Meet David Prestele, who rewinds to transport readers back in time to when he was working with Taboola as a client. Fast forward to today, and David, a Senior Sales Manager at Taboola DACH, shares more about his experience transitioning to Taboola over the past year.
Life before Taboola
I spent a decade in various marketing roles at one of Germany’s largest insurance companies. In 2018, we started a new channel with native ads through Taboola. The project thrived, transforming native ads into the leading lead generation program in the insurance industry in Europe. At the time, I was an affiliate manager, but I took on this additional task because running native ad campaigns was incredibly enjoyable and allowed for a lot of creativity. The excellent collaboration with the Taboola team had a major impact. We looked forward to our weekly calls with Taboola, which turned into friendship along with professional support.
After ten years at the same company, I was looking for a new challenge and accepted a position at a well-known agency specializing in native ads and working closely with Taboola. My role involved building relationships with new and existing customers, resulting in frequent interactions with the Taboola team and new connections within Taboola. I was consistently impressed by the positive energy and pleasant interactions with the Taboola team, which reflect their positive corporate culture. After almost a year, I realized the agency world wasn’t for me, so I reconnected with an old Taboola contact from my insurance days. That’s when I discovered an opening on the DACH sales team, and everything progressed quickly from there
Becoming a tabuolar
Now I am happy and proud to be a part of Taboola. My initial impression was accurate: the work culture, team spirit and support at Taboola are exceptional. Having been on the customer side, I experienced various levels of support from different companies. Taboola’s support and care far exceeded anything else, and since joining Taboola, I can confidently say that we strive to be as close to our customers as possible, ensuring that the your needs and that your campaigns are successful. When I joined Taboola DACH, my onboarding involved a thorough process. From comprehensive e-learning and live coaching to invaluable mentoring and Taboola University, I was able to connect with new colleagues globally, expanding my network and support system.
Our regional director for Central Europe, Markus Frank, has created an environment of great trust, which I have never had before. His recognition of each individual on the DACH team, his commitment to staying close to the team and taking the time to recognize and appreciate all milestones big and small go a long way. The management style at Taboola is the opposite of micromanagement, which gives us a lot of freedom to organize our time and work. For example, our team, all of whom have children, value flexibility for things like daycare pickup or caring for sick children, and we support each other in these cases. While we have to deliver results, especially in sales, it’s rewarding to be trusted and given the autonomy to shape our approach.
Apply creativity to sales
When I was a little younger, I would have liked to have been a lot more outgoing. Sometimes, it affected my self-confidence and I tend to be a bit more reserved. One of my former bosses, whom I hold in high esteem, once said, “David, I speak very bluntly. Half of what I say is probably for the ton. You’re a great listener, and when you talk, it really means something.” Those words gave me more confidence in myself, and today I apply those comments to my sales approach as I work with clients to create creative and strategic campaigns to drive their businesses.
There is a creativity that I enjoy working in sales at Taboola. For example, I have a lot of freedom when preparing client presentations, as we advise our clients on campaign strategy and how best to use images and text. I can also draw on my experience from my own campaigns, which I did in the past, so talking about that experience has been beneficial. Drawing on my previous experiences and bringing creativity into my outreach, such as how I word my emails, helps make the process fun and impactful.
I’m not the typical salesperson who can sell everything. But now I can offer a product that I 100% endorse to new potential customers with complete confidence because I’ve used it successfully as a customer myself and know what great potential native ads are.
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