Kay Miller graduated from college with a degree in marketing only to find herself more prepared for a career in sales. Fast forward and she’s landed in a sales job as the first women ever hired by Amerock. She ends up excelling in her field as one of the top salespeople in a male dominated career.   On today’s episode, Kay walks us through her career journey and how she inevitably ended up writing one of the top selling sales books on Amazon, Uncopyable Sales Secrets. Her inspiring story of tenacity and hard work is worth a listen for anyone wondering what it takes to write a book and be the best in their field.   Tune into today’s episode, to learn from Kay Miller, author of Uncopyable Sales Secrets and walk away with a knowledge of how to make more sales and build an advantage over your competition.   Quotes: “I ended up landing a sales job as the first woman ever hired for a company called Amerok.” (1:16-1:24) “I think that one of my answers, probably the biggest answer is that I've heard it said that this is the most fun sales book you'll ever read.” (6:09-6:19) “They said, if a client or customer of yours or prospect would describe you, what three words would they say about you that they couldn't say about anyone else? And I have those three words: moose, uncopyable and orange.” (14:23-14:40) “Especially when you're negotiating when you're giving someone time to think about it- don't be afraid of silence.” (29:09-29:15)   Links: Kay Miller LinkedIn Adventure LLC LinkedIn Uncopyable Sales Secrets Book   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Today’s guest on the show is Yair Areli, the VP of Global Sales for DataRails a financial planning and analysis platform that automates financial reporting and planning. Yair relocated to New York City from Israel and took on a leadership role in sales. Between the cultural gap and the new responsibility in his company Yair had much to learn and many hurdles to overcome.   His experience has led him to live by 3 pillars- 1. Innovation 2. Discipline and 3. Coachability. His view on coachability is a great example of what being a true leader in sales means, “if somebody gives me feedback, I coach myself to take a deep breath, not resist it and ask questions- let the rational side of my brain kick back in.”   Tune in to today’s episode to hear how Yair Areli, VP of Global Sales for DataRails took his coachable moments and learned from them in order to be a more humble, effective leader.   Quotes: “Now we have a great solution that solves that problem. So, I really, really feel the pain that our customers are feeling and I'm glad to see that we solve it for them.” (1:42-1:49) “One of the things that worked for me is persistence, I outwork others and when everyone else gets tired, I know that it's my time to shine.” (4:31-4:37) “So if somebody gives me feedback, I coach myself to take a deep breath, not resist it and ask full of questions, let the rational side of my brain kick back in.” (5:27-5:35) “I realized that nobody will take feedback from you if you're not demonstrating, you don't lead by example.” (7:39-7:46) “He says, you may report up to me all of you, but I work for you. I have no work to do, but enabling you, that's my job.” (18:33-18:40) Links: Yair Areli LinkedIn DataRails LinkedIn DataRails Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Gene Villeneuve is a software executive with over 25 years of experience running small to large teams at Tehama, Cognos, OLAP@Work, and IBM. Coaching, mentoring, endurance sports, and business are his passions.   Gene is semi-retired and now offers advising or mentoring engagements with individuals or team. His passion for cycling has kept him levelheaded throughout his career and now offers more fulfillment now that he has more time to do the things he loves.   Tune in to today’s episode to learn about the risks that paid off and the discipline that has led Gene Villeneuve to be successful and now semi-retired and living his life to the fullest.   Quotes: “That's how I got into cycling, that's always been a core aspect of my personality. Not only is it a way to de stress after a long day, but it just becomes something else, in addition to family and in addition to work, and it is something else, that's your own.” (2:16-2:43) “I think when it comes to the professional sort of things, it's always, the curiosity, the willingness to take risks and the third one is always be driven to help others be successful as well.” (6:40-6:57) “Where I became unique and different is, is that I became an enabler for those sellers. I would have people telling me you're actually on the phone or in people's offices trying to get those issues resolved within IBM, and other sales leaders didn't actually do that for us.” (14:38-15:18)   Links: Gene Villeneuve LinkedIn Gene Villeneuve Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Amy Walther is the Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Westell, a leading provider of high-performance wireless infrastructure solutions focused on innovation and differentiation at the edge of communication networks where end users connect.   On today’s episode, Amy brings us through her career journey that led her to sales and how maybe an unconventional job as a professional cheerleader prepared her for her role as a sales leader. Amy touches on the challenges of being in sales as a woman and why it’s so important to hire self-starters and go getters.   Tune in to the episode to hear from Amy Walther, VP of Sales and Business Development to become inspired to keep pushing towards your goals and stay engaged no matter life’s challenges.     Quotes: “I came from a not so well to do area, and my mother was very ill as a child. So, I had to take care of her when I was little, and I always knew that I didn't want to struggle, and I wouldn't mind to have some money.” (3:04-3:22)   “I started cheerleading as an older person for a professional NFL team. But the one thing I want to say is that, if you can do that in front of 80,000 people, you literally could do anything.” (11:09-12:06)   “As a female, things are different. It's still not easy, right? I would get bypassed by people- didn't matter if I was better at it, it did not matter.” (14:16-14:32)   “I really want to make sure that I don't have to tell anybody, anything twice. So, when I am trying to find those people, you know, there's a lot of questions that I ask to try to extract from them to see, you know, how they live their life and how they would work?” (20:33-20:51)     Links: Amy Walther LinkedIn Westell LinkedIn Westell Website     Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Jamie Shanks is the CEO of Pipeline Signals- a business built on making life easier for their clients. Based out of Toronto, Canada, Pipeline Signals does account monitoring, as well as map total addressable markets. This gives their clients valuable insights on where they can expand their pipeline, existing networks they can leverage, and other verticals that they can tap into.   On today’s episode, Jamie takes us through successes and failures that landed him in his role as Chief Executive Officer for a data mining company. Initially, he quit his job as VP of Sales of a SAS software company to start his own sales consultancy business, which he admits failed miserably but from his initial research an idea was born.   Tune into this week’s episode with Jamie Shanks, CEO of Pipeline Sales to hear why striking out on your own can lead to great things with unexpected outcomes.     Quotes: “At the ripe age of 30 I thought I knew everything there was to know about sales, and I decided I was going to quit my job and start a sales consultancy, which over the next two years failed miserably.” (1:10-1:22) “In the pain of trying to build pipeline for myself, I ultimately had to self-discover a new way.” (1:23-1:32) “Along that journey sellers would ask me, you're teaching me to mine intelligent sales intelligence out of LinkedIn, why don't you just do this for me?” (2:52-3:01)  “It's kind of crazy that you ask your sellers to be researchers, so that's the problem we're solving.” (6:22-6:28)     Links: Jamie Shanks LinkedIn Pipeline Signals LinkedIn Pipeline Signals Website     Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Donna Serdula pioneered the concept of LinkedIn profile optimization, realizing early on that the LinkedIn profile was so much more than just an online resume. A job change in 2006 led her back to LinkedIn as Donna looked for tools to help her build a sales territory. It was during this time she had her LinkedIn epiphany and forged her LinkedIn 4 point methodology. By integrating LinkedIn into her sales process, she found tremendous success.    In 2009, she walked away from her successful sales career and founded Vision Board Media and LinkedIn-Makeover.com. Donna and her team of over 40 writers have helped thousands of executives, entrepreneurs, sales stars, business leaders, and professionals from around the world create professionally branded LinkedIn profiles.   She is the author of the book "LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies," published by Wiley. Donna has been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, Time's Money Section, Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, LA Times, NBC, SiriusXM Radio's The Focus Group, and many other news outlets.    Tune into this episode to hear why LinkedIn Optimization is the key to your success and why Donna Serdula has built her career on leveraging this search engine to help her clients put their best foot forward.     