Influence and Impact

When Keri Lushbaugh was younger, she spent lots of time with her grandfather, who was a small town General Practitioner with a home-office and oftentimes Keri was his right-hand-gal. She says, “I was going to accident scenes and nursing homes. I did everything with him.” The experience with her grandfather made her realize she had a passion for helping people and wanting to be involved in the healthcare field in some capacity, she eventually earned her degree in molecular genetics.

During and after her studies, she knew a dynamic work environment and one that would allow her to interact with and meet the needs of customers was important. This is when Keri entered pharmaceutical sales, which is where she garnered over 15 years of sales and sales management experience as well as all manner of professional sales training. Keri says, “I always value the opportunity to learn and also to hear about the success of others.”

When she first made the transition from pharma sales and into the industrial space, Keri wore just about every hat possible from Operations and Sales to HR and Marketing. While sales is truly where she belongs, Keri tells us that she enjoyed working in operations and believes that experience made her a better salesperson.

She is now happily combining all of her skills, expertise, and experience to add value to IIA as the new Inside Sales Person for Government and Fire Services within the Lifting Services Division.

Keri is excited about her new role, and she is ramping up for renewals and strategizing for new Government and Fire Services business opportunities. What she loves most about sales is being able to have “influence and impact” on her colleagues and her customers, which also benefits IIA. Keri’s definition of success is when a customer is happy with the service and then returns and says, “The returning customer is the success story.” Keri knows when you earn a customer's trust, they will return and likely tell others, and at the end of the day, she says, “This means you’ve had an impact.”

Keri is excited about being part of IIA’s continued growth, expansion, and success, and while many people are averse to change, Keri is not. In contrast, she is excited by change and says, “To be able to see opportunity, where I potentially fit, and where my skill-set will add value is really exciting to me.”

Honest and hardworking, Keri believes that selling means she is fundamentally providing value. She has the mind of a problem solver and is constantly looking for ways to learn, grow and provide additional guidance where she can.

Keri consistently provides story-worthy service to her customers and believes story-worthy service is understanding the needs of your customer and then being able to provide a valuable service. “Doing so successfully means taking the time to understand their business and their needs, and then tailoring a solution to those specific needs,” Keri says, and “this is also how you earn a customer’s trust.”