John Benson

salesQB Fractional Chief Sales Officer

salesQB · Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Aug 2023 – Present(2 yrs 9 mos)

As of January 2024, I converted my Upwork fractional CSO practice to the salesQB method and now proudly represent the nation's leading Fractional CSO consultancy as their Nashville QB. And, as I have been a remote services specialist on Upwork for more than a decade, I can deliver salesQB services remotely. I am deeply grateful to Jim Muellhausen, the founder-CEO of salesQB and all the great headquarters staff that supports field QBs with excellent consulting services infrastructure with which to deliver sector-leading fractional CSO services. The firm has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of time to provide us with tools, methods, mindsets, and approaches that leverage each QB's unique skills. Thank you so very much for letting me join the salesQB business family of fractional CSO consultants.

Fractional Chief Sales Officer

Upwork · Nashville Metropolitan Area

Jan 2011 – Jan 2024(13 yrs 1 mo)

As a freelance fractional CSO, I gained clients through the Upwork platform for an amazing variety of clients, types of fractional services, and scope of engagement. Since 2011, I had worked more than 150 clients located across five continents. As of January 2024, when I stepped out of the Upwork freelancer model to join salesQB, my Job Success Score was 100%, I had earned the coveted Expert Vetted badge, and delivered more than 10,000 hours of consulting work. To all my Upwork clients over the years -- thank you. It was wonderfully productive period of time in my life, and I appreciate the opportunities you provided me to build you to improve your lead generation capacity, build your sales forces, and fractionallyl manage them to increase revenue, hence profit.

Corporate Sales Management Consultant

None · Nashville Metropolitan Area

Aug 1997 – Jan 2011(13 yrs 6 mos)

As a freelance/contract Enterprise Sales Consultant, I worked with a variety of SMBs and mid-sized companies to enable their efforts to improve their sales production and increase revenue, hence profit. My work efforts in this period of time were full of unusual business experiences. For example, for two years, I re-located to the Netherland Antilles (Sint Maarten, Curacao) to help select clients develop gateway operations to the U.S. and South America. In 1997, I concluded my enterprise sales work to move into the sector I love the most. Helping SMBs and entrepreneurial firms develop marketing and sales capacity that was bottom-line impactful on growth and market emergence. But - for years - I loved the corporate world, with access to resources and capital to invest in ways that stretched every skill I have in sales consulting into its maximum value and productivity

Sales Director

Business Systems · Houston, Texas, United States

Feb 1990 – Jul 1997(7 yrs 6 mos)

Business Systems Group (headquartered in Houston, TX), hired me as their first Account Executive and employee 18. Over the ensuing 6 years, we doubled the company in size every nine months and emerged as a national consulting force in client-server computing with more than 600 resources nationwide. It was in this career period of my life, I 'cut my teeth' in major project sales to enterprise-class firms. Our projects ranged from 50k fixed fee to more than a million a year in run rate. My personal sales production grew from 2million a year in 1991 to $6million a year by 1995. For these fast-growth years, I contributed more than 25% each year to the firms topline revenue figure. In 1997, we sold the firm to an NYSE-listed firm for a stunning 4:1 multiple of sales ($72 million) and the early-ins experienced an excellent personal wealth event. This work was sales in the old-fashioned way. There was no Internet to speak of, nor remote work environments. Presentations were made by overhead slide projector and we flew to meetings across the country weekly. Sales calls were made in person, 'walking the halls' of corporations and selling against firms1000x our size (the Big Six at the time). It was in this career-period, I learned face-to-face negotiating skills, and on a few occassions the health of the company depended on me closing the deal. It was a fabulous way for a young sales person to grown, mature, and learn at the knees of sales masters. I extend my thanks to Richard Scruggs and Richard Owen - the two greatest mentors in my career.

Account Executive | Corporate IT Sales

NCR Corporation · Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex

Sep 1985 – Jan 1990(4 yrs 5 mos)

NCR was my first job out of college. By great fortune, I was hired into the corporate sales group of NCR - a global leader in IT services and products. NCR is world-renown for the training provided to its entry-level Account Executives. For more than six weeks, the new AE annual hire class was shipped from their home offices (I worked in the Dallas branch) to "Sugar Camp" - the NCR training facility in Dayton, Ohio - NCR headquarters. For six weeks, we were trained 8 hours a day by masters of sales process, corporate selling tactics, proposal development, presentation, and negotiation. Then, we were granted full Account Executive status and pursued corporate-class business with in NCRs branch office environment. In a special, life-changing experience: my 1st boss - the branch manager of the Dallas office - was Mark Hurd. Mark, later matriculated to CEO of both HP and Oracle in the decades to follow. By sheer good luck, my first sales mentor because a titan of the industry - and - learned at the knee of a master sales person, early in his sales management career.

Account Executive Intern

IBM · Houston, Texas, United States

May 1981 – Sep 1984(3 yrs 5 mos)

My sales career began with a highly coveted position as an Account Executive Intern for the Houston branch office of IBM mid-range computer sales. For three summers in between my studies in Electrical Engineering (Texas A&M) - I accompanied Account Executives from IBM's vaunted sales force - at the time considered among the most prestigious and skilled sales people in the world. It was a daunting experience - a 19-year-old college kid, from small-town College Station, Tx, on sales calls into Fortune 100 corporations headquartered in Houston -- wearing IBM's traditional blue or gray suit, starched white collared shirt, tie, and wingtip shoes - and scared out of his mind he'd do something wrong. Thankfully, the branch manager at the time - Charles Ansley - a fellow Texas Aggie - took special interest in me. He taught me the basics of sales behavior, how to help the AEs I was assigned to, and gave me special learning assignments. Charles, later ascended to become a Vice President within IBM and the CEO of Electronic Data Systems - the pioneer of outsourced enterprise IT. I was trained at the knee of IT sales titan, from my very first sales experience and was hooked immediately. I had found my lifetime career!