Quotes: “I remember looking at it and thinking, this looks a lot like my resume. Let me let me pull up my old out of date, boring resume. Let me just copy and paste these fields right in” (3:07-3:22) “We've got to really start utilizing it in a smart, strategic way and at that point I started my company.” (8:22-8:30) “Why would I want to go to a place where people are trying to escape?” (12:17-12:19) “When a person looks at your LinkedIn profile and it says this person doesn't have any activity for the last 90 days… people like to do business with sales professionals that have a strong brand.” (14:57-15:20)   Links: Donna Serdula Website Donna Serdula Podcast Donna Serdula Linkedin Donna Serdula Facebook Donna's IG: Donna Serdula (@donnaserdula)    Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Frank Cespedes teaches at Harvard Business School. He has designed and delivered learning programs in areas such as innovation, talent and performance management, strategy, marketing, sales, leadership skills, and managing change. He has also consulted to companies in consumer goods, information technology, professional services, retailing, telecommunications, and financial services; and has been a Board member of start-up firms, corporations, private-equity companies, and the Education for Employment Foundation.   Frank has also written for numerous publications, but on today's episode we’re talking about his most recent book, Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing. One of his former students said this about the book, ‘It is structured logically, easy to read, and clear. It’s worthy of being a desk reference for any owner or senior executive looking to maximize their sales performance."   Tune into today’s episode to learn about the extensive research Frank Cespedes has done in order to write his most recent book and pick up a copy if you would like to get expert insight on sales management that will work for you and your team!     Quotes: “I think it's a book that will help salespeople sell better, it will help sales managers allocate their resources more effectively.” (1:35-1:46)   “If you look at the amount of money they spend annually on sales, hiring, training, development, etc., that number is often as big or bigger than their biggest capex projects. But it typically gets much less rigorous attention than buying software does.” (7:53-8:11)   “The job of a manager is not to test people, the job is productivity, and maximizing time, to productivity. All of that is what onboarding is about, in my view.” (13:23-13:35)     Links: Frank Cespedes Linkedin Harvard Business School LinkedIn Frank's Book on Amazon   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Melissa Matthews is the VP of Sales for AZUL Hospitality Group a hotel management company based in San Diego. They are one of the largest management companies in Southern California that doesn’t typically have an investment or ownership stake in the properties that they manage.   Melissa wasn’t always in sales. It was a windy road from where she started as a graduate in International Affairs. She worked for a nonprofit organization called the National Council on US Arab Relations in Washington DC post graduate college. However, after 9/11 funding for those types of organizations fell by the wayside and she was out of a job. She ended up back in Atlanta with her parents interviewing for job after job until she happened to meet a woman hiring for a sales coordinator position for a hotel.   Tune into this episode, to learn how Melissa Matthews, VP of Sales has honed the art of looking for the uncomfortable in order to avoid remaining stagnant and continue her path of growth in her career.   Quotes: “Once you're at the pinnacle- you feel like you've learned all that you need to learn in your current position, don't be afraid to push yourself and look for that next challenge and look for the uncomfortable.” (5:28-5:40) “I would say that I have learned probably more in the past two years than I learned in the prior 80 of my career, and it's been an uncomfortable time. But looking back on it, I think its skill sets and knowledge that I wouldn't have gained otherwise.” (7:39-7:48) “It was very humbling, being unemployed, and looking for a job and I had really tried to stay in that field and look for a number of different positions and just couldn't find anything.” (9:26-9:39) “We invest in training, we invest in culture, we're consistently looking at our incentive plans.” (19:10-19:16)   Links: Melissa Matthews LinkedIn AZUL Hospitality Group LinkedIn AZUL Hospitality Group Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Russell Brown, is the Vice President of Sales for Computacenter US, his priorities are to his team, his customers and partners and he supports their success by bringing IT solutions to address the demands of his customers’ businesses. Computacenter is a technology partner, utilized by large corporate and public sector organizations. They help their customers to source, transform and manage their IT infrastructure.   Russell has spent the last 20 years of his life growing and evolving within the Computacenter team. He started his sales journey working in the UK and only recently moved to Los Angeles to lead the sales team for their southwest business. Russell attributes his huge success to many of the people he’s met through his career path and the insight they’ve given him. One lesson he had to learn for himself was the importance of sharing your genuine self when showing up to help, especially as a leader in sales.   Tune into today’s episode to learn from Russell Brown’s success in sales as someone who has chased worthwhile opportunity all the way to sunny Los Angeles to be the VP of Sales for Computacenter US.     Quotes: “I'm hugely indebted to a lot of people that have helped support me over my career, and that that ranges from people just giving me time, so that I could listen, ask questions and learn, afford me space to make mistakes and learn from those people that have given me physical opportunity to progress my career.” (2:58-3:17)   “You know, as soon as I started to give more of myself, I felt that I built deeper relationships.” (5:28-5:33)   “I eventually learned that failure is actually a good thing you can dive into failure, and you can understand, what can you learn from that process? What can you learn to take forward tomorrow to be a little bit better?” (12:59-13:11)   Links: Russell Brown LinkedIn Computacenter US LinkedIn Computacenter Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Rhonda Petit is the CEO & Founder of 3x5 Coaching LLC and author of The Spirit of Selling. Rhonda is a champion mindset coach who works enthusiastically with individuals, groups, and companies to guide them in discovering their deepest desires, reaching their potential, and achieving their personal and professional goals. In today’s episode, we discuss Rhonda’s book, The Spirit of Selling, as well as coaching style. Rhonda has been leveraging the law of vibration and why it’s important for salespeople to understand that their potential lies in their habitual behavior aka the subconscious mind. Rhonda’s unique coaching style gives great perspective on how one should approach the selling mindset.   Tune into today’s episode to learn from Rhonda Petit, author of The Spirit of Selling and champion mindset coach so you can better train your mind for success.     Quotes: “I just kept going and I really believe the book was kind of channeled through me. It was a really cool experience being an instrument for something like this to be produced.” (4:02-4:12)   “In the first chapter there, what I'm trying to do is pull out most of the misconceptions that hold salespeople, anybody, business owners back from selling- one of the big ones is I think some people have an association of a salesperson with a con artist.” (5:56-6:14)   “You can give people appreciation, you can acknowledge people, you can be consistent in your performance and consistent in your word and your integrity, you can provide excellence, when you show up, leave the person with an impression of increase.” (11:52-12:12)   Links: Rhonda Petit LinkedIn 3x5 Coaching LinkedIn 3x5 Coaching Website The Spirit of Selling on Amazon   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Dale Merrill is a sales thought leader and co-author of the Amazon #1 New Release book in Sales and Selling, Strikingly Different Selling: 6 Vital Skills to Stand Out and Sell More. He is a global managing director in FranklinCovey’s sales performance practice where he helps clients dramatically grow revenues and profitability. In today’s episode, Dale walks us through his book, Strikingly Different Selling: 6 Vital Skills to Stand Out and Sell More. The inspiration of his book came to him after deciding to do a multi-year research project on how sellers can stand out. What was his conclusion? “You have to be relevant, distinct and memorable.”   Tune in to today’s episode with Dale Merrill, author of Strikingly Different Selling: 6 Vital Skills to Stand Out and Sell More to learn about how you can stand out when you’re selling.     Quotes: “We decided that there was nothing that was meaningful that had hit the sales world for like a decade and so we kicked off a multi-year research project to figure out how can sellers stand out.” (1:27-1:40)   “You have to be relevant, distinct and memorable.” (9:53-9:56)   “It's in the experience and in the engagement- it's the sellers who understand the needs of the buyer the best, and then articulates that in a way that we would describe as relevant, distinctive, memorable.” (17:21-17:32)   Links: Dale Merrill LinkedIn FranklinCovey LinkedIn FranklinCovey Website Strikingly Different Selling: 6 Vital Skills to Stand Out And Sell More on Amazon   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

