Get to Know a Netminder: Shane Plank-EN

You might know Shane as the “Sales Guy”, but believe it or not, he actually knows what he is talking about and genuinely wants to help his customers. 

Get to know a little more about Shane!

Who is Shane Plank?

I think most importantly, I am a husband and a father to three beautiful daughters. I have strong faith and really enjoy sports. I am highly competitive and love games, trivia, crosswords, etc.… anything to work my mind.

I also spend a lot of time in the kitchen as the primary cook, which I thoroughly enjoy. So much so, that the majority of the gifts I receive are meant to keep me there more!

I am a native Floridian living in Southern Indiana, so I miss the ocean almost daily. I do, however, plan to get back. Much of my family and friends are still near my hometown, so there is a lot of motivation to move home! (Bonus – I work virtually from home so I can stay in my current position at Netmind!)

Mostly, I just enjoy spending time with family and friends doing everyday things to connect. We try to keep a well-balanced life so that we do not look back one day and feel we just ran around to stay busy. 

What role do you perform at Netmind?

I work as the Director of Business Development & Sales, but really, I just help our customers identify the right solutions to help address any problems or initiatives. I try to act as a middleman to connect them to the right Experts.

Also, I participate collaboratively in many other aspects of our company such as strategy development and execution, marketing, and anything else necessary to help our team achieve success.

What led you to join the Netmind team?

It is actually a situation of right place, right time! I had been working for another training company in the IT space and was in the process of updating my resume to start considering new opportunities. One of my most respected customers called me up one day to share an opening she was asked about.

This particular customer worked with Netmind as well as my previous company, and shared that she gave my information as an excellent candidate. I will always appreciate her for that!

Anyways, things worked out, and I have been apart of the team for 7.5 years now. It was a blessing, as I have been able to grow professionally since the transition and look forward to what our team can build for the future.

What do you consider your biggest accomplishment while at Netmind?

I cannot identify that “single accomplishment” that jumps out to me. However, I would like to think that I have brought a customer-first mindset to the relationships with our valued clients.  I have received great feedback that expressed a gratitude for focusing on their needs first, not pushing unnecessary training or services. I also believe that I consistently honor my word and provide service in a timely manner.

In all fairness, it is very easy to do as our entire team operates in the same manner… we work for each other and our clients. I just get the benefit of interacting with people more frequently and hearing the positive things that they share!

2020 was an interesting year. How do you think it affected our customers most?

I feel there are two ways I think about that. From a positive perspective, I feel it forced people to evolve and adapt. Seeing that our organization helps clients foster transformations, this was exciting to watch. Customers were able to deploy virtual work solutions in no time. They were able to develop ways to work both remotely and collaboratively, with great success. This is exactly what we want to see for them!

On the negative side, obviously there was a lot of fear, both professionally and personally. Concerns of job security was a consistent theme. But more importantly, the fear for the health and safety of their friends and family was likely the most common conversation I had during the early peak of the pandemic.

In retrospect, I think most of the individuals I work with can look back and feel a bit of relief with the outcomes from both perspectives which is something that is a blessing.

What are you most excited about in 2021?

From a professional sense, the continued synchronization between our teams in Spain and the US. There are a ton of exciting internal changes that will help our team better serve our customers. We also have some exciting new services we plan to roll out in the evolution of our portfolio. 

On a more personal level, my wife and I are expecting a baby sometime in the Summer of 2021. This will be our first son, so the anticipation in the family is very high!

What were you like 20 years ago, and what advice would you give yourself?

I am pretty sure I lived the work hard, play hard mantra! I was working as a restaurant manager, so I had really long hours. I made sure to also enjoy the time I had outside of work. Living in Gainesville, FL at the time, and being a life-long Gator’s fan, I revolved most of my time (work and leisure) around athletic events.

I am not sure we have time to post all of the advice I would want to share, but the most important ones are:

1. Eat better, earlier
2. Save more, earlier
3. Prioritize faith, earlier
4. Foster professional relationships, earlier

I guess you see the theme!

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