Me, demonstrating my love for technology.
Ok, so I can do much more than the best demo of your product that you’ll ever see, but “Demo Whisperer” does a good job of describing my primary skill set in software sales: transforming the traditionally boring into something actually entertaining. That could involve a software demo, a multi-day Sales Kickoff, regular sales trainings, or a User Conference -- I have made them all less boring.
Most importantly, through growing my own company, I’ve now been on “the other side of the table” — evaluating, negotiating, and implementing software applications — so I have a much better perspective of all the factors at play when a company is considering an enterprise software project.
You can see my approach to software demos at my new blog.
“I’ve been selling software for 28 years and Ami is hands down, the most compelling and dynamic presenter I’ve ever worked with. Nobody I would rather have in a ‘closing’ presentation.”
/ GARY BROWN, ANDROMEDIA & BLUE MARTINI /
RSM
While you might think RSM is a tax & audit firm (it is), the Technology Consulting business is huge. Within Technology Consulting, RSM has a large Microsoft Dynamics practice, and I am thrilled to be back in a role focused on my favorite part of software: demos. I’m even sharing my Microsoft Dynamics CRM demo ideas on a new blog: demowhisperer.com.
Microsoft
A few C-level software executives/investors/mentors suggested it would be good to get some experience as a true quota-carrying salesperson. Even though everyone knows the sales engineer does all the hard work, the salesperson that brings in the signed contract gets all the credit and more money so I figured I’d give it a shot. At Microsoft, I sell their Dynamics suite of CRM products for Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and Field Service to 120+ named accounts in northern CA. I have achieved my quota every fiscal year, was awarded a Hero Award in 2020, but by far, my most significant accomplishment was conceiving and executing Dinner by Dynamics, an immersive twist on the traditional “executive dinner” that most software companies put on.
Andromedia
Seduced out of my final year at Cal with the promise of making good money, I was started as an intern for $10/hour in the summer of ’97. The company was 25 employees at the time. After making a splash at a trade show in Chicago, I was offered a role as a Sales Engineer, and was flying around the country demoing the product as the company grew to 200+ employees. In 1999, Andromedia acquired a small collaborative-filtering engine called LikeMinds, and I spent my final year there working with the company’s top Account Executive selling the new product to strategic accounts. Andromedia was acquired by Macromedia in 1999.
Blue Martini Software
Blue Martini was a rocket ship that you almost had to live to believe. Founded in ’98, I joined as employee 35 in July 1999, and it went public in July 2000 with a $4B market cap (I am not suggesting causality). I started as a Sales Engineer, and was #2 in revenue for the first real sales year, earning a trip to CEO Club. Thinking that my skills would best be leveraged across the entire salesforce, I was promoted into a Director role for Sales Force Readiness responsible for sales training across the globe. I had ownership over product demos, regular sales trainings, Sales Kickoffs, and a Boot Camp program.
Demo Consulting
On occasion, the ups-and-downs of my own startup forced me to look elsewhere for income. Fortunately, I was able to fall back on my network in software and help a handful of companies improve their product demos. In 2005, I worked part-time for Agile Software (since acquired by Oracle) on their PLM solution, helping with the product demo, leading their Sales Kickoffs, and emceeing their User Conference. In 2006, I spent six months helping Siperian (since acquired by Informatica) on their Master Data Management (MDM) demo, culminating in a presentation at their Sales Kickoff. In 2010, I spent 45 days reworking Ooyala’s video platform demo, unveiling it at their Sales Kickoff. In late 2017, I spent 2 months developing an end-to-end demo for Zenefits, the cloud-based HR management solution, delivering a script, recording, and in-person presentation. Most recently, I delivered a new demo framework for Movable Ink, the leader in personalized email marketing.
In 2016, Wingtip was the first (and only) company to go live on both SuiteCommerce Advanced (their high-end eCommerce platform) and SuiteCommerce In-Store (their brand new Point of Sale solution). I participated in a brief Q&A session during the Retail Industry Keynote at their user conference which you can watch below.
