Podcasts about sdrs

The go-to-market model most teams are optimizing may be the very thing AI is making obsolete.  Too often, the buyer experience feels like a relay race nobody asked to run. AI is already proving there's a faster, straighter path to answers, value, and outcomes, making the old model a lot harder to defend.  In this episode, Drew talks with Amanda Kahlow, founder of 1mind, about why many of today's go-to-market assumptions deserve a fresh look. Using the rise of AI SDRs as a starting point, they explore human handoffs, pipeline thinking, speed to lead, and why buyer momentum matters more than the internal roles built to manage it.  Best of all, you get to see it play out when Amanda brings in Mindy, 1mind's AI superhuman, for a live demonstration of what an AI-first buying experience can look like in practice.  What You'll Learn:  Why first-principles thinking matters in an AI-first world  When AI should replace parts of the motion, not just support them  Why revenue may be a better measure of success than lead volume or pipeline  How smaller pilots can prove the model before broader rollout  If you're a CMO questioning how much of your current go-to-market motion still makes sense, this one is worth your time.  For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/ To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

What this episode is about Most salespeople are pointed at targets without being taught to think about them. That gap — between knowing who to call and understanding why it matters — is what Peter Cleary and Tom Sterns set out to close with their book Graphic Sales: How to Build a Prospecting Playbook. The book is unusual. It teaches through illustrated comic strips drawn from real sales disasters, using the Aesop's Fables principle: story first, lesson second. The goal isn't to lecture. It's to help salespeople recognise themselves, laugh at the madness, and do the work better. What Marcus, Peter, and Tom cover Ideal Customer Profile as a foundation — not a filter. The ICP chapter opens the book because everything else depends on it. ICP isn't just demographic targeting. It's understanding the four to six data attributes that signal your solution is genuinely right for a specific buyer — and then thinking critically about what those signals mean in context. Why AI won't solve poor prospecting judgement. Tom shares a cautionary story: he built an AI-assisted prospecting tool for a team, fed it the right signals, and watched conversion rates fall. The problem wasn't the data. It was that automating the research broke the reps' critical thinking. They stopped trusting the information because they hadn't processed it themselves. They started dialling without thinking. Conversion rates recovered only when the reps were given time to verify and reason about the signals themselves. Pre-call planning is a non-negotiable. Hundreds of touchpoints go into booking a meeting. Showing up without reviewing the notes, researching the company, and forming a hypothesis is a dereliction of the role — not just poor practice. The post-call debrief most organisations never do. Standardised post-call analysis is almost universally absent. Marcus describes his red-teaming process: everyone hears the call, debriefs individually, and lessons feed directly into the next pre-call plan. It's how losses become assets rather than embarrassments. Multi-threading vs single-contact selling. SDRs are frequently incentivised to book a meeting with one person and move on. The result is account executives walking into rooms they don't understand, recapping conversations the buyer has already had. Tom and Peter describe pod structures where SDRs and AEs share long-term account ownership — so the knowledge doesn't evaporate at handoff. Meeting buyers where they actually are. Marcus introduces a staged buying journey framework — from centre of dissatisfaction through passive and active looking, to deciding — and maps this against persona data. A buyer who started a new role four weeks ago is in a different conversation than one who looks like they're planning their next move. Timing, relevance, and personal value determine whether a rep gets championed internally. Honesty, pipeline integrity, and what managers actually owe their organisations. Tom shares a pipeline audit story where redefining stage criteria caused the pipeline to drop by two-thirds — and the leadership committee was relieved. Peter and Marcus discuss the cultural cost of managers who manage upwards rather than telling the truth to the people who need to act on it. Key quotes from the episode Marcus: "Haste is different from speed. Most people prospect with haste." Tom: "I don't even care about your product in the first week of onboarding. We're going to focus entirely on your buyer's world." Marcus: "Buyers don't hate being sold to. They hate being sold to badly. And more often than not, the problem isn't laziness or stupidity — it's lack of self-awareness." About the book Graphic Sales: How to Build a Prospecting Playbook by Peter Cleary and Tom Sterns. Available at all good bookstores. About The Inquisitor Podcast Hosted by Marcus Cauchi. Produced by Principled Selling. The show examines what commercial dysfunction actually looks like from the inside — and what honest, buyer-centred selling requires.

▸ Slides + every prompt from this talk (free): mspsalestoolbox.com ▸ Work with us: mspsalespartners.comAI has changed how companies prospect, research, and communicate, but many of the world's largest technology companies continue investing heavily in human sales teams. This episode explores what AI can automate, what it still struggles to do, and why trust, judgment, and complex buying decisions continue to require skilled people.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy automation hasn't eliminated the need for human sales conversationsWhich parts of the sales process AI handles well—and which parts it doesn'tWhat the hiring decisions of major technology companies suggest about the future of sales//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

CannCon and Ashe in America open Chapter 5 of G. Edward Griffin's The Creature from Jekyll Island and the bailout game goes global. The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference gets a full autopsy: the IMF and World Bank were designed by Fabian socialists and a communist spy, Harry Dexter White, to eliminate gold from international finance and build world socialism one loan at a time. The Federal Reserve is no longer just America's lender of last resort. It is the planet's. SDRs get exposed as bookkeeping wizardry backed by nothing. Nixon's 1971 gold decoupling gets its proper context. And the World Bank's humanitarian branding gets stripped away as the crew walks through regime after regime, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, all receiving billions while committing atrocities their own governments openly planned. George Bernard Shaw, Fabian co-founder, gets quoted explaining exactly what socialism does to people who are not productive enough to justify their existence. The IMF opposes Bitcoin. CannCon and Ashe are not surprised.

Podcast de ventas B2B y prospección moderna ¿Cómo se ve por dentro una maquinaria comercial B2B bien montada, apoyada en IA y en contenido que vende? En este episodio de “Yo También Vendo Empresas”, David Navas charla con Beñat Arrizabalaga, cofundador de Vidext, sobre cómo han pasado de hacer todo manual a tener un sistema que escala ventas, formación y contenido dentro de empresas medianas y grandes. Vidext transforma el conocimiento interno disperso (PDFs, PPTs, manuales, know-how de técnicos) en formación interactiva, visual y medible y , a la vez, ha construido un equipo comercial de alrededor de 25 personas organizado en squads de 2 SDR + 1 account con playbooks muy trabajados por vertical y buyer persona. En este episodio verás: - Qué hace Vidext y por qué el contenido interactivo es clave para formar y medir en organizaciones complejas. - Cómo han montado su estructura comercial: squads, team leads, especialización por vertical y cantera de SDRs que pasan a accounts. - Cómo combinan outbound e inbound: teléfono como canal principal, email/LinkedIn como apoyo, e IA para automatizar listas, señales y mapeo de stakeholders. - Cómo diseñan playbooks vivos por sector, buyer persona y escenario, y los revisan cada mes para adaptarse a cambios de mercado. - El papel del contenido en ventas B2B para que el mensaje sobreviva dentro del cliente cuando el decision maker no está en todas las reuniones. - Ejemplos concretos de cómo usar cálculos, podcasts, artículos y casos de éxito en cadencias de prospección sin sonar a spam. - El simulador de role plays que están desarrollando con IA para entrenar a SDRs y equipos de ventas en un entorno seguro. - Buenas prácticas de discovery, solutioning y tiempos entre reuniones para no saturar al cliente y mejorar el encaje de la propuesta. Invitado: Beñat Arrizabalaga – Cofundador y responsable comercial en Vidext. https://www.linkedin.com/in/benatarrizabalaga/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/vidext/ ............................................................................................................................. Y si quieres mejorar tu Maquinaría de Ventas Outbound o formar a tus equipos en #modernprospecting Pues lo tienes fácil: 699 45 85 82 Más en https://outbounders.es/

Ouvir sem direcionar gera indecisão. Impactar sem entender gera rejeição.A maioria dos vendedores no Brasil está travada exatamente aí — no meio do caminho. Faz dez perguntas inteligentes, monta um diagnóstico impecável… e perde a venda para o concorrente que foi mais direto.Neste episódio, Diego Maia desmonta o mito de que venda consultiva é o futuro e venda de impacto é coisa do passado. A verdade é mais incômoda: o vendedor que só escuta vira terapeuta. O que só impõe vira chato. E o cliente moderno, afogado em informação, não quer mais um especialista — quer alguém que conduza a decisão.Você vai entender:Por que "fazer pergunta" virou desculpa para não fecharO erro silencioso do vendedor "consultivo demais" que enche o CRM e esvazia a metaComo conduzir o cliente sem soar agressivo, invasivo ou desesperadoA diferença entre informar e dar clareza (e por que só uma das duas vende)O ponto exato em que escutar para de ajudar e começa a atrapalharComo unir empatia e influência sem perder a autoridadeFrase do episódio: "Venda consultiva abre portas. Venda de impacto fecha negócios."Para vendedores, SDRs, closers, gestores comerciais, representantes e qualquer profissional que esteja cansado de propostas paradas, follow-ups sem resposta e clientes que "vão pensar".

