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How the Deal was Done | Enterprise Sales Podcast

How the Deal was Done | Enterprise Sales Podcast

Auteur(s): Andrew Kappel & Matthew Klingner
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How the Deal was Done | Deal Stories Podcast features fast-paced interviews with top sellers & leaders. Insights and Inspiration. 1. You will hear the story for how a large deal was won 2. We'll cover the backstory, challenges, and learnings picked up along the way. All in about 15 minutes. If you have questions or would like to recommend a guest please connect with Andrew Kappel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkappel/Andrew Kappel & Matthew Klingner Économie
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  • S2 Ep 3: Jamal Reimer, From Three $50M+ Deals at Oracle to Global CEO
    Mar 16 2026

    Jamal Reimer is one of the most recognized voices in enterprise selling. While at Oracle, he closed three separate $50M+ transactions with major international firms - and has since built a global community, coaching practice, and an AI platform around helping senior sellers engineer deals at that scale.

    He popularized the term "mega deal" long before it became a LinkedIn buzzword, and his book Mega Deal Secrets tells the unfiltered story of how he closed his first one, coming out of years of mediocrity and missed quotas.

    This episode covers the mental and tactical shift from run-rate selling to strategic selling, what actually happened inside Jamal's first $50M deal, how the best sellers in 2026 are using AI differently than everyone else, and why financial fluency is now the most underleveraged skill in enterprise sales.


    Resources:

    Mega Deal Secrets (Book)Jamal's novel-format account of his first $50M deal at Oracle. Covers the full arc from near-churn to landmark win, including the mindset shifts, internal politics, executive dynamics, and commercial engineering that made it possible.⁠https://www.amazon.com/Mega-Deal-Secrets-Biggest-Career/dp/1737765527⁠

    Enterprise Sellers Community:A global network of senior strategic sellers focused on closing seven and eight-figure deals. Weekly wins, peer accountability, and shared playbooks. This is the community referenced throughout the episode where members regularly share business cases with eight digits on them and pricing slides that go into the millions. Jamal and Matthew both credit this community as a key accelerant for thinking bigger and borrowing conviction from others who've done it.⁠https://www.enterprisesellers.com⁠


    WHYZER.aiJamal's AI-powered platform for account research and financial intelligence. Built for enterprise sellers who need to understand how executives are compensated, how companies are structured to transform, and where budgets are actually allocated. The platform operationalizes the financial fluency concepts discussed in this episode, helping sellers see at a glance the metrics that matter to their buyers.⁠https://www.whyzer.ai⁠


    Financial Fluency Sessions:Jamal runs free sessions on financial fluency for enterprise sellers. This is the skill he identifies as most underleveraged in modern sales: the ability to speak the language of finance, structure proposals around executive compensation metrics, and translate product capabilities into EBITDA impact, margin expansion, or net revenue figures.⁠https://www.jamalreimer.com⁠


    Connect:

    Jamal Reimer on LinkedIn⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamal-reimer⁠


    Guest Background:

    • 10+ Years at Oracle: as a Senior Strategic Sales Executive

    • Landmark deals: Three separate $50M+ transactions with major international companies

    • Author: Mega Deal Secrets - a novel-format account of his first mega deal

    • Community: Founder of a global community of senior strategic sellers - Enterprise Sellers

    • Current company: CEO & Founder of WHYZER - an AI-powered platform for account research and financial intelligence for enterprise sellers


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    42 min
  • S2 Ep 2: Sam Quirke, Inside A Global #1 Year from a Dream House in the French Alps
    Mar 9 2026

    Sam Quirke used sales to build his dream life (and house) in the French Alps. Then proved record-breaking success depends on dedication to client value and commitment, not location.

    What started as a narrow proof-of-concept with a major European media company expanded into a career-defining transaction.

    Over 18 months, Sam navigated 40+ stakeholders, a 500-question RFP, and converted skeptical finance teams—ultimately helping him become Chargebee's #1 global performer.

    He shares how he builds conviction early, treats major deals like a "prize tree" requiring constant attention, and why the AE-SE partnership was the secret weapon behind his success.


