Sep 4, 2024

Get to Know J.D. Diskin, POWER’s Chief Sales Officer

How do you make exterior home remodeling sales the kind of job that can create a lifetime of opportunity? J.D. Diskin has cracked the code.

J.D.’s morning emails are so entertaining and informative they have become a staple of POWER culture. As someone who’s the resident comedian for POWER events, you’ll find humor sprinkled wherever he goes. It only makes sense for a CSO committed to flipping the perception of typical sales company culture on its head.

It started in 1995 when he became one of POWER’s first sales representatives. The result of his work since then? A unique and award-winning sales environment that fosters both teamwork and friendship.  

Fast Facts

Hobby: Golf, even though I’m not very good. 

Bucket list: Visiting every MLB stadium in the country. So far, I’ve been to 11 out 30. A solid start!

Typical lunch of choice: Soup, no matter the season. I’m a big fan of mushroom barley, or a good vegetable. The choice of vegetables makes or breaks it though. 

Favorite book: Good to Great by Jim Collins. It’s really shaped POWER into the company it is today. 

Favorite sports team: The New York Rangers. I watch just about every game. Right now, my favorite player is K’Andre Miller — he’s young with a lot of talent. 

Go-to candy: Anything in the Nerds family. Willy Wonka has done amazing things. 

Representing our Service

A Chief Sales Officer… in short, oversees the entire sales department of a company. It’s a lot of analyzing statistical strengths and weaknesses and making strategic decisions to best position a company and its sales department. Some days I’m focused on sales retraining, our mentorship programs, or even our sales promotions we run almost monthly. 

Everyday I…send a morning email to the entire company. I can’t remember when I started it, but it’s become part of POWER’s DNA at this point. It’s my chance to nationally recognize our sales reps that are excelling, and hopefully motivate others to strive for that same level of success. 

My proudest POWER accomplishment has been…the improvements to our mentorship and development offerings within the sales world. We are able to teach a skillset that provides employees with immense success, while making sure they have a support system that allows them to receive proper feedback to constantly evolve their craft.

The best part about more than 25 years at POWER… is gaining this deep level of understanding about how a company functions — what it needs to be successful and what employees need to feel fulfilled. It’s a rare thing to work at a company for so many years, and it can be one of the biggest benefits to being able to make the right decisions when the rubber meets the road, and to lead well.

My favorite part of my job is…working at a company where people find a heightened, accessible level of success within our walls that they haven’t found elsewhere.

I originally took this job because… I needed a part-time gig during college. It was close to campus and it had good hours. In the moment, I never thought it’d be more than that. Ha!

Selling, But Make It Fun

I’d describe a typical sales culture as…cut-throat, high-pressure, and competitive.

But POWER’s sales culture…is the opposite. It’s team-oriented, fair, transparent, supportive, fun, filled with opportunity, and competitive — in a healthy way. This didn’t happen by accident, it happened by design. I tried to think about how I would want to be treated if I were in a sales role — how would I want to be recognized? Coached? Pushed?

Sales departments need to place emphasis on… learning and development. How are you going to get better if you don’t learn? If you keep doing the same thing without trying to improve, you’re going to end up stagnant. 

No one should ever feel…unprepared to excel in their job here. We’ve built our program to go beyond just the first 16 weeks of initial training to make sure it includes a full overview of the business, mentorship, and shadow opportunities.

Sales is about people…and so is our business. That’s why it’s so important that our sales department offers a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where anyone can thrive. We are crushing stigmas that only men work in sales — just check our sales performance leaderboards. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of person you need to be to find success here. Everyone has something unique to bring to the role and to the department.

Money isn’t…everything. But it does play a big role in sales positions — not just at POWER, but most anywhere. I’ve seen thousands of employees’ lives change because of the earning potential our sales department creates. Employees who had to borrow money to put gas in their car to even get to work now have bought homes for their parents. Those dealing with such significant debt are now able to have financial freedom. That’s the best part of my job — having a hand in changing the lives of the employees I care about for the better and giving them an actual shot at success. 

Recognizing employees for their efforts is…part of POWER’s sales DNA — and we take that very seriously. We invest in opportunities and events that showcase our employees’ hard work. The Power Awards Gala is one of those ways we get to recognize the best of the best. In addition to earning a title as a Power Award winner, they are treated to a three-day trip to a desirable warm-weathered location where they and their guests can relax and reflect on their well-earned accomplishments. And of course, I can’t forget POWER’s annual company retreat and music festival in Mexico.

The Person Behind the Title

The best jokester in the C-Suite is… me. No question, not even close. If I had to choose a runner up…Rob. Then maybe Asher…maybe. Only because my humor has rubbed off on him from spending so much time together. Kinda like chicken pox. 

My dream ‘Quest’ lineup at POWER’s annual holiday party would include… The Beatles, The Rolling Stones circa their heyday, The Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, U2. You gotta have Bruce Springsteen. Heavy on the classic rock. Jay-Z too. 

I have a big appreciation for…parents. As a kid, you don’t realize how much sacrifice your own parents had to make until you have kids yourself. They are the best though — my boys really inspire me. 

I’ve learned the most from…Power’s Cultural Diversity & Inclusion initiative. Not only has it educated me on the daily struggles that so many people within our walls face, but it’s helped my son feel more comfortable with who he is. He got to attend POWER’s Pride celebration and ever since he’s felt this heightened level of acceptance. 

My kids love…coming to work with me. They’ve been surrounded by POWER people all their lives, and some have become like family to them. It’s made them feel safe and secure. We, as a company, try to incorporate kids and significant others into as many things as we can; they are just as much a part of the POWER community as our employees.

My Shark Tank pitch…would be for a game like Jeopardy, but instead of trivia questions, it’s all music. You would either have to answer a music-related question, or name the actual song. I could easily produce seasons upon seasons of this.

The best advice I could give my younger self on my first day at POWER is…to document as much as possible. I wish I had a picture of what POWER’s first office used to look like to show people who we were back then, and how much we’ve grown. You have to be intentional about taking all of the memories in, because time is a thief. 

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