Performance Coach to Enterprise Sellers | I help you drop the mindset trash, and optimize your daily routines to eliminate procrastination | AI Obsessed | Favorite movie: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

I'm Amber, a Performance Coach dedicated to helping elite enterprise tech sellers break through their mental barriers, upgrade their habits, and skyrocket their success.

With over 800 paid coaching sessions under my belt, I’ve helped hundreds of top-performing sellers to exceed their quotas and reclaim control of their workdays. I understand the unique challenges faced by enterprise tech sellers. 

Having climbed from a blue-collar background to the fast-paced world of tech, I've experienced imposter syndrome firsthand.

I worked my way up to find myself living and working in downtown San Francisco for a unicorn tech startup. I felt like a major Imposter -- At any minute people would realize that a person with my background was not supposed to be there.

One of my favorite quotes is by Ricky Gervais: “The best advice I've ever received is, 'No one else knows what they're doing either.” If other people can make it up, we can too.

I came up with my own system for overcoming self doubt, and I’ve used it to help thousands of people overcome their own imposter syndrome and mindset junk.

It drives me nuts to see someone with massive potential standing in their own way. I’m obsessed with finding the right tactics that work for every different kind of person. There’s nothing more rewarding for me than seeing someone break through their barriers and realize what they’re capable of.


Outside of coaching, I enjoy:

🏊 Swimming
🚴 Mountain and road biking
🏃 Running
📽️ Documentaries - specifically about top performers
📚 Avid reader of non-fiction -- business and self-help
🏆 I’m a 2x State Champ:
💃 Once for Competition Dance (we won with a routine on Pogo Sticks!)
🎭 The other for the State Drama Competition - we won in Pantomime (professional hand talker)
👯 I love a good dance party
🎶 Constantly on the hunt for new music 
🧠 Diagnosed with ADHD later in life 
🤖 Obsessed with AI and the endless possibilities it brings


My personality:

✅ Strengths Finder: Woo, Developer, Empathy, Individualization, Competition

✅ StandOut: Provider, Advisor (I can intuitively see how someone feels, and I’m a wealth of information from experts)

✅ Kolbe A: 3-3-9-4 (Simplify, Adapt, Innovate, Restore)

✅ Myers Briggs: ENFP (Enthusiastic, Creative, and Sociable Free Spirit)

✅ Enneagram: 3 - The Achiever

Amber Deibert

I was just reflecting on a year of completely transforming my health.

The keys for me were:

Knowing myself (I need accountability, not online courses)
Giving myself permission to do it messy

A year ago, I had gotten into a regular rhythm of going to the gym (!!), and I was really proud of myself. 

I would wake up early every morning (something I thought I would NEVER - like really, NEVER - be able to do), and I would either run, swim, or bike. 

But then there was a part of me that wanted to learn to strength train, but I was terrified. 

(I avoided the weightlifting side of the gym).

Sometimes I would have to go through the weights side to get to the yoga room, and I felt SO UNCOMFORTABLE I wanted to crawl out of my skin. 

I felt like all these super ripped people were staring at me, and their eyes said, “what are you doing over here?! You obviously don’t belong!”

But I did really want to learn how to do it.  

I could have found a course to teach me, but I knew I wouldn't actually do it, so I had another option: working with a personal trainer at my gym. 

But come on, I’m not the kind of person who hires a personal trainer?! Sheesh, that’s got to be like millions of dollars, and who does that?? I’m not that kind of person. Plus, how embarrassing would it be to admit that you have no idea what you’re doing and make a complete fool of yourself IN FRONT of an expert?? Psh… yeah right. 

HOWEVER (judgy Amber, take note…), I also know about myself that the best way I can support my goals is with outside accountability. 

So in January last year, I bit the bullet and signed up to work with a personal trainer. I wanted someone to teach me how to lift, how to use the machines, and watch my form to make sure I didn’t break myself. (And I found that actually it was not MILLIONS of dollars…)

I committed to 6 months. 

Y’all… this is the best money I’ve ever spent in my entire life. 

Investing in a personal trainer CHANGED MY ENTIRE LIFE. 

Getting the knowledge I needed (straight from someone who was an expert!) accelerated my growth. 

Having that person to cheer me on kept me consistent, and everything I did was personalized to me and my goals (and weaknesses, ha!). 

