Nima Darakhshan
Toronto,ON
Summary
As an top performing Account Executive with 10 years of multi-threaded C-Suite B2B selling, that delivered President's Club at North America's largest Value Added Reseller (CDW). I transformed a blank canvas into a robust pipeline by creating comprehensive territory plans, articulating compelling value propositions, managing contract negotiations, developing channel partner opportunities, and building long-term strategic account relationships.
I understood that every action (including the setbacks) got me one step closer to hitting my revenue targets. I progressed from transactional sales to solution selling with C-Suites and closing complex deals with long sales-cycles and multiple stakeholders that produced quota retiring deals (exceeding $1 million).
My success is not solely credited to superior drive, but a infinite passion for being curious, coachable, and genuinely needing to understand our client's pain, business drivers, and desired outcomes, and then building a customized path by using the Challenger Sales Model to gain the buy-in.
After reviewing the Named Account Manger role in-depth, I know how I would make an impact through my entrepreneurial spirit to drive change by achieving Palo Alto's fundamental mission towards being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life and enabling everyone to achieve greater things and change the world.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Enterprise Account Executive
ZIRO Technologies
07.2024 - Current
- Cultivated the partnership with Microsoft on enterprise accounts to identify gaps in the Unified Communications journey from On-Prem to the Cloud and establish Microsoft Teams Phone as the market leader over the competition seen with Gallagher Insurance and Laurentian Bank
- Helps C-Suites understand the true value of Microsoft Teams Phone and illustrates how Co-Pilot leads to targeted business outcomes since conversations are where decisions are made
- Engages at multiple levels of enterprise decision makers (C-Suites, VP of Technologies, and Directors of Infrastructure and IT) to secure buy-in, execution on consolidation, cost-savings, and business transformation by leveraging Microsoft services for companies like LA Fitness
- Identifies IT Managers, Network Architects, and Network Analysts that prioritize business continuity, workload reduction and time savings in their limited day-to-day operational capacity as demonstrated with McGraw Hill
- Designs Proof of Value Workshops with engineering team based on business cases for clients still in the evaluation phase of deciding on Microsoft Teams Phone that require more compelling examples representative of unique environments in the manner of CIBC
- Shares feedback on ZIRO's SaaS platform based on customer feedback, success stories and future requirements to prioritize product enhancements
- Stages the full 9 month sales cycle from discovery, presenting, objection handling, and closing with the Challenger model that identifies pain and business drivers for highly customized SaaS solutions sold to companies including Disney, Colliers, and the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
- Develops specialized business plans with cost analysis formulas that illustrates clear value propositions by adopting Microsoft Teams Phone, in contrast to staying on legacy PBX systems (Cisco, Avaya, and Mitel) that was recognized by the API Group
- Delivers detailed assessment reports that tells a story by using data such as PSTN, DIDs, device and user activities as areas ripe for cost reduction by leveraging Microsoft Teams Shared Calling and Direct Routing as a Service plans from engagements with the University of Nebraska, First Hawaiian Bank, and Mattel
- Runs Quarterly Business Reviews, as performed with Cooke Aquaculture that proactively suggests areas of operational improvement based on existing knowledge of the environment, proposes plans for cost-savings in their UC environment from recent Teams Phone developments, and plans for upcoming projects
- Closely worked with marketing team on planning for annual M365 Conference with pre-sales engagement, booth design, events, and post-conference messages that led to IBM channel opportunities and additional leads for Direct Sales Team
- Builds plans for UC standardization on Teams Phone and Contact Centres with Cisco, 5x9, and Microsoft Dynamics for organizations that grow rapidly through mergers & acquisition and need to consolidate multiple UCaaS and CCaaS vendors such as API Group and Cooke Aquaculture
- Focuses on organizations that are seeking to offload their daily UC provisioning and long-term migrating tasks on ITSM platforms like ServiceNow and increase Helpdesk resolution to 95% with ZIRO's SaaS Platform that was captured with Merck, Western Alliance Bank, and First Hawaiian Bank
- Finished Q1 2O25 at 90% and Q2 with 125% attainment
Enterprise Account Executive
Beanfield Metroconnect
03.2020 - 04.2023
- Sold 200+ new logos on datacenter, cloud, and Microsoft Teams telephony services to Enterprise, Mid-Market, Government and Fortune 500
- Converted independently sourced leads at an 33% average for 2021/2022 that grew to 50+ new logos from tech prospects like Top Hat, Ecobee and IBM
- Promoted to Enterprise Account Executive from Small-to-Medium Business AE with 115% of 2021 quota secured
- Attained 103% of target in Enterprise AE role for 2022 and acquired new logos such as AECON, Dream Unlimited, and Netflix
- Sharpened business acumen with Storyleaders training that constructed a narrative which led to higher engagement on discovery calls and increased closed rate by over 30%
- Implemented datacenter and cloud access expansion programs under extremely tight timelines during Covid for eCommerce organizations, such as Hudson Bay, Walmart, and Canadian Tire
