I help organizations create modern learning strategies for their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Stories of Selling Human

Sometimes in your life it feels like you lose everything.  

Like the year I was laid off.  Interviews pushed from COVID 19,  But then the real bomb hit,

My Dad got diagnosed Leukemia.

Just 5 months later, unfortunately my Dad passed away.  Despite losing so much, I'll never lose what my Dad taught me about life.  Things like selflessness, a relentless work ethic, and a thirst for knowledge.

His best lesson was how to create genuine connections with everyone in your life.  I've taken that approach to sales my whole life.  I’m still the 8 yr old kid who loved meeting people so much that he went door to door selling Ham and Cheese out of a catalog.

I got genuine connections out of it and the Sony Boombox I won wasn’t half bad either!

Highlights from 15 years in professional sales:

🔥 I launched a new team where I successfully recruited financial producers for a firm owned by Fran Tarkenton, Hall of Fame QB.

🔥I was named the top sales rep in an office of over 50 media sales people.  Judged not just by sales attainment but also by activity.

🔥At Monster, I sold the biggest partnership contract in the history of our team. $300k ARR, 3 year deal. 

What am I most proud of professionally?

A 15 minute meeting.  I drove 3 hours to Chicago to meet a client I’ve never met in person.  For 15 mins to say hi and drive back.  It wasn’t to close a deal.  It was just a Tuesday. 

Those “Just Tuesday” moments are why I love this gig.

I’ve had success in my career because I genuinely seek to understand people. 

An understanding strategy IS my sales strategy.

My relentlessness isn’t driven by my product or a sales number. I'm motivated by digging deeper to discover the “un-discovered” problem.   Sales is something that happens for and with your buyer not to them.  You're a guide on a discovery together with the intention to help and add value.  ALWAYS.

The best feeling in sales isn’t ringing a bell, (even though that’s always fun). 

The real joy is in being told three simple words.

“I trust you.” 

That’s what really lights me up and what I'm going for.

Finally, my approach in sales is guided by attuning yourself to what someone’s entire world is like, actively listening without any agenda, being genuine, and putting them first.

I call these things, “Selling Human”.  I practice it daily.  I think we can all do it.

I choose to study it.

If you want to learn it with me, listen to my podcast:  Sell By Being Human 
(wherever you get your podcasts)

AND for more,

Follow #sellbybeinghuman

Alex Smith

I’m getting on a plane to see my mom this week but I also need your help.

Hoping someone out there has worked with a parent that is searching for assisted living or memory care.

This week we’ll be looking at some places and its a whole journey I’ve bever been a part of before.

So always good to find people that have travelled that same journey.

I also know its big to shout out birthdays on Linkedin recently so shouting out my Mom for turning 79 this past week!

79 has brought a lot of joy and tough realizations.

She’s the same age as my Dad was when he passed away 6 yrs ago.

As your parents age you start counting experiences you’ll have with them in person on your hands.

Trying to squeeze in more time because you know it’s finite.

I always hear people say, 
I’m not ready for my parents to get there.

But its not about being ready.

You’ll never be ready.

Its about being present.

So value the time you have before it’s too late.

Lucky that we have this week and hopefully more weeks in our future to be present.

Presence is the present at 79.  😊

I help organizations make learning enjoyable across their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Sell By Being Human

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Todd Caponi

As it turns out, being transparent sells better, retains better, grows better, negotiates better & leads better. I speak (CSP®) and teach revenue organizations how we as human beings engage, prioritize, and decide - then how to use that knowledge (for good...not evil!) in their 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 (informal and formal), 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 and 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 

I wrote two award-winning books about it, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳. I have a third book coming out January 27th 2026 called 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘕𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.

I am a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science and sales history nerd, and have led in seven different roles - including at two companies through successful exits. One of them had a double exit (IPO, followed by an exit valued at ~$3B) 

I achieved the exclusive status of CSP® (certified speaking professional) in 2024, which only ~500 active speakers have achieved in the world.

Founder, Speaker & Workshop Leader

A consumer behavior research study changed my life. While that may sound odd, it fueled my fire to take a wide range of behavioral science, research and data, and use those elements to drive simple solutions into the sales and sales leadership world.

What was the greatest Sales Kickoff speech of all time?

IMO, it’s Steve Jobs delivering this 5-minute talk to his sales team on October 22nd, 1983.

In the short talk, he hilariously rips on IBM.

It leads to a preview of an advertisement they would air during the Super Bowl just three months later…(January 22nd, 1984)

…an advertisement that would be introducing the Macintosh computer. 

…an advertisement that’s still talked about today, and is maybe the most significant technology ad of all time. 

Of the five minutes, about a minute is just the sales organization cheering wildly.

Just imagine being on that sales team that day…

If you’ve got five minutes, give it a watch. I just think this is so friggin’ cool.

Transparency Nerd | Sales Historian | Keynote Speaker (CSP®) | Sales & Leadership Trainer | 3x Author

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