I'm not joking when I say that this positively impacted every single area of my life. 

↳  my health improved (duh)
↳  my eating improved 
↳  my relationships improved 
↳  my parenting improved
↳  my professional life improved 
↳  I made more money than ever before 
↳  my confidence skyrocketed 

And now I’m obsessed with strength training. 

I can’t get enough of it. I crave it. 

I love showing myself what I can do. 

I feel so proud of myself. 

If you're staring down some personal change that you want to make, I hope this gives you hope. You can absolutely do it. 

Give yourself a lot of time, and a lot of understanding, and it's as good as done!

Sales Performance Speaker and Coach for Enterprise Sellers | Mindset & Productivity | Creator of the Work Like You Workout™ Framework for pain-free productivity 💪

I had a full circle moment at the gym this morning. 

It made me realize I’m so grateful to myself for letting myself be a sucky beginner. 

A year ago, I committed to learning how to strength train.

It was an awkward, uncomfortable process to learn how to strength train, but now I can't imagine my life without it!!

I love it so much!

So this morning I jumped on my old treadmill (after avoiding cardio for a year), and just had a moment. 

Holy moly.

I met myself from a year ago. Wow. 

That Amber would never believe who I am today. She honestly wouldn’t be able to process it.

I'm so grateful to myself for:

↳ being willing to look like an idiot
↳ being a sloppy beginner 
↳  betting on myself
↳  not quitting (even when it sucked and every muscle in my body was screaming at me)
↳  pushing through the self-doubt
↳  being brave enough to feel all the feelings 
↳  making the best financial investment of my life (hiring a personal trainer to coach me and keep me accountable!)
↳  knowing and accepting myself and setting myself up with the best possible chance at success (courses)

For those of you who aren’t sure if you can create your dream life and are feeling doubt, I hope this gives YOU some hope. 

For those of you who have been through a similar life transformation, LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!!! Look how far you’ve come! Holy mother!! You’re doing it!

Be willing to feel stupid as a beginner. It’s just part of the process.

I got braces again last month.

Yes, again.
Yes, I’m vain.
And no, I did not have “adult braces as a mindset lesson” on my 2026 bingo card.

But it cracked something open for me in the best way.

Because the first time I had braces, I was a broke college kid working at Kinko’s… counting dollars… saying no to an $8 burrito because I literally didn’t have it.

But this time I paid for my son’s braces and mine upfront, and it barely registered.

And it hit me: we don’t feel successful when we become successful.

We only feel it when we stop long enough to notice the contrast.

Nothing is wrong with you.
You’re just measuring yourself with the wrong ruler.

Old Way vs New Way (how high performers measure success)

Old Way
↳ You measure your life by the gap (where you are vs where you “should” be)
↳ Comparison quietly erases your progress
↳ You chase “status” and call it ambition (and the finish line keeps moving)

New Way
↳ You measure your life by the gain (how far you’ve actually come)
↳ You choose goals based on values, not optics
↳ You ask one question before you chase the next thing:

“Would I still want this if no one could see it… and I couldn’t compare it to anyone else?”

That question will expose what’s aligned… and what’s just performance.

Keep going.
Just make sure you’re running toward what you want, not what looks impressive for 48 hours.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
↳ Why comparison makes even “successful” people feel behind
↳ The desert-island test that instantly reveals whether you want something for you or for status
How to use money (and achievement) as a tool, not a scoreboard

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

What’s something you’re proud of that your younger self would be absolutely blown away by?

If you have ADHD, it’s not that you don’t know what’s important. It’s that your brain is wired to follow what’s interesting.

I learned that:

Neurotypicals do what is IMPORTANT.

ADHDers do what is INTERESTING.

So, when you find yourself doing literally anything except the thing you “should” be doing?
↳  You’re not irresponsible.
↳  You’re not avoiding.
↳  Your brain is simply chasing stimulation.

This is absolutely solvable.

Once you understand your interest-driven brain, you can build systems that make the important things feel interesting, or at least doable.

I teach these techniques to my ADHD clients (and use them myself), and they’re game-changing for getting the high-value work done each day.

