Ken Powell advises CEOs, boards, and C-suite teams on how their company grows revenue: the growth plan, the go-to-market model, and the B2B sales organization that has to make the number. He founded the Sales Excellence Practice, Raise the Bar. Step Up. He built its methodology, Sales Method, in the field and documented it in a three-book series. His practice educates sellers and sales leaders on the game of sales, trains them individually and as a team, and coaches them until the disciplines become habits. When a company needs an operator, Ken serves as interim Chief Revenue Officer.
Ken has spent his career in complex B2B sales. He started at Apple and has sold at every level since, from a single territory to global sales organizations that reported their results to the CEO. At SAP, as Senior Vice President and GM, he grew Global Accounts past $1 billion, ahead of plan and at a higher profit rate than the company. Over two tours and a decade at Oracle, most recently as Group Vice President, he built the playbook for the top Fortune 500 strategic accounts and more than doubled net-new revenue. As Head of Global Sales at Halliburton, he grew Landmark’s global software business from roughly $500 million to $800 million and brought SaaS to oil and gas.
At McAfee, as Senior Vice President, he ran North American sales, a $500 million business. He was President, North America at Micro Focus, where he directed go-to-market, sales, marketing, and operations and grew the business 145%, with a 53% increase in recurring revenue. At Honeywell, as Vice President and GM, he led global sales for Connected Industrial, a $330 million business, with double-digit bookings growth and tight forecast accuracy.
Ken served as CEO or President of four software companies and turned three of them around from losses to profit, one of them public. Two were acquired by strategic buyers. He founded a SaaS company and sold it to a public software business. As a managing director at a middle-market investment bank, he advised on M&A transactions and enterprise value creation. He has reported to PE sponsors and boards and knows what they look for in a revenue plan.
Book One, The Habits of Great Sales Athletes, and Book Two, Own the Account, are available now. Book Three, Own the Room, follows in early 2027. Ken earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Boston University and completed continuing education at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. He is an active YPO member and serves as Learning Officer for his YPO chapter.