The SAMY awards: celebrating Utah's top sales and marketing executives.

Join us for our fifth annual SAMY awards, where we shine the spotlight on some of Utah's most successful sales and marketing professionals. Sales can be a thankless and demanding profession, and data-driven marketing doesn't always get the respect it deserves. But we're here to applaud these ambitious executives who are so instrumental in the success of their companies, making a measureable impact on the bottom line and keeping products and services fresh in the minds of potential clients. Here's to the 2016 SAMY award recipients!

SALES

Ken Anderson

Vice President, Sales and Business Development

Universal Synaptics Corp.

For Ken Anderson, a career in sales is a constant--but rewarding--challenge.

"A tremendous amount of strategic thought, planning and intellectual focus goes into every potential sale. Markets can be fickle and volatile, which presents a broad range of challenges and potential outcomes," he says. "The ability to navigate through the challenges while focusing on generating revenue on a daily basis takes incredible skill and mental toughness. The sales profession is not for the faint of heart."

But it was the challenge and the demand--and opportunity--to continuously learn and adapt that drew Anderson to sales and have kept him there for more than 18 years. In his current role as vice president for sales and business development, Anderson is focused on developing new product distribution networks internationally, as well as Department of Defense operations, and automobile and light rail manufacturers and maintenance organizations. Anderson says he likes the effort-to-reward correlation of the industry.

"The more effort you put into it, the more you get out of it--sales is very unique in that way," he says, "The reality is that good salespeople are focused on helping people solve their business problems. When you focus on serving others, people naturally gravitate towards you and want to do business with you."

Brent Dover

President of Sales

Health Catalyst

Brent Dover didn't mean to end up in a career in sales, but that's where his penchant for problem-solving led him.

"I love to help people solve their problems, and when my company does that, selling is the most rewarding thing in the world. The most satisfying part of sales is following up with our clients throughout their relationship with our company and observing the great success they have achieved as a result of our partnership," he says. "This keeps me focused on sales--even though I never imagined my career would be sales related."

Dover fell into sales while trying to resolve customer complaints at another company more than two decades ago. It taught him an early lesson: "Focus on solving client problems, truly be an advocate for advancing the interests of your clients before the interests of your company or yourself, and sales will naturally happen," he says.

He has taken those lessons to heart throughout his career and says that way of doing business is one of the reasons Health Catalyst is growing at such an astounding rate--in 2013, Dover's first year at the company, sales contracts totaled $46 million, up from $9 million the year before: in 2015, the total was on track to exceed $175 million.

Jon Florence

Sales Manager

Xima Software

While moving up the company ladder early in his career, Jon Florence learned the next step would mean venturing into the world of sales. With the help of a mentor and a penchant for learning on the fly, Florence found he thrived in the new field.

Beyond the typical rewards of sales, commissions and bonuses, Florence says he's found huge value In the interpersonal relationships he's made with coworkers and clients. "The friendships I have made with other salesman both within my company and customers that I have worked with will last a lifetime," he says.

In 2011, he joined Xima Software and has relished the challenge of overseeing a team in his role of sales manager. The most exciting thing about sales is the endless challenges to overcome and explore.

"Sales has an unlimited ceiling, and the only obstacles blocking your potential are those which you allow to block your goals. Sales allows continuous challenges that are constantly changing, and I enjoy the challenge of overcoming these obstacles while growing as a person, having fun during the process, and unlocking my full potential," he says.

Sandra Nielsen

Vice President of Sales

Great Basin Scientific

If you ever need someone to tell you how different sales and marketing are, ask Sandra Nielsen. And if you ever need someone to tell you how similar they can be, well, Nielsen's a good one to ask for that, too.

In the middle of a career of marketing and communications, Nielsen was drafted to fill in as head of sales. Despite believing it was a temporary position--and being overwhelmed at the...