Learn how to use AI to Buy Agencies:https://value.8figureagency.co/MNASystemized Sales (done-for-you sales teams): systemizedsales.comRevphlo.com (post-call sales attribution — works with GoHighLevel & HubSpot)Dylan on X: @sdrwhispererMost agencies are sitting on a goldmine and treating it like a junk drawer.That was the exact problem on the table. A giveaway funnel pulling 100+ emails a week. 300 to 500 comments a post on X. Newsletter readers. Ad clickers who never book. Five different lists, none of them talking to each other. A great setter could go to work on that data and print money — if anyone had organized it.So Jordan brought in Dylan Rich, founder of Systemized Sales. Dylan runs 10 sales teams at once, end to end — name, email, phone number all the way to contract signed and cash collected. In 15 years of sales and seven years working with agencies, this is the most sophisticated GoHighLevel pipeline either of them has seen. They build it live: UTM attribution per post, the "tattoo" rule for tags vs. custom fields, an action-based lead score that pings a setter the second a lead crosses 6 points, a speed-to-lead workflow with 73 million enrollments, and 57 smart lists ranked P1 through P5 so setters never waste a minute guessing who to call.Then Dylan opens up Revphlow — the post-call attribution tool that kills the EOD form forever and tells you your cash per call by traffic source, by closer, by calendar. If you run organic and paid traffic into a sales team, this is the playbook.What You'll LearnThe "tattoo" rule — when to use a tag (permanent) vs. a custom field (rewrites itself), and why getting this wrong wrecks your dataOne pipeline beats five — why segmented pipelines cap your granularity, and how custom fields + tags + stages stack to do the real workLead scoring that runs itself — assign points to actions (email open = 1, application = 3, call booked = 5), and auto-trigger a setter call at a score of 6Speed-to-lead you can actually measure — a workflow that timestamps every lead and counts only during setter working hours, so a Saturday opt-in doesn't blow up your numbers57 smart lists, ranked P1–P5 — how setters work the right leads in the right order and never run dry between fresh leadsAsk for the phone number — "if you won't give me your phone number, you won't give me your credit card," and why fewer, higher-quality leads winPost-call notes (PCN) — auto-dispositioned call notes pulled from the Zoom transcript that update pipeline stages for you, so closers stop skipping the EOD formCash per call by source — the metric that tells you which ads, threads, and posts to make more of (and which to kill)Chapters— Why scaling SDRs is the hardest (and most profitable) thing an agency can do — Who is Dylan Rich: 15 years in sales, done-for-you teams at Systemized Sales — The real problem: a giveaway funnel pulling 100+ emails a week, five siloed lists — How to organize intent leads so setters book more calls per hour — UTMs per post, the Zap into GoHighLevel, and tagging the first click— Live build: one pipeline + custom fields for granularity — Lead categories that follow a contact all the way down the funnel— Tags vs. custom fields: the "tattoo" concept explained — Lead scoring: assigning points to actions and triggering at 6 — The speed-to-lead workflow with 73 million enrollments— Keeping setters organized so they stop thinking and start dialing — 57 smart lists ranked P1–P5, built on filters, not vibes — Why you should ask for a phone number on every opt-in— "Can we blow your socks off?" — the Revphlow post-call attribution demo — PCN, Zoom + Fathom + Slack: clean dispositions on every call — Cash per call by source, by closer, by calendar — Where to find Revphlow and Systemized SalesGo AI-Native in the Next 90 DaysThis episode is the manual setup. The next level is making it run itself.8 Figure Agency installs AI-native systems into 7- and 8-figure marketing agencies — the kind that add $1M in annualized profit. Attribution that tags itself. Pipelines that update without a human touching them. Setters fed the highest-intent leads automatically. If you want your agency AI-native in the next 90 days, start here:→ 8figureagency.coWork With DylanDylan and the Systemized Sales team run your sales process end to end — they listen to your calls, audit your CRM, review your last 90 days of sales and marketing numbers, find your biggest constraint, and fix it.Systemized Sales (done-for-you sales teams): systemizedsales.comRevphlo.com (post-call sales attribution — works with GoHighLevel & HubSpot)Dylan on X: @sdrwhispererTools & Resources MentionedGoHighLevel — the CRM the whole pipeline is built inRevFlow / revphlo.com — post-call attribution and sales analyticsTypeform — opt-in forms (add a hidden UTM source field)Beehiiv — newsletter platform, with email opens webhooked back to GHL for lead scoringHYROS — marketing attribution into the callZoom + Fathom — call recording and transcripts feeding the PCNSlack — where post-call notes drop for closer confirmationVidalytics — VSL view trackingUTM Builder (utmbuilder.net) — Jordan's no-affiliation pick for building UTMs

O cliente pediu proposta, demonstrou interesse, participou da reunião, elogiou a apresentação… e depois desapareceu. Se você trabalha com vendas, empreendedorismo ou negociação, provavelmente já viveu a sensação frustrante do chamado “ghosting em vendas”. Neste episódio do Podcast de Vendas do Diego Maia, você vai entender por que tantos clientes somem no meio da negociação e como lidar com isso sem perder autoridade, confiança e resultado.O ghosting comercial se tornou uma das maiores dores das equipes de vendas modernas. O cliente visualiza mensagens, promete retorno, diz que “vai analisar” e simplesmente desaparece. Muitos vendedores interpretam isso como rejeição pessoal, falta de competência ou perda definitiva da venda. Mas Diego Maia mostra que a realidade é muito mais profunda — e estratégica.Neste episódio provocador, direto e extremamente atual, Diego Maia explica que o mercado moderno mudou completamente o comportamento do consumidor. As pessoas vivem sobrecarregadas de informações, distraídas, ansiosas e pressionadas. Em muitos casos, o silêncio do cliente não significa desinteresse absoluto. Significa apenas que outras prioridades tomaram espaço mental naquele momento.Você vai descobrir:por que o ghosting em vendas aumentou tanto nos últimos anos;os principais motivos que fazem clientes desaparecerem;o erro emocional que destrói a postura de muitos vendedores;a diferença entre follow-up inteligente e desespero comercial;como recuperar autoridade depois do silêncio;e como construir uma rotina comercial forte sem depender emocionalmente de uma única venda.Diego Maia também fala sobre um dos maiores problemas do vendedor moderno: a ansiedade comercial. Muitos profissionais pressionam demais, insistem de maneira equivocada e acabam destruindo a percepção de valor da própria negociação. Neste episódio, você vai aprender como fazer acompanhamento comercial de forma madura, estratégica e profissional.Entre os pontos abordados:follow-up em vendas;inteligência emocional em negociação;comportamento do consumidor;vendas consultivas;pipeline comercial;maturidade em vendas;técnicas de acompanhamento;relacionamento com clientes;persuasão sem pressão;vendas B2B e B2C.Com uma linguagem forte, prática e reflexiva, Diego Maia mostra que vendas não podem ser tratadas como carência emocional. O vendedor profissional entende que nem todo silêncio representa derrota. Muitas vezes, representa apenas timing diferente, excesso de opções ou mudança momentânea de prioridade do cliente.Este episódio é essencial para:vendedores;representantes comerciais;executivos de contas;empreendedores;gestores comerciais;SDRs;closers;consultores;profissionais autônomos;e qualquer pessoa que precise negociar, persuadir e construir relacionamentos comerciais duradouros.O Podcast de Vendas do Diego Maia é um dos podcasts mais tradicionais do Brasil quando o assunto é vendas, motivação, empreendedorismo e performance comercial. Com episódios diários publicados sempre a partir das 7h da manhã, o programa traz reflexões profundas, técnicas práticas e provocações reais sobre o universo das vendas e dos negócios.Diego Maia é palestrante de vendas, autor de 8 livros, fundador e CEO da CDPV — Companhia de Palestras, uma das maiores agências de palestrantes do Brasil, além de ser reconhecido como uma das maiores referências nacionais em vendas, liderança e atitude comercial.Se você quer vender mais, fortalecer sua mentalidade e aprender a lidar melhor com clientes difíceis, objeções, silêncio e negociações modernas, este episódio foi feito para você.Porque no fim das contas…Onde tem venda, tem vida.Siga Diego Maia no Instagram clicando aqui.

Outbound has changed. What worked two years ago does not work today, and what works today is not going to work two years from now. On this episode of Scrappy ABM, Mason Cosby sits down with Drew Johnson, Senior Director of Business Development at Everflow, to walk through how his team actually picks targets, runs LinkedIn-led outreach, and knows when to pivot off a vertical that has stopped paying out.ㅤDrew runs outbound for a bootstrapped affiliate-tracking platform going up against bigger logos. He calls it David versus Goliath. To compete, his SDRs and AEs lean on LinkedIn over InMail, treat the connection request and the pitch as two separate problems, and build target lists off of verticals where one client win has already started to pop. The conversation gets tactical fast: when to abandon a list of 70 accounts, why the five-minute response window after a connection accept matters, and what to do when the decision-maker keeps ignoring you.ㅤ

► Hier gehts zur nächsten Episode (Meine Geschichte): ⁠https://linkly.link/2WkUE⁠  ► kostenloses Startgespräch buchen: ⁠https://linkly.link/24kPi⁠ ► Kickscale Extended Free Version: ⁠https://2ly.link/1zdl4Cold Calling Blueprint: SDR Veljko Vukovic erklärt, wie er im ersten Quartal 220% seiner SDR-Ziele erreichte und Woche für Woche 10+ Termine durch Cold Calling bucht, ohne jahrelange Erfahrung und trotz Akzent. In dieser Episode zeigt Veljko, warum das so ist und wie es anders geht: mit Reflexion, echter Recherche über die Person und einem simplen Cold-Call-Blueprint, der wirklich funktioniert. So kann ich dir im Sales helfen:zur Software Sales Formula: https://www.softwaresalesformula.comzum Sales Gym: https://www.sales-gym.ioKickscale:Extended Free Version: https://2ly.link/1zdl4Timestamps:Infos:jiri@softwaresalesformula.com https://www.softwaresalesformula.com  https://www.sales.gym.io (0:00) Warum 83% aller SDRs ihre Ziele verfehlen(2:00) Veljkos Weg: Vom Eisverkäufer zum Top SDR(6:00) Erster Tag als SDR: 120 Calls, null Termine(8:00) Reflexion nach Tag 1: Was wirklich schiefgelaufen ist(11:00) Input vs. Output – Das Gym-Prinzip im Sales(13:00) Mentaler State: Wie du deine PS auf die Straße bringst(17:00) Rechercheroutine: Person statt Unternehmen recherchieren(24:00) Cold Calling vs. E-Mail vs. LinkedIn(30:00) Cold Calling Blueprint Schritt für Schritt(40:00) Gatekeeper richtig ansprechen(43:00) Tagesstruktur und Focus Blocks(48:00) Lernen aus eigenen Calls(54:00) Top Erfolgsprinzipien nach 4 Monaten(57:00) Das SDR-Gesetz: Wöchentlicher Reflexionsblock

On this episode, Amy Kramer, Head of the Go-To-Market Operating Group at Level Equity, shares findings from their 2026 Go-To-Market Insights Report—a benchmark study covering sales efficiency, marketing spend, headcount, compensation and AI adoption across their portfolio companies.Amy and Shiv dig into what the data shows: why SDRs are having to reach out to more prospects to book the same number of meetings, how the best-performing teams are breaking through the noise with smarter targeting and more direct outreach, and why companies are shifting more budget toward brand and top-of-funnel. They also cover the rise of AI visibility as a pipeline driver, how teams are restructuring around rev ops and product marketing, and what the shift in go-to-market rhythm means for how companies hire and retain customers.The information contained in this podcast is not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, investment advice.

