Justin Petro
New Castle,PA
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Summary
Dynamic and passionate professional with a 20+ year background in Business Development, Sales, Management, Marketing, Customer Service & Success and Hunter-Prospecting. Driven entrepreneur who owned & operated an Insurance & Financial Services business for seven years in a diverse and saturated market. Successfully recruited and developed a team of four licensed Sales & Service professionals and grew the customer base by 55% and book valuation by 118% in just two years. Audaciously pivoted to a Robotic inspection & SaaS solution company as a Regional Sales Manager and quickly adapted to become a top revenue producer in under 12 months. Gritty & loyal leader always up for the challenge and in the foxhole with fellow teammates to achieve prevailing outcomes.
Accomplishments
- Grew & developed an existing book of business from ~900 customers to 1,400+ (55%+) customers, & went from a $1.1MM book valuation to $2.4MM (118%+) in just under two years
- Achieved Ambassador Club & Legion of Honor status for meeting & exceeding goals
- Recruited, hired, trained & led an office team of four sales professionals to success
- Led the entire territory market in Life Insurance & Bank Products numbers, by prospecting current & new customers to sell multiple product lines vs. a single-line
- Developed highly effective sales training strategies that I used to lead my team by example
- Selected to take over a State Farm book of business from over 700+ candidates who applied
- Successfully managed & operated multiple retail locations in the past
- Performed at a very high level after successfully pivoting careers from Insurance & Financial Services to a Startup Tech company offering Robotic & SaaS solutions to Heavy Industries
Skills
- Robotics & SaaS
- Insurance & Financial Services
- Business Owner & Entrepreneur
- Business Development
- Sales Management
- Leadership & Business acumen
- Leader & Teammate
- Business-to-Business (B2B)
- Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
- Outside & Inside Sales Pro
- Go-to-Market (GTM)
- Claims & Settlements
- Heavy Industries
- Retail & Merchandising
- Marketing & Branding
- Customer Service & Success
- Hunter-Prospecting
- Recruiting & Hiring
- Discovery conversationalist
- Critical Thinker
- Problem Solver
- Solutions Advisor
- Communication & Etiquette
- Energetic & Positive mindset
- Social Media savvy
- Negotiator & Persuader
- Industry Disruptor
- Industry & Sector agnostic
- Time Management
- Organization skills
- Root Cause Analyzer
- Risk Based Assessor
- Interpersonal intelligence
- Intrapersonal intelligence
- Relationship Builder
Work History
Regional Sales Manager
Gecko Robotics
Pittsburgh , PA
2022.09 - 2024.04
- Robotic NDT & SaaS Solutions
- Led & co-managed a territory team that included the northern half of the U.S., Canada, Australia & New Zealand
- Focused primarily on Power Generation sites (Natural Gas, Coal, Oil, BioMass, WTE & Nuclear), & also worked with other Heavy Industries such as Agriculture, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Pulp & Paper, Steel & Coke, & Manufacturing facilities
- Successful Industry Disruptor by creating a mental paradigm shift in the way industries performed inspections, going from using antiquated low-data-yield methods to high-tech actionable high-yield-data sets (from Manual to Robotic), & how they view/use the data that would identify current issues to repair, & forecast potential future failures based on an algorithm (from Excel spreadsheets to Predictive & Interactive Software)
- Worked independently & as a team to close large deals for NDT Inspections, Software & subbed 3rd Party Services (such as Cleaning Solutions, Manual NDT, API 653/570/510 & other services that Gecko didn't offer, but helped our customers achieve their goals & make a one-stop-shop)
- I was a top producer in the company on a very high-performing territory team (I was #2 out of 24 ICs in booking numbers YTD in 2024, with nearly 50% of my $2MM Annual Goal achieved by the end of Q1)(*I was advised that an additional $500K+ in POs were received just a few days after my departure. Based on pipeline & customer commitments, I was on target to exceed 3.5MM+ in bookings during 2024)
- Worked diligently with my team to grow the territory's opportunity pipeline from $10MM to $22MM in 12 months
- Successfully procured long-term Contracts & MSAs through tough negotiations
- Led the sales process from hunter-prospecting, initial introduction, demonstrations & presentations, discovering & identifying customer needs, prescribing best solutions, quoting, targeted follow-up, deal closing, helping set up the job & assisting project management through the completion of the project, then nurture the relationship to grow the account into the future
- Successfully engaged in very technical sales opportunities that presented challenging scopes & difficult to identify damage mechanisms
- Helped customers find future asset failures by prescribing advanced Robotic NDT-NDE solutions that included UT, RUG, PAUT, Tri-Lat, R-AUT, M-Skip, Impact-Echo, Drone Visuals, 3D LiDAR & Thermal Imaging, etc
- Conducted meetings in-person/on-site, & virtually (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, WebEx, etc.)