Want more ADHD-friendly productivity tools?
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Get Out of Your Own Way.
It’s where I share everything I can’t fit into a single post. {Link in comments}

Why ADHD Doesn’t Mean You’re “Bad at Focus”

The manager you work for has an outsized impact on how successful you can be.

When you have a manager that gives you the kind of support YOU need...

(which is totally different for each person!)

...you are naturally more successful.

Be REALLY selective when finding a new manager!

Here's what no one admits about pushing your comfort zone. 

I was just talking with a friend who recently created her own business after being in the corporate world for decades.

I was celebrating her, and she said something like, "I just hope I can build something great like what you've built."

It really made me reflect.

I told her, "The way things look on the outside is nothing like how they feel on the inside."

Whenever you're embarking on a big change like this, it feels horrible on the inside. 

There's so much imposter syndrome that comes up. So much self-doubt.

It's been fascinating to see how much that has continued even as I'm about to cross over eight years in business.

I feel confident and secure in my abilities and my skills, but I'm still pushing the edge of my comfort zone by learning new skills and evolving into new areas. 

So the imposter syndrome is always there.

I've been really buoyed up lately by hearing other entrepreneurs very candidly share their experiences. 

↳ Share that it's hard for them. 
↳ That they still question themselves. 
↳ That there are just as many challenges as there are successes.

So I want to echo that: having your own business is the most personal development I've ever done in my life. 

…and I am BIG into personal development.

It's so fun and so rewarding. 

And also, if you're embarking on a big challenge like this and feeling like you’re in way over your head, you are totally not alone.

I write about this kind of stuff regularly in my newsletter. Join me there if you want more honest conversations about the messy middle of growth.

If you’ve ever looked at the #1 rep and thought, “Must be nice… they probably don’t deal with this messy self-doubt thing”…

I need you to hear me: they do.

Nothing is wrong with you.
 You’re not “behind.” You’re just human.

Here’s the one mindset shift I see top performers use (and the one I coach into everyone):

Old Way vs New Way (when imposter syndrome hits)

Old Way:
You spiral inward.

↳ “Am I good enough?”
↳ “What if I blow this call?”
↳ “What if they can tell I’m winging it?”
↳ “I need this deal to close.”

New Way:
 You shift outward into service.

↳ “What is their real problem?”
↳ “What are they trying to protect right now?”
↳ “What would make this decision feel safe?”
↳ “How can I help them think clearly, whether they buy or not?”

Because insecurity is almost always a symptom of being stuck in your own head.

When you move into a consultative state (coach energy, not needy energy), a few things happen fast:

↳ You stop auditioning.
↳ You start leading.
↳ You sound calmer, clearer, more credible.
↳ And buyers feel it.

This is the same reason top reps can “detach from the outcome” and still close monster deals. They’re not robots. They’ve just trained themselves to redirect their attention.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
“I have a 100% track record of always figuring it out.” (Yes, steal that mantra.)
Plus, how the best sellers identify their weaknesses and build workarounds instead of trying to “fix” themselves.

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

When you’re feeling shaky on a deal, what do you usually do first: spiral inward… or shift into curiosity about the buyer?

I give up on being an entrepreneur.

Over and over again.

In fact, at least 1-2x per week, I’m ready to burn it all down.

I get convinced that it’s not working, and it’s never going to work.

…and then I just keep going.

And when the next day comes, things start working.

I start working.

Anything that’s worth pursuing will feel like crap 50% of the time.

And that’s normal.

Just keep going.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s probably not your workload.

It’s the lack of clarity.

When your brain’s trying to hold 100 priorities at once, you end up in reactive mode. Everything feels urgent. Nothing actually moves forward.

Here’s what works instead:

Plan your entire quarter in 12-week sprints.

That’s it. Here’s how I break it down:
↳ Choose 1-3 goals max
↳ Define what success looks like (lag vs. lead measures)
↳ Break goals into weekly tactics
↳ Assign tactics to specific weeks
↳Track them visually (I use color-coded sticker charts)

It gives your brain a break and your week a map.
No more waking up at 3 a.m., remembering that email you forgot to send.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
↳ How to use the 12-Week Year for quarterly planning
↳ The 2-minute rule that stops procrastination in its tracks
↳ The A/B/C + 1/2/3 prioritization method to calm chaos instantly 

Wait until you hear the simple tool that turns your chaotic to-do list into 5 crystal-clear priorities.

