has been as successful as it has. I always remember to practice active listening when talking to our customers!

ECI: What excites you most about working within this industry?

KG: I really enjoy opening people's eyes to what’s possible with updated technology. We make a huge difference in efficiencies and electronic capture of all previously manually stored information. From a personal perspective I am an avid DIY’er and constantly being surrounded with new products and information is really great!

ECI: What do you find most challenging about working within this industry?

KG: The LBMH industry can be a bit slow in adopting new technology as a whole. Those who embrace new functionality really give themselves a leg up from an efficiency perspective and it’s our job to help others realize it’s the best path for their business moving forward.

ECI: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned since you began your career?

KG: To me when interacting with either teammates or clients there is nothing more important than active listening. Paraphrasing and clearly defining solutions provide the easiest path to a mutually beneficial result.

ECI: Since you started working in the industry, what changes have you witnessed?

KG: One of the biggest changes has been the transformation of onsite services to the deployment of software in the cloud. The industry went from 100% onsite to almost 100% in the cloud in such a short period of time. One of the most exciting things we are seeing now is the explosion of ecommerce.

ECI: What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

KG: I am an avid hockey player and also really enjoy traveling with my wife, Shirley. If not playing hockey or traveling I am likely involved in some type of home renovation project.

ECI: What book would you recommend for anyone to add to their ‘must-read list?

KG: I was given a book by our current division president when I first started this position called “The Exceptional Presenter” and I think its excellent for anyone starting or in a career as a sales engineer. Amongst many excellent points it highlights the idea of how to not just present, but how to craft stories that are relevant and more interesting to audiences, making it easier to stand above the competition.