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Episodes
”Unless you are the lead dog, your view never changes.” On the Sales Lead Dog podcast, CRM technology and sales process expert Christopher Smith talks with exceptional sales leaders that have separated themselves from the rest and achieved a sales leadership role in their organization. Hear what they did to become the alpha, lead their pack, and how they leverage CRM technology to drive sales for their organization. If your goal is to rise higher in your sales career or you currently are the alpha, this podcast gives you useful insight on how the best-of-the-best achieve success with their team and CRM technology.
Episodes
Monday Jun 21, 2021
Monday Jun 21, 2021
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 <$3M of bookings to successful $685M exit in less than 18 months
On today’s episode Ken gives some great insight for those interviewing or just starting out in their first sales career. “You should probably bob and weave and move companies every 2-3 years. If you're not getting promoted it's time to go.” Ken got his start in sales at a young age selling greeting cards door-to-door out of the back of a magazine. He’s since leveled up as consultant for start-ups in Silicon Valley.
Tune in to today’s episode to learn from a leader in sales whose hustle and tenacity has helped him rise to the top!
Quotes
“If you're in a world where 90% of the time you ask a question, the answer is no, you get used to it.” (7:52-7:57)
“You should probably bob-and-weave and move companies every 2-3 years. If you're not getting promoted, it's time to go.” (10:11-10:18)
“It doesn't really matter the type of school you went to or even your overall GPA. If you have a natural curiosity, and you have great empathy skills, great.” (18:16-18:23)
“If someone says they never lose, never lost a deal, they’re foolish or their activities are low, or there's some blind spots they are not aware of.” (27:31-27:38)
Links
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
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
Monday Jun 14, 2021
Monday Jun 14, 2021
“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
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Monday Jun 07, 2021
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
Nautilus Integrated Solutions: LinkedIn
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
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
Thursday May 27, 2021
Thursday May 27, 2021
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
Monday May 24, 2021
Monday May 24, 2021
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
ATALIAN Global Services: LinkedIn
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
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
Intelerad Medical Systems: LinkedIn
Thursday May 13, 2021
Thursday May 13, 2021
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
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
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