About Merit

Merit Gest has more than 20 years experience with sales, sales management and training.  She is the President & Founder of Merit-Based Development,  a company that specializes in developing the people who develop business. Prior to forming MBD, Merit was Senior VP of Sales for a nationwide sales training organization.  She was also the youngest General Sales Manager for a radio station in the country’s third largest market.

Merit is one of a small handful of specialists in the world certified and trained in Emotional Intelligence and Cultural Transformation Tools.  This distinguishes Merit’s work in several ways:

  • she understands that for leaders to thrive they must be able  to integrate their strengths into their selling & hiring techniques
  • she recognizes the importance of values and interpersonal skills when it comes to hiring, on-boarding & keeping top sales talent
  • she has a unique ability to see possibilities regarding business & leadership performance improvement and leaving clients with clear action plans

 

 

Merit has been studying and working in the area of human potential for more than 20 years.   In her various roles as a business owner, trainer, coach, consultant and speaker, she has worked with CEOs, business owners, entrepreneurs, sales management teams and sales professionals across a wide variety of industries including financial services, manufacturing, engineering, professional services and technology.

Her style is comfortable and authentic.   Her inspirational keynote and interactive workshop material are suitable for large general sessions or smaller group multi-day programs.   All of Merit’s work is specifically designed for each unique client, yet based on structures, systems and processes common to many.

A true adventurer, Merit pulls business and life lessons from her experiences backpacking around the world on her own, bungee jumping, sky diving, ice climbing, scuba diving and paragliding.   She’s likely the only person on the planet who’s broken a left foot in Israel and a right leg in Croatia, but somehow she’s walked away from both with inspiring messages to share that allow people an opportunity to find their own personal strength.

Merit is an active member of The National Speakers Association, has been featured in Selling Power Magazine as an expert advisor, writes articles for Colorado Biz Magazine on-line and is a speaker for Vistage International, the world’s largest organization of CEOs.

Merit married her dream man, David, who is a real estate developer, expert skier and “Mr. Fix It.”   Their son Jake is a math whiz, “Little Mr. Fix It” and a future Heisman trophy winner (or maybe just a really big football fan).

 

A few questions important to consider in working with a consultant:

Question:   How was the knowledge you share gained, invented, or developed?

Merit: I am certified in Emotional Intelligence through Multi Health Systems.  I am certified in Cultural Transformation through Barrett Values Center.  I have done sales & sales management training, coaching & consulting for more than 14 years.  I am a speaker for Vistage International, the largest organization of CEOs in the world.  I have trained sales managers how to hire salespeople & how to make top talent want to stay.  I have also created customized on-boarding programs to ramp salespeople up quickly.  I am trained in NLP, DISC, Sandler and have done extensive training with Landmark Education.


Question:  Why is the knowledge you hold uncommon and scarce?

Merit: The on-boarding programs currently in the marketplace are from the HR point of view, but do not take into consideration the specifics necessary to ramp up a salesperson fast so they can get out there and sell.  Because of my sales training background, I know what salespeople need to learn to start selling and what can wait.  There are books on hiring, books on on-boarding, books on managing and books on sales.  There are no books on how to hire top sales talent, ramp them up fast and keep them forever, but there will be soon!

 

Question: What objective actions or steps are required to accomplish the desired results you do with clients?

Merit: I need to meet with many people at an organization and conduct interviews to learn what I need to learn to create a customized on-boarding program just for them.

 

Question: What specific (or intended) results will be satisfied when complete?

Merit: At the end of the project, a company has a complete program for the first 90 days of a new salesperson’s employment.  The deliverable is in the form of electronic documents, audio and video files on a customized DVD as well as a bound printed version for the new hire as well as a version for the supervising manager with “manager only” notes.  The document includes objectives, how to assess objectives have been met, timelines, sales training & sales management lessons that relate to your business and transaction cycle and creative ideas to infuse company culture into your orientation of new hires. The program not only takes into consideration what HR needs when new hire starts work, but also from a sales and culture perspective.

 

Question:   Why should a company work with you when they have a sales manager who can do this?

Merit: I am a sales manager’s best friend.  The result of this one-time project will reap rewards, save time, increase retention and get people producing more and faster for years to come.   It is more detailed and complete than what a sales manager would do on their own because it is infused with content based on more than a decade of training salespeople and sales managers across a wide variety of industries.  Your managers already have too much on their plate.  I create from scratch a complete 90-day on-boarding program specifically designed for sales positions so sales people are paying for themselves in a shorter period of time and also engaged in the culture of the organization from day 1, which has a positive impact on retention.  I revise current programs to integrate emotional intelligence lessons to learn.  My expertise in sales means that I can also incorporate into the program the scripts salespeople will need to work with to be effective in their role.  I also stay with the project through day 90 of the new hire’s employment so I can fine tune the current program with feedback from the new salesperson.

As far as I know, I am the only person specifically focusing on how to hire, ramp up & keep top performing sales professionals.

I only do 15 projects each year so I can fully dedicate my effort to one company’s project at a time.