MEET A GRADUATE — KEVIN EYTEL
About the Program
William Paterson University School of Continuing Education and Professional Education worked with North Jersey Partners, a coalition of Workforce Development Boards, to offer Camp4’s Salesforce Certified Administrator Program with 21 students enrolled in the first cohort, including Kevin Eytel. Those who pass the program receive a certificate of completion from William Paterson University.
We sat down with Kevin, Vice President of Sales at EarthCam, Inc., to hear more about his Camp4 experience.
What was your professional background prior to Camp4?
Before Camp4, I was unemployed for a little bit less than a year. My background spans over technology sales—from software as a service into data center sales and enterprise software sales, and cybersecurity.
What was your familiarity with Salesforce before Camp4?
I had the great advantage of working for ADP in its smallest but most profitable division, the claim solutions group. During my second year there, they brought on Salesforce and we were the guinea pigs testing it out on behalf of the rest of ADP. I've been a Salesforce fan ever since, going on probably 12 years that I’ve been using it.
It's incredibly valuable in the marketplace, the standard by which all CRM platforms are measured. Personally, I believe that it’s the best one because of the ways that it's been built over the years and the APIs that are built into it, the flexibility, the interoperability, and the way it delivers information in a way that improves productivity and enhances efficiency.
How did you decide to join Camp4?
I received an email and thought to myself how it's one thing to say, “yes, I've used and leveraged Salesforce to my success and I've got great accolades of sales success,” but it's another to be able to say you have a certification from Salesforce. I mean, that's big, that's really big. I took this course to help me fully know the capabilities of Salesforce and to be able to leverage it, to know what to ask for.
Did you have a favorite part of the course?
That's hard to say. I was thrilled that I got into the program, and I loved it from start to finish. Our instructor was great. That man is going to heaven, by the way, for his level of patience. He did a great job of handling those in the class who had no prior knowledge of Salesforce. Getting hands-on using the developer portal where we would create and respond to assignments was also very good. What we learned was right in line with what was on the certification exam. And I think the questions were actually easier than the sample tests that I was taking along the way.
What are you doing now that you’ve graduated from Camp4?
I had my dream job come true. I've always wanted to be a vice president of sales, and this job just came about; it was luck. I was the right person at the right time. I always ask the companies I interview with, “what CRM platform are you using?” They told me during the interview process that they don't have a CRM platform; it's been homegrown over the past 18 years. Then, during my first week on the job, our director of operations contacted me and said, “I heard that you know a little bit about Salesforce. I'm being demoed on Salesforce to help with our field services. Would you like to sit in on it?” So because of the Camp4 class, it really put me in a position to be of value to my company by knowing what questions to ask and what to look for when considering Salesforce. It reestablished why they hired me in the first place.
What’s your advice for how someone can make the most of their Camp4 experience?
Take copious notes and form your study group early. We formed our study group late. Right? I did have a couple of accountability partners during the whole run and we would talk from time to time after class or after the weekend. But as the end was coming, we would meet every day after class for an hour or two. If we would have done it maybe twice a week from the very start, I think it would have alleviated the pressure of those last three weeks.
What is it like being part of the Camp4 network now?
It's awesome; it's almost like a brotherhood.
Interested in making a career shift yourself, or offering Salesforce training for your team?
