Best Selling

Our guest on this episode is Kiva Kolstein. Kiva is the CRO at Alphasense a startup in NYC that provides AI search technology for enterprises. During the conversation we’ll focus on choreographing the sales process from beginning to end. As Kiva explains, the key to choreographing for a best seller is memorization. Memorization leads to clarity so the seller is freed up in the moment. And I bet you thought choreography was just for dancers.   Also during this episode we’ll also learn about quantitative and qualitative pipeline review and get into Kiva’s background as a sales leader.  

Our guest on this episode is Eric Rosenthal. Eric is the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at a SaaS startup in NYC called Emissary - the enterprise sales intelligence network.   During our conversation Eric and I discuss the role of the Chief Revenue Officer; how it came about, the difference between a VP of Sales and CRO and growing importance of this role at SaaS startups.    We’ll also discuss the importance of alignment between the revenue generating departments - marketing, client success, sales and BD. Along the way Eric shares his journey from Business School to sales leadership.    This is Best Selling. 

Our guest on this episode is Grant Kitching.  Grant is the Chief Revenue Officer at Real Magic a startup in downtown Raleigh NC. Real Magic sells a product that helps small businesses manage their professional relationships to take their business to the next level.    During our conversation with Grant we’ll discuss how to attack a market through verticalization to build a competitive advantage. We’ll also explore the criteria for selecting a market or TAM and as always we’ll find out what makes Grant tick and if he has any super powers.    Highlights: 1:46  Pick up the phone to research a market 5:30  Vertical focus to create a competitive advantage 10:45 The 3 pieces to vertical success 16:19 Choosing a Total Addressable Market (TAM) 22:42 Characteristic of a Best Seller 29:01 The “Servant Leader” 

Our guest on this episode is Mary Oakley.  Mary is a Strategic Sales Director at Red Hat where she has spent the last 11 years selling open source solutions to enterprises.   On this episode we’re going to dig deep into Emotional Quotient (EQ) and why it’s an important characteristic for best sellers. Mary and I will also discuss her path from IBM to Red Hat and her early dream of becoming the CEO at IBM.    Highlights:   3:30 - EQ vs IQ and their characteristics.  10:26 - Why empathy is so critical to selling.  13:12 - Dreaming of becoming the CEO of IBM. 26:02 - No one likes a micro manager, no one. 34:40 - Daring to be great at high speeds, the Richard Petty driving experience.  

Our guest on this episode is Brandon Walker. Brandon is the VP of Sales at Untappd out of Wilmington, NC.    On this episode we’ll dig into the Importance of Creating a winning sales culture to help motivate and hold your sales team accountable. Brandon discusses how creating the right culture is not only good for sales but in this case also benefited Untappd.     Along the way Brandon shares his journey and why he dropped out of UNCW to join Draper University in Silicon Valley to start a career as an entrepreneur.    This is Best Selling.   Highlights:   5:56 - Why create a sales culture?  10:24 - The truth about Millennials 19:48 - Dropping out of UNCW to attend Draper University in Silicon Valley 23:48 - Stereotypical view of sales until he jumped all-in 27:13 - Learning from Jordan Belfort of Wolf of Wall Street fame

Our guest on this episode of Best Selling is Will Barfield. Will is the CEO of Barfield Revenue Consulting which is full-service sales consulting and talent acquisition firm located in Raleigh, NC.    On this episode we’ll dig into the characteristics of a great sales person and why some are more successful than others. Will also tells his story on how he got started in sales using a phone book and a box of cards.    Episode Highlights:   1:58 - What successful sales reps look like   12:12 - Why are some sales reps more successful than others   32:56 - Self taught sales by picking up a phone book and calling on cards   36:40 - Eating Wish Sandwiches to survive

Our guest on this episode of Best Selling is Mar Brandt. Mar is the VP of Enterprise Sales at Sitecore in SF. Mar has a long and successful track record in building enterprise sales organizations and taking down large complex deals. On this episode we’ll uncover the key’s to Mar success with enterprise sales and find out about her journey all the way. She is a true super star and was once Experian’s sales person of the year. Stay tuned for another entertaining and informative episode.   Highlights:   2:43 - Selling to large multi-billion dollar organizations   10:01 - What are the characteristics of an enterprise hunter   13:00 - Recruiting Unicorns   17:30 - Its all about the process. Mar likes Value Selling a lot.   28:30 - Experian's Sales Person of the Year!        

Our guest on this episode is Brad McGinity. Brad is currently the Vice President of Sales at 15Five a Silicon Valley based startup that makes continuous employee feedback simple to drive high performing cultures. Prior to 15Five, Brad was a co-founder and VP of Sales at Windsor Circle.    During this episode we’ll focus on Brad’s run at Windsor Circle and learn what its like to build a team from scratch while trying to deliver results in a very fast paced environment.    We’ll also uncover a couple of interesting facts about Brad like the fact that he trained with Michael Phelps in Baltimore and once bought at house from his soon to be boss. He also trained for the Boston Marathon and because of a slight miscalculation just missed qualifying by 12 seconds, talk about timing! Enjoy. This is Best Selling.

Our guest on this episode is Michael Osborne. Michael is currently the President and CEO at SmarterHQ. Prior to that Michael was the original head of sales at Bazaarvoice which he helped take from $1m to a successful IPO.    During this episode we’ll hear from Michael on a number of topics. While at Bazaarvoice, Michael implemented a creative process to hiring high performing sales reps. He looked for passion, intelligence and the ability to communicate.    One of my favorite parts is when Michael explains the creation of the “Spartan” culture. and as you know Spartan’s fight to the death.    From a KPI perspective Micheal explains that the only KPI that really matters is the closing rate.   Oh and by the way Michael's walk up song of choice is Don't Stop Believing by Journey.   Enjoy. 

On this episode our guest will be Josh McBride.  Josh is the founder and CEO of Upsider. Upsider is a solution that helps automate the sales recruiting process.    Full discloser, Josh and I go way back. I hired Josh into his first sales role during our days at CheetahMail where he continued to grow and eventually became their VP of Sales at an early age.   During this episode we’ll learn some interesting things about Josh like…   How Sports taught him the importance of being data driven.   How starting in a customer service role helped him learn the product offering and be empathetic to the customer which ultimately provided him a quicker ramp up to start his sales career.    We’ll learn what are the most important characteristics of a successful seller or a best seller. I think you’ll be surprised by one or two of his characteristics.    and finally we’ll learn that Josh doesn’t play the violin but loves Woo Tang Clan. 

On this first episode of Best Selling our guest is Brandon Gracey. Brandon is the VP of Sales at Handshake in NYC. During the interview we’ll learn about some interesting things about Brandon and his sales career like;   He once wanted to be a crayon maker but settled on becoming a grave digger, true story.    We’ll discuss the most important part of the sales process, secret its not closing.    We’ll also uncover the #1 characteristic of every great sales rep and what it takes to close big deals.   Finally we’ll find out Brandon’s true super power is and discuss why product is more important than marketing.