Steve Suggs grew up in northern Alabama. He attended David Lipscomb University where he earned a BS in Business Administration.
After graduating, Steve got a job Northwestern Mutual Life. While working as a field rep there, he began to assist with recruitment, as well as managing new reps and training them in face-to-face selling and activity management.
From 1989 to 1993, Steve managed a Northwestern Mutual agency. His responsibilities included oversight of fifteen agents, recruitment of new agents, and meeting the needs of six hundred clients. During these five years, Steve distinguished himself as the number one salesperson in his territory.
After fifteen successful years with Northwestern, Steve decided to join the SalesManage Solutions team. As a co-owner and EVP, Steve divides his time between sales and management. He connects with prospective customers and schedules appointments, identifies the challenges of his sales team and gives them the skills, tools, and process necessary to meet their goals and attain higher levels of productivity. His track record testifies to his effective coaching — over the past recent years, Steve has helped Sales Manage Solutions’ double its sales revenue almost every year.
When not inspiring his own sales team or teaching clients how to recruit efficiently and to coach effectively, Steve enjoys spending time with Tammy, his college sweetheart and wife, and his two children, Clint and Haley and their families. Ask Steve about the most important thing in his life, and he’ll say, “Faith,” but being the best husband and father in the world comes in a close second and third.
On a typical Saturday afternoon, Steve is busy crafting something in his wood shop or ensuring that the family lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains is running smoothly.
PC users beware: Steve is a Mac fanatic. Apple computers facilitate another one of his interests: collecting and sharing family photos.
One of Steve’s strengths is networking. He teaches his students the networking secrets and sales principles that he has learned over his entire career. Sales people must earn the trust of decision makers before they will meet with success, so Steve emphasizes integrity and self-discipline. Character comes first, and success follows.
Steve also has a passion for fixing businesses. He loves to help clients and friends diagnose problems. He often will design a nuts-and-bolts strategy to fix them and then achieve results that never would have seen otherwise.