- Engaged customers in deep discovery conversations while demoing our Robotic & Software stacks in an interactive PowerPoint presentation model
- Achieved lead generation by cold contact, referrals, marketing events & conferences
- Coach & train co-workers & offered additional support to drive them toward success
- Forecasted sales projections from SalesForce & other internal system analytics, to help drive the team to reach new sales horizons, & generate reports for senior leadership think tanks
- Worked with multiple systems - SalesForce & HubSpot CRMs, SalesLoft, SalesTrail, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, IIR, ZoomInfo, Seismic, IronClad, Atlassian - Confluence & Jira, Adobe, Expensify, Slack, etc
- Have OSHA 10 Certification & TWIC.
Agent/Owner
Justin Petro - State Farm Agency
Monaca , PA
2016.01 - 2022.11
- All income was 100% commission-based (Renewal & New Business)
- Grew a dwindling book of business with a $1.1MM book valuation to $2.4MM (118%+) by heavy prospecting & marketing for new customers, as well as analyzing the existing policyholder base & digging deep to layer multiple product lines with services they would benefit from
- The book expanded from ~900 customers to 1,400+ (55%+) in just under two years
- Through active customer interactions & relations, kept the Lapse/Cancellation Ratio to under 8% annually, when the average ratio was nearly 13% annually at the time
- Led Market Area in Life Insurance & Bank Product Sales
- Recruited, hired, trained & led an office team of four licensed Sales & Service Professionals to success
- Inspected buildings & properties for insurance underwriting risk & replacement cost evaluations
- Conducted appointments during & after hours - in my office & at homes or businesses
- Conducted Insurance & Financial reviews with new & existing customers, to discover specific needs & wants, then prescribed targeted solutions
- Worked with multiple systems including SalesForce/CRMs, NECHO (DOS), Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, ABS, Adobe, & other internal systems, etc
- Works closely with corporate leadership & management on company initiatives
- 24+ credit hours of continuing education & study Bi-annually
- Worked from my Agency office & Home office as needed
- Licensed & certified to sell over 100 products for Property & Casualty Insurance; Life, Accident & Health Insurance; & Bank Products - (Auto, Home, Liability, PAP, Rental, Commercial/Business, Permanent & Term Life, Annuities, Disability, Health & Supplement Plans, Deposit products, Vehicle Loans, IRAs in Bank & Securities lines & many more products)
- Advised high, mid & lower net-worth clients on proper protections & asset management
- Managed, operated, & personally paid for all aspects of my business from my commissions.
- Owner, manager, individual contributor. Duties Included, but not limited to: (Sales, marketing, branding, payroll, HR duties, customer transactions & relations, payments, writing policies, prospecting, appointment setting, conducting appointments, accounting for corporate remittance accounts & records, rent, utilities, supplies, office equipment, promotional materials, sponsorships, cleaning & maintenance, oversight of licensing requirements, training & development, team building activities & relations, etc.)
- Built a Marketing & Referral program within the surrounding region by aligning myself with Auto Dealerships & Auto Service Providers, Restaurants & Delis, Small Businesses, Community Events, Sports Teams, & personal policyholder referrals, etc.
- Forecasted sales projections from SalesForce, NECHO (DOS), ABS & other internal system analytic tools, to guide goals in the right direction for various product lines, & help analyze ROI for marketing techniques.
- Claims assistance for customers by capturing & filing details, explaining the process, and navigating the customer in the right direction for proper & expedited handling. Work hand-in-hand with the various corporate Claims Departments to secure accurate information and documentation needed. Meet with customers to gather documents such as titles, notarize forms such as POAs, and deliver settlements
- Multiple States Served – PA, OH & WV
Agency Manager
Jay Bullie - State Farm Agency
Cranberry Twp , PA
2009.02 - 2015.12
- Excelled 7+ years as the top producer at an agency annually ranked in the top 1,500 nationally amongst 17,000+ agencies
- Licensed & certified to sell over 100 products for Property & Casualty Insurance; Life, Accident & Health Insurance; Bank Products
- Worked with multiple systems, including SalesForce/CRMs, NECHO (DOS), Prospector+, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Adobe, ABS, etc
- Marketed products through targeted campaigns
- Managed the agency's Sequential Marketing Program (Referrals, Mailers, Lead Gen, Campaigns, etc.)
