Brad Ketchum
Vice President of Sales
He’s a sports fiend who has won over some of the world’s biggest companies with ease, and can handle a ball field of hyper nine-year-olds without losing his cool. But the one thing he can’t do? Carry on a coherent conversation before eight a.m. Here, our resident night owl shares the secret of his success.
Connect with Brad Ketchum
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So what exactly does a VP/Sales do?
I help clients build their businesses by deploying custom media strategies across multiple media platforms. Done well, we win awards and drive record-beating sales. Done poorly? Well, we don’t do it poorly.
Now how would you explain that to your five-year-old niece?
You know that American Girl catalog with all the dolls you like so much? We help companies like this make the catalogs that sell the dolls to girls like you. But my hypothetical niece is really smart so she’d hate being talked down to.
Walk us through a typical day.
Phone calls, emails, meetings, repeat. Doing what I need to do to find new clients to make happy, keep our current clients happy, and make sure our King Fishers (those working to keep both the above groups happy!) are happy, too. It makes me happy. Except when it makes me crazy. Fortunately, I am a very calm person.
You felt you deserved a big fat raise the day you...
Signed a Fortune 500 client to a multiyear, multimillion dollar contract... only its second multiyear contract they had ever signed. First one? The Olympic Games.
What’s your approach to client relationships?
Trust and loyalty are two traits that are of utmost importance to me. Without them, you’re nothing and that is as true for business relationships as it is for personal relationships.
The best thing a client ever said to you was...
“Thank you. It’s the most successful program we’ve ever run, period.” I feel lucky that I hear this often.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Loyal, trustworthy, and sincere.
And what would your colleagues say?
That I just plain give a damn: about them, our company, our clients, my family, and my friends.
If someone met you, they’d probably never guess...
That I’ve been to more live music shows in the past year than they’ve ever been to in their whole life.
When you grew up you wanted to be...
Bjorn Borg.
Would you shave your head for $1,000?
Not this head. However, $10,000 would get it done.