Thanks to Peter Chun, we get to add a Gold Stevie to the awards display in our lobby.

Peter, the VP of Inside Sales here at Lucidchart, was recently named the Gold Stevie Winner for Sales Director of the Year at the 12th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, a top honor for customer service, contact center, business development, and sales professionals. More than 2,500 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition, and winners were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees.

So what does it take to be Sales Director of the Year? You craft a top-notch sales org and, as our head of B2B marketing likes to tell our sales team, “make it rain.”

We knew Peter was the only man for the job.

Lucidchart was initially sold online through a self-serve channel—no sales reps involved. Four years after Lucidchart was founded, the company finally started to build a sales organization from the ground up—and the team has experienced explosive growth ever since.

Peter entered the scene in the middle of this exciting but slightly chaotic sales boom at Lucidchart. While the team was experiencing success, there was no formal sales training in place. The executive team recognized that the team needed formal coaching and an established process—while they weren’t exactly sure what form it should take, they were confident that Peter, with his world-renowned sales training and wealth of experience, needed to be the one to build it.

And he has proved us right, time and time again.

Peter wasted no time in establishing a framework for consistent training and adoption at the rep level. He introduced a value-based selling approach, teaching reps the proper messaging to articulate the value of Lucidchart and determining the conversations necessary for each phase of the buyer journey. As a Lucidchart sales manager describes, “Peter is one of the few leaders I know who executes on taking a new rep and personally teaching them how to articulate value in a conversation. That takes a lot of skill.”

A talented and seasoned coach, Peter has been careful to prevent information overload as he has essentially transformed the Lucidchart sales approach. Perhaps most influential has been his emphasis on role playing. As Peter constantly reminds his team, “amateurs practice until they get it right, but professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.” Peter has been deliberate in his efforts to create an environment in which his reps are comfortable approaching him for assistance, and you’ll often find him taking calls with reps to coach them individually. He maintains a very transparent sales org and a fun environment people want to be a part of—he even channeled his native Hawaiian roots and introduced Aloha Fridays to the sales team.

In addition to defining processes and training reps, Peter has built the brand for the sales organization as a whole—something that was largely left to chance before his arrival. Peter also runs point on recruiting efforts, and his focus on branding has helped the sales team meet its aggressive hiring goals.

When he’s not busy crushing it at Lucidchart, you’ll find Peter spending time with his wife and two kids and fulfilling his duties as vice president for the Utah chapter of AA-ISP. You might also find him researching cool cars, excelling at target practice, or buying and selling “random stuff” on eBay.

We’re lucky to have Peter on our team and couldn’t be more excited about the well-deserved recognition he has received!