John McDonnell is the Director of Business Development for Signum Displays, before making his transition to Signum he worked at Alexis Exhibits, Inc. for 17 years. Four of those years he worked as the Vice President of Sales- making the decision to move on and start fresh at a new company was ultimately the hardest and simultaneously the easiest for his career.   On today’s episode John covers an important topic- when to make the leap of faith to your next opportunity; Recognizing when you’ve plateaued and the inevitable decisions you’ll make in order to keep leveling up.  A part of this process is being aware of your goals and continually evaluating whether you’re still on that journey of growth.   Tune into John McDonnell’s episode to walk through the process of weighing all your options and continually seeking growth in your career.     Quotes:   “That translates and speaks volumes when you're not trying to wear a mask and be somebody that you're not.” (3:10-3:16)   “It was a way to kind of start over and start fresh and start from the ground and then build a team, the way that I wanted to build a team.” (8:44-8:50)   “The hardest part was actually weighing the pros and cons and getting over the unknown- then finally getting there and taking that leap.” (10:40-10:49)     Links:   John McDonnell LinkedIn Signum Displays LinkedIn Signum Displays Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Andy Paul is the author of Sell Without Selling Out, he is also the Founder of The Sales House, a business that helps VP’s and sales managers accelerate their leadership goals. You can also tune into his podcast, Sales Enablement Podcast- the mission of the podcast being to help you exceed customer expectations and close more deals.   On today’s episode you’ll learn from Andy’s expertise as a sales coach and consultant. Get perspective on creating the most effective sales training in order to create a successful sales team. Andy also gives great assessment on sales practices that might be holding you back from accomplishing your sales goals.   Tune into today’s episode to hear Andy’s sales coaching tips as impassioned author of the book, Sell Without Selling Out.     Quotes:   “Despite all the advantages, the technology that's at our disposal today for marketing and sales purposes, that the data suggests that we're actually performing less well.” (1:06-1:17)   “Meaning we're doing a less good job of helping our buyers make decisions at a time when in many respects, it should be easier to do that.” (1:17-1:26)    “It's based on four pillars: connection, curiosity, understanding and generosity, which are innate human behaviors.” (2:58-3:13)   “That's the reputation that salespeople have in sales are being lazy, shiftless, self-centered, but on one hand, is hugely unfair to the vast majority of people who are in sales.” (6:50-7:02)   Links: Andy Paul LinkedIn Andy's Consulting LinkedIn The Sales House LinkedIn The Sales House Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Greg Coonley is the VP of Sales for Centerfield Media; Centerfield’s leading platform leads end-to-end customer acquisition for millions of sales each year. Greg’s expertise is in in digital marketing and lead generation.   On today’s episode, Greg breaks down his career in sales and what has made him successful as a sales leader. Greg originally left sales to go into operations but got the itch to go back to sales after working alongside a sales team. Now as a leader in sales he wants to impart some of the skills that have allowed him to be successful.   Tune into the episode to learn about Greg Coonley’s journey into sales after the 2009 recession and how he’s rose to the top of his field and stepped into his leadership role at Centerfield Media.     Quotes: “If you don't have the team dynamic set up so that the support you need, or the support you need to give is there, then it doesn't matter, you're not going to be able to achieve your goals- you're not going to put forth a great product to sell.” (5:02-5:21)   “Leaving the office with a sense that those things are tied up for the day, and that I'm starting tomorrow with the ability to focus on where the focus needs to be.” (8:21-8:33)   "I did the majority of the legwork there and yet I'm not reaping the salary and commission benefits that my counterparts are.” (13:10-13:21)     Links: Greg Coonley LinkedIn Centerfield Media LinkedIn Centerfield Media Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Paul Steinmetz is a National Sales Manager for Travel Leaders Corporate, LLC. Travel Leaders Corporate, LLC is founded on innovation- a business travel solutions firm with a focus on customized travel fulfillment, meetings management, and data & analytics.    Paul has been a salesman before he was old enough to drive and has worked his way through some tough jobs and finally found himself in a fulfilling leadership role with Travel Leaders Corporate. This road hasn’t always been easy, in today’s episode he recounts working for some extreme leaders that helped him understand what poor leadership could look like. However, his tenacity in sales has led him to some amazing opportunities which has allowed for his success in his field.   Tune into today’s episode to learn about Paul Steinmetz’s wild twist and turns through the world of sales and some of the difficult circumstances that have molded him into the leader he is today.   Quotes: “I think there's a fine line between being a pain in the ass and being really persistent and effective as a salesperson.” (3:44-3:49) “Ironically, I found that I learned more from people who were doing it wrong and bad leaders who would throw temper tantrums.” (5:09-5:17) “When the FTC raided those companies, they didn't really care who was doing what they assumed everyone. But the training was great.” (9:29-9:54)   Links: Paul Steinmetz LinkedIn Travel Leaders Corporate, LLC LinkedIn Travel Leaders Corporate, LLC Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Laura Cavanaugh is the Vice President of Sales for Ambassador Education Solutions. Her company develops, engineers and implements bookstore models and technology solutions to meet the specific financial and operational goals of higher education institutions while supporting the specific academic goals and vision of their students and faculty.   In today’s episode, Laura breaks down the systems and mindset that has helped her succeed as a sales leader. One of the things Laura said that stood out to me was on completing the sales cycle, “I think it was just establishing a workflow and a mindset that when somebody tells me ‘no’, or when somebody tells the sales reps, ‘no’, I look at it as a win. Because we're completing the sale, we're not spinning our wheels anymore, we're moving forward.”   That mindset in sales is incredibly important to sustain as leader for many reasons. So, tune into Laura Cavanaugh’s episode to hear about her perspective on empathetic, successful leading.     Quotes: “It's hard to narrow down or to pinpoint I would say, just having the drive to succeed, having a vision of where you want to go, and how you're going to get there.” (4:52-5:13) “I think it was just establishing a workflow and a mindset that when somebody tells me ‘no’, or when somebody tells the sales reps, ‘no’, I look at it as a win. Because we're completing the sale, we're not spinning our wheels anymore, we're moving forward.” (8:20-8:37) “We're going to look at the scoring system, we're going to look at the comments from the committee, we're going to do that work to see where we fell short, where we could have scored higher.” (28:52-29:02) “I'm going to be very transparent, very open, make sure we cross every T, dot every I so that once the deal is closed, and you're a client of ours, that everything that we talked about throughout the entire sales process can come to fruition for you.” (30:35-30:49) Links: Laura Cavanaugh LinkedIn Ambassador Education Solutions LinkedIn Ambassador Education Solutions Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Aaron Paul is the Regional Vice President for Advanced Technologies Consultants (ATC), a distributor of name-brand technical training curriculum, equipment, software and furniture. Aaron has worked for ATC for 14 years now and previously worked as a regional sales manager.   One of the biggest hurdles Aaron had to overcome when first starting off in sales was his aversion towards the industry- he had graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and through connections wound up in sales position after school. While it did take time for him to warm up to his new career after a few years he could finally appreciate that sales was not about sleazy selling schemes but about problem solving and a salesman was born.   In today’s episode, Aaron brings us through his journey in sales and how he’s navigating sales leadership as a fairly new leader. His commitment to honing his craft and ensuring customer satisfaction is an inspiration so tune in to Aaron Paul’s episode and learn about his sales story.   Quotes: “I realized that sales at its heart is problem solving. If you've got a good product, then what sales is, is you're taking a person who needs that good product, and you're providing that product to them.” (5:34-5:47)  “Good things are rarely cheap and cheap, things are rarely good.” (9:45-9:48) “Knowing that if I tried to take care of the customer, the rest will take care of itself.” (18:26-18:35)   Links: Aaron Paul LinkedIn ATC LinkedIn ATC Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Joel Stevenson is the CEO of Yesware, a company that builds software that helps professionals communicate efficiently and authentically by integrating a powerful set of tools right inside your email inbox. Some of Joel’s accomplishments have been building a supply chain business from $2MM to $30MM, a B2C eCommerce business from $50MM to $100MM and a B2B business from scratch to several hundred million.   In Today’s episode, Joel talks about his start in sales and how his background in acting has helped him think on his feet from time to time. But, most importantly he discusses how he’s been shaped as a sales leader to be curious and focused in order to accomplish his goals.   Tune in to Joel Stevenson’s episode to learn why you might be cut out for sales and why at the end of the day everyone should know the tricks of selling in order to further their career.   