Crystal names AA-ISP Founder Bob Perkins as Chief Strategy Officer

We are thrilled to announce that Bob Perkins has joined Crystal as our new Chief Strategy Officer. 

Since Crystal was launched in 2015, we have independently been on a parallel mission to elevate the human side of selling. Crystal pursued this mission with technology, and Bob pursued this mission with leadership, evangelism, and a community (by founding and running the AA-ISP). Right after Bob retired from AA-ISP in late December, our paths crossed and after several discussions about our shared vision, it was an obvious decision to join forces.

Crystal’s core philosophy is to “First, know your buyer.” It means that BEFORE selling anything, a sales professional should understand the unique needs, preferences, goals, and circumstances of their customer. It’s a fundamental posture of embedding empathy into the sales process–sitting on the same side of the table, connecting as a human instead of focusing on the numbers-game. 

When sellers understand their buyers better than their competitors do, sustainable revenue growth and career advancement follows without deteriorating the buying experience we’ve seen introduced with spam and AI technologies. 

Bob has been championing this vision for years as a sales leader, entrepreneur, and community builder making the union a perfect fit. Crystal is the software platform for turning this vision into practice for any modern sales organization and we’re excited to have Bob on the team to help us elevate Crystal to the next phase of our journey.

About Bob Perkins 

As a nationally-recognized Inside Sales innovator, Bob Perkins has extensive executive experience building and leading highly successful inside sales organizations. During his career he has created unique Inside Sales systems and structures, including team selling models, compensation plans, rewards and recognition programs, performance management tools, and sales campaigns which have been adopted by many of the nation's largest companies.

His 30 years of inside sales experience includes senior positions with companies like Unisys, Silicon Graphics, UnitedHealth Group and Merrill Corporation. As Founder of the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals in 2009, Bob’s sole mission as its Chairman was to build a community which shared his vision of taking Inside/Digital Sales to the next level. A popular conference speaker, Bob has presented keynote addresses at industry forums and corporate sales conferences nationwide; he also maintained a video channel, Inside Sales Studio, during his time with AA-ISP that discusses trends and tactics specifically relevant to Inside Sales leaders and today’s digital transformation.

Bob’s proven expertise in leadership development, motivation, and sales strategy has made him one of the top Inside/Digital Sales authorities in North America. Bob holds a Master of Science degree in education from Nazareth College, Rochester, New York.