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

What’s your biggest struggle when it comes to planning?

Stanford researchers discovered something surprising about starting a new habit. 

Have you ever heard of tiny habits?

It's the idea that BJ Fogg and the Stanford Behavioral Science Lab came up with. 

The idea is to habit stack your habits and start TINY. 

Anything you want to add to your routine, you find another habit you can stack it after.

Let's say you want to do more exercise. 

You might decide that every time you turn on your shower, as you're waiting for it to heat up, you do one tiny habit. 

Something like doing one pushup.

Or after you brush your teeth, and you want to floss more, you floss one tooth. (Sounds silly, I know, but go with me here)

The idea is to make it so tiny that your brain is like, "Oh, I can do that." And continue to do the tiny habits until you get really good at it.

I tried this with a client. 

She was having a hard time doing her physical therapy exercises. 

(I mean, who doesn't?) 

And not only that, she was a busy mom of (many) small children.

We found a moment in her day. 

Every day, she cooked oatmeal in the microwave for herself. 

So we found that if she did her 30 seconds of core exercises while her oatmeal cooked, she could reliably do it every single day.

Otherwise, she was never able to find time for it in her busy schedule as a mom.

Stacking her oatmeal habit alongside her PT cued her brain to remember, and she got all her exercises done!

Try out tiny habits and see if they work for you.

A lot of you are feeling defeated about not keeping your New Year's Resolutions, but try finding a space in your existing routine to stack them together. 

And make them TINY! Tiny beats out “perfect but never done” every day!

Follow along if you want more simple, science-backed ideas for getting more done with less friction.

New Year’s resolutions? Total garbage.
They work for about 2% of people, and I’m guessing you’re not one of them.

Here’s what actually works for enterprise sellers who are ambitious and overwhelmed:

Instead of forcing motivation in January, plan your year around your natural cycles of energy and clarity.

Here’s how to start:

↳ Notice when you actually feel renewed (hint: it might be spring or fall)
↳ Visualize your life one year from now vividly, with all five senses
↳ Write it down like it’s already happened
↳ Let that be the roadmap. Not a punishment list.

Old Way: Set a goal to “fix” yourself
New Way: Do favors for your future self

In this week’s episode, I break down:

↳ Why New Year’s might be the worst time to set big goals
↳ The “future self” mindset that actually sticks
↳ A simple planning structure that works with your energy

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

When do you feel your strongest planning energy, in January or another season?

Sometimes sucking at your job can be really useful data. 

For my entire career, my employers LOVED me. ...until...

Anytime I decided to leave a company, my employers always begged me to stay. One time, even offering to DOUBLE my salary if I would stay.

So I had a belief that I was a great employee and employers loved me.

Until this one point.

I had just returned from maternity leave, my team had restructured while I was gone, and the company was undergoing a MASSIVE overhaul.

Suddenly, I wasn't getting the projects I wanted.
I wasn't getting the promotions I wanted.
I was actually sucking at my job.

I started to question everything:

Was I actually a good employee? Maybe I wasn't that great. Maybe I was delusional before. Did employers actually like me?

It was a massively low point in my career. I started to wonder if I had any real worth in the workforce.

And add on top of all of that the pressure of trying to navigate working as a new mom.

Here's what I discovered.

I was in the wrong environment.

It wasn't that I was wrong, and it wasn't that my employer was wrong. It just wasn't a good fit for either of us.

I wasn't an unsuccessful person. I was just in a situation where I could never thrive, no matter how much effort I put into it.

I got myself out of there, and I started to thrive again.

If you're feeling frustrated and stuck, try taking a look at your environment.

Is it a place where your strengths are being optimized, or is it an environment where you need to improve your weaknesses (a losing battle, if you ask me)?

This isn't about blaming or accusing anyone. It's just an honest look at what reality is.

Nurture wins over nature in the workforce.

If you're stuck wondering whether it's you or your situation, I'd love to help you sort it out. Reach out if you want to talk about working together.

Nature vs Nurture

"Ain't bad, just is."

The first time I heard Chris Dorris say this, I cracked up. 

(Who says "ain't" these days?)

But the more I've used it, the more I realize how brilliant it is.