    Key Tactics & Frameworks

    Stakeholder Mapping

    • Built a visual stakeholder map in Google Slides
    • Marked contacts blue (not yet won) or green (thumbs up)
    • Reviewed with champion every two weeks to identify gaps

    The AE-SE Partnership

    • One-to-one alignment with SE partner Bala
    • Clear ownership: AE owns the business problem, SE owns the solution
    • Mutual feedback loops after every call
    • Customer literally joked about wanting to hire the SE—multiple times

    Peer Proof Points

    • Used US competitor wins to shift internal appetite for change
    • Led with company names in outreach: "We work with A, B, and C who are just like you"
    • Avoided formal case studies—name drops carried more weight

    Prospecting Philosophy

    • Hyper-tailored emails with a clear point of view: "I think X is happening, I know Y is in place, so Z is a good reason to talk"
    • Cold calls as intel-gathering: "You might have to make 50calls to get 3-4 quality 60-second conversations"
    • Treats every Tier A account like a long-term project—knows their stack, their history, their triggers


    Key Quotes:


    On the turning point:

    "The biggest shift went from the main risk being changing to Chargebee to not changing at all and sticking with what they had."

    On champion relationships:

    "It goes from me convincing them to us convincing the rest of the business."

    On AE-SE partnerships:

    "My SE, Bala- it's been a career highlight being partnered with him. The customer made a joke that wasn't just a joke about wanting to hire him. That's how good he is."

    On maintaining momentum:

    "I remember very intentionally treating it as what could be the biggest deal of my career. There's always one more thing you can do on this deal."

    On prospecting:

    "You can't beat a good, well-crafted, extremely tailored email. A strong point of view of why anything and why now."

    On control:

    "A lot more is in your control than you might think. You can impact the sales cycle massively through your management of it."

    Connect

    • Sam QuirkeLinkedIn (Calendly link in bio)

    • Chargebeechargebee.com

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    1 h et 1 min
  • S2 Ep 1: Danny Higdon, From Founding GTM to Life Changing Success
    Mar 2 2026

    Danny Higdon, Founding GTM at CoverBase, shares how he closed a transformational deal that tripled his company's revenue. A Fortune 100 healthcare contract that changed the trajectory of both the business and his career.

    This isn't your typical quota-crushing story; it's a masterclass in enterprise sales execution, strategic patience, and leveraging limited resources at an early-stage startup.


    Guest Background:

    Danny Higdon | Founding GTM at CoverBase

    • 12+ years in sales: SMB payments → enterprise SaaS

    • Previous: WorldPay, MX Technologies

    • 4 years sober, heavy investor in sales coaching

    • Closed 20+ deals in first year at CoverBase (ranging from $10K to seven figures)

    About CoverBase: AI-powered vendor risk assessment platform serving highly regulated industries

    • Website: coverbase.ai

    • Connect with Danny: LinkedIn - Danny Lee Higdon

    Resources & Books Mentioned

    Books

    • "The Obstacle is the Way" by Ryan Holiday

      • Essential for sellers in the struggle—your obstacles are doing the right work

    Tools & Platforms

    • Superhuman: Email management (Danny went from 69K unread to inbox zero)

    • Hundred Handshakes: Org chart mapping software

    • ChatGPT: Conference research, lead generation automation

    • Fluint.io / WHYZER: AI sales tools (referenced in context)

    Coaches & Thought Leaders Referenced

    • Jamal Reimer: Oracle enterprise seller, placed big bets even risking zero years

    • Brandon Fluharty: "Steak dinners don't sell transformational deals"—narrative and business cases do

    • Amber Deibert: Brain science in sales—your brain tries to keep you alive, not successful

    • Matt Stocking: Danny hired him for bi-weekly coaching during this deal

    • Nate Nasralla: Founder of Fluint.io

    Memorable Quotes:

    "You have to slow down to speed up. You're not going to hit a $1.2M quota closing $60K deals."

    "Understanding is a privilege of the historian, not the adventurer."

    "Make a decision that you're not going to give up trying to be good at this."

    "More people can coach than do. You don't need to replace your job with it—just engage in the act of teaching & growing."

    "Theory is in the past. When you screw up in a deal and someone says 'you should have done X,' you never forget that moment."


    Connect & Learn More:

    CoverBase: coverbase.ai

    Danny Higdon: LinkedIn (writes about tech sales, sobriety, and fitness)


    This episode is a reminder that transformational deals aren't won with perfect inbound leads or flashy demos—they're won with strategic patience, relentless curiosity, and the courage to place bets before certainty arrives.

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    1 h et 12 min
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