1. To: Whom it may concern
From: Robby Allen, Director Sales Development @ Zenefits
Contact: (415) 577-2767, rkallen89@gmail.com
Date: Monday, June 20th, 2016
Re: Letter of Recommendation for Kara Martin
This is a letter of recommendation for Kara Martin. For context: I hired Kara as an SDR in December
of 2014, promoted her to Manager in 2015, and worked with Kara for 12 months as she honed her
skills inthe role eventually earning a promotion to Sr. Manager. As a rep Kara set the tone on the
floor with her tireless work ethic and commitment to her personal goals. Kara’s tenacity and
competitiveness as a rep was a motivating force on the floor and made the people around her better.
She earned the respect of her peers in short order and we knew that Kara could have a bigger impact
on the success of the sales organization in a leadership role.
There is a story that comes to mind when I think of Kara’s success as a manager that I think will help
paint the picture; When Kara first started as a manager at Zenefits in February of 2015 she inherited
a group of 12-15 new hires. This group was a ragtag bunch with less than 4 years of combined inside
sales experience amongst them. One rep in particular, his name was Sam, stood out as the greenest of
the bunch. Sam was nervous, tepid and didn’t see a salesperson when he looked in the mirror. Kara
stepped in from day 1 and helped Sam harness the things he could control – activity, attitude, and
effort. Sam quickly earned the nickname “Bandaids” because he would make 50% more calls than the
second highest dialer on the floor every single day. Sam made so many dials that we were worried his
fingers would start bleeding. The only person who averaged a higher output of activity in a month?
His manager. After Kara helped harness what Sam could control, they worked on finding his voice, his
confidence. It took time livecoaching on the floor, in 1x1’s, and heart to hearts over coffee, but Sam
went on to become the highest performing SDR in the company and the poster child for what success
in the role looked like. His attitude never soured and he was bullish about his future with the
company after just 30 days with Kara. Sam is the first of many reps to get promoted from Kara’s SDR
team.
If I was building a sales organization Kara is the first person I would call to recruit. She has an
incredibly bright future not only as a manager, but also as a leader of sales organizations. She
understands people and cares deeply about the development and success of her teams.
If you have any questions or need detail, my contact is at the top of this memo.
Best,
Robby Allen