the founder

Shawn Smith is a third-generation salesperson. His grandfather, Earl Smith, was the top salesperson at Badger Meter, earning $45,000 in 1945. His dad, Russell Smith, was a Sales Engineer for ABB and eventually Vice President of Product Management at Russ Electric. His Uncle was a sales rep; I guess you can say sales runs in his blood.  

As a child, Shawn accompanied his dad to trade shows and sales meetings. Once a year, he traveled for a weekly sales trip, watching his dad demonstrate the art of selling. His dad was also a collector of antiques, and as a hobby, he had a booth at the local flea market. Every Sunday, he would drop his nine-year-old son off to sell antiques by himself, collecting money at the end of day. This is where Shawn learned how to negotiate and interact with a wide range of people.

Shawn's first sales job was as an Inside Sales Representative for Merisel, which was $1.5 billion computer distributor. Within four months, he became a Team Lead and, a year later, a Regional Sales Manager, overseeing a team of six sales representatives. Besides managing his team, he was a direct contributor, personally selling 60% of his team's monthly bookings. While his peers continued to call the same customers, Shawn spent his time cold-calling former ones.

Shawn transitioned to field sales, working for a series of mature start-up software companies, where he was consistently ranked in the Top 5% of his peers.

Shawn moved to Professional Sales Training, acquiring a Sandler Franchise. There, he sharpened his sales skills and mastered software selling. 

In 2008, Shawn founded Sales Velocity Formulas to assist companies in establishing a presence in the United States. His last client, Aspera Technologies, now USU Solutions, was his most tremendous success. Over a period of thirteen years, Shawn personally sold over $100 million in software & services. This was after the USU unsuccessfully tried three times to come to the United States. That changed when he reached out to the CEO, inquiring about representing USU.