The history of professional sports is replete with tales of young phenoms who burst onto the scene fresh out of college or the minor leagues and dominate at the highest levels. The prospect label is quickly replaced by “budding superstar,” and all eyes fixate on this wunderkind as the masses opine on his/her unlimited ceiling.
But for every once-in-a-generation talent, there are 99 others whose swift ascension is soon followed by a precipitous fall. The opposition soon spots a chink in the phenom’s armor and learns how to exploit it. In baseball, many stud hitters fall prey to “trouble with the curve” syndrome. It comes down to making the necessary adjustments that will enable a top performer to avoid becoming a flash in the pan.
Brandon Cork vividly remembers his first taste of adversity. He had spent six years with a couple of for-profit online establishments—DeVry and Colorado Technical University—working in admissions roles before breaking into the industry with Canon in 2016. He landed at Pulse Technology in 2020 as a branch sales manager in the Chicagoland area. Industry success for Cork became a constant companion, but it was only a matter of time before his hot streak hit a snag.
“When I started in the industry, I had a great winning streak—a 100% close rate,” noted Cork, a 2022 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “But that ends up being a Catch-22 because eventually someone is going to say no. I hit that ‘rookie wall.’ I learned lessons from that first non-sale: do the work and dig deep to find out what the customer needs. This helped me improve my sales process.”
Cork’s willingness to break down his approach and make those critical adjustments has enabled him to enjoy his share of deal closures while enduring the occasional client objection. He has immersed himself in the Chicagoland community, both from a business and philanthropic standpoint, representing Pulse Technology at Chamber of Commerce meetings and BTA gatherings while supporting area not-for-profit and charitable organizations.
Master of Solutions
Helping find solutions to client needs has proven to be most gratifying. “The joy of completing a sale is very rewarding, both for me personally and my five team members,” Cork said. “Completing the sale is gratifying not only for the personal success of doing so, but even more importantly finding the right solution for each customer. I am driven by the desire to help, and the wish to earn a good living so that I can provide for my family – whether that’s a vacation, sporting event, or just enjoying quality family time.”
His passion and work ethic quickly earned Cork the respect of his Pulse teammates and managers. Maintaining a strong and positive attitude throughout the day—no small task given the highs and lows of business—is hard-wired into Cork’s makeup. He seeks to end every day on the same upbeat note that it began.
Cork has been fortunate to work with a pair of strong mentors at Pulse in the form of Mike Fair, director of business development, and CEO Chip Miceli. Fair, who joined Pulse just prior to Cork’s arrival, also embodies positivity. Miceli has achieved rock star status during his decades-long tenure and is renowned for dishing out nuggets of wisdom to help not only team members, but the industry as a whole.
These men and others have helped shape the business leader Cork has become. “I learned you don’t become great without good leadership that assists you in the journey,” he said. “I have been fortunate to have had good managers, directors and senior directors in my past.”
Growing Teammates
In that vein, Cork also seeks to help elevate the performances of his sales team and proudly notes that two individuals were promoted to outside sales in 2021 and a third gained promotion to a higher level of account executive. He’s set ambitious goals from a business and personal standpoint for 2022, and for an individual with three degrees (he’s a Robert Morris University graduate), learning is an ongoing process. Cork recently took a training course, “Why Salespeople Fail in Today’s Economy,” to benefit from the knowledge and experience of others, and immerses himself in articles pertaining to industry trends.
“On my team, we read a book every quarter and discuss it in our sales meetings,” Cork noted. “We’re currently reading ‘Hyper Sales Growth’ by Jack Daly, and we’ll be on to our next book in a few weeks.”
When not at the office, Cork enjoys spending time with his children and father, and they love going to the movies. He also restarted Pulse’s company softball team, which takes on other business teams in the area.