Saying "ain't" in my mind or even out loud is such a pattern interrupt that it really helps me see the reality of what's happening.

Here's the concept: 

So many things we experience, we instantly judge as bad. 

Then we get emotional, dysregulated, frustrated, and feel stuck.

Chris talked about changing that whole perspective. 

Instead, see the situation as neutral.

Everything that happens to us is neutral. We get to decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Another thing he says: "Your problem is that you experience reality problematically."

What you're experiencing is reality. If you have a problem with it, that's because you're experiencing it problematically.

Using "ain't bad, just is" has been so helpful to neutralize how I'm feeling vs. what I normally would do: judge the situation, feel frustrated, then try to fix the situation and fix my feelings.

When you can just detour that whole drama and energy waste and instead decide "ain't bad, just is"... maybe there is something good about this situation.

I ask myself, "What if this is the best thing that could happen?"

Or tell myself, "Maybe in the future I'll see how this was exactly what needed to happen."

It's so much less energy draining when you get to decide how you want to feel about it.

If you want to learn more about this, you’ve GOT to check out Chris’ book, Mental Toughness Mantras. It has legitimately changed my life!

In January of 2025, I set a goal to build self-trust. It felt impossible. 

And now it's been a year, and I could never have guessed how it would pan out.

I've had low self-trust for a long time. I frequently say I'm going to do something and frequently don't do that thing.

How can I ever trust myself if I don't actually do what I say I'm going to do? 

In January, it became very obvious that self-trust was exactly what I needed and exactly what was holding me back.

So I made it my goal for 2025 to build self-trust.

I laughed at myself for this goal. It felt completely impossible and totally ridiculous.

It's not like I hadn't tried before.

I had tried many times to be consistent, to do what I said I would do, to be able to trust myself...

And again, I failed every single time.

I was pretty gung-ho about it early in the year, and then I felt like I wasn't making any progress, so I pretty much gave up on the goal.

And now it's been a year, and I just saw a reminder for myself that I created at the beginning of the year of self-trust. 

Seeing that, I just realized that I have made massive improvements in trusting myself this year, but it didn't come how I thought it would come.

I thought it would come through:  
↳ Pure grit
↳ Pure consistency
↳ Massive discipline
↳ Never letting myself down
 
 It turns out none of those things are true.

What actually created self-trust was: 
↳  Massive self-acceptance
↳  Massive self-compassion
↳  And meeting myself where I am vs. trying to make myself be something I'm not 

I learned to support myself and give myself what I need (a lot more rest, frankly).

When I did that, I assumed my productivity would plummet.

But actually, I have been more productive than ever before.

I've gotten really clear on what are actual priorities and what are distractions.

And when I sit down to work, I get work done faster with more clarity and more focus because I am ready to work instead of grinding away operating at a 2 out of 10.

So, wildly enough, now I trust myself to get done what I need to get done (because I'm getting done what I need to get done).

But it wasn't through hustle or grind or forcing myself. It was through caring for myself.

CRAZY!!

Have you had a massive transformation last year? I'd love to hear about it!

Self-Trust

For 20+ years, I set the same goal every January: Get in shape.

I tried training plans, spreadsheets, triathlons, cardio streaks… and every time, I fell off the wagon. I’d beat myself up, tell myself I was lazy, and believe something was wrong with me.

But last year, everything changed.
I didn’t find a better plan.
I found a better approach.

OLD WAY:
↳ Rely on fear, guilt, and shame to push through
↳ Chase consistency through rigidity
↳ Use deadlines to force motivation

NEW WAY:
↳ Start with self-acceptance
↳ Make decisions based on what actually works for me
↳ Treat future-me with generosity

And here’s the wildest part:
It worked. Better than anything else ever has.
I'm now the most consistent I've ever been with fitness, and the benefits have spilled into every area of my life.

In this week’s episode, I break down:

↠ The surprising strategy that finally made it stick
↠ Why motivating yourself with fear leads to burnout
↠ How kindness can be your most powerful performance tool

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. 

What’s one area where you’ve been pushing instead of partnering with yourself?

Salman Mohiuddin

Enterprise Account Executive, Marketing Cloud (Financial Services)

Helping sales pros + teams build healthy pipeline to close more deals faster | Sales Coach + Trainer @ SSA | 17 years as a quota carrier | ex-Salesforce, Asana and IBM | Interview Ace

Problem before Product. 

