In the 21st-century business landscape, innovation, adaptability, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge are the cornerstones of success. For individuals and professionals alike, these qualities are the keys to not just thriving but also excelling. Mario Martinez, Jr., known as the Modern Sales Evangelist, embodies these principles, making him a trailblazer in the world of B2B selling.
As the CEO and Founder of Vengreso, the world’s largest digital sales training and technology company, Mario has reshaped the way sales professionals approach their craft. With over 1,050 companies served, including industry giants like Juniper Networks, Proofpoint, and Virginia Dare, Mario’s impact is nothing short of revolutionary.
Vengreso’s digital sales training suite equips sales leaders, teams, and business owners with the strategies, tools, and systems necessary to excel in today’s digitally connected world. Modern buyers are socially engaged, mobile-oriented, and video-hungry. Vengreso focuses on arming B2B sellers, business owners, and entrepreneurs with the skills and technology needed to engage, connect, and create meaningful sales conversations.
From multinational Fortune 1000 corporations to individual entrepreneurs, organizations turn to Vengreso to master unique digital sales prospecting techniques. Notably, Vengreso’s expertise was sought after by the iconic Miller Heiman Group, marking the first time in their 40-year history that they hired an external sales training company. This is just one example of the many accomplishments achieved under Mario’s leadership.
As a three-time Stevie Award winner, Vengreso’s digital sales prospecting courses have generated millions in new sales pipelines and closed deals. Their tailored strategies, sales messaging framework (The PVC Sales Methodology), and cutting-edge sales productivity technology (FlyMSG.io) have consistently achieved a remarkable 95% recommendation rate from satisfied clients.
Mario Martinez, Jr., is not just redefining sales for the modern era; he’s setting the gold standard for success in the industry. His passion, innovation, and commitment to excellence continue to inspire and empower sales professionals worldwide.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Remarkable Journey
Raised in a modest family of hardworking Latino parents, Mario’s path to success was one marked by resilience, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. His story began at the University of California, Berkeley, and later as a transfer student at St. Mary’s College of CA, where he paid his way through college, setting the stage for the remarkable career that would follow.
Mario’s journey into the world of sales began almost by accident when he joined Ritz Camera Centers as a photo finisher. What set Mario apart was his uncanny ability to “help” customers through a personalized sales technique he had crafted. Despite not officially serving as a sales associate, Mario consistently outperformed full-time sales professionals at larger stores. His innate sales acumen and customer-centric approach soon caught the eye of the company’s District Manager.
This recognition led to Mario’s transition to a role as a telemarketer (now known as a Sales Development Representative or Business Development Representative) at Premenos, an EDI software company. With his gift for connecting with buyers, Mario swiftly ascended to the position of an Account Executive, achieving six-figure earnings at just 22 years old.
Fast forward to 2016. After 18 years in the corporate sales world, Mario has amassed a wealth of insights into how B2B marketing and sales operate. As the RVP of Sales at a software collaboration company, he recognized a pressing issue: the struggle to engage customers effectively and generate more sales conversations. The company’s outdated prospecting tactics, such as cold calls and email blasts, were failing to make an impact in an oversaturated marketplace.
In response, Mario embarked on a mission to revolutionize sales. He created a digital sales program that introduced social selling and video selling to the sales team, forming a comprehensive digital sales curriculum. The program achieved unprecedented adoption rates and saw all reps add sales opportunities through social selling and video selling.
Mario’s innovative techniques and outstanding results garnered significant attention. In 2015, he was invited to speak at LinkedIn’s annual users conference, a pivotal moment that catapulted his industry influence to new heights.
Despite his success, Mario faced a crossroads when his company downsized. With a severance package in hand, he embarked on a new career adventure, unaware that his young son had already laid out his next move—inspired by Mario’s speech at LinkedIn’s annual users conference.