► Hier gehts zur nächsten Episode (Meine Geschichte): https://linkly.link/2WkUE  ► kostenloses Startgespräch buchen: https://linkly.link/24kPi ► Kickscale Extended Free Version: https://2ly.link/1zdl4 Cold Calling Blueprint: SDR Veljko Vukovic erklärt, wie er im ersten Quartal 220% seiner SDR-Ziele erreichte und Woche für Woche 10+ Termine durch Cold Calling bucht, ohne jahrelange Erfahrung und trotz Akzent. In dieser Episode zeigt Veljko, warum das so ist und wie es anders geht: mit Reflexion, echter Recherche über die Person und einem simplen Cold-Call-Blueprint, der wirklich funktioniert.  So kann ich dir im Sales helfen: zur Software Sales Formula: https://www.softwaresalesformula.com zum Sales Gym: https://www.sales-gym.io Kickscale: Extended Free Version: https://2ly.link/1zdl4 Timestamps: (0:00) Warum 83% aller SDRs ihre Ziele verfehlen (2:00) Veljkos Weg: Vom Eisverkäufer zum Top SDR (6:00) Erster Tag als SDR: 120 Calls, null Termine (8:00) Reflexion nach Tag 1: Was wirklich schiefgelaufen ist (11:00) Input vs. Output – Das Gym-Prinzip im Sales (13:00) Mentaler State: Wie du deine PS auf die Straße bringst (17:00) Rechercheroutine: Person statt Unternehmen recherchieren (24:00) Cold Calling vs. E-Mail vs. LinkedIn (30:00) Cold Calling Blueprint Schritt für Schritt (40:00) Gatekeeper richtig ansprechen (43:00) Tagesstruktur und Focus Blocks (48:00) Lernen aus eigenen Calls (54:00) Top Erfolgsprinzipien nach 4 Monaten (57:00) Das SDR-Gesetz: Wöchentlicher Reflexionsblock Infos: jiri@softwaresalesformula.com https://www.softwaresalesformula.com  https://www.sales.gym.io 

Pipeline generation breaks down when sales organizations rely on individual performance instead of building controlled, repeatable systems. In this episode, Greg Casale shares how his background in engineering shaped a system-first approach to sales, applying principles of process control, data capture, and structured training to reduce variability and improve consistency. The conversation explores why outbound phone remains a critical channel despite its difficulty, how over-automation has saturated the market and reduced conversion rates, and where AI fits as a tool to strengthen preparation and execution without replacing human interaction.  Greg Casale is the Founder and CEO of Reveneer Inc., where he leads a system-driven approach to outbound pipeline generation through embedded SDR teams. He began his career as a chemical engineer and brings a manufacturing and process control mindset to building repeatable, data-driven sales operations. Connect with Greg: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Hyperbound TitanX Key takeaways from this episode:  03:00 – Why many CROs over-index on hiring instead of addressing the system driving performance 33:30 – What it really takes to build an outbound channel competitors can't easily replicate 49:00 – Why leaders risk losing differentiation when AI replaces human-driven sales behavior 01:00:00 – A look inside how top SDRs control conversations in the first 30 seconds of a cold call 09:33 – The mistake many CROs make when relying on fractional SDR models for pipeline generation 01:07:24 – Why cutting SDR capacity during downturns quietly weakens your ability to recover 18:11 – What leaders often overlook when measuring SDR success beyond meeting volume Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management

SaaStr 853: The Agents #004: Tragedy Apps, Too Many AI SDRs, and Why Your Next Hire Should Report to an Agent Your AI SDR pitches are getting better, but your AI PR pitches are getting you blocked. Jason and Amelia break down why the gap between good and great agents is the difference between pipeline and the spam folder. Then they introduce "tragedy apps," the term for products that had every advantage in the AI era and blew it. Descript had the customers, the product, and the timing, and froze. Replit waited 10 years for its moment and seized it. The lesson: catching up isn't enough if you're not building something new. Plus, the SaaStr team built an AI API Report Card that grades every major SaaS API on how agent-friendly it is (Stripe got the only A+, Marketo got a C, and no, they're not surprised). Jason and Amelia also get honest about running 4-5 AI SDRs from different vendors, why they'll probably have 6 by year end, and why single-vendor consolidation isn't the answer yet. And the wildest part: their AI VP of Marketing, 10K, now generates 3 actionable campaign ideas a day, runs autonomous campaigns on weekends, and might be a better boss than either of them. They're seriously hiring a human marketer whose primary manager would be the agent. Not a joke. Not a thought experiment. A real job posting. Finally, if your team is resisting AI, stop worrying about change management. Just hire one senior person who's all-in on agents and let the rest sort itself out.

Este episódio do GrowthCast traz uma visão exclusiva do estado da arte da tecnologia de voz. Thiago Reis recebe Eduardo Villalba, Head de Marketing da ElevenLabs no Brasil, empresa que revolucionou o mercado de IA e hoje é avaliada em mais de US$ 1,1 bilhão. Eduardo compartilha sua trajetória como executivo na Meta, onde lançou produtos como o WhatsApp Business e Instagram Stories na América Latina, e revela os bastidores da ElevenLabs: uma empresa de pesquisa de voz fundada por ex-funcionários do Google e da Palantir que decidiu resolver o problema das dublagens monótonas na Polônia. Neste vídeo, você vai aprender:O Futuro da Voz: Por que em poucos anos a maioria das ligações e audiobooks será feita por vozes sintéticas indistinguíveis das humanas. Tecnologia ElevenLabs: O diferencial de uma empresa focada 100% em pesquisa de voz e a nova funcionalidade de vozes expressivas (com risadas e sussurros). Hyper-personalização em Escala: Como a IA generativa está permitindo que cadências de vendas sejam adaptadas individualmente para cada cliente. O Case da Prospector: Como o braço de tecnologia da Growth Machine utiliza a ElevenLabs para criar agentes de prospecção (SDRs de IA) que superam a taxa de conversão humana. Deepfakes e Segurança: O compromisso ético da ElevenLabs, o rastreio de vozes e a conformidade com a LGPD e GDPR. Marketing B2B para IA: A estratégia de transformar o produto no principal porta-voz e a eficácia de eventos presenciais em salas de cinema para falar de inovação. Se você quer entender como a inteligência artificial está transformando o atendimento, o cinema e as vendas globais, este papo é obrigatório.

Este episódio do GrowthCast traz uma visão exclusiva do estado da arte da tecnologia de voz. Thiago Reis recebe Eduardo Villalba, Head de Marketing da ElevenLabs no Brasil, empresa que revolucionou o mercado de IA e hoje é avaliada em mais de US$ 1,1 bilhão. Eduardo compartilha sua trajetória como executivo na Meta, onde lançou produtos como o WhatsApp Business e Instagram Stories na América Latina, e revela os bastidores da ElevenLabs: uma empresa de pesquisa de voz fundada por ex-funcionários do Google e da Palantir que decidiu resolver o problema das dublagens monótonas na Polônia. Neste vídeo, você vai aprender:O Futuro da Voz: Por que em poucos anos a maioria das ligações e audiobooks será feita por vozes sintéticas indistinguíveis das humanas. Tecnologia ElevenLabs: O diferencial de uma empresa focada 100% em pesquisa de voz e a nova funcionalidade de vozes expressivas (com risadas e sussurros). Hyper-personalização em Escala: Como a IA generativa está permitindo que cadências de vendas sejam adaptadas individualmente para cada cliente. O Case da Prospector: Como o braço de tecnologia da Growth Machine utiliza a ElevenLabs para criar agentes de prospecção (SDRs de IA) que superam a taxa de conversão humana. Deepfakes e Segurança: O compromisso ético da ElevenLabs, o rastreio de vozes e a conformidade com a LGPD e GDPR. Marketing B2B para IA: A estratégia de transformar o produto no principal porta-voz e a eficácia de eventos presenciais em salas de cinema para falar de inovação. Se você quer entender como a inteligência artificial está transformando o atendimento, o cinema e as vendas globais, este papo é obrigatório.

⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Outbound Kitchen newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---This episode was originally recorded in French for Cognism's Prospect podcast with Laetitia Fall. The English audio you're hearing is an AI-translated dub generated with ElevenLabs. Original French version: https://youtu.be/DMRO_GGp-1A--If you're new here, I'm Elric Legloire, founder of Outbound Kitchen. I help B2B SaaS companies between $2M and $50M ARR boost their outbound results. My view: in 2026, productivity is the multiplier, not headcount. --We discuss:- Why outbound isn't dead, but pipeline got roughly 10x more expensive (1% conversion in 2015 to needing 1,000 emails per opportunity in 2023, source: Winning By Design)- Why global SDR headcount grew over 20% in a year while public layoffs dominated the LinkedIn feed- The Owner.com benchmark: 40 appointments per BDR per month, 25% close rate, $70-80K sourced revenue per BDR per month- When to hire experienced SDRs vs juniors, and the 12-meetings-per-month threshold that signals your playbook is ready- Why ICP work beats tool selection (Tier 1 closes at 25%, Tier 2 at 5%, you need 5x the volume to compensate)- Snowflake's 140 ICP data points and why 10-15 is the realistic target for most teams- Multichannel orchestration when only 30% of your prospects are reachable on LinkedIn- The data-quality test most teams skip: coverage rate per persona, per market- AI in outbound (January 2026): what actually works, why most LinkedIn AI messages fail, and the foundation AI needs (market, CRM, message principles, signals)Referenced:Outbound Kitchen newsletter: https://newsletter.outbound.kitchenElric Legloire on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elriclegloire/Cognism's original French episode: https://youtu.be/DMRO_GGp-1AHost: Laetitia Fall Sources cited in episode: Winning By Design, Insight Partners (Jeremy Donovan's portfolio data), Owner.com BDR benchmarks, Snowflake ICP methodology----When you're ready⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Want to work with me? Send me a DM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠---Connect with me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Why consistency matters more than ambition How understanding the full sales process makes SDRs more promotable Better coaching questions that speed up growth Why proof matters more than “feeling ready” How to make promotion decisions easier for managers