Quotes: “The hub of your workflow is going to be in your inbox. We're being deeply integrated into your inbox.” (2:25-2:32) “Something I picked up a little bit later in my career was sitting meditation that's really been helpful to me in terms of focus.” (4:38-4:46) Well, I got news for you, you're all going into sales, whether you like it or not. If you want to build a skill set that's going to be useful for your whole career, you might think about building a selling skill set.” (7:58-8:01) “You have to be a curious person, in order to want to ask the right types of questions.” (13:10-13:15)   Links: Joel Stevenson LinkedIn Yesware LinkedIn Yesware Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Sophia Kim is the Chief Revenue Officer for Centauri Health Solutions, Inc. and a passionate sales leader. Her passion to serve and empower people to get the healthcare benefits they need and deserve is what drives her sales success. She has experience in the implementation of large-scale systems with process re-engineering, integration and custom application development, and user acceptance testing.   In today’s episode, Sophia explains how her mantra, “be like water” was drawn from her experience as an immigrant to the U.S. at 2-years-old and the uphill battles her and her family faced as newcomers to the United States. “One of the things that we have to always do is be flexible and accommodating,” she explained. This mentality shaped her experience and later gave her an appreciation of how water is the substance to emulate in order to be a well-formed leader in sales.   Tune into this week’s episode with Sophia Kim to learn from an incredibly hardworking leader whose life experience has given her tremendous aptitude to lead successful sales teams.   Quotes: “We have a passion to serve and empower to solve and so we're out there trying to help people, get the benefits that they deserve.” (3:33-3:41) “My phrase is, ‘be like water’ and the reason why I choose that, is because water when you fill it into a container, it takes the form of whatever container is there. Fill the gaps where they need to be filled, be the support, where I need to be the support. Be the nourishment, where I have to provide nourishment.” (4:42-4:51) “I think you have to apply a combination of your intuition, combination of a little bit of psychology, and then apply the numbers and see what are ways out?” (27:48-28:01)   Links: Sophia Kim LinkedIn Centauri Health Solutions, Inc. LinkedIn Centauri Health Solutions, Inc. Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

James Koenig, is the National Director of Sales for RTI Control. He is an expert team builder who develops culture around the customer experience to differentiate against the new world of commoditized, me-too products. Utilizes marketing to drive brand and customer loyalty. A detail-oriented sales leader with vision and drive. In today’s episode, James Koenig tells us what he loves about his job, RTI Control, a leading control and automation systems manufacturer. He also breaks down the important values to live by as a leader and the important messages you need to pass on to your team. Tune into this episode to hear from sales leader, James Koenig and learn how to fine tune your curbside prep and show up with a plan.   Quotes: “We do everything from remote controls up to the automation equipment. But majority of our business is selling whole home automation and business automation.” (2:06-2:15)   “The one thing he taught me was the value of what he would call the curbside prep and it means showing up with a plan.” (2:50-2:56)   “When you have a question, you feel like you're overwhelmed- Raise your hand and it's the one simple thing that it's not a call for help. It's not a sign of weakness.” (7:42-7:51)   “There's two ways to go to business, we can all chase the ball, kick each other in the shin, or we can be strategic and play position.” (22:30-22:37) Links: James Koenig LinkedIn RTI Control LinkedIn RTI Control Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Jason Cutter is the CEO and Founder of Cutter Consulting Group. Cutter Consulting Group is a specialized advisory firm focused on inside sales call center operations that offer Business-To-Consumer (B2C) or Business-To-Business (B2B) products and services. The fundamental goal is to help companies achieve a profitable and scalable Cost Per Acquisition through performance improvement of systems that support the sales process. In today’s episode Jason explains how he eventually landed in sales and the inspiration behind his book, Selling with Authentic Persuasion. Jason graduated with a degree in Marine Biology and worked tagging sharks. He went from there to tech support and then a sales role in a mortgage business. He’s since evolved into a sales consultant, keynote speaker, podcaster, and published author. Tune into hear why being an authentic and persuasive salesperson is the key to sales success from Jason Cutter!   Quotes “It was born out of about 16 years of experience inside a telephone sales room, running both sales and the lead gen side for call centers, mostly business to consumer.” (1:04-1:18) “It's building a system and process that you can repeat, almost like a franchise, no matter how many offices no matter how many reps.” (1:31-1:37) “I love teaching, I love that light bulb moment that people have when you teach them something, and they use it.” (6:34-6:40) “For me, it's both of those parts of the formula, authentic, and persuasion, are what's required to be an effective sales professional.” (7:59-8:08) “The persuasion piece is the active pursuit of helping the right people across the finish line and leaving them in a better place.” (10:33-10:41)   Links Jason Cutter: LinkedIn Cutter Consulting Group: LinkedIn Cutter Consulting Group Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Isaac Kuhlman is the Co-Founder of REAL Coaching. He is an active Amazon Seller with a business of his own, and he’s also coached over 1000 other Amazon Sellers on how to grow their business to fuel their lifestyle. REAL Coaching’s goal is to help aspiring Amazon FBA sellers get started with their business.  On today’s episode you’ll hear from an expert Amazon seller and learn how people are creating major profit on this global platform. Isaac’s story of entrepreneurship on “one of the most influential economic and cultural sales platforms in the world" is a great lesson in staying relevant and useful to the modern-day buyer. Tune into today’s episode to hear from a knowledgeable Amazon sales coach, Isaac Kuhlman and see the hype around this persistently competitive online market.   Quotes “Real coaching is a business that helps Amazon sellers sell better on Amazon, whether they're just getting started, or they want to get started, or they've been selling for a while, we help them analyze things directly.” (1:00-1:11) “On Amazon, it all comes down to traffic and conversion, just like it did in every retail store that I ever worked at, and the difference is, you have to understand your competition on Amazon.” (10:14-10:26) “You need to anticipate what they're going to ask and then actually say that in the listing, before they can actually ask it, the more you can do that, the less likely they are to leave your page.” (12:48-12:57)   Links Isaac Kuhlman: LinkedIn REAL Coaching: LinkedIn REAL Coaching Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Kevin Snow, Founder and Chief Sales Strategist for Time on Target, has a passion for working with veteran business owners and entrepreneurs to help them develop effective sales and marketing strategies and build processes that help them execute said strategies. He has over 20 years of experience as a sales leader in the technology and internet marketing industries. Over the last 12 years Kevin’s worked with thousands of entrepreneurs and sales organizations through consulting and training to help them close over $150 million in new business by leveraging their existing relationships and better communicating their product's differentiating benefits. Kevin is also an officer in the US Army. In today’s episode, Kevin tells us about the importance of sales processes that has led to success in his clients’ businesses. His matter-of-fact way of dealing with problems and generating solutions has great insight into running successful sales strategy. Tune into today’s episode to learn from an awesome sales leader, Kevin Snow.   Quotes “If you don't understand why your clients are making those buying decisions, your processes are going to be screwed, you're going to be doing stuff, you're going to be sending them information at the wrong time- pushing for decisions that they're not ready to make.” (6:26-6:41) “Having them involved in that whole decision making to say, yes, we need a tool through the planning process and implementation is key. Otherwise, it's just another thing that management spent money on that they are expected to use.” (21:47-22:10) “That's usually the issue is they don't understand what actually needs to be done in the call. They're burning through all these leads, and you're losing opportunity for revenue.” (33:42-33:52)   Links Kevin Snow: LinkedIn Time on Target: LinkedIn Time on Target Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Jennifer Glass is the CEO of Business Growth Strategies International or BGSI for short (formerly Credit Cards NJ) through its various divisions – BGSI provides a robust & best-in-class solution for business owners looking to grow their business/revenues. Jennifer started this company back in 2005 & has seen the company continue to grow even in difficult economic times. She has recruited & trained sales reps around the US to help small & medium sized businesses add more money to their bottom lines by using their wide portfolio of services & has even spun into new divisions such as web hosting & a full-service marketing agency. Today’s episode is about Jennifer’s keynote speaking success and the topic she’s spoken on about ‘does success equate to happiness?’ Tune in to the episode to hear from Jennifer Glass, about how taking time to measure what success means in your life can help you move the needle! Quotes “As we develop new sales leaders, it's important to be looking at how you're going to be where you are today- looking where you want to be next week, next month, next year, five years and 10 years down the road. All of that is going to make a difference and it's constantly moving that needle.” (3:02-3:34) “I already was successful. So, if I was successful, then I am successful and now I can go back and have that success. But if you're still always chasing, that's not the happiness and that's where the keynote started to really originate from.” (19:54-20:19) “When you have a leader who's helping their team, develop their skills, whether it's sales, marketing operations, you have a leader who is invested in their team, and is giving of oneself to another. That is definitely success.” (28:04-28:26) Links: Jennifer Glass LinkedIn Business Growth Strategies International LinkedIn Business Growth Strategies International Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Matt Schatz is the Chief Revenue Officer for Trulioo, a digital identity verification platform. He’s a proven sales leader with experience in both building and running high performance sales teams in North America, Europe and Asia and a proven track record of exceeding goals as well as building and training teams to deliver a world class customer service experience during the sales process. On today’s episode, Matt takes us through his career journey starting as an eighth grade Social Studies teacher who was recruited by his friends to join their company in their early stages working in sales. Matt has some amazing insights as someone who truly learned the authenticity and importance of sales as someone coming from a very different background. Tune in to today’s episode to hear about Matt’s awesome perspective on leadership and being an authentic sales leader! Quotes “We are a digital identity verification platform. We operate the largest most expensive network for identity verification data providers. Basically, were able to verify over 5 billion individuals around the globe and over 300 million companies.” (4:45-4:57) “There's a very specific type of company that I want to work for. Life's short and I want to be able to have a good time and I want to feel good about what I'm doing. (7:00-7:09)  “He always impressed upon all of us that leadership is not a title- Leadership is a way of behavior. Leadership is a choice that you make every day when you walk through those doors.” (13:04- 13:13) “Having that seek to understand mentality rather than coming in and trying to make a ton of change early on, when you don't have all the facts and you don't have all the data is the big thing.” (19:17-19:28)   Links: Matt Schatz LinkedIn Trulioo LinkedIn Trulioo Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Tony DeSpirito, Chief Revenue Officer for Cenergistic is a seasoned high-technology marketing and sales executive with deep domain expertise in enterprise software and managed services. A veteran of entrepreneurial startups and large, global companies, Tony’s skills range from C-Level selling, relationships to operational sales management of both channel and direct teams. On today’s episode, Tony discusses his 3 keys to successful leadership- self-discipline, relentless focus on client or customer success, and follow up. He also touches on his hiring practices- which he currently is putting to use since Cenergistic is currently hiring. Tune in to today’s episode, to learn about Tony’s expertise as a leader in sales and why you should consider Cenergistic as your next place of work!   Quotes   “So I was brought on to really professionalize and modernize our sales effort. And in fact, I'm actively hiring now across the United States.” “Those are my three, my three keys, self-discipline, relentless focus on client or customer success, and follow up, follow up, follow up.” “You provide a vision, you set goals and objectives, you equip the team to achieve those goals and objectives. And then you step out of their way, and you let them achieve and you're always there for them.” “It is the most important thing you could do is hire the right people, because ultimately your success will depend on their success as a sales leader.”   Links: Tony DeSpirito LinkedIn Cenergistic LinkedIn Cenergistic Website Tony DeSpirito Twitter   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter  

Blake Morgan is a leader in customer experience. She is a keynote speaker and customer experience futurist and author of two books on customer experience. Her bestselling second book is called “The Customer of The Future: 10 Guiding Principles for Winning Tomorrow’s Business” identified by Business Insider as one of the top 20 books executives are reading to deal with COVID-19. Blake contributes to Forbes, the Harvard Business Review and Hemispheres Magazine. She is the host of The Modern Customer Podcast and The Be Your Own Boss Podcast. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband, their two children and two dogs. In today’s episode, Blake dives into the importance of companies staying competitive during a pandemic and making sure their customer is at the forefront of their business campaign. Tune in to hear from an amazing keynote speaker and customer experience futurist, Blake Morgan. Quotes “That's why I've traveled the world doing my speaking events, is to bring this human message to businesses of treating people while caring about one another. It's very simple, but in practice, it becomes hard for these corporations to implement.” (4:20-4:35) “It resonates with people, because the customer of the future is really the customer of the present, but we don't see her, we don't understand how pressing it is to make life happen for her.” (6:21-6:33) “I believe that we're in really complicated times, and leadership should be visible- should be reachable. We need transformational leaders.” (21:37- 21:50) “The most customer focused companies today are very data driven. So, they don't just track data, but they do something with it.” (25:20-25:26) Links Blake Morgan LinkedIn The Customer of the Future Course on LinkedIn Blake Morgan Website Blake Morgan Twitter   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Today’s guest, Gal S. Borenstein, is the Founder and CEO of the Borenstein Group. He is a B2B digital branding & marketing strategist. The Borenstein Group is one of Washington D.C.'s most influential business-to-business agencies. Since its founding in 1994, the Borenstein Group has helped hundreds of startups, early-stage, growing, and mature companies optimize their brand promise and maximize their brand equity. On today’s episode, Gal discusses why identifying what differentiates you from your competition and the importance of knowing who your competition is will put you miles ahead in your marketing strategy. Gal also talks about understanding the unique choice you offer companies when selling your services, “What you're dealing with is really three choices, which is you're either the safe choice, the best choice, or the innovative choice.” Tune into this week’s episode to learn from an author, leader, and innovator in the field of sales, Gal Borenstein. Quotes “What you're dealing with is really three choices, which is you're either the safe choice, the best choice, or the innovative choice.” (13:29-13:40) “Know thy enemy. You're always selling against a strongman.” (17:37-17:43) “If you don't know what your competition is your chances of succeeding is pretty much zero, because, you're kind of guessing that somebody is going to want to buy your product.” (19:44-19:56) Links Gal Borenstein LinkedIn Borenstein Group LinkedIn Borenstein Group Website Borenstein Twitter   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website Empellor CRM Twitter

Shannon Mulligan is the CEO of VAST Results and she understands the importance of sales, as well as its challenges. She has more than 15 years of experience in B2B sales. After being laid off from a national sales manager role at five months pregnant Shannon quickly realized that small businesses had a desperate need for follow up sales support... Vast Results (along with her son Myles) was born. She and her team work with those small businesses to create and improve follow up processes and then act as an extension of their team to execute those systems. On this week’s episode listen to hear why Shannon believes strongly in the power of her "Mom Squad" and why she is working hard to build a platform for moms to create flexible work opportunities while helping her clients get to yes! Tune in to hear Shannon’s amazing story of success in the field of sales as a Gen X who found an accidental career on this sales path, but quickly found her passion! Quotes “I call them my Mom Squad of moms that want to do part-time selling work and they actively go after our clients leads for them and either get them an appointment or re-engage a conversation, get another proposal sent out, and they just follow those leads to their natural conclusion.” (11:50-12:11) “That's what my Moms Squad does. They’re business development directors. They're consistently reaching out with different touches: LinkedIn, emails, phone calls, all the things just to try to re-engage that qualified lead.” (13:50-14:04) “So, for us it's different because we're a part-time resource- none of my moms work more than 10 hours a week for any of our accounts.” (26:15-26:23) “I would love to see more women in the career of sales, I would love to see more women sales leadership, I would just love to see more women in leadership in general.” (29:07- 29:12) Links Shannon Mulligan LinkedIn  VAST Results LinkedIn VAST Results Webpage Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Kristie Jones, Principal of Sales Acceleration Group is the go-to expert for privately owned, VC-backed or bootstrapped technology companies needing to build or improve their sales process, strategy, and people. She is passionate about helping companies select top talent and create a sales accountability culture to ensure revenue growth.    