Fuelled by his son’s wisdom and a burning desire to make the most of his expertise, Mario penned the blog “Dad, you said LinkedIn Would Make You Money.” The blog, published on LinkedIn, garnered massive attention, attracting requests for digital sales training and consulting from two Fortune 100 companies within just nine days of publication. Three weeks later, Mario established his first company, M3JR Growth Strategies.
In under nine months, Mario became recognized as a top sales influencer. His extensive experience and practical knowledge as a real-world practitioner positioned him as a sought-after consultant for some of the world’s largest sales organizations.
As his influence and vision grew, Mario began envisioning a way to scale his business to reach even more clients and sellers worldwide. This led to the creation of Vengreso through a multi-company business roll-up, uniting seven entities under a single umbrella.
Redefining Sales Prospecting and Beyond
Vengreso’s rapid journey to success has been marked by unique challenges and remarkable achievements. It all began with Mario’s vision to revolutionize the sales prospecting landscape, shifting away from outdated “spray and pray” methods towards a more deliberate, sophisticated, and personalized approach that leverages the omnichannel, including social and video selling. Mario’s goal was crystal clear: to create the world’s largest digital sales training company.
With determination and a powerful question in mind, Mario reached out to leading digital sales and social media influencers from around the globe, asking, “What if you could create the world’s largest digital sales training company? Would you try to?” The resounding “yes” from six other entrepreneurial minds paved the way to reshape sales prospecting training forever.
In April 2017, Vengreso emerged as the amalgamation of “ventas” (sales) and “ingresos” (revenue), reflecting the merger of seven highly successful sales and marketing agencies. This marked the birth of Vengreso’s market dominance.
Mario’s impact extended beyond the company’s success. He was featured in Salesforce’s documentary film, “The Story of Sales,” coining the phrase “sales is the art of helping.” Additionally, Mario co-authored a chapter in the Wall Street Journal’s best-selling book, “Human-Centered Communication.” Vengreso’s accomplishments were recognized with three Gold Stevie Awards for its sales prospecting training, implementation process, and renowned PVC Sales Methodology, a sales messaging framework for prospecting.
However, Vengreso’s influence expanded not only in-depth but also in breadth. In August 2020, the company ventured into the realm of sales productivity technology, introducing FlyMSG, a time-saving text expander SaaS application. With over 3,000 active users, FlyMSG revolutionized communication by providing automated speed writing for various occasions and roles. It has been proven to save professionals, both in sales and other domains, at least an hour a day by eliminating the need to type repetitive messages. FlyMSG allows sales teams to swiftly use “shortcodes” to access stored message templates, referred to as FlyCuts, thereby enhancing productivity.
What sets FlyMSG apart is its versatility. It has transcended sales teams, finding applications in Customer Success, Marketing, HR, Finance, the food industry, and even online digital pharmacies. Mario’s vision and FlyMSG have not only saved time but also transformed communication dynamics across diverse sectors.
A Tale of Collaboration and Risk
When Mario embarked on the journey of starting Vengreso, a venture that involved six other business partners, he faced the daunting challenge that often accompanies any founder. At the outset, Mario found himself the primary breadwinner for his family, which added a layer of financial uncertainty to the already complex equation of launching a new business. “Many times, our plans didn’t unfold as expected,” Mario recalls, “but it was the element of risk that made this period unique and truly special.”
Navigating the intricate landscape of this business, which comprised seven distinct founders, each with their own personalities and approaches, presented Mario with yet another formidable obstacle. “People were fiercely passionate about their own methods being the right way, and there was a prevailing sentiment that their approach had to be the path forward,” Mario reflects.
In the formation of a company, decisions typically emerge through consensus, but there’s also a vital need for someone capable of taking charge. Mario notes, “Not everyone thrives in a command-driven environment. Some prefer to reach decisions through consensus, but this method can have its limitations. Sometimes, our pursuit of consensus led to delays in decision-making.” The real challenge lay in striking a balance between the ethos of consensus thinking and the necessity of implementing decisions that might not be universally liked or wanted by everyone.