In episode 108, Mike hosts outbound sales guru, Jason Bay, founder and leader of Outbound Squad. Jason and Mike get in the "Way Back Machine" looking at the evolution of SDRs, what went wrong with that model, and why prospecting is so damn hard today. If your team is struggling to book meetings and create new opportunities, this episode is for you as Jason shares strategies that are working right now and what the very best reps are doing to self-generate pipeline! Learn how to become "too good to ignore" by focusing on the right targets, crafting compelling offers, and creating emotional connections with prospects. Tune in and you'll immediately hear why Mike regularly points new business development sellers and sales teams to follow Jason Bay! RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Jason Bay's Free Outbound Masterclass The October 7 Supercharge Your Sales Leadership Event _________________________ This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you are looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg  

Are you struggling with misaligned pricing strategies that leave money on the table? Many sales leaders find themselves caught between traditional seat-based models and what customers value. There's a better approach that can increase contract values by over 200% while simplifying your sales conversations. In this episode, Keith Bossier, VP of Sales at SDOCS, shares how his team transformed their entire pricing strategy from user-based to consumption-based models. His insights reveal practical steps for aligning pricing with genuine business outcomes that customers care about most. Keith breaks down the critical misalignments between marketing, sales, and customer success teams that drain revenue potential. He explains how removing traditional barriers—like eliminating SDRs entirely—can create more direct pathways to qualified prospects and accelerate deal cycles. Revenue Operations Framework for Growth Keith discusses implementing a comprehensive revenue operations program that aligns teams around shared goals. He shares how they restructured customer success roles to function more like account managers with implementation responsibilities, creating new revenue streams from existing accounts. The conversation explores building effective partner ecosystems without massive hiring sprees. Keith reveals how SDOCS signed over 50 new partners in 12 months by focusing on system integrators and technology partnerships that amplify reach efficiently. Learning from Sales Failures Keith opens up about a six-figure deal he lost early in his career—not because of product gaps, but because he failed to connect with the customer's real pain points. This experience shaped his entire approach to coaching sales teams, emphasizing empathy over feature presentations. He shares practical techniques for handling rejection and building team resilience. His approach focuses on understanding why deals don't close rather than simply pushing through objections, creating stronger connections with prospects. What You'll Learn: ●       How to transition from seat-based to consumption-based pricing models ●       Strategies for aligning marketing, sales, and customer success around revenue goals ●       Methods for building partner ecosystems that expand reach without adding headcount ●       Techniques for coaching teams to handle rejection and build resilience ●       Why slowing down in discovery can actually accelerate your sales cycles Keith's approach demonstrates that successful sales isn't about perfecting your pitch—it's about genuinely understanding what keeps your customers awake at night and positioning your solution as the bridge to their desired outcomes. Key Moments of This Episode 00:01:46 - Introduction to Keith Bossier and SDOCSKeith Bossier, VP of Sales at SDOCS, introduces himself and explains how his company provides document automation and e-signature solutions that help businesses accelerate contract processes and revenue collection. 00:03:44 - Personal Journey: Overcoming Heart Surgery ChallengesKeith shares his inspiring personal story of surviving two open-heart surgeries and how he's thrived despite health challenges, even competing in triathlons and half-marathons. 00:06:28 - Pricing Strategies in Volatile Market ConditionsDiscussion of current economic uncertainty and how companies must adapt to pricing models. Keith explains the shift from user-based to consumption-based pricing at SDOCS, resulting in significant contract value increases. 00:13:43 - Aligning Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success TeamsKeith addresses common misalignments between departments and shares three key strategies: aligning revenue responsibilities, creating cross-functional accountability, and focusing on lead quality over quantity. 00:17:56 - Customer Success as Account Management with ImplementationExploration of how customer success teams can function more like account managers with revenue responsibilities, requiring sales-minded professionals rather than traditional support staff. 00:29:45 - Building Effective Partner Ecosystems for GrowthKeith discusses partner-led growth strategies, including working with system integrators and technology partners to expand reach efficiently without hiring additional full-time employees. 00:37:02 Learning from Sales Failures: The Power of EmpathyKeith shares a pivotal early career loss that taught him the importance of understanding customer pain points rather than just showcasing product features, shaping his coaching philosophy. 00:41:57 - Building Resilience: Handling Rejection in SalesStrategies for helping sales teams manage rejection, including debriefing losses, celebrating progress milestones, and maintaining emotional equilibrium through the ups and downs of sales cycles. About Keith Bossier Keith Bossier has 20 years of experience in driving revenue growth and optimizing sales operations with a proven track record in diverse industries, Keith has delivered exceptional results and provided unrivaled solutions to customers worldwide. His expertise spans from go-to-market strategy to revenue optimization and practical strategies for sales success. He has significant experience in SaaS sales, having held key roles at Salesforce, NetSuite, and FIS, and holds a B.A. from DePaul University as well as an M.B.A. from the Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago. Follow Us On: ·         LinkedIn ·         Twitter ·         YouTube Channel ·         Instagram ·         Facebook Learn More About 9-1 FlyMSG Features Like: ·         FlyMSG LinkedIn Auto Comment Generator by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG AI Social Media Post Generator by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG Auto Text Expander by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG AI Grammar Checker by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG AI Sales Roleplay and Coaching by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG Paragraph Rewrite by Vengreso ·         FlyMSG Sales Prospecting Training for Individuals by Vengreso ·         LinkedIn Profile Makeover for Sales Teams ·         FlyMSG Enterprise Sales Prospecting Training Program Install FlyMSG for Free: ·         As a Chrome Extension ·         As an Edge Extension

Send us Fan MailIn this solo episode of Predictable B2B Growth, Javier breaks down why hiring more people won't fix a broken pipeline—and often makes things worse.He walks through the common mistake founders and CEOs make when growth stalls: defaulting to headcount instead of fixing the underlying go-to-market motion. From unclear ICPs and weak strategy to broken handoffs and poor measurement, Javier outlines the real reasons hiring fails.He also shares the five predictable failure modes of hiring too early and explains what a strong go-to-market foundation actually looks like—before you bring in SDRs, marketers, or sales leaders.This episode is a practical guide to building a system that works first—so when you do hire, it actually drives revenue instead of chaos.Key TopicsThe dangers of hiring too earlyImportance of defining go-to-market motionBuilding a foundation before leadership hiresHiring to relieve constraints, not overwhelmMeasuring success before hiringChapters00:00 The Hiring Dilemma: When to Expand Your Team02:53 Understanding the Go-to-Market Strategy05:46 Identifying Failure Modes in Hiring09:10 Building a Strong Foundation Before Hiring11:56 Measuring Success and Defining Roles14:55 Hiring for Constraints: The Right Approach17:46 Final Thoughts on Smart Hiring Practices Thanks for listening to Predictable B2B Growth.Want predictable pipeline (not random acts of marketing)? Run the Predictable Pipeline Diagnostic (15 min): https://boldermediasolutions.com/pipeline Subscribe to the newsletter: https://boldermediasolutions.com/newsletter Book a strategy call: https://boldermediasolutions.com/strategyMore episodes + show notes: https://boldermediasolutions.com/podcastConnect with Javier:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierlozanojr/ Website: https://boldermediasolutions.comIf the show helps, follow + leave a rating/review.

"Wait until you're at $3-5M before hiring an SDR" — Ray heard this from an attendee at a Dallas event who'd been given the rule by an EOS-type advisor. His problem with it: that rule treats the SDR as an expense you need to afford, not a revenue multiplier that helps you generate the money in the first place. "I can't afford to make more money until I've made a certain amount of money" doesn't hold up. At MSP Sales Partners, Ray's first two hires were SDRs — because when you're starting a business and need to drive demand, you hire the person who creates revenue, not wait until revenue shows up on its own.The bigger lesson goes beyond SDRs. Business isn't paint-by-numbers, and most "rules" are just someone projecting their personal experience onto every business. Whether to hire — and when — depends on your demand, your constraints, and what role actually multiplies output at your stage.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why the $3-5M SDR rule treats a revenue multiplier like a fixed expense — and why that logic breaks downHow Ray's first two hires at MSP Sales Partners were SDRs, and what he learned when organic demand changed the equationWhy most business "rules" are overgeneralizations built on one person's experienceThe real question to ask before hiring an SDR: what's the core constraint in your business right now?//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

One of our Fractional SDR Management customers — an MSP owner — came to Ray with a show rate hovering just above 40%. The appointments were coming in, but half of them weren't showing up. Ray walked him through the exact diagnosis: go back and listen to the calls, figure out if the bookings are soft commitments or locked-in appointments, and then implement a 5-step pre-call process that covers everything from value-driven confirmation emails to same-day no-show recovery. The part most people miss? Garbage appointments don't just waste time — they push your real prospects further out on the calendar, and more time between booking and meeting always means a lower show rate.If you're running SDRs or BDRs and your show rate is below 60%, this episode walks through exactly where to look and what to fix.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why a low show rate is almost always a booking quality problem before it's a follow-up problemHow "garbage" appointments silently destroy close rates on your good prospectsThe 5-step pre-call process Ray walks every Fractional SDR Management client throughWhy a value-driven confirmation email outperforms a standard calendar inviteThe no-show recovery window — and why speed matters more than the script//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Amanda spent 16 years running a services business for Cisco and Intel. When she tried to productize her business, 22 VCs rejected her. That became 6sense, a $200M ARR company. After stepping aside as CEO and taking five years off, she's back with an AI startup called 1 mind. In this episode, Amanda breaks down why she always goes enterprise-first when everyone tells her to start small, how she used an AI clone of herself to pitch 60 VCs and raise 1mind's Series A in three days, and why she believes the entire sales process—SDRs, AEs, sales engineers—is about to be collapsed into a single AI "superhuman."Why You Should ListenWhy 22 VC partner meetings said no—and how one change fixed it overnight.How she used an AI clone of herself to close a Series A in 3 days.Why starting enterprise-first beats moving upmarket.Why outbound AI email is a race to the bottom and what to build instead.Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, AI agents, AI sales, enterprise sales, 6sense, 1mind, finding pmf, B2B SaaS, AI enabled services, net dollar retentionChapters00:00:00 Intro00:05:58 22 VC Rejections—Until She Found the Right Co-Founders00:08:49 Why She Always Starts Enterprise-First00:22:00 Five Years Off—Then the AI Wave Hit00:27:32 Why AISDRs Are a Race to the Bottom00:43:23 Using Her AI Clone to Raise the Series A00:49:52 The Moment of True Product Market FitSend me a message to let me know what you think!

