Kenton Oliver Portfolio

Hello! My name is Kenton. I strive to create art that is original and impactful. I want to build connections, solve problems, and be a compassionate person who makes a positive difference in the world. Whether you're hoping to drive change or drive sales, you must first find creative solutions to capture audiences and inspire them to action.

I moved back to Hamilton, ON from Vancouver, BC in August 2023, and am currently seeking employment as an account manager, customer success manager, or similar role. Email me at [email protected] to begin.

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I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and am glad to have come full-circle to live here again now. I went to Carleton University in Ottawa and graduated with a BA Combined Honours in Philosophy & Psychology. After a year of living in London, Ontario, doing sales and marketing for a small company called Heritage Acres Bird & Pet Nutrition, I returned to Hamilton where I spent 3 years working at Canon selling office equipment and software. In BC, I gained experience working as a Client Happiness Specialist for a digital marketing and lead generation software company called Wishpond, completed the Social Media and Digital Marketing program at BCIT, and most recently was employed by West X Business Solutions as a Key Account Manager.

Working at the above 4 companies provided me with valuable and diverse experience. I had the privilege of learning from amazing coworkers, and of consulting with a large variety of businesses. At Heritage Acres, I dealt mostly with retail store owners. At Canon, I consulted with any organization in my territory that needed office equipment and improved document workflows (e.g. law firms, accountants, doctors, manufacturers, architects, car dealerships, print shops, non-profits, schools, funeral homes, and more). At Wishpond, I was exposed to yet another wide variety of businesses; I worked with any company from around the globe that needed help with their digital marketing, such as a lot of e-commerce companies, but also some brick-and-mortar.

My role at West X was similar to my role at Canon except that I worked with larger accounts known as major or key accounts. I covered all key accounts in the real estate, legal, hospitality, and retail verticals. Here are some of the more well-known clients that I managed: Macdonald Realty, Sotheby's International Realty, Thorsteinssons LLP, Northland Properties, Cactus Club Cafe, Browns Restaurant Group, Boston Pizza, 7-Eleven, Mark Anthony Group, Aritzia, Herschel Supply Co, and Arc'Teryx. West X is a Xerox agency so primarily I sold Xerox office equipment and software, but they also have partnerships with Microsoft and other companies. I enjoyed helping my customers with both Xerox and Microsoft Power Platform solutions to streamline their document workflows, digitize, and automate their business processes.

After consulting with so many different organizations over the years, I have come to deeply appreciate and understand business. I am skilled at intuitively breaking down a company's strengths and weaknesses, as well as how to plan their best path forward into the future.

To succeed in sales, you must demonstrate benefits, not merely features, you must gain trust and be respected or liked, and you must be persistent by navigating your way to the right people at the right time, relentlessly again and again. In today's hyper-competitive world, being liked is becoming increasingly important. To win against competitors, your brand must be likable, exhibiting style and values that align with the preferences and values of your customers. Furthermore, to maximize likability, you must also give value. This is where content marketing and nurturing come into play. By consistently providing free things of value to your audiences, such as reciprocal support, education or entertainment, you can foster not only respect and attention for your brand, but also a relationship wherein your prospects begin to feel that either they owe you something, or they owe it to themselves to buy your product or service. When a prospect reaches this point in their relationship with you, they are much more likely to say yes when prompted to make a purchase.

Listen closely to your customers and what they want, don't want, like or dislike, in addition to simply engaging and interacting with them. Leverage existing relationships in addition to building new ones. Network with and through your customers, as word-of-mouth is still the most effective marketing available. Begin strategic partnerships with complementary businesses that ideally are not a competitor. Be thankful and appreciative; give back to those who support you.

It is through the content you produce, your advertising, and your social media or traditional media presence that you are able to attract new customers, while also hopefully delighting and engaging them. Next, you should further delight and engage through emails and more tailored content or conversation, which all can be done with varying degrees of automation depending on the business and scale. As things progress, make sure to analyze your results to know how to pivot and optimize.

When creating a marketing strategy, your approach is going to depend highly on the type of business in question. Are your prospects already searching for what you are selling or do you need to educate the public? Does your product or service require a long or short funnel to make the sale? Where is your target market? Be where they are. Generally speaking, Social Media Marketing (SMM) is best for brand awareness and education, and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is best for finding customers already looking to buy what you are selling. Non-digital marketing is of course also something to consider, depending on the type of business. An open mind and some experimentation are both important to discover what will work best for a business.

I believe in adhering to principles of integrity, authenticity, and transparency; following these tenets should earn the trust and adoration of your audiences. I encourage the practice of sustainable and environmentally friendly business, as well as business that has a positive effect on its communities. Moreover, I think most people are more likely to support companies that give back through charitable and social causes.

In terms of branding, I prefer a simple, clean, and beautiful approach. Minimalism should be used to improve messaging, not confuse it, and further information should be delivered in a gradual yet accessible way that builds upon itself. I believe in the power of empathy to connect us and build lasting relationships. I believe in quality over quantity, and in planning, automation, and efficiency over recklessness and spamming. Whether through improved technology or methodology, I look forward to consulting on how to best utilize resources. Being frugal and maximizing margins is vital. A good return on investment must always be achieved, ideally sooner than later. Through dedication and persistence, we can be successful.