- Conducted Insurance & Financial reviews with new & existing customers, to discover specific needs & wants, then prescribed targeted solutions
- Problem solved & handled complex client concerns & issues
- Ran the entire office operation for the Owner daily
- In charge of training & development of the entire staff on all new & updated products & systems.
- Claims assistance for customers by capturing & filing details, explaining the process, and navigating the customer in the right direction for proper & expedited handling. Work hand-in-hand with the various corporate Claims Departments to secure accurate information and documentation needed. Meet with customers to gather documents such as titles, notarize forms such as POAs, and deliver settlements
Retail Management
Genesco; Caleres, etc.
- Experience available upon request.
Systems
- Microsoft Windows & Apple iOS
- SalesForce & HubSpot (CRMs)
- SAP
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft 365
- SalesLoft
- SalesTrail
- IIR - Industrial Info Resources
- ZoomInfo
- Seismic
- IronClad
- Atlassian - Confluence & Jira
- Adobe
- Expensify
- Slack
- NECHO (DOS)
- ABS
- Zoom, Teams, WebEx, Google Meet
Letters of Recommendation
- Jake Loosararian
CEO / Co-Founder, Gecko Robotics
- Troy Demmer
CPO / Co-Founder, Gecko Robotics
- Jake Cornelius
Chief of Staff, Gecko Robotics
- Ben Lawrence
Director of Sales, Gecko Robotics
- Jay Bullie
President, State Farm Agency
(*All available upon request)
Education
- Insurance Licenses (PA # 542103) (OH # 1131505) (WV # 12949980)
Lines of Authority: Property & Casualty and Allied Lines; Life; Accident; Health; Fixed Annuities. These enable me to advise, market & sell several types of personal and commercial insurance products such as - Auto; Fire; Liability; Business lines; Worker's Compensation; Life; Annuities; Medical; Medicare Supplement; Hospital Income; Disability; Long-Term Care; etc. To maintain each license, I must complete 24 credit hours of continuing education every 2 years, and a special 8 credit hour educational course solely for Long-Term Care Insurance.
- Series 6 & 63 Financial Securities Licenses
Investment Company/Variable Contracts Products Representative License
Enables me to sell, market, & advise in financial service product lines that deal with investments such as Mutual Funds, Variable Annuities, Variable Life Insurance, Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), and Municipal Fund Securities. I must adhere to all FINRA & SEC regulations & requirements. (This is one step under a Series 7 Stockbroker license; State Farm VP Corp does not support a Series 7.)
- Notary Public (PA Commission # 1294599)
- State Farm Internal Product Education Training and Development. Over 100 products and over 1,000+ hours of continuing education.
- High School Diploma Laurel Jr. Sr. High School
Affiliations
- Outdoors: Passionate about being in the wild. Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, Cook Forest, or a local park; Camping or scouting with family & friends; or just being with my wife on our property. It is a real release & feeling of natural freedom for the soul. (sometimes I don’t even get poison ivy)
- Woodworking: Designing & crafting unique & classic pieces of furniture art, such as Live Edge tables, Charcuterie boards, Benches, Gates, Guitar hangers, etc. Occasionally, I tackle building & remodeling projects. (it is a challenge & passion all in one)
- Music: Attending musical events, such as Blues Rock & Rock shows; learning to play guitar, singing, etc. (not extremely well I might add)
- Cooking: Developing & making new & interesting dishes, always pushing the limits of my tastebuds. (some creations are actually edible)
Timeline
Regional Sales Manager - Gecko Robotics
2022.09 - 2024.04
Agent/Owner - Justin Petro - State Farm Agency
2016.01 - 2022.11
Agency Manager - Jay Bullie - State Farm Agency
2009.02 - 2015.12
Certificates, Licenses & Training - ,
Retail Management - Genesco; Caleres, etc.
References
References available upon request.
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