SaaStr 848: How AI Is Rewiring Sales: Quota, Retention & What's Actually Working with SaaStr, Salesforce and Mangomint In this episode, three revenue leaders at very different stages of AI adoption get real about what's actually working, what's embarrassingly broken, and why nobody should be doubling quota just yet. Panelists: Greg Beltzer — Chief Customer Officer, AgentForce (Salesforce) Ashley Wilson — Co-founder, Momentum by Salesforce Marchelle Mooney — VP of Sales, Mangomint Amelia Lerutte - Chief AI Officer, SaaStr They cover: Why every company has leads they never followed up on (yes, even Salesforce) The "chainsaw without the cover off" problem with AI tool rollouts How Mangomint uses AI to fix terrible salon logos in minutes — and why it freaks customers out Why Marchelle is not raising quota in 2026, even though she could The real resistance to AI adoption (hint: it's not just the CIO) How Momentum is using AI to democratize language for SDRs in Argentina What retention looks like when AI is listening for slow-drip churn signals Why your data is probably worse than you think — and what that means for agents Key takeaway: AI won't magically fix your sales org. Your data has to be clean, your people need training, and you have to rethink workflows from first principles — not just bolt AI onto the old playbook. Recorded live at SaaStr London. ---------------------   Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026.    With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year.     But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait.    Lock in your spot today by going to podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there.

What did Elliot Williams and Al Williams read on Hackaday last week? Tune in and find out. After a bit of news, [Vik Oliver] chimes in with some deep PLA knowledge. Then the topic changed to pressure advance measurements, SDRs, making super-resolution PCBs with a fiber laser, and more. Want to 3D print wire strippers? A robot arm? Or just make your own Z-80? Those hacks are in there, too. For the long articles, we talked about old tech, including the :CueCat and the Iomega Zip Drive. Let us know if you had either one in the comments. What do you think? Leave us a comment or record something and send it to our mailbag.  

What if your marketing team could predict revenue like a finance team predicts cash flow? Daniel sits down with Aviv Canaani (CRO & CMO of DataRails) to break down how to actually build a predictable revenue engine. Aviv shares how he reverse engineers aggressive revenue targets into pipeline, meetings, and budget, and why most companies get this wrong by hiring more reps instead of fixing demand. They go into the mechanics: cost per meeting, conversion rates, tiered lead scoring, and how to align marketing, SDRs, and sales into one machine. Aviv also explains why he eliminated prospecting for AEs entirely…and instead built a system where marketing fills calendars at scale. If you're trying to prove marketing ROI, scale pipeline predictably, or turn marketing into a true revenue driver, this episode is for YOU.  ⁠https://customer.io⁠⁠ helps brands turn data into personalized messages that actually connect, across email, SMS, and beyond. Learn more at ⁠https://customer.io/tmm⁠ Follow Aviv: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avivcanaani/ Follow Daniel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing/ Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

What if making more calls is actually hurting your sales results?Across 65 SDRs, the ones booking the most meetings aren't the highest-activity reps—they're often making fewer calls.If your outbound feels like a grind with inconsistent results, the issue might not be effort—it might be the model you're using.In this episode, Ray breaks down why the “numbers game” is outdated—and what actually drives consistent pipeline today.What You'll Learn in This Episode:• Why high call volume creates more problems than it solves in modern outbound• The hidden operational costs behind “cheap” SDR strategies• How top-performing reps approach prospecting differently—and why it compounds over time//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

SDRs often feel disconnected from leadership decisions — especially when it comes to quotas, activity expectations, and pipeline goals. In this episode, Brandon breaks down the leadership perspective behind these decisions, explaining how quotas are built from revenue targets, why activity drives predictability, and why pipeline quality matters more than most reps realize. You'll also learn how leadership balances forecasting, hiring, and performance — and why expectations are often higher than they seem fair. If you want to grow faster in your sales career, understanding how leadership thinks is one of the biggest advantages you can have.

Shaunt Voskanian is the CRO @ Figma, where he has scaled the sales machine to over $1BN in ARR and over 400 people. Prior to Figma, Shaunt was Senior VP of Global Sales at Datadog where he scaled the revenue org to $1BN in ARR.  AGENDA:  04:33 - Are Great Sales Leaders Born or Trained? 06:55 - In a world of PLG, is sales less important than ever? 11:51 - Why does Shaunt not believe in traditional customer success teams? 14:31 - Does the role of the SDR survive in two years' time? 19:19 - When is the right time for sales to intercept in a PLG motion? 21:43 - How to Set Sales Quotas in a PLG AI Sales World? 31:19 - How has what you look for in sales hires changed over time? 42:54 - How do you judge sales performance if not on quota? 54:49 - Quick fire: Outdated sales tactic, What Role Dies, Best Sales AI Tool  

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▸ Get My Free MSP Sales Toolbox: https://msp.sale/yt-toolbox ▸ Check out MSP Sales Partners: mspsalespartners.com ▸ Learn about our SDR Accelerator program: https://mspsalespartners.com/sdr-accelerator -Three MSPs in our program are consistently booking 15-20 qualified appointments every month from their SDRs. And they're using very distinct strategies — different than the standard smile and dial strategy. I asked all of them to walk me through everything. In this video, I break down those 3 case studies and what they're doing different. Plus the 5 most common mistakes that cause everyone else to get no ROI from their SDR investment.//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Amanda Kahlow joins Revenue Builders to unpack what happens when AI stops assisting go-to-market teams and starts replacing entire functions. Drawing on her experience founding SixthSense and now leading 1mind, she explains how technology originally built for Alzheimer's caregivers evolved into AI “superhumans” capable of running demos, qualifying buyers, building business cases, and onboarding customers. The conversation gets real about some of the uncomfortable questions facing sales today: what happens to SDRs, how the AE role changes, why traditional handoffs between Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success break down, and what “the final mile” of human selling really looks like. For revenue leaders, the bigger question isn't whether AI will impact go-to-market… it's how quickly org design, skill sets, and accountability models need to adapt. Amanda Kahlow is the Founder and CEO of 1mind and the Founder of Sixth Sense. She is a multi time enterprise founder building AI systems designed to transform the full go-to-market lifecycle. Connect with Amanda: LinkedIn 1mind Get the Force Management guide to adapting your go-to-market execution for the AI age: The Predictable Revenue Framework: Guide for Leaders Key takeaways from this episode:  00:00 – How tech built for Alzheimer's caregivers evolved into AI that can qualify buyers, run demos, and move deals forward. 05:09 – What Amanda really means by a “superhuman”, and why it's far beyond an AI SDR bolted onto your website. 06:27 – Why buyers are increasingly more comfortable with AI than humans in early-stage conversations, and what that does to traditional sales handoffs. 16:48 – How automated knowledge ingestion and system integrations are collapsing AI onboarding timelines from ~4 months to ~4 weeks. 30:23 – The GTM shakeup: SDRs disappear, AEs become strategic operators, and humans remain for one thing only… the “final mile.” 46:36 – The ultimate question: can AI replace high-cost revenue roles profitably? And what happens to trust, security, and data ownership in regulated industries? Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management

In this episode, Jason breaks down why AI isn't replacing SDRs anytime soon, sharing real hiring data from leading AI companies and explaining why human reps who learn to leverage AI will outperform, not be replaced by it. Check out more free content and get coaching at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://outboundsquad.com.⁠

Ian sits down with Trinity Nguyen, CMO at UserGems, to unpack how modern B2B teams balance AI-powered demand capture with measurable brand building. Trinity shares how signal-based ABM drives pipeline, why SDRs report to marketing, how owned events outperform conference booths, and what it really takes to move fast without losing alignment in an AI-driven go-to-market world. Key Takeaways:  Signal-based outbound wins. Prioritizing who to target, when to engage, and why drives higher conversion than volume alone. · Brand can't stay a black box. Marketing leaders must map awareness to buying stages and find breadcrumbs to revenue. · AI should scale capacity, not replace thinking. Used well, it gives teams air cover when resources are tight. · Owned events create real lift. Even registration alone can significantly increase downstream win rates. · Prospecting is one of the hardest jobs in GTM. SDR roles build resilience — but closing requires a different muscle. · Alignment matters more than speed alone. Moving fast is powerful, but only if marketing and sales stay in lockstep. Episode Timestamps:(02:23) Trust Tree: Demand capture and building brand (18:48) The Playbook: When you depend on your own product Sponsor: Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. Links: · Connect with Ian on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianfaison/   · Connect with Trinity on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinitynguyen/   · Learn more about UserGems:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinitynguyen/   · Learn more about Caspian Studios:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/caspian-studios/about/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, we break down the real tension between revenue teams and marketing teams, not at the strategic planning level, but in the messy middle where trust starts to erode.This conversation goes beyond campaign metrics and quota attainment. We unpack how misaligned assumptions about the buyer, funnel expectations, and content intent create friction between AEs, SDRs, sales enablement, and marketing leaders. The issue isn't effort. It's perspective.You'll hear a direct discussion on:Why alignment feels strong at the beginning of the year but fractures quicklyHow different interpretations of the buyer create pipeline frictionThe hidden cost of avoiding hard conversations between teamsWhy psychological safety is an operational advantage, not a soft HR conceptPractical ways to create shared truth, faster feedback loops, and cleaner handoffsIf you lead revenue, marketing, product, or enablement, this episode challenges you to examine whether your teams are truly aligned or just coexisting.When culture is aligned around shared truth and honest feedback, quota becomes a byproduct, not a battleground.

