Coworking with Mike Valli

Every month, we feature you, our talented and insightful Revenue Brew readers! Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Introduce yourself here. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Mike Valli is chief commercial officer at symplr.

What’s the most ridiculous expense you've filed? I spent $100k on a single expense in a prior role. It was an executive forum I was hosting at a nicer location that was considered to be a bit of a destination with golf, amazing food, and a whole lot of face time. My goal was to bring as many of our customers together as possible so we could all engage, network, and learn from one another.

I’m a huge believer that developing relationships and earning trust comes from spending quality time together in person. What I found is that customers often get just as much out of interacting and learning from their peers than with the so called “experts.” Sometimes the best insights come simply from swapping stories over a drink or on the back nine.

So these types of events that also throw in some fun and appreciation for customers are just a win-win all around. Can they be over the top? Sometimes, but it’s always worth every penny.

What’s the hardest deal you’ve closed/worked on? I closed a billion-dollar managed services deal with a rural health system. It was the kind of deal where the contract alone was over 1,000 pages and the negotiation took 9 months.

What’s your favorite deal you’ve closed/worked on? Actually, the same deal as referenced above. It’s the most complex, creative, and innovative deals where you often learn and grow the most.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I spend a fair amount of time with other parts of the business and supporting broader organizational initiatives. I spend a ton of time in areas like M&A, sales, delivery, operations.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve gotten? “Eat change for breakfast.” Change can feel scary and it’s easy for negative feelings to creep in, but it’s important to realize it is just a perception of a situation.