- Successfully led Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment's (MLSE) complex project that constructed critical network architecture for high exposure venues (BMO Field, OVO Athletic Centre and Scotiabank Arena) which was a decisive factor that secured Beanfield's FIFA World Cup 2026 contract
- Partnered with the York Regional Police (YRP) to build a pilot model for AWS Hyper Route Cloud Access (the first of its kind for an Ontario Law Enforcement agency) that consolidated network hardware, reduced costs, and improved storage capacity
- Educated leading stock traders of major financial institutions on adopting an UCaaS platform that accelerated communications between trading floors and increased revenue with RBC Capital, BMO, Mizuho Bank, The Ontario Finance Authority and Scotiabank
- Teamed with marketing on a tailored campaign for the film and VFX industries due to their high demand for cloud and private connectivity services that boosted sales with organizations such as Soho VFX, The Matrx and Entertainment One
- Demonstrated a strong understanding of the public tender process that translated into new logos gained with the Ontario Medical Association, Shared Services Canada, Export Development Canada, University of Ontario, the Italian Trade Commission, and the York Region
- Advised the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on a revamped cybersecurity plan and redesigned their network for the new HQ that transformed a 20-year dormant lead into Beanfield's largest deal for Q1 2023
- Spearheaded the outbound lead generation model with marketing, due to personal high lead-to-conversion ratio that leveraged digital selling methods that accelerated pipeline growth by over 40% during lockdown
Global Account Executive
Cogent Communications
11.2018 - 03.2020
- Collaborated with engineering and leadership to craft a industry specific outreach that targeted leads based on high bandwidth, low cost and their evolving business needs
- Explored new business opportunities via social media and channel partners that yielded 107% of quota for Q3 and Q4 2019
- Documented and ensured all outbound activities, decision makers, and tracked data were mapped in Salesforce for sustained and accurate forecasting
- Executed a growth plan for the Ontario's Post-Secondary education sector that incorporated business acumen with industry specific market research that formulated a successful business case that stimulated opportunities that led to orders with Lambton College, OCAD, Carleton University and Brock University
- Expanded relationships with real estate developers, Dream Corporation, that created new qualified sales opportunities within existing clients
- Researched and identified net new business prospects on a weekly basis that produced a 30-60-90 funnel with 3.5 times the value of monthly sales quota
- Strengthened customer renewals of existing clients with quarterly business reviews that discovered new upsell and cross-sell opportunities that furthered wallet share
Co-Founder
The City Inc
10.2017 - 05.2018
- Organized and operated weekly events with 500+ guests and vendors in attendance at INK Entertainment venues
- Scouted, negotiated, and delivered contracts with venue mangers and vendors that reduced operational costs by 25%
- Curated and promoted content creators and artists that strongly influenced followers attendance via social media
- Coordinated with organization's marketing departments that created personalized and industry aligned experiences
Senior Account Executive
CDW
12.2013 - 10.2017
- Nurtured deep customer relationships that honored commitments and partnered with strategic vendor partners that facilitated notable joint-selling partnerships such as CDW’s largest mobile cyber security order that exceeded $1 Million in sales for 2016
- Owned end-to-end opportunity creation, revenue, profit/loss for new logos and advanced opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and contract renewals, which led to deals such as a $500,000 Cisco software order in Q3 2017, from an initial $10,000 purchase order
- Awarded the Lenovo Elite Seller Vegas Vacation 2017 for being in the top 5% of product sold
- Maximized revenue opportunities understanding the customer's unique needs and engaged as a trusted advisor genuinely interested in their digital transformation journey that led to annual sales target achievements for 2014, 2015, and 2016
- Surpassed prescribed goals and ranked #1 for CDW Canada with 320% of sales goal for Q3 2015 that facilitated Presidents Club trip award
- Attained CDW Elite Goal Getter badge for Q4 of 2016 and Q3 2014
- Advised clients on CDW's diverse product and solution landscape and coordinated with internal resources and external vendors to align the right partner solution for customer industry needs
- Scored #1 for run rate in 2015 and 2014 based on highest frequency of white label sales below $10,000 due to driving consumption of Microsoft and Adobe software
- Elected the title of Xerox Sales Coach after outpacing peers to the top 10 % for highest lifetime sales
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
Carleton University
Ottawa, ON04-2012
Skills
- Presidents Club
- Enterprise SaaS Sales
- Challenger Sales
- Discovery Calls
- Channel Sales
- Objection Handling
- Solution Selling
- Ability to Negotiate Contracts, Price, and Deliverables
- Account Based Marketing
- Leadership
- Complex sales with Multiple Stakeholders
- Prospecting to Closing
- Build Pipeline, Manage Funnel, and Close Sales Opportunities
- LinkedIn Content Creation
- Experience with Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Apollo, Salesforce, Hubspot, Teams, Zoom, and WebEx
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Timeline
Enterprise Account Executive
ZIRO Technologies
07.2024 - Current
Enterprise Account Executive
Beanfield Metroconnect
03.2020 - 04.2023
Global Account Executive
Cogent Communications
11.2018 - 03.2020
Co-Founder
The City Inc
10.2017 - 05.2018
Senior Account Executive
CDW
12.2013 - 10.2017
Bachelor of Arts - Psychology
Carleton University