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Giulio Segantini is back and this time it's pure objection-handling firepower. If you sell anything over the phone, this is a tactical breakdown of how to handle “send me an email,” “we're already working with someone,” “too expensive,” “not interested,” and every other cold call objection without sounding scripted or desperate. Built around Giulio's 'ACE Framework' (Accept → Consent → Explore), this is a masterclass in real-world objection handling for SDRs, AEs, and sales leaders. These Courses Will Get You to President's Club:

Qualytics is redefining enterprise data quality by positioning it as a collaborative business function rather than an isolated data engineering problem. Founded at the start of the pandemic by Gorkem Sevinc - a former CTO and CDO who spent years managing reactive data quality firefights - Qualytics emerged from a clear practitioner pain point: writing endless custom rules to catch data issues after they'd already broken dashboards and KPIs. The company raised pre-seed and seed rounds while building with beta customers, then closed a Series A as repeatability patterns emerged in their POC process. Now, as enterprises scramble to operationalize AI initiatives, Qualytics is experiencing explosive inbound demand from organizations realizing their data foundations aren't ready for democratized data access. Topics Discussed The practitioner insight that sparked Qualytics: reactive rule-writing doesn't scale Leveraging existing CTO/CDO networks and PE portfolio connections for beta customers The evolution from free POCs to paid POCs as a mutual commitment mechanism Identifying repeatability through week-by-week POC conversion patterns Building practitioner credibility into the sales motion while hiring for enterprise sales grit The decision to hire sales and marketing leadership simultaneously post-Series A Tracking in-product engagement metrics (DQ operations frequency, anomaly detection, rule editing) as churn prevention Positioning data quality as vertical-specific business problems (premium leakage, regulatory compliance) The timing advantage: AI adoption forcing enterprises to treat data governance as mandatory infrastructure GTM Lessons For B2B Founders Talk to 100 prospects before writing code—even with deep domain expertise: After burning 18 months building a radiology second opinion product that patients didn't want (they didn't even know radiologists were doctors), Gorkem adopted a hard rule: validate with 100 conversations before building. His advantage as a former CTO who lived the data quality problem created false confidence. Practitioners often assume their pain is universal, but buyer awareness and willingness to pay are separate questions. Start with NSF I-Corps-style problem validation: show rough sketches, probe what happened when they hit the pain point, understand how it hurt them financially or operationally. Repeatability appears in micro-conversions during trials, not just closed-won rates: Gorkem didn't declare product-market fit when deals closed—he declared it when he could predict POC behavior by week. "Week two, I'm expecting this. Week three, I'm expecting this." That predictability enabled ROI calculators and internal champion enablement materials. For technical founders, this means instrumenting your trial or POC to track leading indicators: specific features activated, data volumes processed, number of team members engaged, frequency of logins. When those patterns stabilize across prospects, you have a repeatable motion. Use paid POCs as a procurement front-loading mechanism, not a revenue play: Qualytics charges nominal amounts for some POCs—not for the revenue, but to get the MSA signed and force both parties through legal/security review upfront. This eliminates the pattern where free POCs succeed technically but die in procurement. Large enterprises often refuse to pay for POCs, which Gorkem accepts—but only if they commit equivalent effort (executive time, cross-functional teams). The paid POC is a qualification tool: if they won't commit anything, they're not a real opportunity. Hire sales and marketing leadership in parallel and hold them to unified GTM metrics: Gorkem regrets hiring early sales reps before leadership and delaying marketing investment. Post-Series A, he hired both leaders simultaneously and holds them jointly accountable to pipeline generation and velocity—not siloed MQL counts or quota attainment. This structural decision forces collaboration on messaging, ICP definition, and campaign strategy from day one. For technical founders who "figured out" founder-led sales, resist the urge to replicate your motion with more SDRs. Bring in strategic leadership that can build a scalable system. Instrument product engagement as your earliest churn signal—then intervene immediately: Beyond quarterly NPS and executive QBRs, Gorkem tracks granular product usage: how many data quality operations users run, how many anomalies they discover, how actively they're editing rules. When engagement drops, he doesn't wait—he jumps into the customer's existing weekly meetings to diagnose and course-correct. For B2B founders building complex products with long time-to-value, passive health scores aren't enough. You need active usage telemetry and a low-latency intervention process. Translate technical capabilities into vertical-specific business outcomes: Gorkem doesn't pitch "data quality for data engineers." He talks about premium leakage with insurance companies and OCC/SEC data controls with banks. This reframing works because buyers recognize their problem, not a vendor category. The shift requires research: understand each vertical's regulatory environment, operational pain points, and the business metrics executives care about. When you walk in speaking their language about their P&L impact, you're not another vendor—you're someone who gets it. Time your market entry to when "nice-to-have" becomes "must-have": When Qualytics launched, some enterprises called data quality a "nice-to-have." AI adoption changed that calculus overnight. Organizations planning to let 20,000 employees interrogate data through AI interfaces suddenly realized they need robust data governance, quality controls, and cataloging first. Gorkem's timing wasn't luck—he built during the "nice-to-have" phase so he'd be ready when AI budgets made it mandatory. Technical founders should identify the external forcing function (regulation, technology shift, economic change) that will transform their solution from vitamin to painkiller. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

Most B2B companies don't lose because they lack opportunity. They lose because they try to be everything to everyone.In this episode of Content Amplified, Amie Milner, EVP of Marketing and Sales Enablement at Abstrakt, breaks down how a focused niche attack strategy fuels predictable pipeline growth—and why specialization, not scale, drives stronger close rates.Amie shares how Abstrakt grew into an $80M business by narrowing its focus, aligning sales reps to specific industries, and telling one powerful story instead of a hundred diluted ones. If you've ever struggled to say no to a prospect, clarify your ICP, or align marketing with sales development, this conversation will sharpen your thinking.Because when you stop casting randomly and start targeting intentionally, momentum follows.What you'll learn in this episode:Why one strong case study can outperform dozens of generic proof pointsHow to identify your most profitable niche using revenue fit, service fit, and stickinessThe difference between casting a wide net in digital—and staying hyper-focused in outboundHow to align SDRs and sales reps to industries where they naturally winWhy exclusivity can strengthen your pitch and improve close ratesWhen to say no to a prospect (and why it protects both sides)How to expand into adjacent industries without losing focusGuest Bio: Amie MilnerAmie Milner is the EVP of Marketing and Sales Enablement at Abstrakt, a B2B business growth company serving more than 2,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.Over the past decade, Amie has worked her way up from SDR to executive leadership, building Abstrakt's sales enablement department from the ground up and leading marketing, digital strategy, and sales development under one unified vision. Her unique vantage point across marketing, outbound sales, and enablement allows her to create alignment most organizations struggle to achieve.Amie specializes in industry-focused growth strategies, outbound pipeline development, and building predictable revenue systems for small to mid-sized businesses.Connect with Amie:Amie's LinkedIn profileAbstrakt's WebsiteText us what you think about this episode!

Inbound marketing doesn't have to solely depend on human capacity anymore.   In this episode, Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified, shares how AI SDR agents are transforming how SaaS teams generate pipeline not by replacing people but by working the entire inbound funnel 24/7. She explains why traditional marketing automation and MQL models are breaking down, how agents can follow up instantly across every lead source, and what happens when you redeploy human SDRs to higher-value outbound work. Maura also discusses practical use cases like event follow-up, reactivating dormant leads, and the emerging 'bot manager' role inside modern marketing teams.  

Here's a question that hits every sales professional right in the gut: What do you do when your email prospecting tanks and you're staring at response rates that are circling the drain? That's the question Tara asked on a recent episode of Ask Jeb on The Sales Gravy Podcast, and it's one I hear constantly from SDRs, account executives, and even sales managers who've convinced themselves that cold calling is outdated. If you're nodding along, thinking email is the future and cold calling is dead, you need to wake up. Email efficiency is going down without bounds, and if you're not picking up the phone, you're leaving money on the table. The Hard Truth About Email Prospecting Let me be blunt: Your email isn't failing because the channel is broken. It's failing because what you're doing is terrible. Before you blame the medium, look in the mirror. Did people ignore your email because you sent them something genuinely personalized and valuable? Or did they ignore you because you followed up thirteen times in five days? Did they ghost you because your seven colleagues already called them that same day? The brutal reality is that most salespeople treat email like a spray-and-pray numbers game. They blast generic messages, add zero personalization, and then wonder why nobody responds. Meanwhile, they avoid the one thing that actually works: picking up the phone and having real conversations. Why Cold Calling Will Always Matter Cold calling isn't going anywhere. It never has been, and it never will be. You want to know why? Because sales is a human business. People buy from people they trust, and you can't build trust through automated emails that sound like they were written by AI. A phone call gives you something email never can: the ability to prove you're a real human being who's genuinely there to help, not just to pitch and sell. When you call someone and say, "Hey, I sent you an email last week with this case study because I saw you talked about this at the Outbound Conference," you're showing them you did your homework. You're not just another robot in their inbox. Here's a line I love: "Would I be the worst salesperson in the world if I didn't also try to call you?" It's honest, it's human, and it cuts through the noise. You Don't Know What to Say? Make the Calls The number one excuse I hear from salespeople: "I don't know what to say." Here's my advice: Make one hundred calls and talk to people. They'll teach you. You're going to learn what not to say. You're going to start seeing patterns in how your prospects think, what problems they face, and what language matters to them. This is how you develop business acumen that separates you from the pack. You can't learn it behind a keyboard. I was in an alignment call today with a new client, and they said, "You totally understand us." Why? Last week, I was with a business adjacent to their industry, learned their language, and pulled that knowledge into the next call. Use Tools to Compress Your Learning Curve Use tools like ZoomInfo to accelerate your learning curve. At Sales Gravy, we use it every day to find information about people, see what they're doing on our website, and get intent signals that build our lists automatically. You can use these tools to learn the language of industries you're breaking into. You can see company news, understand their challenges, and show up on calls sounding like you belong. But here's the key: The tool doesn't make the call for you. It gives you the ammunition. You still have to do the work. Be Strategic and Resourceful Here's a strategy most salespeople are too lazy to try: If you're having trouble getting through to a decision maker, call someone else in the company who'll actually talk to you. Selling HR services? Call a sales rep. They'll talk your ear off about the company and might even make an introduction. Try this: "Hey, I know you're in sales. I've been trying to get hold of Joseph for nine months. Is there any way you could help me out?" That's not being cheesy. That's being resourceful. But you have to be genuine. You can't just ask for something without building rapport. Your Action Plan If you're struggling with email effectiveness: Pick up the damn phone. Stop making excuses about why cold calling doesn't work. It works if you work it. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Introducing yourself to strangers will never be easy, but it's the price of admission for being great at sales. Use data strategically. Build sequences that interweave multiple channels over 30, 60, 90 days. Email, phone, LinkedIn, video. Give yourself the best odds. Don't oversell on the cold call. A little interest isn't an invitation to vomit your pitch. Your job is to earn the next conversation. Make one more call. At the end of the day, when you're tired, make one more call. That's where discipline separates winners from everyone else. The Bottom Line Email isn't dead, but it's not a magic bullet. Cold calling isn't outdated. It's the foundation of everything we do in sales. Stop hiding behind your keyboard. Stop blaming the tools. Stop making excuses. The shortest path to a meeting is through a real conversation. That's how you build relationships, develop trust, and separate yourself from every other salesperson who's too afraid to dial. Get outside your skin. Be genuine. Be there to help. And pick up the phone. Ready to take your prospecting skills to the next level? Join us at one of our upcoming Sales Gravy LIVE events where you'll learn directly from top sales leaders and get hands-on coaching to transform your results.