Moreover, the complexities of amalgamating the intellectual property (IP) of each founder’s respective companies posed a significant hurdle. “When you bring together intellectual property, like training materials, everyone tends to have their own way of doing things. You believe your way is the right way, and I believe mine is superior. Convincing everyone to agree on a course of action proved to be exceedingly difficult,” Mario emphasizes. “It took nearly a year of effort to put pen to paper and finalize the development of our sales prospecting training IP.”
Nonetheless, the consolidation of seven influential sales training brands, including the globally renowned LinkedIn expert Viveka von Rosen and her company, Linked Into Business (who remains a co-founder to this day), yielded tremendous dividends. “Despite the challenges we faced, we managed to unite some major brands that wielded considerable influence in the marketplace. This gave Vengreso an astonishing level of visibility from day one, enabling us to achieve remarkable success in sales awards and recognition for our innovative sales training programs much faster than a typical merger scenario would allow,” Mario explains.
The founding journey of Vengreso was a testament to the trials and tribulations inherent in launching a business, underscored by the dynamics of collaboration, risk-taking, and the art of finding common ground among diverse minds.
The VILT Strategy
When Vengreso made its entrance into the market, it brought forth an innovative approach to sales training that was seldom seen before. Their Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) strategy was the brainchild of Mario, driven by the need for remote work flexibility for his team and a recognition of the declining effectiveness of in-person sales training. “I realized we had to break the mold. I delved into the neuroscience of learning,” Mario recalls.
He explains, “Consider a typical college course. It spans three to four months, offering various learning methods: textbooks, self-paced study, live instruction, and office hours. This has been the proven model of learning in higher education for centuries.” However, traditional sales training usually consists of just one or two days of in-person training before pushing sales representatives into the field to fend for themselves. As Mario notes, “Everyone was enthusiastic after the two-day event, but the very next day, they reverted to their old ways.”
“To truly change behavior or master a subject, you need to learn incrementally over time. This is what our VILT strategy brings to the table. Our live training courses run for about one to two hours per week, spanning from eight to eleven weeks. Research demonstrates that dedicating an hour per week for 62 days results in 85% of participants remembering and altering their behavior.”
Despite the science supporting this method, the adoption of VILT was sluggish until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 hit. With widespread shutdowns and an urgent shift to online learning, Vengreso’s digital sales prospecting training and technology suite became an immediate solution. Sales leaders sought a way to improve seller-buyer engagement in a digital format through virtual sales training. Vengreso also introduced an on-demand version of its curriculum for small business sales teams, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs. These developments propelled Vengreso to become the preferred digital sales training provider for numerous Fortune 2000 companies worldwide.
Balancing the Four Pillars of Success
Success, as per Mario Martinez, is an intricate blend of four interconnected facets. From his distinct leadership vantage point, success unfolds when a company attains its objectives, its workforce is engaged and passionate about their roles, customers take pride in doing business with them, and there is an ample allocation of time for loved ones. Mario’s daily commitment to these principles often involves going the extra mile to ensure his team not only fulfills their job responsibilities but also evolves into more adept leaders and professionals.
However, Mario offers a word of caution, emphasizing the imperative of maintaining a delicate equilibrium among these four success pillars. This equilibrium can be particularly challenging, especially for executive leaders and CEOs. He states, “We occasionally lose sight of what balance in success means, be it in our personal or business lives. It’s natural for things to fall out of balance, but it falls upon the CEO to recognize this and restore equilibrium.”
Mario’s primary counsel for modern small business CEOs is to “constantly self-assess and manage all four elements of success—business outcomes, employee fulfillment, customer engagement, and personal equilibrium—to ensure that they are genuinely living their own definition of success.”
No compilation of influential sales leaders would be comprehensive without acknowledging the transformative digital sales prospecting strategies of Mario Martinez, Jr. His story and the accomplishments of his industry-leading company, Vengreso, underscore the essence of redefining sales through the strategic use of technology, innovative thinking, and the foundational belief that “sales is the art of helping.”
