all right welcome to another episode of Glide chat my name is Mike Lombardo sitting with me is Mike McShan from service now Mike how are you I'm doing fantastic how you doing Mike ah not too bad we got the best name in the whole world how can we complain I was gonna say anytime I can have a meeting with two miks on especially with you it's a great day are you do you care if people call you Michael or Mike or like are you one of those yeah actually I do you you're a mik guy you're you're a oh my God I am and the reason being and and maybe you agree or not but like so Michael there's two people in this world that call me Michael and they're both women yeah and one is my mother Y and the other one is my wife and I'm good Reas sideways if they're call that is a good reason okay so I like that all right thank you for you know uh all the support you've given Glide fast over the years why don't we tell our audience a little bit about your role um at service now perfect perfect thanks appreciate it all right so yeah I've been in service now come on four years wow um so right now I currently lead what we call our regional partner managers for us Enterprise and Commercial so I'm part of the ace organization Alliance Channel ecosystems so part of my role if I just net it out is to accelerate the ability of our partners like Glide fast and our sellers to show up at a unified front at the customer's doorstep arm and arm it's a phenomenal role I get to work with which is even better and they have a phenomenal team to help support our customer success initiatives together yeah and I'll tell you Mike like you really leaned in with us like hey we had this mission of you know leveraging more of Glide fast and Apex to drive ACV um you really leaned in with us and and we and we got some results it took us a little bit but got some results and uh and you know we're taking what we kind of built together and bringing it to to other territor so I really appreciate you you know because I think a lot of times it's very easy to just get you know caught up in the dayto day and not you know necessarily go above and beyond and you've really been one partner for us that that really has like hey let's push this thing to the Limit let's just not accept status quo and that's what Glide fast is all about so he really appreciate that a awesome I appreciate that Mike and the whole Glide pass team and I'll tell you this when I came on board going back to when I started one of the things that Drew me to come into service now really coming in in the partner EO system in terms of you leaning in and I'm telling you man um as we continue to grow in this rocket ship and providing outstanding results to not only our partners but our customers yeah um I could say that Glide fast especially as of late you're always in Market super important you're always showing up you're always building relationships with our our field sales teams yeah and and you know people work with people right the key to anything in life is building those strong relationships and it's a testament to the people that you have out there working with customers as well as with service now sellers I can give examples too I can go you know down thank you I appreciate that and yeah I think half the battle in anything is showing up having the expertise obviously is crucial but you know just having the talent is uh is only half the battle you got to show up you got to work hard it's got to be consistent you know I think that's that's one thing we do really well is just consistently you know delivering working hard and uh delivering for customers you know you um I'll tell you this just in terms of the demands of our customers our joint customers yeah and the speed in which we're changing it's not easy for any partner to keep up right and uh you you you I don't know how you do it but you continue to do it day in and day out um especially as we make changes and enhance our partner program which is to benefit not only our customers but our partners I can only imagine how full your plate is with not only we love the changes we love it love it we embrace it so Mike how did how did you get to service now like where where were you maybe before service now and how how did you make the move interesting story so I was at uh Cisco Systems for just uh just under nine years about nine years and all my sales all my life I've been in my professional life has been more in sales so at Cisco for about six years I was in sales and then I really wanted to get in front of our partner ecosystem there I really felt like partners and our sellers are misunderstood so got the opportunity at Cisco to um lead a couple of our key Partnerships in that relationship so um you know I did that for about two and a half years and then service now came a knocking and it was hey you know we're looking to really build out our partner go to market strategy and strengthen it in a particular area within the central Commercial Business um so I the the challenge was accepted and so that's how I came into service now um covering the central commercial market and when I came on board like it's one of those things where you don't know how much you know until you go somewhere else yeah and it was I'm a builder by Nature I'm an entrepreneur minded individual and I just saw that what a great opportunity we had in terms of just building the mechanics and how we can sell Better Together yeah um are solutions I mean that's just the N Net of it so I did that and um I did that for about two years and the opportunity came as we continue to grow to take on a director role and I got promoted to lead the regional partner manager that's what we call them um across the commercial business as well as sharing that leadership responsibility for us Enterprise as well that's amazing congratulations that that's that's quite I actually didn't know that that journey I started in this space a dozen years ago as a customer I became a partner 10 years ago right um and I'll tell you the program has significantly improved over the years because you know just frankly like you know service now was like startup and you know how do how do we do some of this how does maybe I don't know this but maybe you look at like how does Microsoft do it how does Salesforce do this is all I knew so like I heard like you