Here’s a question that hits every sales professional right in the gut: What do you do when your email prospecting tanks and you’re staring at response rates that are circling the drain? That’s the question Tara asked on a recent episode of Ask Jeb on The Sales Gravy Podcast, and it’s one I hear constantly from SDRs, account executives, and even sales managers who’ve convinced themselves that cold calling is outdated. If you’re nodding along thinking email is the future and cold calling is dead, you need to wake up. Email efficiency is going down without bound, and if you’re not picking up the phone, you’re leaving money on the table. The Hard Truth About Email Prospecting Let me be blunt: Your email isn’t failing because the channel is broken. It’s failing because what you’re doing is terrible. Before you blame the medium, look in the mirror. Did people ignore your email because you sent them something genuinely personalized and valuable? Or did they ignore you because you followed up thirteen times in five days? Did they ghost you because your seven colleagues already called them that same day? The brutal reality is that most salespeople treat email like a spray-and-pray numbers game. They blast generic messages, add zero personalization, and then wonder why nobody responds. Meanwhile, they avoid the one thing that actually works: picking up the phone and having real conversations. Why Cold Calling Will Always Matter Cold calling isn’t going anywhere. It never has been, and it never will be. You want to know why? Because sales is a human business. People buy from people they trust, and you can’t build trust through automated emails that sound like they were written by AI. A phone call gives you something email never can: the ability to prove you’re a real human being who’s genuinely there to help, not just to pitch and sell. When you call someone and say, “Hey, I sent you an email last week with this case study because I saw you talked about this at the Outbound Conference,” you’re showing them you did your homework. You’re not just another robot in their inbox. Here’s a line I love: “Would I be the worst salesperson in the world if I didn’t also try to call you?” It’s honest, it’s human, and it cuts through the noise. You Don’t Know What to Say? Make the Calls The number one excuse I hear from salespeople: “I don’t know what to say.” Here’s my advice: Make one hundred calls and talk to people. They’ll teach you. You’re going to learn what not to say. You’re going to start seeing patterns in how your prospects think, what problems they face, and what language matters to them. This is how you develop business acumen that separates you from the pack. You can’t learn it behind a keyboard. I was in an alignment call today with a new client, and they said, “You totally understand us.” Why? Because last week I was with a business adjacent to their industry, learned their language, and pulled that knowledge into the next call. Use Tools to Compress Your Learning Curve Use tools like ZoomInfo to accelerate your learning curve. At Sales Gravy, we use it every day to find information about people, see what they’re doing on our website, and get intent signals that build our lists automatically. You can use these tools to learn the language of industries you’re breaking into. You can see company news, understand their challenges, and show up on calls sounding like you belong. But here’s the key: The tool doesn’t make the call for you. It gives you the ammunition. You still have to do the work. Be Strategic and Resourceful Here’s a strategy most salespeople are too lazy to try: If you’re having trouble getting through to a decision maker, call someone else in the company who’ll actually talk to you. Selling HR services? Call a sales rep. They’ll talk your ear off about the company and might even make an introduction. Try this: “Hey, I know you’re in sales. I’ve been trying to get hold of Joseph for nine months. Is there any way you could help me out?” That’s not being cheesy. That’s being resourceful. But you have to be genuine. You can’t just ask for something without building rapport. Your Action Plan If you’re struggling with email effectiveness: Pick up the damn phone. Stop making excuses about why cold calling doesn’t work. It works if you work it. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Introducing yourself to strangers will never be easy, but it’s the price of admission for being great at sales. Use data strategically. Build sequences that interweave multiple channels over 30, 60, 90 days. Email, phone, LinkedIn, video. Give yourself the best odds. Don’t oversell on the cold call. A little interest isn’t an invitation to vomit your pitch. Your job is to earn the next conversation. Make one more call. At the end of the day when you’re tired, make one more call. That’s where discipline separates winners from everyone else. The Bottom Line Email isn’t dead, but it’s not a magic bullet. Cold calling isn’t outdated. It’s the foundation of everything we do in sales. Stop hiding behind your keyboard. Stop blaming the tools. Stop making excuses. The shortest path to a meeting is through a real conversation. That’s how you build relationships, develop trust, and separate yourself from every other salesperson who’s too afraid to dial. Get outside your skin. Be genuine. Be there to help. And pick up the phone. Ready to take your prospecting skills to the next level? Join us at one of our upcoming Sales Gravy LIVE events where you’ll learn directly from top sales leaders and get hands-on coaching to transform your results.

Send me a text (I will personally respond)Are you navigating the challenge of landing enterprise deals before you even have market traction? Wondering how to build pipeline without SDRs and endless cold emails? Curious if targeting Fortune 500 clients from day one is smart, or suicidal? This episode dives into a truly unconventional path to cybersecurity startup success that defies industry norms.In this conversation we discuss:

SaaStr 838: The Present and Future of AI in Sales and GTM with SaaStr's CEO and Owner's CRO Jason Lemkin on Going All-In on AI Agents: 20 Agents, Zero SDRs, and the Death of Mid-Pack Sales Jason Lemkin, Founder and CEO of SaaStr, sits down with Kyle Norton, CRO at Owner, to share the raw story of how frustration with sales team turnover pushed him to deploy 20 AI agents in under a year, and why we'll never go back. In this episode, we cover: → Why Jason stopped hiring SDRs after two senior reps ghosted him right before SaaStr Annual → The real reason most AI agent deployments fail (hint: it's not the technology) → How to pick your first AI vendor: "Talk to your forward deployed engineer before you sign" → Why Salesforce is having a Renaissance as the hub for AI agents → The brutal truth about mid-pack sales jobs being in "terminal decline" → How to get started with AI agents when your CFO won't give you budget → AgentForce vs. the hot startups: what actually works in production → Why the $250K SDR is coming, but only for the truly elite Jason's advice for revenue leaders: "Roll up your sleeves. If you haven't trained an agent yourself, you'll be utterly ignorant in the age of AI."

Are your marketing efforts creating a real pipeline or just impressive-looking metrics that don't translate to revenue? Too many marketing teams celebrate vanity metrics while sales teams struggle to hit their numbers. There's a disconnect that's costing companies serious money. In this conversation with Scott Logan, Chief Marketing Officer at AmplifAI, we explore a radical approach to marketing that puts sales success at the center of everything. Scott brings a unique perspective, having started as a sales rep before moving into marketing operations, giving him firsthand experience on both sides of the revenue equation. The Revenue-First Marketing Philosophy Scott challenges the traditional marketing mindset with a bold statement: marketing's only purpose is to help sales sell more. This isn't about diminishing marketing's value—it's about aligning every marketing activity with measurable business outcomes that matter. We discuss why marketing teams should share the same dashboards, filters, and success metrics as sales teams. When marketing and sales are looking at different definitions of success, you create organizational friction that slows down deals and confuses buyers. Breaking Through the Noise with Strategic Creativity Forget cookie-cutter marketing playbooks. Scott shares compelling examples of how creative thinking beats big budgets every time. From a $500 billboard strategy that outperformed million-dollar campaigns to trade show tactics that generated equal engagement with a fraction of the staff, these stories prove that strategic thinking trumps traditional approaches. The key insight? Your competitors are following the same best practices you are. To stand out, you need to think differently about how you create awareness and engage prospects. AI-Powered Marketing That Actually Works We explore practical applications of AI in marketing that go beyond content generation. Scott explains how his team uses AI to analyze competitor landscapes, extract insights from sales calls, and turn complex survey data into actionable intelligence - all in minutes rather than weeks. One particularly interesting case study involves a summer intern who completed what should have been a three-week manual project in just one day using AI, demonstrating the productivity gains available to teams willing to embrace these tools strategically. The Compensation Alignment Game-Changer Here's where Scott gets controversial: every marketing role should have compensation tied directly to sales quota achievement. Not just at the leadership level, but down to individual contributors working on specific campaigns or content pieces. This alignment creates a fundamental shift in how marketing teams think about their work. When your bonus depends on the sales team hitting their numbers, every campaign decision gets filtered through a different lens. Here's what you'll gain from this conversation: 1.    A framework for aligning marketing metrics with actual revenue outcomes 2.    Creative strategies for maximizing brand impact without massive budgets 3.    Practical AI applications that save time and improve marketing effectiveness 4.    The case for tying marketing compensation directly to sales success 5.    Methods for building genuine partnership between marketing and sales teams Scott's approach challenges conventional wisdom about marketing's role in B2B organizations. His emphasis on sales enablement, creative problem-solving, and revenue accountability offers a roadmap for marketing teams ready to prove their impact on the bottom line. Key Moments of This Episode 00:00:00 - Marketing and Sales Alignment: The Foundation for Revenue Success Scott Logan introduces the critical concept that marketing, sales, and channel teams must align to one unified revenue number, with compensation tied to actual sales quota achievement rather than vanity metrics. 00:01:37 - Meet Scott Logan: From Sales Rep to CMO at AmplifAI Scott shares his journey from 2007 sales rep to CMO, including early marketing operations experience when SDRs didn't exist, and introduces AmplifAI's AI-powered CX performance management platform. 00:04:08 - Bowling Championships and Pet Lions: Getting Personal with Scott Scott reveals his unexpected talent as a two-time state bowling champion and shares his grandfather's fascinating story of owning exotic pets including a lion in the 1930s. 00:06:00 - Marketing's True Purpose: Helping Sales Sell More Scott explains why marketing's sole purpose should be enabling sales success, emphasizing the need for sales team involvement in every step from content planning to campaign execution and feedback loops. 00:11:12 - Revenue Accountability: Why Marketing Must Own Sales Targets Scott advocates for marketing teams having joint ownership of revenue targets with bonuses tied to closed deals, introducing AmplifAI's "money team" approach where all go-to-market leaders share unified success metrics. 00:13:25 - Brand vs Demand: Strategic Messaging That Drives Pipeline Exploration of how brand influences demand generation through proper messaging alignment, buyer priority matching, and strategic presence expansion rather than scattered marketing efforts across all channels. 00:18:47 - Breaking Marketing Best Practices: Innovation Over Convention Scott challenges marketers to move beyond 2017 tactics, using examples like strategic billboard placement and creative conference marketing to demonstrate how breaking conventional wisdom creates better results. 00:20:23 - Marketing Enablement: Spending 50% of Time with Sales Teams Discussion of practical strategies for marketing-sales collaboration, including the "did you help a sales rep today" mentality and building trust through direct engagement with sales professionals. 00:23:52 - AI-Powered Marketing: Scaling Pipeline Generation Intelligently Scott outlines how marketers should use AI for competitor analysis, sales call evaluation, content creation, and data segmentation while maintaining focus on sales team needs and buyer conversations. 00:28:55 - The Intern AI Success Story: Three Weeks to Ten Minutes Real example of how a summer intern used AI to complete a complex data analysis project in one day that would have traditionally taken three weeks of manual work. 00:35:12 - AI Agents in Marketing: Experimenting with Transparent Automation Scott discusses AmplifAI's experiments with AI SDRs, emphasizing transparency about AI usage while ensuring seamless handoffs to human representatives when complexity increases beyond automation capabilities. 00:40:31 - Social Selling Success: Eight Reps to President's Club Scott shares his early social selling program success story from 2011, where he helped eight of twelve sales reps achieve President's Club status through strategic LinkedIn coaching and training. About Scott Logan Scott Logan is a seasoned revenue and marketing leader known for building pipeline-driven growth engines that align sales, marketing, and operations. Currently the Chief Marketing Officer at AmplifA, Scott specializes in creating predictable demand, accelerating revenue, and operationalizing go-to-market strategies powered by automation and AI. With a career spanning both sales and marketing leadership, he brings a rare, practitioner-level perspective on what actually drives pipeline and performance. Scott is also the host of the Making Fun of Marketing podcast, where he challenges conventional B2B thinking and brings candid, real-world conversations to the forefront of modern revenue leadership. What differentiates Scott is his relentless focus on outcomes over activity—breaking down silos, simplifying complexity, and building systems that make revenue teams more effective and human at the same time. He's deeply passionate about helping organizations eliminate friction, rethink how buyers engage, and design revenue motions that scale with clarity and purpose. Follow Us On: ·         LinkedIn ·         Twitter ·         YouTube Channel ·         Instagram ·         Facebook Learn More About FlyMSG Features Like: ·         LinkedIn Auto Comment Generator ·         AI Social Media Post Generator ·         Auto Text Expander ·         AI Grammar Checker ·         AI Sales Roleplay and Coaching ·         Paragraph Rewrite with AI ·         Sales Prospecting Training for Individuals ·         FlyMSG Enterprise Sales Prospecting Training Program Install FlyMSG for Free: ·         As a Chrome Extension ·         As an Edge Extension  

