We’re pleased to announce a new member of the Sqwire team! In June, Mike Toms joined us as Vice President of Sales. With his background building and leading top-performing sales teams, Mike is the perfect addition to help us bring our financial literacy platform to colleges, universities, businesses, churches, and communities across the U.S.
We sat down with Mike to talk about his unique philosophies, including his “servant leader” approach and “drowning out the noise.” Mike shares our passion for empowering people with the tools they need for financial success, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds with him at the helm of our sales team!
You have an impressive career path in sales—what motivated you to join Sqwire?
My career has been primarily on the sales side of the automotive industry, whether leading sales teams in dealerships or selling products and services to dealerships. In that world, I have had lots of exposure to folks with lower credit scores and the challenges they face everyday in securing the credit to buy safe, affordable vehicles, as well as homes and more. When I was introduced to Danijel Velicki at Sqwire and saw firsthand his passion to make a difference and the incredible product he and the Sqwire team have built, I was hooked.
How will you devise a strategy that makes the most of Sqwire’s unique mission and relatable style?
Together with our current team and the players yet to come, we will execute on three things:
- Creating a scalable sales organization that addresses multiple sales verticals and targeted geographies.
- Putting a trained, capable and motivated sales team in place, with a relentless focus on execution.
- Executing on sales is not magic; it is about consistently being in front of the right customers, establishing trust and belief in the advantages of the Sqwire program, and making sensible two-way agreements with our customers.
None of this works without the crucial element of any sales organization: belief. Fortunately, our product team has built out an incredible solution on the Sqwire platform that connects strongly with end users, making belief real and tangible for our future sales team.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Two factors heavily influence my style of leadership, which I have practiced all of my life but was given a voice by the style of Tony Bennett, the Head Coach of the University of Virginia Cavaliers Men’s Basketball Program.
- The Servant Leader approach: I am here to make selling easy for the team, by removing obstacles, fostering opportunities, providing support to get deals done, learning from missteps, and celebrating successes.
- Get To vs Have To. My wife first made me aware of the choices we make in life and why words matter. When our kids were young, I made a point of arranging my automotive retail hours to accommodate Saturday morning swim lessons at the local YMCA. As a lifelong sailor and swimmer, I felt this was an important thing to share with my kids and it was great to have the opportunity to do so. Once, when telling someone our plans for the weekend, I used the phrase “I have to take the kids to swim lessons.” My wife corrected me and said, “No, you get to take the kids to swim lessons.” Point made and taken ever since.
Which current trends in sales will have the most impact on Sqwire’s market strategy, and how do you plan to address these trends to maintain a competitive edge?
Overall, the biggest trend in sales is overcoming the noise of the omni-channel, ai-driven, 24/7 approach to sales.
We will work hard to distinguish Sqwire from all of the noise that decision makers at our target prospects will be hearing in their marketplace. While there may be new and different ways of creating noise in our marketing space, there is no more valuable element in sales than consistent presence, strong relationship building, and clear messaging about the Sqwire distinctive value proposition: to empower through financial wellness.
Sqwire is a technology-enabled company, with many great tools at our disposal, thanks to the vision of Danijel and the hard work of Jeff Stasko, our SVP of Product and Marketing. My first goal is to work closely with Danijel and Jeff to maximize our efficiency with HubSpot, making it the nexus of our sales tracking, fulfillment, and long-term customer engagement. With the fundamentals in place, HubSpot can help do targeted campaigns, track results, and fine tune our approach. HubSpot also incorporates AI tools that we will look at using first in a narrow set of response situations and then beyond, as our confidence grows in the solution.
Taken together, our team will use technology to enhance the proven basics of sales: to make lasting impressions leading to lasting relationships.
Outside of work, what does life look like for you?
Life outside of work is about family, friends, fitness, food, sailing, travel, and future adventures. I am a lifelong competitive sailor, and I enjoy combining as many of those elements as possible on the water, or on land. Fortunately, my wife shares all of the same interests, less the competitive part of sailing, but appreciates that it is my passion sport.
Sqwire is on a mission to help people take control of their financial future. We partner with businesses, organizations, and solopreneurs to provide our SqwireLife platform to employees and customers. Let’s talk about how you can provide them with FREE access to 70+ lessons on personal finance topics, from insurance to investing to retirement and more!