Someone You Should Know: Brent Corsetto

With so many ERA members, it is not easy to get to know every rep, manufacturer and distributor in the business.“Someone You Should Know” is The Representor department that gives readers the chance to learn about fellow ERA members, including how their time is spent both in and out of the office.

Meet Brent Corsetto, President, G Squared Technologies. The Representor asked Corsetto a few questions about his time as a manufacturers’ representative and his experiences with ERA. Here is what he had to say.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in Frederick, Md., and after moving around for the better part of a decade found myself relocating to the Washington D.C. metro area, meeting my wife and eventually relocating to Philadelphia. My wife and I both are graduates of James Madison University where I obtained a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2006. My wife is in finance and together we are what they call “DINKWADs” (Dual Income No Kids With A Dog) living in Philadelphia, while I also have an office in Baltimore to support our customers there.

What are some things you enjoy outside of the workplace?

I am an avid musician and play in a band with one of my biggest customers, who is a radio frequency (RF) design engineer and a phenomenal guitarist. Recording and performing music is my biggest passion, but besides that you can often find me on the golf course. My wife and I are also traveling as much as we can internationally and domestically before starting a family. I am actually writing this from Nicaragua as we speak!

How long have you been an ERA member and how long in the rep business?

I have been an ERA member since 2020 and am going on 13 years in the rep business (2011). I had the opportunity to buy G Squared Technologies from my mentor and predecessor, Donna Gildea-Stutzman, in 2017 and we architected a flawless succession plan which led me to take full ownership in 2019.

How did you become interested in being a rep in the electronics industry?

My father is an RF engineer and Donna mentioned to him that she needed to hire an outside sales rep. Being a musician and recording engineer, the language and concepts in RF electronics came naturally to me even if the mathematics did not. I’m at a point now that I’m familiar enough with electronic circuits that I can assist on the bench, and over Christmas my dad and I were troubleshooting a bass guitar pre-amplifier circuit. Talk about a father/son bonding moment!

What have you found to be most rewarding about the rep business?

The relationships, without a doubt! I’m lucky that my dad paved the way for me to get to know quite a lot of folks locally in our industry, and I enjoy meeting new people and growing my network. Besides my local “industry-adjacent” band, I also continue to perform in RFMW’s X-band every year at the IEEE IMS symposium, and that has opened so many doors and new relationships. The ERA Conference multiplied those relationships even more! I look forward most to the tradeshows that we attend every year.

Briefly describe your rep firm.

G Squared Technologies started in 1990 and is primarily focused on military/aerospace customers and RF products. We are moving into the more commercial sector and broadening our line card to include digital design and power products. In 2020 we partnered with another rep firm, CMI Technical Sales, in a sub-rep capacity to further expand our line card offerings. We have two incredible inside sales employees and are actively seeking an outside sales rep to add to the team.

What recent innovations, best practices and/or changes has your firm made?

In addition to the sub-rep agreement, we are also working hard to categorize our CRM contacts into individual “market segmentation” buckets for more impactful email marketing campaigns. It’s getting harder and harder to visit customers, and if we’re sending GaN power HEMT products to an RF engineer, or a high frequency RF filter to an engineer working on an LO module, we’re going to lose credibility pretty quickly. We are increasing our email marketing and newsletter frequency to 2-3 principal spotlights a month to drive new business. We are also getting more aligned with channel partners which was never a core part of G Squared’s business model but is becoming more important as time goes by.

What have you learned and/or what contacts have you made through ERA that have had the greatest positive impacts on you and/or your business?

I was only able to attend the 2022 ERA conference but walked out with so many new contacts (beyond just our tiny little RF rep orbit!) that I am still in touch with and have seen at other shows such as EDS. Additionally, it was so refreshing to attend ERA and hear from other rep organizations to gain new ideas or get validation that we’re doing the right thing. The idea to expand our digital footprint, work on market segmentation for emails and improve our principal’s SEO (the next step to our marketing plan) all came out of the Conference breakout sessions that I attended in 2022.

What is one interesting fact that people may not know about you?

I have a smith chart tattoo on my left bicep to commemorate the moment I took ownership of G Squared Technologies.*

(*Revisit question 4 if you are wondering whether or not I know how to read a smith chart)