17 years of tech sales experience as an SDR + AE at Salesforce, IBM and Asana all as an individual contributor. There’s more 👉

Currently Founder at Salman Sales Academy.

#1 Sales Influencer in Canada 2025 (source: Favikon)

Coaching and training AEs, SDRs, BDRs + sales teams to find and close more deals.

Started as an SDR in 2006, moved to AE in 2007.

6 years at IBM
- SDR 
- SMB + MM AE
- small Enterprise AE

7 years at Salesforce
- MM AE (new logo)
- Enterprise AE

2.5 years at Asana
- Enterprise AE 

2 years at startups 
- SMB AE (new logo)
- Enterprise AE

I currently coach + train AEs, AMs, BDRs, SDRs and Sales teams on prospecting, problem enablement, discovery, demos, deal strategy and interviews.

DM me for:

- 1:1 Sales coaching 
- Sales team coaching + training for your company
- 1:1 Sales interview consults to help you land an offer
- Speaking engagements or sessions for your company
- Podcast guest 


✅ Widely recognized as a master prospector & hunter

✅ Experienced in consultative selling to C-level, Information Technology (IT), Marketing, Ops, HR and more.

✅ Sales Interview Ace - the interview playbook I've built has resulted in an 80% success rate in interviews

✅ Possess an Honors B.A., Economics

[Sales COACHING]

➡️ Problem Enablement [build confidence in truly understanding your persona and the problems your solution solves for]

➡️ Prospecting [cold email, cold calling, warm calling, objection handling]

➡️ Discovery [full 5-step discovery framework to help lead your calls with confidence and in the flow of the conversation]

➡️ Demos [full demo framework, engaging demos, justifying spend, taking control of deals, PoC/Pilot strategy, etc…]

➡️ Deal Strategy [multithreading, uncovering power, executive alignment + engagement, quantifying pain, business case, negotiation, dealing with objections throughout cycle, taking control of your deals, champion building, mutual plans, forecasting, etc...]

➡️ Interviews - I've refined my interview playbook that has help 80+ folks land offers [interviews, mock cold calls, mock discovery, mock presos, territory plans (that will wow a hiring manager)]

I've built an entire Sales playbook from prospecting to close in everything in between based on my 17 years of experience as an individual contributor in tech sales.

No fluff. All actionable sales insights and content, with real examples, that you can start using right away in your role and see immediate results.

Check out the coaching programs and testimonials here:  www.salmansales.com

or DM me. Happy to help.

Founder

Helping AEs, SDRs + Sales teams find and close more deals. 🚀 Boosting income and revenue. 

17 years of tech Sales experience, all as an individual contributor. I've been in your shoes as an SDR, Commercial, and Enterprise AE at companies like Salesforce, IBM and Asana. In the trenches. Exceeding targets. Even in economic downturns.

Documenting all of my learnings, I've built out a Sales playbook. Now I want to give back to YOU.

I teach individual contributors + Sales teams on how to sell better, exceed targets, boost income / revenue, and accelerate growth. All with actionable Sales content and insights that you and your team can start using right away. Seeing immediate results.

Spoke to an AE who ranked #2 globally out of 700+ AEs at his company last fiscal.

He’s gunning for #1 this fiscal (which ends in a few months for him)

What’s he doing differently?

It’s not complicated.

It’s the fundamentals.

(and it works)

Here’s a glimpse 👇

1. Knows the problems inside and out

He got the same product training as everyone else during onboarding.

Rather than jumping into product after hearing an ounce of pain, he takes a problem-first approach when speak into IT security leaders.

He spent his first few weeks in role truly understanding not the product, BUT

→ the problem it solves (in prospects language)
→ how said problem affects each key persona
→ how typically teams tackle the problem today
→ negative impact of ignoring the problem
→ KPIs + metrics affected by problem 

So when he talks to prospects, they think:

“This person gets my world.”


