“ The magic that you ’ re looking for is in the work you ’ re avoiding .” – Mario Zaki
He ’ s not the kind of person to follow fortune cookie advice .
“ I ’ m not looking for the universe to just keep giving me signs ,” he says . “ I ’ m actually the exact opposite . I feel like I ’ m kind of oblivious to a lot of these signs .” In fact , even after three years of dramatic growth , he still could barely envision himself among the previous BYB winners he ’ d seen until becoming a BYB semifinalist himself .
On presentation day , however , he was able to share one important slide .
“ This was the first trip this summer that I was able to go on vacation with my family and not have to open up my laptop once ,” Zaki told the audience .
Experiencing “ The Spokesperson Effect ”
Meanwhile , Zaki has taken the captain position in his weekly TMT accountability peer group , “ not only to help with whatever questions they have but also hold people accountable for certain things that we as a group have put in as a goal .”
It ’ s All About Doing The Work
Zaki believes anyone can achieve the same success he did . Although he came up with some campaign ideas on his own , Zaki emphasizes it was the TMT game plan that made the difference . Success came from months of tasks like scrubbing lists and sending mailers . It was following through and following up , an unglamorous cycle of rinse and repeat .
“ The magic that you ’ re looking for is in the work you ’ re avoiding ,” he says . “ There is nothing I ’ ve done that is unique . . . If you do the work , you ’ ll see the results .”
As BYB winner , Zaki is TMT ’ s spokesperson for a year . He says winning feels like validation for him and his employees , but it was also a call to level up . He ’ s navigating what Robins calls “ the spokesperson effect .”
“ You don ’ t want to make it seem like it was a fluke , or you got lucky . So you ’ re really holding yourself accountable ,” Zaki says . “ The hard work that we ’ ve preached , we ’ ve got to continue doing that ourselves .”
He ’ s taken winning as a signal to double down on what has brought him success thus far . Working in a dense , highly competitive environment just 15 miles from Manhattan , Zaki says it ’ s critical to deliver a clear and unique selling proposition . His team works to show value even before a contract is signed — from initial meetings to onboarding to great customer service .
They ’ re also focused on booking more meetings and digging deeper to figure out what it takes to close each customer . No more waiting for customers to simply think it over .
“ The goal is to leave that meeting making them feel like , ‘ We need to work with this company . This company gets us ,’” he says . “ Find a scab and keep picking .”
He also hosts lunch-and-learns for his local chamber , sharing his experience with business owners in his community .
Jennifer Oladipo is an award-winning business journalist . She ’ s written for national and international publications focused on science and technology sectors and has held communications positions in multiple organizations , including a Fortune 200 technology company .
Mario hilariously embraced the " Super Mario Brothers " attire , as he eloquently presented his Better Your Best presentation at TMT ' s IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp .
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