Michael Darst

About Michael Darst

For the past 10 years, my focus has been on renewal business, evaluating in-sourced and out-sourced models to determine what works best for the organizational structure, business model, and culture. Having spent the first 10 years of my career in sales, I have a unique ability to empathize with and gain buy-in from various stakeholders across the sales funnel. Ultimately, people and problem solving are what drive me. I am at my best when I’m leading teams, collaborating with partners across the channel ecosystem, and creating operational efficiencies that improve performance and drive short- and long-term revenue impact. A few highlights of my more recent experience include: Standing up a new $20M new vs. renew business model for one of Red Hat’s mid-market business segments. Implementing a customer lifecycle management initiative that increased renewal and retention rates among global accounts representing $150M annually. Creating a Global Renewals Specialist certification program to ensure teams were engrained in the Red Hat culture. Areas of expertise: Customer Retention & Renewals ǀ Process Improvement ǀ Performance Management ǀ Strategic Partnerships ǀ Executive Level Influence Negotiations ǀ Sales Enablement Change Management ǀ Strategic Planning ǀ Coaching & Mentoring ǀ Budget Management ǀ SaaS Solutions

Experience

1. Renewals Lead Inside Sales Manager

   Red Hat

   Jan 2020 — Present

   Manage forecasting and quota attainment to support $110M in renewals business. Lead a team of 3 Partner Sales Executives consulting with 40+ renewal specialists and account managers to identify partner capabilities and create sales execution strategies that drive customer value and revenue. Transitioned 1,800 accounts worth $30M in annual revenue to IBM and integrated 15 sales reps into the Red Hat business; currently focused on continuous improvement and refining operations to support the new outsourced model.

Education

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  BA

Skills

• Interviews
• Negotiation
• Sales Process
• Sales
• Direct Sales
• Account Management
• Management
• Enterprise Software
• National Sales Training
• Sales Management
• Crm
• Training Delivery
• Training
• Solution Selling
• Saas
• Business Development
• Strategy
• Cloud Computing