My biggest win was convincing the Qualtrics leadership team to move me and my wife to Ireland to help the EMEA sales teams sell EX. This turned out to be one of the best experiences I could have asked for. I learned so much about different cultures and how to close business with different types of people.
Beginning my career at Qualtrics, I really struggled. I don’t think I closed anything for my first 3 quarters as a sales rep. Momentum started to pick up for me once I started working a large deal with Dollar General, which we ended up winning. Not only was this a big deal for me personally, but everyone I worked with to get Qualtrics in the door at DG was shortly promoted. This gave me the confidence to push for this tool. It does good things and can change people’s lives.
There’s no prize for second place. There is nothing worse than working a deal to the end only to get a rejection.
I love to win, both personally and for the client. My first manager taught me that for a tool to make sense, it needs to win at all three levels in the organization that you are working with. It needs to win for the company, a win for the department, and, what gets me most excited, a win for the person who bought and implemented the tool.
If I were not in sales, I would likely become a history professor. I loved academia and learning. The college environment is so special, and I would have loved to make a career out of it.
