Ken Hargrove Sales Champion Current position: Vice President Age: 57 Hometown: Upland

Ken Hargrove - From the Halls of Montizuma to VP of Worldwide Sales.

Below is the result of our interview with Ken.

Sales Overview
How long have you been in sales? Twenty-nine years.

How did you get started? Money, fun.

What is the impact of sales on your life? Sales broadened my horizons.

What do you like most about sales? Winning.

What sales method do you follow? Miller Heiman "Big ticket" selling

What is the name of your best sales manager ever? (so far!) No one was especially effective, learned something different from every one.

What made this manager so good? See above.

What made your worst manager so bad? My first 5 years managing.

How do you prepare for a big meeting? Don't sleep well night before, over-practice, write down note after note then forget.

Selling Track Record
What is the most you ever sold in a year? $85M

What is the biggest order you ever booked? $14M

How long did it take to book your biggest order? 18 months.

Why did the customer buy from you? Signal generator calibration system.

What did you learn from the process? Dead-end alleys, wrong turns, resource identification and strategy.

What is the biggest order you ever lost? $3M

Why was the order lost? Entered late in the game, fast-tracked myself to get to the end and missed some basics.

What was learned from loss? Fundamentals and 'pay me now or pay me later'.

Private Life
What is in your library? Books, books on tape, magazines on golf and travel.

What are you reading now? Politically incorrect truth about global warming.

What is your favorite movie? Love Actually.

Who is a role model to you? Sandy Mohlengraft, combat wounded twice in Nam, lifelong 50% disabled, diabetic Type II, Mature stage Parkinson's Disease, quadruple bypass but still jokes and never complains.

How do you relax? Plan to some day.

Which 3 people would you like have to dinner? Osama Bin Laden so I can kick his ass, Osama Bin Laden so I can kick his ass and Ollie North to help get rid of the bodies.

How do you start the day? Look at schedule.

How do you end work each day? Tired.

Technology & Strategy
What smartphone - pda do you use? Blackberry, Global access, unlimited data, tied in with corporate email.

What PIM/CRM do you use? ACT! 2008.

How do you stay organized? Notes everywhere, constant attention.

How do you prevent a slump? See it first, plan it and do it.

Changes
How have markets/sales changed in 5 years? Yes.

What industry trends do you foresee? Application specialization.

How do you want to be described in a sentence? Concise, one-stop, solid recommendations.

Alternative Universe
If you were not in sales, what would you do instead? Lawyer.

Closing Question
How is it to be interviewed by the Sales Whisperer? Loooooooong.