Eric Benson Email & Phone Number

United States

Salford, Manchester, Gb

Palo Alto, Ca, Us

I was hired to drive VMware’s transformation from a license-based revenue model to an annual recurring revenue (SaaS) model. In this role, I set business goals and sales strategy as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team and lead a team of 500 distributed across North America and LATAM. I lead functional areas including Sales, Solution Architects, Business Development, and Partner Management.SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Grew revenue 500% in 3 years by investing heavily in software service provider partnerships to create co-selling routes to market that included other hyper sellers such as Google, Microsoft, and AWS. I personally established partnerships with Google and Microsoft, which had reached multi-million-dollar value in under a year, and grew the existing AWS partnership 600%. ⇨ Increased customer consumption 68% YoY for 3 years by developing data-backed growth projections that I used to direct sales teams to overachieve targets based on the percentage of committed but non-consuming customers identified in projections. ⇨ Tripled the core sales team’s adoption and sales of cloud solutions by incentivizing co-selling between core and specialty sales teams and creating use cases that trained core teams on how best to sell cloud solutions. ⇨ Improved sales efficiency 275% through customer propensity analysis that identified the companies most likely to adopt cloud solutions. ⇨ Piloted transformational leadership series on growth mindset that was later rolled out company-wide, putting the Cloud organization on the leading edge of VMware’s leadership development.⇨ Maintained less than 10% employee attrition by conducting innovative “stay interviews” with key talent to determine what factors would keep them engaged with the team, empowering proactive retention strategies.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Progressively promoted during a decade of employment at AWS. As Chief of Staff, I was tasked with facilitating a hyper-growth phase by prioritizing customer engagement for the sales organization and accelerating executive alignment between AWS and customers. I directed strategic planning for the Worldwide Commercial Executive office, which oversaw Sales, BD, Solutions Architecture, Professional Services, and Training. I also served as an executive mentor and coach for leaders of technology companies that had recently been acquired by AWS. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ I led strategic positioning—including financial analysis, deal constructs, and content creation—for visioning sessions with F1000 companies to increase adoption of available solutions. These sessions (1) cut time to close deals and realize revenue in half, (2) improved the close ratio 50%, (3) led to customers increasing existing commitments by 5X-10X, and (4) increased C-level to C-level engagements by 20%.⇨ Delivered $1B in revenue in Q4 of 2019 by driving the strategy for closing strategic custom deals. To close those deals, I created and owned a tiger team responsible for acquiring the target customers. ⇨ Reduced time to value 25% by defining the 2020 strategy, then aligning resources and budget to the reorganization plan based on vertical and industry initiatives.

Seattle, Wa, Us

In this role, I incubated new database services into the marketplace by serving as the liaison between BD, Sales, and customers. I led pilot testing with alpha and beta customers, competitive positioning, and GTM strategy for 5 new services that leveraged AI/ML, Deep Learning, HPC, Analytics, Storage, Compete, and End User Services to help companies differentiate and innovate their businesses. As GM of BD Americas, I managed a team of 67 (7 direct reports) across the U.S. and Canada. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Stimulated 40% specialty sales growth by developing customer segmentation use cases for new services. I first incubated services inside user groups, then created a unique marketing language for each user group and highlighted the service’s applicability to that user group at industry trade shows. ⇨ Drove 10X growth in 1 year for Database Freedom, an important revenue enabler for AWS, by piloting roadshows and leveraging initial successes to drive rapid uptake. ⇨ Spurred a 100% increase in Windows on AWS adoption, which doubled revenue.⇨ Built a leadership team that was 50%+ female through targeted referrals and recruiting campaigns.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Set strategy and authored business plan to establish F1000 Digital Sales Organization to accelerate AWS adoption in target customers. Executed plan to create a new LOB from scratch, building and leading a team of 130 Sales reps within the extended Sales organization. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Created and scaled Digital Sales from inception to $500M+ incremental revenue in 3 years through strategic forward investment in high-profile, high-potential customers and targeted headcount increase.⇨ Exceeded quota for fiscal years 2015-2019 (112%, 101%, 108%, 115%) by aligning sales compensation plans with company growth goals and designing or influencing marketing plans and events. ⇨ Tripled AWS services adoption and achieved a 53% growth rate for targeted customers by executing multi-resourced account plans and exceeding net margin expectations.⇨ Engineered 100% YoY increase in diversity hiring by revamping hiring practices end-to-end, designing hiring profiles of different customer segments, and hiring talent with diverse skill sets.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Led strategic planning and execution for building out and expanding market share for the US, Canada, and LATAM. Managed 20 direct and 200 indirect reports who covered Commercial, Public Sector/Federal, Startups, Mid-Tier, Large Enterprise, and Global accounts. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Rapidly scaled organization to align to customer segments. I hired and developed top talent to grow from 9 to 200+ team members, increased the leadership team from 1 to 25, and opened 5 new geographic offices. ⇨ Contributed to 400% YoY MQLs by defining a marketing plan that led to the first-ever AWS Summit, which was attended by 4K people.⇨ Tripled role diversity within the sales organization by authoring new job requirements, compensation plans, and organizational design. ⇨ Decreased new hires’ time to revenue from 9 to 3 months by developing a 90-day onboarding plan that used Solution Engineers to deliver in-person and recorded training to Sales hires.

Redmond, Washington, Us

Led sales for Mid-Market and Enterprise territories focused on collaboration and communication tools and MS incubation technologies. Developed programmatic offerings adopted across Microsoft for engagements that generated value for customers and provided insight and background on their ecosystems and decision criteria. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Drove revenue growth resulting in 120% attainment after multiple years of sagging growth.⇨ Delivered competitive wins against Cisco and Open Source/Linux.➤ Developed programmatic offerings adopted across Microsoft for engagements that generated value for customers and provided insight and background on their ecosystems and decision criteria. ➤ Drove revenue growth resulting in 120% attainment after multiple years of sagging growth.

San Jose, California, Us

Sold Network security software/hardware and governance/compliance tools to Enterprise Customers. Served as the Chair of both the Inside Sales Recruiting Committee and Motivation Committee; in these roles, I was responsible for developing and improving recruitment strategies and furthering morale and productivity. SELECT RESULTS:⇨ Overachieved sales goals for 4 consecutive years. ⇨ Grew the Sales Team from 22 to 100+ heads. ➤ Served as Chair of both the Inside Sales Recruiting Committee and the Motivation Committee with responsibility for developing and improving recruitment strategies and furthering morale and productivity

Juris Doctor, Law

B.A.