In today’s episode, Kristie sat down to discuss her approach in helping companies build their revenue whether it be improving their sales process, strategy, or hiring practices. A big part of being an outsider looking in is helping her client’s take off the rose-colored glasses so they can get to the heart of the issues that need fixing. Tune in to learn about Kristie’s straight-forward, no-nonsense approach to helping businesses improve their process, strategy, and hiring practices! Quotes “I started the company about five years ago, I have about 15 years of SAS sales leadership experience. I made a decision that I could help more than one company at a time.” (8:15-8:26) “Helping them understand that the only way to be successful building top of the funnel with an outbound prospecting strategy is consistency.” (14:15-14:20) “That's an embarrassing conversation to bring up- everybody's sitting around looking successful and all of a sudden you haven't been making any money for two to three years.” (19:32-19:39) Links Kristie Jones LinkedIn Sales Acceleration Group LinkedIn Sales Acceleration Group Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Sandy Ellis is the Chief Revenue Officer for Activus Connect- a premium provider of customer experience outsourced solutions that operates across the Continental US & Puerto Rico. Sandy describes herself as an executive with a talent to discover underlying business needs, strategically design innovative solutions, and develop and inspire leaders through career development, professional writing, and speaking. On today’s episode, Sandy dives into some of the tough lessons she had to learn in order to better connect with her team and her clients. “As a leader, I think it's important to learn that life is intermingled and being able to figure out how to embrace that and build upon it, versus fighting it will save you a lot of angst.” Tune into today’s episode to learn from our conversation with a wise, self-aware leader! Quotes “We're primarily domestic in the United States and Puerto Rico, and we're able to attract and design our support structure on behalf of what the client means based on both geography, as well as skills, and tap into the millions of Americans that want to be able to work from home and have chosen to do that.” (9:38- 10:00) “I learned early in my career to extend grace and accept grace- everything does not go as planned, life is messy, and things happen.” (11:55-12:08) “As a leader, I think it's important to learn that life is intermingled and being able to figure out how to embrace that and build upon it, versus fighting it will save you a lot of angst.” (26:38-26:54) Links Sandy Ellis LinkedIn Activus Connect LinkedIn Activus Connect Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Sally Duby, Chief Sales Officer & Partner for The Bridge Group, Inc. is a veteran in the field of technology inside sales. Having started out with Oracle in their early days as an inside sales rep, Sally learned the power of building strong foundations and where that success can lead. In today’s episode, Sally dives into what her experience in sales leadership has taught her about building strong process, rallying a team through a pandemic, and how pivoting is vital in times of change. Tune in to today’s episode to learn about strong leadership in the face of adversity! Quotes "They don't care how you help somebody else. At the beginning, they want to know what you're going to do for them, what problems can you solve and what's the business value bringing." (33:32-33:41) "You have to do a minimum of 25% more activities to get that first meeting versus pre-COVID and email responses rates have plummeted." (44:03-44:44) “That’s going to be our recommendation, capture the data because it leads to such great information and ways to pivot and change your business to get the best benefits out of it.” (39:49-40:29) Links Sally Duby LinkedIn The Bridge Group LinkedIn The Bridge Group Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Joe Paranteau is a leading authority on selling, a sales coach and mentor, keynote speaker, a small business owner and entrepreneur, and an investor. He has generated more than $1.8 Billion in revenue as a professional salesperson. Joe wrote Billion Dollar Sales Secrets to help sellers and non-sellers alike. He delivers real-world strategies and insights from thousands of sales engagements he led with Fortune Global 500, SMBs, startups, and government organizations. He leverages these experiences to help others achieve their full sales potential. In today’s episode, Joe discusses a few different chapters in his book that break down his different philosophies as a sales leader. Starting out as a door-to-door salesman on an Indian Reservation in Montana to now serving as a Sales Director for Microsoft, has given him a unique perspective. Tune in to hear from an incredibly insightful sales leader whose journey in sales has made him wildly successful and how he remains incredibly humble through it all. Quotes: “The one tip that I think would be beneficial to hear is spend time engaging people and spend time connecting and being curious. You'll be a much better and more effective salesperson.” (3:22-3:38) “I had sold a billion dollars in a five-year span. It's two and a half million dollars a day. After I did that, I was like, okay, I think I know something about selling that I could add to people.” (5:43-5:55) “I would go door-to-door with my brother and sister, because I grew up poor, we didn't have very much money, I'm the first generation of my family to grow up off the Indian Reservation.” (7:39-8:02) “When I wrote this book, I set out to take all the things that I learned about from a sales standpoint, conscious and unconscious. And I put all these post-it notes on my wall, and I started questioning everything.” (35:55-36:06) “Give something back, show gratitude, think about what you can do to make the world a better place. Save some money, develop your walkaway fund, really think about what you can do.” (38:17-38:30) Links: Joe Paranteau LinkedIn Joe Paranteau's Website Book's Link on Amazon Book's Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Tik Tok Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Mary Grothe started her sales journey at 22 working with a Fortune 1000 Payroll/HR company working for only $13/hour in an admin role. She now is the CEO of House of Revenue, a consulting firm building revenue foundations set for scale by focusing on all aspects of the revenue engine — marketing, sales, customer success, and RevOps. On today’s episode Mary discusses some of the issues that hinder a company’s ability to continue growing and reaching their goals. “So my favorite way to build process, align with the way your buyer buys, because a lot of times people build the process based on the way they think it should be and the way that works for them and their organization, but it actually creates a lot of friction for the buyer.” Tune in to today’s episode to learn the importance of scaling as a company! Quotes: “Think about us as you're making the decision of hiring a CRO or for less than the cost of that CRM is base salary you can actually get a 5-7 person revenue team, being the house of revenue team that goes to work for you for 12 to 18 months to build the right revenue engine inside of your company that will last.” (9:49-10:07) “And so I think gone are the days that if you have a sales problem that you isolate the problem to the sales department specifically to the sales VP or the individual sales performer, you actually have to look at how the brand is performing.” (12:46-13:00) “So my favorite way to build process, align with the way your buyer buys, because a lot of times people build the process based on the way they think it should be and the way that works for them and their organization, but it actually creates a lot of friction for the buyer.” (20:32-20:48) Links: Mary Grothe LinkedIn House of Revenue LinkedIn House of Revenue Website  Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Loyalty and hard work are what allowed Jeffrey Diamond to climb the ladder at LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group and after 14 years he’s now the SVP of Commercial Operations. During his tenure at LexisNexis Jeff has helped drive new market expansion and new capability offerings servicing the healthcare sector. On today’s episode, Jeff outlines sponsorship and mentorship as the keys to his success and how to leverage those relationships as stepping stones in any sales career. “Creating sponsorships and creating relationships and knowing how to leverage mentors and sponsors in an organization to not only benefit yourself but to benefit them was a huge part of my early success.” Tune in today’s episode to learn about leveraging the relationships at your job to level up. Quotes: “It's just a part of who I am. I just keep grinding, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving and I think that gets recognized pretty early on in your career.” (11:51-11:59) “Creating sponsorships and creating relationships and knowing how to leverage mentors and sponsors in an organization to not only benefit yourself but to benefit them was a huge part of my early success.” (12:49-13:02) “He made it very clear- I'm not going to hand you anything; that is not my role as a sponsor and certainly I'd be failing you as a mentor if I did that. But what I will do is give you access.”(16:15-16:23) “Knowing how to say no and turning down business and moving forward with the opportunities that have high probability of success.” (19:17-19:23) Links: Jeffrey Diamond LinkedIn LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group LinkedIn LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group Website   Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Ken Grohe, President of LeverageGTM has an impressive history as a leader executing productivity, security and storage in SaaS industries. Some of his success stories include: Rapidly grew SignNow (now part of airSlate) from $200k ARR to well over $59M ARR more than doubling annually with negligible churn to win 2018 Gartner and 2016-7 Top Enterprise Software Pivoted CUDA from $300M of appliances to $400M of SaaS via the award-winning Essentials for Office365 (Microsoft Partner of the Year) Drove Virident (Sequoia funded) from

