Mike Kovac by the numbers
2015 quota
2011 - 2015
Leadership
How I transformed my business
Customer Growth & Satisfaction
Having spent time in Services delivering real world solutions to customers, I am a customer advocate first. I know how important it is to not only drive user adoption, but to have people demanding your solution. As a leader, I championed several essential accounts each quarter and aligned with their strategic vision. Last year, this resulted in two customer references and $1.5M of additional Services revenue.
Building a winning team
Assembling one of the best technical sales teams in the business wasn't just luck. It took significant team building, individual coaching, and motivating team players to find synergy in their accounts. It meant going to their presentations, demos, and providing real time feedback without creating that perception to the customer. It meant spearheading regular team meetings and reviewing advanced selling strategies, encouraging internal competition via demo days, and performing weekly, individual cadence. This is the reason why I saw 22% YoY growth in revenue last year.
Not being a victim
Every sales cycle is filled with obstacles. And every company has it's internal challenges navigating around those obstacles whether it's a shortage of resources, a knowledge defecit, or simply just not speaking with the right people. When things went wrong, I didn't become the victim. Instead, I found ways to innovate and disrupt the status quo by exploring every possible avenue until I found a way to move forward again. This is why I was able to close a landmark year end deal with a large financial services company for $2M, and why I already acheived 159% of my 1H attainment with a key $1M win in the manufacturing sector.
Lead by example
There's a difference between being in the weeds and being in the trenches with your team. I strove to selectively immerse myself in strategic opportunities and engage in whatever technical activity was most pressing: custom demo builds, POCs, workshops, etc. When your team feels like you are an integral part of the process, they are willing to work that much harder and go the extra mile for you.
Finding humor in what we do
It's no joke running a $100M+ Analytics business for IBM. I am reminded just how critical it is to meet or exceed our numbers on a daily basis. However, I believe the moment we begin obsessing about it, it's game over. So why not inject some humor into everyday events! When I laugh, my team laughs with me. My customers laugh with me. It becomes contagious and everybody wins.
Retention
As a leader, I have consistently challenged my team to move beyond their comfort zone and embrace the dynamism of the technical seller role. My leadership style has paid dividends with a 100% retention rate and the advancement of several of my previous direct reports.
RESUME
Work History
IBM
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2016-present
Analytics Industry Technical Sales Manager
- Assembled a brand new team and crushed my Q1 2016 number, achieving 90% of my business target for 1H
- Hatched a teaming approach on strategic accounts to maximize synergy across Analytics brands and deliver a key $1M+ win for Q1
- Brokered a major reorganization of the Analytics business to better serve our customers with clearly delineated client architects and subject matter experts
- Partnered with Sales Leadership to provide a Tech Sales / Sales coverage model with 25% fewer technical sellers -
2014-2016
Business Analytics Enterprise Technical Sales Manager
- Lead my team to achieve 22% YoY growth and 100%+ of their attainment
- Championed critical accounts to elevate customer satisfaction, ensure adoption, and align with their strategic goals and objectives resulting in two customer references and $1.5M of Services
Collaborated with Product Management and Marketing to deliver a BI cloud strategy for a net new customer
- 100% retention rate, oversaw career growth of "A" players, and successfully backfilled and hired externally
- Technical certification mentor, summer intern host Manager, and direct adviser to the winner of the IBM NA "Stand and Deliver" competition
- Implemented cross-team demo days resulting in the build of several cross brand demo assets that are now used across North America -
2012-2014
Business Analytics Team Lead and Certified Client Technical Professional
- Strategically drove $11+M revenue and 100+% attainment for Business Analytics NY Metro accounts in 2012 and 2013
- Provided daily leadership and guidance to my team, mentored new hires
- Point person for NY Metro Technical Sales Manager in account planning and alignment, workshop activities, and resource management
- Orchestrated quarterly team meetings, demo day events, and knowledge shares across IBM brands
- Creator and owner of Tech Seller Wikis for team collaboration, demo sharing, and ease of finding job essential information -
2009-2012
Business Analytics Certified Client Technical Professional
- Consistently exceeded client value expectations by providing holistic, end-to-end business analytics solutions resulting in $1.85M won revenue and contributing towards 100%+ quota attainment
- Managed multi-phase POCs, led critical technical decisions, and oversaw all project resources
- Partnered with the extended IBM team across brands to differentiate and sell our solution
- Delivered executive demonstrations and client workshops to generate demand / burn down
- Increased customer satisfaction by directly engaging Support and Product Management as well as being the point person for critical situations that demanded on-site resolution
Pre IBM
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2007-2009
Solutions Architect @Cognos
- Instrumental in closing one of the largest BI deals in North America in Cognos's history: $5.2M competitively won at a large pharmaceutical company
- Leveraged prior work experience to successfully expand deals beyond just BI into consolidation and planning resulting in $1M+ additional revenue
- Found creative solutions to proof of concepts that were obstacles for our competitors and won net new business -
2003-2007
Senior PreSales Consultant @Cartesis
- Delivered product presentations, POC builds, deep-dive workshops, and discovered prospect needs
- Contributed directly to securing largest license deal in Cartesis history at a large chemical company by applying a "consultative" approach to selling and leveraging extensive consolidation, planning, and reporting knowledge
- Designed and implemented Cartesis's RFI on-line database that was adopted globally and was also a key player in roll-out of global product suite and demo -
2000-2003
Services Consultant @Cartesis
- Lead the analysis and design phases for a number of marquee client implementations
- Delivered an end-to-end solution capturing cost and margin analysis to the lowest level of detail, as well as volume data manipulation for a large industrial manufacturing company
- Pioneered an integrated planning solution with multi-GAAP, financial management and statutory reporting for a large Chemical company
On a Personal Note
About Me
What I Live By
Waking up in the morning is a ritual, a rite of passage into all things that embrace life in the physical world. I choose to squeeze the most out of that ritual every single day. It is an opportunity to meet new people, experience new things, taste new foods, and, if the opportunity presents itself, travel to new places. Being in the now means not only being present but being absolutely passionate about each and every single moment that unfolds. It means doing the best you can do at whatever you’re doing and enjoying yourself while you’re doing it. It means taking a step back occasionally and reflecting upon what was experienced; what was achieved; what was enjoyed. These are the principles that guide me.
What I Live For
I am an avid car enthusiast and I am passionate about racing, collecting, preserving, and driving vintage, as well as high performance cars. The destination is sometimes as much about the drive, as it is the vintage car event or race at that location. While I enjoy the sport of auto racing, I also enjoy the preparation that goes into each race, and in doing so, I have increased both my physical and mental stamina. My wife is passionate about food and travel, and her desire to visit far corners of the earth and eat strange and wonderful foods has infected me. Our goal is to travel to many places but never to the same place twice! Well, maybe Hana just one more time…