Q&A With MarketAxess’ Kristen Clark

23 August 2023 by zydusmahip@gmail.com

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Kristen Clark thanks her mother for inspiring her to pursue a career in sales. As a freshman in college, she accompanied her mother on a business trip to New York City and watched her work as a sales manager.

“She let me attend her client meetings, and I was immediately interested in learning more about the sales process and client communication,” Clark says.

After graduating, Clarke was back on a plane to New York City, except this time she was launching her career in sales at MarketAxess, a fixed-income online trading platform. Over the next eight years, Clark honed her skills, helped launch a new line of business, and moved inside the fintech’s sales organization, where she is now the sales relationship manager.

Here, Clarke talks about how MarketAxess supports her professional and personal goals, the project that advanced her career, and why you need to be an active listener to succeed as a salesperson.

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What made you realize that a career in sales was right for you?

At Florida State University (FSU), I majored in Professional Sales and Marketing, which prepares students for a career in sales through training and hands-on experience. I knew it was a good fit for me when I was selected to join the FSU sales team. These students represent the university in sales competitions and get internships at Florida State University-sponsored companies looking for talent. By the time senior year came around, I knew I was going to be applying for sales positions.

What drew you to work at MarketAxess, and what kept you there for over eight years?

What initially interested me about MarketAxess was the company’s culture and vision. MarketAxess has become a leader in fixed income e-commerce through continuous innovation. As I was learning about the history of the company and its future goals, I saw great growth ahead. During the interview process, I noted the excitement and level of ownership each person had in their role.

Since joining MarketAxess, I’ve come to love the fast-paced, collaborative environment and startup-like culture, despite being an S&P 500 company. The innovative culture and expanding opportunities as we continue to grow also kept me with the company. And after all these years, I’m still passionate about my work and feel able to make a material impact on the business.

Tell us about your path within the MarketAxess sales organization. Where did you start and where are you now?

I started at MarketAxess as a sales analyst right out of college and spent the first year rotating between the sales and product teams. I then continued to gain experience and exposure to our customer base in the New York sales team, learning from my colleagues, including our leadership team, and asking as many questions as I could think of.

A year later, I was interviewed for a sales role to work on municipal bonds, a new product the company was launching. I got the job and have been working on this product ever since. This role has advanced my career in sales because I was given more responsibility and had the opportunity to acquire new skills, work with different clients and ultimately drive the growth of the company into a new market. Still an exciting role that has led to a successful growth product for the company.

What is your responsibility as a Sales Relationship Manager?

I focus on building and maintaining client relationships while marketing our trading capabilities – with a particular focus on municipal bonds – to both existing and prospective clients.

I work closely with clients to learn about their unique business, workflow and individual needs so that I can advise them on how they can benefit from the data and trading solutions on the MarketAxess platform. This ultimately increases our trading volumes and increases our electronic market share.

How has MarketAxess supported you personally, and what impact has it had on your life and career?

From my first day as a recent college graduate living in a brand new city, I have always felt comfortable and supported at MarketAxess with its open and collaborative culture. Every manager I’ve worked with here has not only supported my professional development, but has taken the time to get to know me on a personal level.

As a Florida native, I always hoped to come back to Florida to be closer to family and friends. After six years in New York City, I was able to move to our Miami office and continue my career with the company. This move allowed me to continue traveling for work while living in my hometown.

What is one of your career highlights to date at MarketAxess?

Working on a new product launch and growing it has been a highlight. MarketAxess pioneered the institutional fixed-income e-commerce space but didn’t get involved in the municipal bond market until a few years ago.

Once I learned about this new product team, I knew I wanted to be a part of it because it would have a huge impact on our business. Since then, I have been able to help build this product with our technology team based on customer requests. The municipal bond offering has been one of the Company’s fastest growing products and is now a core product for the Company.

How do you “sell” work on MarketAxess to a candidate?

MarketAxess offers several different paths to pursue within the organization. During my career here, I have been able to learn about the fixed income market as well as the growth in a customer-facing sales role.

At MarketAxess, you will have the opportunity to learn about our global client base and interact with everyone from junior to senior level team members. Over the past eight years, I have held many different roles and have been given the option to work on projects that interest me.

MarketAxess also has a culture of openness and collaboration. We are all working towards the same goal as a team, which I find to be the driving factor for our success.

What does it take to be a great salesperson? What skills have helped you succeed in your career?

To be an effective salesperson, you need to be self-starter, results-oriented, and persistent. Being a salesperson requires dealing with a new set of challenges and opportunities every day, so the ability to persevere and move forward despite setbacks is crucial. Learning to anticipate customer needs and be proactive also helps. Plus, the best salespeople you’ve ever met are good listeners. It is very important to genuinely care about the customer, listen to him and get to know him in order to determine his needs.

What is something more people would be surprised to know about you?

Before I decided to work in sales, I was considering a career in psychology. Having worked in sales for many years now, I can see that these two fields are related as they focus on understanding people and working with them. I still find the study of the human mind and behavior one of the most interesting subjects, and I enjoy reading and listening to books and podcasts related to psychology in my spare time.

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Q&A With MarketAxess’ Kristen Clark

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