Lauren Bailey, Founder and President of Factor 8 and #GirlsClub is on a mission to change lives by helping more people find confidence and success in sales. Known on the speaker circuit for her “No B.S.” style and spunk, look for Lauren to make you laugh, keep things moving quickly, and help you take immediate action with her tactical tips. On today’s episode, Lauren takes us through her journey as an inexperienced sales rep all the way to now, where she’s proven to be a top coach in sales and a champion for women who’ve gotten stuck in the confidence gap- not feeling good enough to apply for jobs they qualify for. “This is a passion project. This is meaningful, this is changing people's lives. And it's awesome. It's really awesome. So, our mission is to change the face of sales, by helping more women earn leadership positions in sales.” Tune in to hear how Lauren is changing the face of sales and championing for more women leaders in the field! Quotes “We won't apply for the job until we know we can do the job perfectly even though we've never had that job before it doesn't make any sense, but this is what happens.”  “I don't know where it came from Christopher but out of nowhere I looked at him like, I’m really not interested in that, so if you'd like to have me join your company, I'd be happy to accept the sales management position. And I got it.”  “I'm going to help these women get trained for the job, and build their confidence to apply for the job, but it's working. Over 70% of our cohort every year has been promoted before the end of the six months.  “This is a passion project. This is meaningful, this is changing people's lives. And it's awesome. It's really awesome. So our mission is to change the face of sales, by helping more women earn leadership positions in sales.”  Links Lauren Bailey: LinkedIn Factor 8: LinkedIn Factor 8: Website #GirlsClub: Website   Empellor CRM: LinkedIn Empellor CRM: Website  

“Unless you're passionate about what you really do, day in and day out, you're not going to last, you're not going to excel….” Sebastian Shahvandi, Chief Revenue Officer for Hypori (formerly known as Intelligent Waves) is incredibly passionate about the impact sales can have on a business and why it drives him to excel. His company, Hypori is an innovative SaaS enterprise software company that provides virtual mobility technology to federal agencies and corporate enterprises. They are a trusted virtual mobility solution ensures zero data at rest and 100% Separation to mitigate data leaks. In today’s episode, Sebastian discusses his start in sales working for his father’s business where his social anxiety evolved into a love for customer relations and solving problems. Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about Sebastian’s passion and drive that has propelled him to succeed as a sales lead dog. Quotes “One of the things I always say to my team is always better never best meaning today is always going to be better than tomorrow but it's never going to be my best work because tomorrow is going to be even better.” (20:37-20:45) “Unless you're passionate about what you really do, day in and day out, you're not going to last, you're not going to excel. My number one focus when I when I get up every morning, is am I passionate about what I'm doing today, is it exciting?” (14:52-15:06) “My biggest mistake sometimes was I was afraid to say I don't know the answer. And I think it's important, even when, especially when you have a team. If you don't know an answer to something as a leader, it doesn't discredit you and only discredits you if you lie.” (22:21-22:34) Links Sebastian Shahvandi: LinkedIn Hypori: LinkedIn Intelligent Waves: LinkedIn Hypori: Website Intelligent Waves: Website Empellor CRM: Website Empellor CRM: Website

Devin Corn, Chief Revenue Officer for Nautilus Integrated Solutions, attributes his aptitude for leading a team to success to the 9 years he spent serving in the military. His newly formed company is on a mission to strengthen the military industrial base by taking companies that would benefit from having a professional management structure put in place. On today’s episode Devin breaks down his career journey post military, as well as the positive impact the military had on his rode to success in leadership and innovation in sales. Devin’s episode is full of great advice and insight from someone whose organizational skills, hard work and humility has got him to where he is today! Quotes “I think the biggest thing is being clear with what the objectives are, you know, setting clear, concise objectives and saying here's what I need from you, here's what I need you to do.” “Some people call it a post mortem but an after action review, and I do I try and do that after every meeting, every sales that I win or lose, and break it down and look at the numbers of why, why did I win it, or why did I lose it?” "I think being able to work with others and build others up and build a team around me, that can allow me to succeed, because I never would tell you that I'm the smartest guy in the room, and I don't think any one person has the right answer and the more people you're able to bring in to a decision, the better that decision is going to be.” Links Devin Corn: LinkedIn Nautilus Integrated Solutions: LinkedIn Nautilus Integrated Solutions: Website Empellor CRM: LinkedIn Empellor CRM: Website

Alvin Crawford has held three prestigious roles in Revolution Foods company from VP of Sales, to SVP of Sales, until presently landing on Chief Revenue Officer. Before his current role he’s remained rooted in sales and marketing and continually held leadership roles where he’s naturally excelled. In today’s episode Alvin breaks down the intricacies of leading a company that is dedicated to bringing 2 million healthy meals to adults and students across the country. His humble beginnings of being a door-to door sales rep selling books gave him the building blocks of what it means to be a strong salesman. Tune into learn from a leader whose experience has allowed him to build a strong foundation around him in order to excel and succeed! Quotes “So I think there was an insurance agent Albert Gray, that successful people do the things that unsuccessful people aren't willing to do. And so, if you think about that contextually, it's really about forcing yourself to put the habits into practice.” (20:17-20:32) “You make sure that your marketing and your messaging, are solid, before you start building on a massive team, because it's not their fault that they can't sell a product that you haven't been clear about, in terms of the value proposition.” (26:34-26:50) “You want prompts to remind you to call this person to do that you want to be able to push out information to lots of people that you've talked to over time. All of those things are better if you've got a CRM system that is in place." (36:17-36:27) Links Alvin Crawford: LinkedIn Revolution Foods: LinkedIn Revolution Foods Website Empellor CRM: LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Engaging customers with a personalized experience is what Fulcrum SaaS leverages in order to increase engagement and accelerate conversions. John Golinvaux is the Founder and CEO of Fulcrum SaaS and his background in sales and marketing helped pave his entrepreneurial path. “…in order to really do a good job of collecting the data, you need what they call a customer data platform,” John explains exactly how Fulcrum SaaS is utilized by his clients in today’s episode on Sales Lead Dog. Tune in this week to learn more about data mining and developing measurable marketing strategies! Quotes “This is kind of the y2k, for cookies, the third party cookie deprecation is going to be a big deal.” (2:50-2:56) “But fundamentally, in order to really do a good job of collecting the data, you need what they call a customer data platform. And that's, you know, that's what fulcrum is a customer data platform is an environment that allows you to connect and collect data in real time." (6:01-6:31) “And that was a challenge, because we didn't have the data. So if you know anything about data, data is difficult to get. And sometimes it's kind of, it's kind of like sodium pentathol, right? It's this truth serum that just draws everything out into the light.” (7:03-7:16) “When you engage in the right way, you instill confidence. And when you instill confidence, they're not going to try to shop you as much as the other guys.” (16:12-16:19) Links John Golinvaux: LinkedIn Fulcrum SaaS: LinkedIn Fulcram SaaS website  Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website  

