“How I Work” is one of my favorite recurring features in Inc Magazine as well as via Lifehacker’s This Is How I Work Series, and recently several sales experts (including Anthony Iannarino, Dave Brock and Trish Bertuzzi) participated as well.
Periodically moving forward we will feature a new B2B sales, marketing or business leader here answering what have become the standard “How I Work” questions. You can catch up on everyone we’ve featured thus far in the “How I Work” series here.
This week I’m really excited to feature Maria Pergolino, VP of Marketing for Apttus. She very well may be the hardest working person in B2B. She’s brilliant, strategic and highly tactical – often all at the same time. Her Dreamforce parties and strategies are legendary, she maintains her active Salesforce.com certification annually, and she’s constantly on the road somewhere.
Maria suffice it to stay gets stuff done. Here in her own words is how she does it.
Location: Work: San Mateo, CA Home: Foster City, CA (just a 2 mile drive – I hate commuting)
Current computers: Lenovo PC (nothing fancy, but I carry it everywhere – no really, everywhere)
Current mobile devices: IPhone 6 + Apple Watch
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? Salesforce1 Mobile App, Marketo, Everstring (Predictive Lead Generation), BoulderLogic (Reference), Gainsight, LeanData, Influitive, DoubleDutch, and LinkedIn to name a few. Super excited to get into the Engagio beta – Jon Miller’s (former VP of Marketing and co-founder of Marketo) new tool.
What’s your workspace like? Neat – I like a clean workspace and hate paper. It was recently pointed out to me that my desk has as many pictures of my team as it does my family. I love the people I work with and am very proud to work with so many talented, awesome people.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut or lifehack? Hire less for experience and more for team dynamic – I never hire someone I wouldn’t want to eat dinner with. People can gain experience, but a-holes are always a-holes.
What everyday thing are you better at than anybody else? I know how to build for scale – creating a team and plan that will allow for accelerated growth. I have good perspective – making it easier to see the big picture and ensure that efforts are put in the best places. I also believe in doing things Tier 1, which I think is part of my DNA but has really been amplified working for my current CEO who considers this a core value of the company. To me, this means ensuring best-in-class performance in the things you choose to do, and also not choosing to do everything (which just dilutes your efforts).
What’s your favorite to-do list manager? The delete button – I don’t answer my phone unless I have a scheduled appointment and don’t consider my inbox a to-do list.
What do you listen to while at work? I don’t listen to music while I work.
What are you currently reading? Jason Miller’s book, Welcome to the Funnel. Jason is a great talent that I feel privileged to have worked with and mentored. Working with him was like being a coach to Michael Jordan – it’s awesome to be around passion and raw talent. I’m also a BIG wine lover, so I am reading The House of Mondavi.
What’s your sleep routine like? Ask anyone, I haven’t slept in years.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Jon Miller, Engagio: Things are never as good or as bad as they seem.
My Dad: The person with the most memories wins.
Anything else you want to add? I don’t just love marketing because of the mix of strategy and creativity, but because of the people that work in marketing. My peers, co-workers, and partners are amazing people. The Salesforce team and partner ecosystem is amazing. The people are what make it worth doing – and I love that everyone I meet in high-tech and B2B marketing seem to be so stellar. Also, I’m a bit of a geek and as such was one of the first 500 admins certified on Salesforce (and still keep this current), have been a user group leader, and am constantly engaged in the Salesforce community, but can’t seem to make my way to being a Salesforce MVP (an official title that Salesforce designates), but am unwilling to stop trying. One day 🙂
Fill in the Blank: I¹d love to see KIRK CRENSHAW, SHANNON DUFFY, AND BECKY DE LORYN answer these questions.