In this episode, Jason and Clara shared how SDRs can improve cold call qualification to boost pipeline conversion and set AEs up for success. Check out more free content and get coaching at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://outboundsquad.com.⁠

SaaStr 836: The Step-By-Step Playbook for Building AI-Powered GTM Teams with Personio's CRO Philip Lacor, CRO of Personio, shares his company's journey to building an AI-powered go-to-market motion, including 5 critical lessons learned and 4 real-world use cases delivering measurable results. In this podcast, Philip breaks down: ✅ The 5 lessons for AI transformation: top-down + bottom-up motion, cross-functional teams, prioritization frameworks, building AI culture, and combining great stack with context  ✅ How to build AI-powered workflows that actually work (not just more tools to test)  ✅ Real use cases: Win/loss analysis, expansion SDR assistants, intent scoring, and AI chat ✅ Why their expansion SDRs went from 2 hours of research per day to 15 minutes while doubling pipeline per rep ✅ The truth about AI ROI: where it shows up and how long it takes  ✅ How to get your team excited about AI (not scared of it) Philip doesn't hold back on what's working, what's failed, and what questions they still haven't answered. If you're a CRO, founder, or GTM leader trying to figure out how to actually implement AI beyond the hype, this is the playbook.  --------------------- This episode is Sponsored in part by HappyFox: Imagine having AI agents for every support task — one that triages tickets, another that catches duplicates, one that spots churn risks. That'd be pretty amazing, right? HappyFox just made it real with Autopilot. These pre-built AI agents deploy in about 60 seconds and run for as low as 2 cents per successful action. All of it sits inside the HappyFox omnichannel, AI-first support stack — Chatbot, Copilot, and Autopilot working as one. Check them out at happyfox.com/saastr   ---------------------   Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026.    With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year.     But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait.    Lock in your spot today by going to podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there. --------------------- More from SaaStr: https://www.saastr.com

Jason Lemkin is the founder of SaaStr, the world's largest community for software founders, and a veteran SaaS investor who has deployed over $200 million into B2B startups. After his last salesperson quit, Jason made a radical decision: replace his entire go-to-market team with AI agents. What started as an experiment has transformed into a new operating model, where 20 AI agents managed by just 1.2 humans now do the work previously handled by a team of 10 SDRs and AEs. In this conversation, Jason shares his hands-on experience implementing AI to run his sales org, including what works, what doesn't, and how the GTM landscape is quickly being transformed.We discuss:1. How AI is fundamentally changing the sales function2. Why most SDRs and BDRs will be “extinct” within a year3. What Jason is observing across his portfolio about AI adoption in GTM4. How to become “hyper-employable” in the age of AI5. The specific AI tools and tactics he's using that have been working best6. Practical frameworks for integrating AI into your sales motion without losing what works7. Jason's 2026 predictions on where SaaS and GTM are heading next—Brought to you by:DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchersVercel—Your collaborative AI assistant to design, iterate, and scale full-stack applications for the webDatadog—Now home to Eppo, the leading experimentation and feature flagging platform—Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/we-replaced-our-sales-team-with-20-ai-agents—My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182902716/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation—Where to find Jason Lemkin:• X: https://x.com/jasonlk• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmlemkin• Website: https://www.saastr.com• Substack: https://substack.com/@cloud—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Jason Lemkin(04:36) What SaaStr does(07:13) AI's impact on sales teams(10:11) How SaaStr's AI agents work and their performance(14:18) How go-to-market is changing in the AI era(19:19) The future of SDRs, BDRs, and AEs in sales(22:03) Why leadership roles are safe(23:43) How to be in the 20% who thrive in the AI sales future(28:40) Why you shouldn't build your own AI tools(30:10) Specific AI agents and their applications(36:40) Challenges and learnings in AI deployment(42:11) Making AI-generated emails good (not just acceptable)(47:31) When humans still beat AI in sales(52:39) An overview of SaaStr's org(53:50) The role of human oversight in AI operations(58:37) Advice for salespeople and founders in the AI era(01:05:40) Forward-deployed engineers(01:08:08) What's changing and what's staying the same in sales(01:16:21) Why AI is creating more work, not less(01:19:32) Why Jason says these are magical times(01:25:25) The "incognito mode test" for finding AI opportunities(01:27:19) The impact of AI on jobs(01:30:18) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• Building a world-class sales org | Jason Lemkin (SaaStr): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-world-class-sales-org• SaaStr Annual: https://www.saastrannual.com• Delphi: https://www.delphi.ai/saastr/talk• Amelia Lerutte on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelialerutte/• Vercel: https://vercel.com• What world-class GTM looks like in 2026 | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (Vercel, Stripe, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-the-best-gtm-teams-do-differently• Everyone's an engineer now: Inside v0's mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder and CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch• Replit: https://replit.com• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad• ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io• The exact AI playbook (using MCPs, custom GPTs, Granola) that saved ElevenLabs $100k+ and helps them ship daily | Luke Harries (Head of Growth): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack• Bolt: https://bolt.new• Lovable: https://lovable.dev• Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai• Samsara: https://www.samsara.com/products/platform/ai-samsara-intelligence• UiPath: https://www.uipath.com• Denise Dresser on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisedresser• Agentforce: https://www.salesforce.com/form/agentforce• SaaStr's AI Agent Playbook: https://saastr.ai/agents• Brian Halligan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianhalligan• Brian Halligan's AI: https://www.delphi.ai/minds/bhalligan• Sierra: https://sierra.ai• Fin: https://fin.ai• Deccan: https://www.deccan.ai• Artisan: https://www.artisan.co• Qualified: https://www.qualified.com• Claude: https://claude.ai• HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com• Gamma: https://gamma.app• Sam Blond on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-blond-791026b• Brex: https://www.brex.com• Outreach: https://www.outreach.io• Gong: https://www.gong.io• Salesloft: https://www.salesloft.com• Mixmax: https://www.mixmax.com• “Sell the alpha, not the feature”: The enterprise sales playbook for $1M to $10M ARR | Jen Abel: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-enterprise-sales-playbook-1m-to-10m-arr• Clay: https://www.clay.com• Owner: https://www.owner.com• Momentum: https://www.momentum.io• Attention: https://www.attention.com• Granola: https://www.granola.ai• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff• Palantir: https://www.palantir.com• Databricks: https://www.databricks.com• Garry Tan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan• Rippling: https://www.rippling.com• Cursor: https://cursor.com• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell• The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-new-ai-growth-playbook-for-2026-elena-verna• Pluribus on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/pluribus/umc.cmc.37axgovs2yozlyh3c2cmwzlza• Sora: https://openai.com/sora• Reve: https://app.reve.com• Everything That Breaks on the Way to $1B ARR, with Mailchimp Co-Founder Ben Chestnut: https://www.saastr.com/everything-that-breaks-on-the-way-to-1b-arr-with-mailchimp-co-founder-ben-chestnut/• The Revenue Playbook: Rippling's Top 3 Growth Tactics at Scale, with Rippling CRO Matt Plank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eYtzBpjRw• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Melanie Smith, Head of Sales Development at Nooks, breaks down the exact systems, metrics, and coaching frameworks she uses to run one of the highest-performing SDR teams in outbound. In this episode, she shares KPI structures, call-block strategy, cold-call skill development, and how leaders can scale connect rates, conversation rates, and meeting production without burning out their reps.