Michael Gumiela has led the creation and standardization of the ATALIAN Global Services US sales platform.  Building the sales platform has allowed Mike to get back to his roots of creating and developing effective sales teams through performance management.  In today’s episode Mike breaks down different aspects of his work at ATALIAN, whether it be hiring practices or sales processes- his 23+ years of facilities management experience has given him extensive familiarity with all things leadership related. Tune into this week’s episode to learn from someone with an extensive background in sales and facility management. Quotes  "I like to look for people that first and foremost have a great personality don't take themselves too seriously. Things I can find in their resume, show me that they've hustled throughout their career, you know, were they a waiter or a waitress? When they were in college? Right? What extracurriculars did they do in college?" (21:16-21:31) "Sure, well, it, it starts with taking great notes, every time that you meet with the customer. Anytime that you are the prospect, anytime you meet with the prospect anytime you are on the phone with them, if you trade emails, I would hope that everybody listening to this is saving those transactions into your CRM, right." (30:16-30:39) "You know, sales process has to be built by sales, by finance by operations. It's got to be a group effort to make sure everybody gets what they need." (26:18-26:24) Links Michael Gumiela: LinkedIn ATALIAN Global Services: LinkedIn ATALIAN Global Services Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Tiffani Misencik, Intelerad’s Senior Vice President of Sales in North America, is a results-oriented healthcare IT leader with over 20 years of experience. She attributes her hard earned success to 3 things: grit, a collaborative mindset, and her opinion. In today’s episode, she brings us through her humble beginnings as a sales rep for a soap company all the way to now where she mentors sales industry professionals and the accountability she has learned along the way. Tiffani leads a team of high-performing sales executives and manages all aspects of business development, forecasting, contracting and driving excellence by supporting her team to both meet and exceed sales goals. Tune in today’s episode to learn the difference between responsibility and accountability. Quotes "And let me tell you what I didn't know then that I do now the difference between responsibility and accountability. And it takes a while to get there." (17:25-17:34) "You know, they, you know, I often say that I've really appreciated getting older, because the wisdom comes with it, right? So I don't mind as the numbers tick out." (16:47-16:55) "You have to make a pivot from caring more about yourself to care and your own performance to caring more about your team's performance." (25:58-26:08) "I think one of the things that has helped me so much is being able to reach across aisles and collaborate right to get everyone on the same page to move a strategy forward. Super important in a sales rep." (29:42-29:54) Links Tiffani Misencik: LinkedIn Intelerad Medical Systems: LinkedIn Intelerad Medical Systems Website  Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

In today’s episode on Sales Lead Dog, we are joined again by ​our guest, Skip Miller. Skip is the President of M3 Learning, a ProActive Sales Management and Sales Training Company based in the heart of Silicon Valley and has already trained hundreds of companies in over 35 countries. Skip discusses his new book, Outbounding. He will talk about outbound sales and how to become successful through outbounding, how inbound and outbound sales differ from each other, and the right ways to do outbound calls and messagings. Most companies and businesses are hooked on inbound sales, relying more on inbound leads, and not taking risks or emphasis on doing outbound with the fear of losing potential customers. Tune in to this week's episode to learn why outbounding sales is so important to your business!  Quotes "As a sales leader out bounding right, I've got a simple question. What's the size of the problem? It doesn't get easier than that. They've got to have a problem, because you want to be an aspirin, not a vitamin. And they've got to be able to quantify it." (21:19-21:39)  "I think…one of the natural curiosities, one of the, one of the great sales tools that salespeople can have is a natural curiosity. Right, and not fake, I mean just dive in." (22:12-22:24)  "…you could have all the cadences and sequences, and you can have all the sales enablement process tools like outreach sells, right. But you got to have good messaging." (26:27-26:37)  "You got to get through the noise and if you don't know your numbers, you're just hoping you win the game without a strategy and boy, that doesn't work too well." (35:42-35:50)  Links Skip Miller: LinkedIn M3Learning: LinkedIn Outbounding: Book Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Empathy and compassion are the leadership building blocks Rebecca Grimes has built her foundation on to allow her team to be vulnerable and accept failure as a means to grow and learn. In this week’s episode Rebecca Grimes, Chief Revenue Officer for Ruby.com breaks down how she accomplished exponential growth as a fairly new leader during such a tumultuous year. Her skills in B2B and B2C marketing has led large scale growth for a number of SaaS companies.   She has been named an Ignite Visibility’s Courageous Marketing Leaders in 2020, 2018 Women to Watch in the DMN Marketing Hall of Femme and one of the top 25 Mobile Women to Watch in 2014 by Mobile Marketer. Tune in to learn how Rebecca pushed through the uncertainty of leading a company during such a tumultuous year! Quotes “I'm a big believer that you own it, you take accountability, even if it wasn't you, you fall on the sword, and you learn from it, and you create a path forward.” (24:16-24:25) “When any new leader joins an organization, there is a wealth of knowledge in terms of what's working, what's not working, things that we need to be prioritizing.” (13:27-13:35) “I think that is the acceptability of being vulnerable in front, especially now, like with everything that has happened over the last, you know, 14 months since the pandemic started leading with compassion and empathy and, and letting people have space and take a moment is, is something that is probably going to be expected.” (22:22-22:45) “And we've worked very hard to create an environment where that is acceptable and expected that you are failing all the time.” (24:53-25:00) Links Rebecca Grimes: LinkedIn Ruby: LinkedIn Ruby: Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

To succeed and stand out in this very busy world requires more than just greatness, it takes momentum. This is what Mark’s new book is trying to teach us.    The highlight of this episode is centered on his new best-selling book, Cumulative Advantage. Listen to this podcast now and learn what inspired him to write the book, what the book is all about, and how it can help an individual in succeeding even without having safety nets or having millions, just pure momentum!   Mark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized author, speaker, podcaster, and business consultant who blogs at {grow} — one of the top five marketing blogs in the world. Mark is Top 10 most re-tweeted marketing authorities in the world. He was also listed as one of the Top 10 authorities on Social Selling by Forbes.    Quotes "And so that was my journey is to go down this rabbit hole of what is really the system of momentum, what is the pattern of momentum, and how do we apply this in our businesses." (15:17-15:30)  "It's not just about having an idea, momentum has to begin by pursuing that that idea by, by creating really a quest of this of this initial advantage." (20:37-20:50)  "And here was the light bulb that went off influence on the internet is determined by who can move content, who can move ideas. That's if you can move, ideas, you move influence if you can do it a lot you're more influential, and I realized, wait a minute. He can measure influence, and we are on the brink of an entirely new marketing opportunity." (24:53-25:22)  Links Mark Schaefer: LinkedIn Business Grow Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Working hard and smart is the only time that greed is acceptable in Faiza Hughell's eyes. Faiza is the SVP of Small Business at RingCentral and has an abundance of knowledge when it comes to sales and building a strong sales team. She has invested greatly in her staff at RingCentral and has a plethora of wisdom to share about how investing in your employees can create a world of abundance for your business.  Tune into this week's episode to learn more about sales strategy and creating a culture of learning and evolving within your business!  Quotes "You've got to work hard, and you've got to work smart. And I tell my team this all the time, when you're working hard, and you're working smart, that is the only time in life that greed is a good thing. Because it creates this world of abundance." (15:03-15:13) "A piece of advice, I give every rookie leader don't think you're going to make a bunch of yous. Instead, plan on what's uniquely different about everyone your team, and help them to really highlight their strengths to find success."  (18:23-18:36)  "I'm super proud of my two vice presidents, the one who leads upselling retention Jenny, and the one who leads acquisition. They have both been with me for nine years and they both started their journeys as insight sellers answering the hotline, taking those small office home office calls. Fast forward today. They're VPS of a company who jointly lead half of our revenue and it's amazing. I love to track progression progression is one of my favorite things as a leader." (24:14-24:44)  Links Faiza Hughell: LinkedIn RingCentral: LinkedIn RingCentral: Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website

Coaching is a calling that Mark Musselman has honed and perfected over the past 20 years. His years of experience as CEO running 2 rapidly growing $30+M companies has led him to start his own consulting company so he can coach others to success. In this episode, Mark explains the coaching styles and techniques that build trust and loyalty between leadership and their salespeople; which leads to continuous improvement, that allows for people to evolve and grow.  Tune into this week's episode to learn about coaching your sales team to success! Quotes “So the one thing that I have found is if I use the language of continuous improvement with anybody, it invites them into this conversation that doesn't talk about right and wrong, it's just about continuously evolving." (25:56-26:09) "In order for any team to work effectively, it has to have a platform and a foundation of trust. So people withhold when they don't trust in the condition of the team, with more trust comes more transparency." (31:43-32:05) "I run into all kinds of circumstances where I'll show up in a room with a leadership team. And like you can hear a pin drop. Right. And what that is an indication of like nobody here trusts the leader, right, because there's no conversation taking place, and everybody's sitting on their hands and they're biting their lips and they're hoping and praying that I don't call on them." (35:16-35:40) Links Mark Musselman: LinkedIn MX5 Consulting: Website Empellor CRM LinkedIn Empellor CRM Website