May 12, 2012

Good morning, Tom,

Like you, I initially failed at sales. I was a professional visitor who overwhelmed my customers with facts. I studied to become a professional salesman by investing in multiple Tom Hopkins’ Boot Camps and “one day’s." As a result, I have been able to build multiple billion dollar companies.

The main secret to my success is in making the investment to build a Tom Hopkins- trained sales force in every one of the companies I have been involved with.

Here's a summary of my history to demonstrate the unbelievable impact your training has made on not only my career, but my personal life as well.

My first sales position was a disaster. I was more a professional visitor than a sales person. I was happy to overwhelm my customers with facts and prove to them we logically had the best product on the market. As a result I did very poorly and lost my job.

My sales education began as a financial necessity. I had a home mortgage, car payments, a new child and family to support, and no income.

My wife bought me multiple sales books and tapes and I listened to them all.

Tom Hopkins resonated with me. Sales could be learned!

I attended my first Boot Camp in Scottsdale in 1989. I had just started a new sales job at Ready Systems in an underperforming territory. That first year I took that territory to number one, amazing everyone. I was awarded sales rookie of the year.

I remember one of my first account calls. They told me over the phone they were going with the competition, the product too expensive. I offered to pop by, as I would be in the neighborhood and that they would be doing me a great favor to help me better understand the marketplace. I popped by the account, and used my first Ben Franklin close on the white board. I won the business (to my amazement) and received the P.O. the next day. They specifically told me that their decision was based on how I would be personally representing their needs.

I attended my 2nd Boot Camp in 1990. That year I became salesman of the year and the top salesperson globally in the entire industry. I was awarded a Rolex watch that I still wear to this day.

I changed careers and moved to a different company within the electronics industry at IDE. I attended my 3rd Boot Camp. That year I became salesman of the year at IDE. I also again became the top salesperson in the industry by closing the first million dollar P.O.

Mercury Interactive was my first start-up. I was on the founding team and the first U.S. employee. Our company faced heavy competition. In the first year, I hired 20 sales, pre-sales & marketing staff and we all went to Boot Camp in Tampa . Within one year we were the number one market leader in the industry. I staffed 30 more people and again we all went to Boot Camp. In year two, we had our IPO on NASDAQ. During this period, each new sales hire was required to go to a “one day” Tom Hopkins’ session somewhere in the U.S. within the first 60 days of their employment. The sales and marketing staff at Mercury were Champions. Many sales records and industry firsts were set. In 2007, Mercury Interactive was sold to Hewlett Packard (HP) for $4.7 billion.

My next position was with another start-up, Pure Software, as VP of Sales and Marketing. I immediately took 40 people to Boot Camp in Scottsdale and was awarded Champion of the Year. We had our IPO later that same year. Pure became the fastest growing technology company in history. Again, we made the investment to take all new hire sales employees to a “one day Tom Hopkins’ seminar. The company was sold to IBM for $2 billion.

Ixia was a small start-up of 40 people when I joined as VP of WW Sales and Business Development in 2001. In my first large international role, I was able to open subsidiaries across Europe and Asia . The entire global sales team was trained at the Scottsdale Boot Camp in 2003. We grew the company from 40 to 800 in four years and from a valuation of $40 million to $1.2 billion. Ixia continues to grow and expand today.

I am the Founder of MyWay Interactive. We provide business social networks for salespeople. Today, we are partnering together with Tom Hopkins International to connect Tom's well-trained Champions and build the largest business social network in the world. It is 2009 and I am thrilled to be back at Boot Camp again.

I am currently VP Sales at Radware a company that is approaching $1B in valuation. I just brought my team to a Tom Hopkins 1-day in Seattle in April 2012 and we all plan to attend the 3 day in August 2012. My team is constantly talking about what they learned at the seminar and applying it daily. The ”triplicate of choice”, ”let’s just draft our thoughts on this paperwork and see if it makes sense,” “your pen is your friend,” and always presenting quotes in person.

Thank you Tom for all of your guidance and inspiration! See you in August!







David Anderson
Vice President
Radware
650-814-0636