Growth Mindset & Passionate Problem Solving: Keith’s Story

Keith Chrisco joined Wilson Manufacturing in 1992 as a customer service/sales representative, bringing a wealth of experience from his previous work in the steel industry. Over his first few years with Wilson, Keith helped to fill in gaps as the company was growing and expanding our footprint..but it didn’t take long for Keith’s technical knowledge and can-do spirit to begin producing results for the company. 

Grasping Our Values

Keith quickly grasped the key to developing great solutions and creating lasting relationships with customers at Wilson. 

“Working at Wilson is not a typical sales job where you’re knocking on doors or just calling people,” says Keith. “It’s a combination of sales, customer service skills, thinking and problem solving like an engineer. You can survive being good at two of those things, but you’ve got to be great at all three to thrive.”

Ramping Up Growth

Keith worked hard at learning our products and the principles behind our engineering in order to serve Wilson’s customers better. When our most senior salesperson announced his retirement, Keith embraced the opportunity to take over his high-volume area. 

At the time, this region covered Wilson’s core label printing customers in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and southern Illinois. Keith quickly established relationships with customers across the region and the results from his (already large) area continued to grow. For nearly 20 years, Keith sustained the best sales record of any region in our organization.

Stepping Up to Lead

As Wilson continued to grow, our sales and technical teams needed more support. Keith was promoted to VP of Sales in order to provide the coaching and mentorship the department needed. 

After over 35 years in sales, Keith has always gotten a thrill from signing a new customer or getting a big order. But now, he says that the best part of his job is seeing his people succeed. 

“For me, seeing my salespeople and customer service reps grow is even more exciting than any individual wins,” Keith says. 

Keith helps our salespeople learn through 1:1 conversations and coaching. He often spends time with them out on the shop floor to help them grasp technical concepts and come up with solutions for our customers. The word “no” isn’t in Keith’s business vocabulary. For him—and for our organization—solving a problem that another die maker was unable to figure out is hugely satisfying. He strives to foster this willingness to take on challenges among our entire team. 

Keith’s high energy, common sense, and fairness blend together to make him successful in his leadership role. He embodies the can-do spirit and ingenuity that our company was founded on, and he is leveraging those values to fuel our continued growth.