know people saying like oh you know Microsoft Does It Better whatever and I'll tell you like from day one I've always loved being a service now partner I've always felt supported um but definitely I've seen improvements over the years and I think part of that is is getting great leaders and promoting the right people Erica coming in and the work Parson's done and Toro and you and Chad and you know I I just I just love working with with um you know issues come up and we've always been very self-sufficient so we've never really sat there with our handout kind of thing but you know when issues do come up they get solved it's not just a you know I there's nothing I hate more than sweeping problems under the rug and you know the the partner organization seems to really always Embrace us we have issues they get resolved and that's the most important thing for a partner yeah it's interesting you say that um like and it's so funny the perspective so Mike you know I came here there's 10,000 employees yeah wow so now we're sitting here at I think we're just under 25 and okay um it's it's one thing and I've seen the changes in our partner program yeah it's just it's amazing you've seen it more than I have but it's funny so Erica sends out um a newsletter like monthly and just today you know one of her things that you just brought up is her coming in in terms of being an innovator she's always focused on Innovation and change yeah and it's um it's like a different chapter you know what I mean in in your journey I'm sure even at Glide Fest you know starting a do years ago every year is a different journey and um I'm excited not only for what we've done this year because there's a lot of happened in 23 the partner program changes so and we're asking you to do things differently and partners in general canidate they're turning the corner fast they're all in but I mean you know with with Apex and your team like I said showing up at the at the ground level smiling you're always smiling man you're I don't know trying trying trying if I'm not smiling what am I doing what was that like transitioning from like a sales role to more of supporting because that you know did you do you still get that chase feeling I mean I know you I know some of the initiative we worked on you definitely I could see that now that you say you're in Sal I could see because you you have that chase but because that's there's nothing better than closing a deal right so I did you're making my hair stand up and I I just had this conversation with a peer that I just met for the first time yeah so like the the biggest transition I had from going from an individual contributor carrying a bag like even before Cisco I was 12 years in the field solution selling outside of the industry so that's all I knew so when I went into um sort of this partner role we'll just call even at Cisco and you asked a very poent question yeah the biggest hurdle it was such a change was that feeling of the win that chase like man you know you put the work in you're the orchestrator you're the quarterback that took me a good year to sort of but here's what I learned and this is super I think important for me in my professional career y when I moved out of the individual contributor role which a super strong culture where I was at and I went into the partner organization it redefined and solidified what the word teamwork means yes that was something I never truly I understood it but in the the channel organization and it's no truer today than it um back then it was today even here at service now there's nothing that our team doesn't do together it's very collaborative so now it's it's the chase I gotta find it by being creative how do we work with you know like Glide fast and working with Apex and how do we get those new wins those lands and seeing you uncover those new opportunities that's what I get the feel of but I still man you can't you don't lose that you know that oh yeah and it's funny because like as you're saying this I'm like wait a minute I've kind of transitioned obviously you know from that too and yeah like I get my gratification from I you know seeing others succeed right but it's glad fast winning you know it's it's it's service now winning it's not me getting that signature necessarily but it's our team getting that and uh yeah that's that's interesting that's funny I even as I'm asking the question I didn't realize like yeah it's kind of the same transition I went through and you know I think um it makes me a better leader that I still want that signature you know I still want to get that win I still want to provide that solution I still want to solve that problem but I'm doing it in a different way not not hands on as a team got comment on that since we're talking about just the career and the journey and the the Revelation so when I was going for my first job out of college I was in an interview my first interview and it was going for Quaker Oats I was going to work at Quaker Oats which is not own by Pepsi yeah and and they ask you questions and you're you know out of college and you know you can't put your finger on some things and the guy goes you have a passion for other people's success and when I was that young I'm like gen I do and that is stuck with me and if you looked at my LinkedIn profile that is a Cornerstone of how I've lived my life it's just I'm always focused I even as a seller like I talk to customers like no no no how are you graded and measured on success because that is what I also want to focus on customers look customers looking at me like really I'm like yeah because I want to know what it is is your focused on what you're trying to achieve because it helps me you know obviously look out for not only your organizational success but also your success and I've carried that through my whole Mantra in my sales ability but also in in leadership as well no that's that's phenomenal and and like I said like you really leaned in with that I'm I'm kind of curious like what made you like lean in with us when we we we said we wanted to drive ACV we just we just went to this acquisition there's there's 700 sellers that can help us you know break into some of these accounts what made you kind of like say I'm gonna take a chance on glide fast I'm gonna I'm gonna lean in try to try to drive