Sales Team Leader. Aquaphile. VP of Strategic Accounts.
This month’s Sertifi Employee Spotlight is on Vice President of Strategic Accounts Michelle Young. Keep reading to learn more about Michelle’s role, what she misses about being in the office, and what she likes doing in her spare time.
What’s your role at Sertifi, and tell me about your day-to-day?
I’m responsible for the Strategic Accounts team. There are ten people on my direct team, but I work with everyone in sales. The Strategic team manages all of Sertifi’s management and chain customers who have over fifteen properties. Some of our largest customers include Marriott, Viasat, Hyatt, TopGolf, and Hilton. We support these accounts on an ongoing basis ensuring that all of our products are working for them, in addition to sharing new product innovations, like our new Sertifi Advanced Fraud Tools that assist our customers to prevent fraud prior to it happening. We’re also working with customers to introduce our new SertifiPay solution.
In 2020, with the onset of COVID-19, we’ve seen an increased need for electronic signatures, authorizations, and contactless check-in throughout the hospitality industry. My team works with our customers and new hotel chains and management companies to help them navigate through these uncharted waters. The fact that our products are proven, cost-effective, and easy to implement have enabled our customers to continue to run their businesses efficiently.
My day-to-day will change based on the tasks that I have. My typical morning consists of logging into the software that we use (called Churn Zero), identifying new accounts that we need to reach out to, checking their usage, and reeducating them on the value. Then, my day may be filled with training calls, emails with some training resources, or working on getting involved with the new Advanced Fraud Tools that we’re introducing to our customers. We take the time to educate ourselves and our customers on these new products and features, as well as on what’s to come. That’s my day-to-day, more or less. What I like is that my days are always changing. No two days are the same.
What is your proudest moment at Sertifi?
My proudest moments are when I can help anyone on our team grow professionally and/or achieve their goals. I love working with the largest customers and helping them solve their business problems or challenges. Throughout COVID-19, we’ve worked with our customers to continue to provide our services and support their businesses even when their hotels were closed. I’m very proud to work for a company that not only talks about a partnership but lives and breathes that every day.
What advice do you have for prospective new hire candidates?
Be ready to join a fun, high energy company!
What are 3 words to describe Sertifi?
What comes to mind is 3 of our company values: Deliver Value, Help Each Other, and Do What’s Right. These are values we live by, and they really do describe our company.
What do you miss about being physically in the office every day?
I worked from home for years before joining Sertifi. So, I was really looking forward to being in an office setting every day and getting out of my house. I miss the interaction with my team, being able to see and chat with people face-to-face vs. continually asking, “Hey, can you hear me? Is this thing on? Hold on, let me connect my earbuds.” So, mostly, I miss those face-to-face interactions and Friday night happy hours with our team!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I’m a water person, love to kayak and paddleboard, and be on the lake. I’m most at peace when I am by or on the water.
What celebrity do people think you look like?
Is Peppermint Patty from the Peanuts gang a celebrity? Just call me “Sir.”
What TV show/movie are you ashamed to admit you love?
One of my favorite movies is We’re the Millers. It was crazy and funny, and I loved the adventure part of it. Also, it included one of my favorite mantra’s “No Regrets.” Regrets spelled R.a.g.r.e.t.s., made it even better.
What would you most like to tell yourself at age 13?
Don’t sweat the small stuff – and it’s all small stuff.
Check out our Instagram to see how we’re staying connected while working remotely.