Mike Chott
Territory Sales Specialist, Oracle Corp.
I first met Mike in 2003 when organizational changes allowed me to lead a new group. When I think of Mike, I think of his perseverance with the Qwest account. There were times over a multi-year period when anything less than the strong will of Mike would have yielded to the challenges thrown at us. Mike’s professionalism and the deep desire to do the right thing by both parties steered the outcome to top dead center.
Later, as the Key Account Director for First Data Corporation, Mike’s experience and professionalism earned Oracle a spot as a trusted partner. At the time, FDC was reducing the number of its suppliers by consolidating spend with a few partners they trusted. Oracle’s membership in this exclusive club was far from a sure thing. Mike adeptly navigated Oracle safely onto FDC’s new list, which drove material revenue for Oracle until Fiserv acquired FDC in 2019.
When it comes to negotiation, Mike is highly skilled. He knows how enterprises make purchases and manages the process to a positive outcome for all parties. Mike does “Columbo” better than “Columbo.”
Jeff asked for us to answer three questions as a helpful guide to revealing him to you through our eyes:
1) How do I know Jeff?
2) If I were you (the personas who would read this are salesperson, sales leader, or business owner) I’d want to know this about Jeff:
3) One thing I learned from Jeff that made me better:
1) How do I know Jeff?
I worked for Jeff for over 10 years in Oracle Enterprise Accounts, covering some of Oracle’s largest accounts. Since then, we have remained in touch and I would consider us good personal friends.
2) If I were you (the personas who would read this are salesperson, sales leader, or business owner) I’d want to know this about Jeff:
Jeff is great at building a solid team of professional sales people. Our team was composed of both senior sales reps as well as several sales people early in their sales career. Jeff’s leadership style was to create a team that all worked together, helped each other, and supported each other. We were all very results oriented, but also very much enjoyed working together and just spending time together, to the point that we all stay in touch over 10 years later. I’m certain any one of us would jump at the chance to work with Jeff again.
Additionally, Jeff always conducted himself, and insisted that the team all operate in absolute honest and ethical business practices both when working with our customers, as well as internally within the organizations that we interacted with. As a result of adhering to very high standards, our team quickly became recognized as one of most professional and successful teams in the company.
3) One thing I learned from Jeff that made me better:
Jeff’s attention, and retention, to details always impressed me. He could recall the intricacies of both the commercials as well the key stakeholders for every deal the team was working - even when circling back to a transaction a week or two later. This ability to recall the elements of a deal had a huge impact on me and I have made an effort throughout my career to try to absorb and retain as much detail as possible.