some ACV put my name on the line what what made you make that decision super easy simple answer first it's your commitment your willingness to do that yeah and number two you you sort of quench that thirst I have of being the Builder in having things come to life and making things happen um it's I'm telling you man people work with people and when you lean in you said you're going to do it and you started doing it and we worked it together I mean like there's no better gratification when you can partner together to really see things start to come together and it's not about getting the opportunities it's about building a relationship building the brand building the structure and the foundation to build from yes yep yeah and that that's that's really what we we got to do is build a system system you know how do we because because getting one win two wins that's great but how do we systematically put this in place and like I said what we built together you know Lisa you and that's scaling you know and um yeah I just I love that that advice and on these glad chats we always try to give advice to to other people trying to to grow into leadership get to the next level what's some advice you can uh offer to some of them all right so first of all I would say listen to your inner champion and not your inner critic that's not original that was game changing for me when I was at my my prior company and then coming over to service now I um instead of questioning things I just did it and that was with your gut super important it's a game changer I'd also say raise your hand get uncomfortable with being uncomfortable try something new it's super important um but one of the bigger pieces too is make a declaration in terms of what you want to do and you don't have to have the specifics but declare it I'm interested in people leader I want to be a people leader I want to go into this I think it's super important in any role especially when you're starting new and you're in the interview process or you're having that first meeting with your new boss have a vision have a direction I think that's super important um and I would say the last thing is you you don't have to have a a a plan but I always say you know put yourself on a page right if you had to one piece of Leave Behind information you know brag about yourself a little bit put together a slide or one page that you can leave behind conversations it makes such a difference absolutely and I love I love what you said about you know uh making a statement about where you want to be because like people around you want to help you first of all your brain you don't know it but your brain's working to to achieve what your what you what your goals are right your brain is working solve the problems that are are in front of you uh whether you're doing it consciously or not so you know having a mission and having a goal and having a direction is super important but but I think like the people you work with you know people around you want to help you right if as long as you're a good person helping them right so you know going into your boss and saying hey this is where this is Direction I think I want to go in this is Direction I want to try out this is you know these are some of the goals I have you know that's only going to help you achieve them right and you know what you may get to the end of the road or you may get to a checkpoint and say you know what this isn't for me but that's okay I mean how many times did we did you pivot in your career in your life of like ah okay maybe that you know you hear about with people in college like I picked the wrong major you know I I got a business degree and yeah you know what I mean but but you know what that's part of the journey if you just if just stayed stagnant you're not going to get anywhere so it's okay to go you know to end up in a different place than you thought you would but that's part of the journey and having goals and trying things and that's that's what that's what life's all about yeah and I got I got two comments of that one is likee I I did this before like I I had an interest in this one role and do a ride along with people like there's nothing wrong with that and it sounds crazy I've done that and I did it in for a day and a half I traveled to become a regional manager and I was was like nope I don't want to do that but it was super helpful um but the other thing too is the second comment is what you just said is that I'm gonna relate it back to the inner champion and that inner critic like the inner Champion is you could go to your boss and be like well you know maybe I'm not gonna say anything because I'm not quite ready no you're always ready right you're always ready to raise your hand and learn and people are there to help you I think you sum that up very well I just think sometimes people are more focused on well do I really have it or not yes you do go for it it can only help you grow exactly and mistakes happen it's you know I was just talking to somebody else and it's like hey it's okay if you make a mistake it's okay it was like try not to make it again you know like that that that's that's the key like one mistake is okay it's like let's just not let's try not to repeat it that that's a win right yeah no absolutely and I I always tell people too I mean since you're on that topic and I I really love sharing this again my journey is different than everybody's um but your stakeholders like who's in your corner make sure you know who they are right and i' actually map it out I mean all this stuff we're talking about for career development and stuff like that it's something um I even take notes throughout the year of things that I've done and how it affected and influenced and helped other people so that I can take a reflection back at the end of the year and then it helps me set goals for the following year that's awesome all right Mike thank you for joining me on episode of glad Chad and thank you for the partnership like I said thank you for for uh believing in US give us an opportunity to work together and uh it's really a pleasure and and um and glad fast is better uh because of your your leadership I would appreciate that it's been great to be here thanks again for inviting me Mike and the Glide Fest team we'll talk next [Music] time [Music]