Michelle Bove didn't start in enterprise software – she started
as a soccer referee in seventh grade, hustling for an extra $10
per game, then moved into door-to-door sales at a three-person
startup where she learned rejection quickly and loved it even
more. That hunger never left. Today, as an AVP of East Sales at
Wiz, she's built her career at some of the sharpest sales
cultures in software history (PTC, AppDynamics, Zscaler), closed
deals nobody else could get into, and turned around entire teams
by replacing broken managers instead of blaming reps. In this
conversation, she breaks down the real mechanics of winning: why
likability is underrated, how to hire people better than you, why
skip levels work when done transparently, and what it actually
costs to prove yourself as a young female leader in
cybersecurity. Her philosophy is simple: science plus art.
Discipline and processes without human connection will only get
you halfway there.
Michelle Bove is an AVP of East Sales at Wiz and has built her
career at PTC, AppDynamics, and Zscaler – some of the sharpest
sales cultures in enterprise software. She's known for closing
deals nobody else could get into and turning underperforming
teams into world-class organizations.
Connect with Michelle:
LinkedIn
Resources mentioned:
Profession Profiles International assessments
Key takeaways from this episode:
00:00 – Introduction and Michelle's origin story from soccer
referee to enterprise sales leader
06:44 – Why likability is the most underrated sales
competency and directly impacts your ability to build champions
and close deals
20:00 – Why tailored coaching based on individual strengths
and weaknesses beats cookie-cutter management
36:30 – How to run skip levels the right way: prep, conduct,
document, share back with managers, and follow up without
alienating people
47:50 – Operating rhythms in practice: daily prospecting,
15-question deal reviews, and deep customer research that
actually moves deals
51:00 – Why in-person customer engagement beats remote-only
selling for strategic accounts and mega-deals, even in the AI era
59:45 – The hardest part of her job: being a young female
leader in a male-dominated space and proving herself every room
she walks into
Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management
Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind
the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that,
and seen the results.
This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help
companies improve sales performance, executing their growth
strategy at the point of sale.
Connect with Us:
LinkedIn
YouTube
Force Management
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