Pretty Big Deal: Stories from the Sales Floor

Ken Hicks is a car salesman through and through. With over four decades in the automobile industry, he built his reputation on honesty and transparency. So when the self-proclaimed “best closer in sales” met star Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, considered by many to be the best closer in baseball, Ken knew this was an opportunity to accomplish something great. In this week's episode, find out how Ken convinced a baseball legend to go into business together.

For Doug MacLean, his career as a financial advisor started out as a struggle. While his peers enjoyed their starting salaries and bonuses, he was scraping by on a weekly stipend. When he learned the devastating news that a close friend had lost a parent, his knowledge from a previous client allowed him to step in and support his friend both personally and professionally. In this week's episode, hear how the aid Doug lent a friend became a turning point in his career.

For Spencer Carlisle, Account Executive at ZoomInfo, selling doesn't mean tearing down the competition. Utilizing custom alerts from Chorus, he's notified at the mention of competitors, and is able to show prospects how ZoomInfo is more than just the sum of its parts. It's an ecosystem that is enriched by its products and built upon one another. In this week's episode, hear how Spencer works as a team to bring the best product to his customers.

Andrea Lopez caught her big break in the entertainment industry through a DM on Instagram. After getting flown to LA to appear on NBC's “Bring the Funny,” she began growing her following on social media through her spot-on celebrity impressions. While negotiating a big brand partnership, she recognized a familiar face during the deal. Hear how Andrea Lopez learned the value of good impressions and good relationships for building her personal brand, on this week's episode of Pretty Big Deal.

Brittney Castro learned the importance of patience when looking to sell her own business. As an entrepreneur and financial planner, she added saleswoman to her list of titles as she tackled numerous negotiations and potential deals. After rejecting a failing negotiation, she feared a deal might not happen and began shifting her focus back to running her company. But then, right before the pandemic hit, everything fell into place. In this week's episode, hear how Brittney learned to let go, and how sometimes that's exactly what is needed.

Henry Schuck founded ZoomInfo while still in law school. When his biggest lead at that time showed interest, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to sell. But there was one problem. He didn't want the client thinking that he was both the CEO and the frontline sales rep. So he created a fake persona, “Ron Smyth” to work and close the deal. In this week's episode, hear how Henry navigated the biggest deal — despite not being himself.

Heather Campbell went into sales for a better work-life balance. After working seven days a week in marketing and getting chewed out on Christmas, she took a job in print sales in order to “have a real life.” She quickly began outperforming her peers due to her tireless work ethic and the immense pressure she placed on herself to succeed. In this week's episode, Heather tells us about her unexpected travels through marketing, sales, and eventually recruiting, in pursuit of that elusive work/life balance. As she puts it, “you can always throw the car in reverse.”

From cracking the code for selling encyclopedias door-to-door, to selling Stevie Wonder a computer back in 1986, to joining HubSpot as an original founding team member, Dan Tyre has spent his whole professional life in sales. In this week's episode, Dan tells us about a time he lost sight of the customer, and how a single tweet changed his perspective forever.

After losing his job and his wife at the same time, John Felts was in need of work. He fell into sales while on an interview for an IT position. After nearly a year of struggling to make it in sales, his big break came when he started selling to a local blood bank. In this week's episode, John tells us how he managed to stand out by giving his blood, sweat, and tears ... and more blood

Kevin Knieriem started his career in sales selling ice cream to convenience stores. Now he's the chief revenue officer of Clari. In this week's episode, Kevin tells us how he ended up in a windowless meeting room negotiating for 40 hours straight, despite his own company's global team trying to intervene.

Chris Hays is the COO and president at ZoomInfo, but because he isn't the stereotypical salesperson, it took him a while to hit his stride. As an introvert, he struggled with the expectation that salespeople are outgoing and gregarious. But as the sales process became more of a science, he was able find a groove. In this week's episode, Chris talks about how sales has changed over time, and a deal that got way more personal than he thought it would.

Susan Killen is an account manager at ZoomInfo, and to this day, she still thinks back to a deal she closed over 20 years ago. It takes an enormous amount of energy and output to earn trust. To break it would be so destructive because you'll never get it back. On this week's episode, Susan tells us what it's like to say no to the customer and how it ultimately changed the course of the deal.

Bryan Tunick is a sales manager at ZoomInfo but seven years ago he was working at a start- up as the only salesperson there. On this week's episode, Bryan tells us about a deal gone wrong. And what he did to turn things around at the last second.