2. In discovery, he goes beyond surface-level pain 

If you took him aside and asked him about an in-quarter deal, he could tell you:

→ the specific problem they are facing (in their language)
→ how the team is dealing with problem today 
→ the use cases tied to that problem 
→ the impact on persona, team and org
→ who it’s affecting and why it actually matters
→ the exeutive priority that problem puts at risk
→ the risks or obstacles currently in the deal 
→ how he’s proactively de-risking them
→ next step, who owns it, and the goal

He knows discovery isn’t a stage in the sales process.

It runs throughout the entire deal cycle.


3. He leverages his x-functional team

Works closely with SDR, SE, CSMs, Pro Services, and a TON with partners.

But he doesn’t just “loop them in”. What he does:

→ prepares SEs before every call and demo
→ brings in execs for exec-to-exec alignment
→ sends each exec a 1-page deal brief before that 
→ works with partners as a true win-win
→ consistently meets with them, “walks the halls”
→ builds mutual plans that hold everyone accountable

………………………………………………

I’ve been coaching this AE for almost 2 years.

He wants to Finish #1 globally this fiscal.

……………………….

With how competitive the market is.
With budgets being super tight.
With all the AI tools at our fingertips.

IMO, it comes down to the fundamentals of sales that will help drive our success.

Helping Sales Pros Close More Deals + Crush Quota | 17 Years as an AE | ex-Salesforce, IBM + Asana | Founder, Salman Sales Academy | #1 Sales Influencer in Canada 2025

1st year AE, I was told these were good disco questions:

“Do you have budget set aside for this?” 
“What’s your timeframe in making a decision?” 
“Who's the decision maker on your end?” 

😐 

I asked them pretty much exactly like that. BANT style.
And prospects saw right through it.

They felt lazy.
Salesy.

Pure “check-the-box” questions.
Deals didn’t move forward.

Conversations stayed shallow.
Something had to change.

If I wanted real answers, I had to stop qualifying and start understanding.

Here’s what changed everything 👇

4 simple shifts that made qualification feel natural 
(not salesy)

1. Timeframe → Consequence

Instead of asking:
“What’s your time frame?” 😐

Ask:
“What’s happening today that’s causing you to take a closer look at this problem now vs later?” 🙂

Now timing had meaning.


2. Decision maker → Initiative ownership

Instead of asking:
“Who’s the decision maker?” 😐

Ask:
“When folks are trying to solve a big problem like this I find it’s usually driven by someone at the exec level. In addition to yourself, is there an exec on your side this initiative is being driven by?” 🙂

No pressure.
Just context.


3. Budget → Reality check

Instead of asking:
“Do you have budget?” 😐

Ask:
“Usually what I find is companies fall in 1 of 2 buckets:
a) have budget set aside for a specific project + eval
b) there's no line item for fiscal aligned to the project + eval
Which bucket would you put yourself in?" 🙂

Way more honest answers.


4. Sign-off → Risk

Instead of asking:
 “When do you expect sign off?” 😐

Ask:
“What would prevent your CIO and CFO from moving forward?” 🙂

Obstacles surfaced early.
Not at the end.

............................................

The difference?
Purpose.
Intention.

Respect for the buyer.

Ask questions that help prospects think, not questions that make them feel sold to.

Not so hot take: Quit wasting time and team resources on RFPs you have no business being in.

Imagine this 👇 

→ prospect invites you to participate in an RFP 
→ AE drops what they're doing, pipes a 100k deal
→ gathers team resources (SE, PS, Product, etc...)

Team is heads down for the next few weeks.

Responding to the 100+ questions.

Preparing for the demo so they can meet req'ts.

Only to find out a month later they aren't the selected vendor.

.................................................

Here's why this is a mistake:

→ you're late to the party if you just found out about the RFP
→ prospect already has a good idea on the vendor
→ your team wastes weeks on a lost cause
→ resources are drained

Winning RFPs requires early engagement.

Ask yourself:

- were we engaged prior to release?
- did we help co-create or shape the RFP?
- are they willing to meet so we can learn more?

If not, you've got to make the smart decision and walk away

... and focus on winnable deals instead.

(There are exceptions here, especially in gov't / public sector for example where RFPs are the norm)

But in the majority of cases, it's true.

Use your time (and your team's time) wisely.

The best salespeople know when to say no.

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Amber Deibert

Salman Mohiuddin

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taplio

The Battle

Amber Deibert

Salman Mohiuddin

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Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Amber Deibert's LinkedIn Performance

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