AE @ Gong | Closed Won 🦙 | 5x President's Club

Creating raving fans @ Gong. Founder of Closed Won. Dad to Monty 🐾 

Brian LaManna

Gong's AI Builder went GA last week. And it's absolutely insane.

I was lucky enough to have 5 customers Beta this in Q3.

They're saving 10, 20, 30+ hours per week.

Here's what makes it different.

It turns what your top performers are ALREADY doing in the field into repeatable content the rest of your org can use.

Battle cards. Scripts. Case studies. Objection handling guides. Engagement flows.

All built directly from your Gong data and revenue graph.

AI is only powerful as the dataset that underpins it.

What will you build?

AE @ Gong | Closed Won 🦙 | 7x President’s Club

My best prospecting month was in May. Generated 7 new meetings and about $500K in new pipeline.

All as a full-time AE running demos, pilots, and even dealing with 20 customers.

𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝:

-Didn’t take a single day off. Built it into my daily habits.

-Prospected 3-5 accounts per day and about 3-4 people at each account.

-Never did an insane day of prospecting. Never broke a day of even 60+ activities. “Do a little every day, so you never have to do a lot.”

-Mixed up multi-channel. LI, video, calling, gifting, warm intros. Different prospects respond better to each. Try them all.

-Did unscalable prospecting methods. Sent custom gifts to people’s homes. Bought a prospect’s book they authored. Prospect how other sellers would never dare.

-Systematized everything. Used my sequences for 2 personas. High, medium, or low personalization. Used my OPPS email framework to kick off every 1st touch. Repurposed it over and over via multi-channel.


Comes back to my favorite motto for prospecting.

“Do a little every day, so you never have to do a lot.”

Revenue lags hard work, so keep at it to finish EOY.


P.S. Loads of resources on pipeline creation here: https://lnkd.in/gVY8Xpxc

Not sure who needs to hear this with Q4 and EOY….

But if your prospect tells you “No, I’m the decision maker on this.”

They most certainly are NOT the decision maker. 

Very junior thing to say lol

It certainly feels like we are living through the attention economy.

Every buyer is flooded with sales pitches, ads, and endless outreach. 

You no longer win because you show up … you win because you stand out.

And nothing stands out more than showing the actual product in a way that feels both engaging and personal.

That’s why Storylane has worked so well for me in 2025.

Instead of a generic deck or a static walkthrough, you can deliver interactive demos.

Buyers don’t just see a feature list, they experience how the product solves their pain.

And here’s the kicker: once they’ve gone through a demo, they’re more invested. 

At Gong, we know the most effective sales motions are the ones that get buyers leaning in early. 

Attention is scarce. Storylane helps you earn it and keep it.

Brand partnership • AE @ Gong | Closed Won 🦙 | 7x President’s Club

Mike Groeneveld

Pavilion

An exclusive global community for commercial growth operators

Executive Member

Everstage

Everstage can help you unlock the power of incentives and turn your sales teams into a revenue-generating weapon. Sales commissions automation saves time, motivates your payees, achieves high-accuracy commissions and wins more deals. Hyper-growth companies like Chargebee, Postman, Nitro, Thought Machine and Sosafe trust Everstage to automate their commissions process.

Learn more about Everstage here - www.everstage.com

Vice President of Global Sales

Verb Technology Company, Inc .

Verb Technology Company, Inc., the market leader in interactive video-based sales applications, transforms how businesses attract and engage customers. The Company’s Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, platform is based on its proprietary interactive video technology, and is comprised of a suite of sales enablement business software products offered on a subscription basis. Its software applications are available in over 60 countries and in more than 48 languages to large enterprise and small business sales teams that need affordable, easy-to-use, and quick-to-get-results sales tools. Available in both mobile and desktop versions, VERB's applications are offered as a fully integrated suite, as well as on a standalone basis, and include verbLIVE (Interactive Livestream eCommerce and Shoppable Video and Webinar applications), verbCRM (White-labelled Interactive Video-based Customer Relationship Management application), verbTEAMS (a Self On-boarding version of verbCRM with built-in verbLIVE and Salesforce synchronization for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs), verbLEARN (Interactive video and gamified Learning Management System application), and verbMAIL (an interactive video mail solution integrated seamlessly into Microsoft Outlook). With 200 employees, the Company maintains offices in Newport Beach, California and American Fork, Utah. For more information, please visit: www.verb.tech.

Senior Vice President Of Global Sales

BrightEdge

Sr. Director of Sales

Director of Sales

BrightEdge is the global leader in enterprise SEO, helping more than 8,500 of the world’s largest brands and 9/10 top digital agencies stay ahead in the rapidly evolving Internet landscape. BrightEdge S3 harnesses the power of analytics on big-data to drive revenue from web sites, search engines and social networks across the globe in a measurable, predictable way.

Come join us at BrightEdge! We’re hiring rock star sales professionals!

Sales Manager- East

IO Practiceware

As software designed exclusively for ophthalmologists, IO Practiceware revolutionizes the way your practice works. With a unique touch-screen interface, accurate auto-coding, electronic medical records, image and practice management systems, a two-week on-site training program, and 24/7 personal care from our staff, it`s no wonder our product has 100% success.
Specialties
Electronic Health Records, Practice Management, Eye Care Specific Software, Touchscreen Interface, Implementation, Customer Support

National Sales Rep

Kavaliro

Responsibilities include the development of key markets/territories across the the United States.
IT Business Development Manager for National Accounts and Central Florida Businesses
Core Competencies in Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Information Worker Solutions, Data Management Solutions and Networking Infrastructure Solutions
Developed effective partnerships with clients to improve the workflow and efficiency on government/ commercial contracts
Succeeded as the top producing resource manager company-wide
Managing day to day recruiting efforts of a team comprised of Recruiters in development of their careers and sourcing efforts
The creation and evaluation of the overall Recruiting process & methodology
Interviewing and management personnel including daily metrics monitoring as well as conducting monthly performance reviews
Traveling to various client sites to develop relationships and meet key C-Level Executives 
Actively involved in recruiting for a variety of I.T. skill-sets

Kavaliro provides diversified technical services and solutions to various organizations nationwide. The company specializes in outsourcing and staff augmentation solutions within the areas of Information Technology and Engineering.

Business Development Manager

ThreadHeart LLC

ThreadHeart LLC is a t-shirt printing, website design/development, application design/development studio located in Central Florida. Started by a group of young entraprenuers in August of 2010 and has grown into an operation reaching over $100k in sales over the first three quarters. Please see www.Threadheart.net

Founder

HealthFair

Corporate Account Executive

GTM Advisor | Extreme Ownership | Servant Leader | Angel Investor | VP of Global Sales at Everstage

We had a deal flip to us last month because the champion didn’t find the competitor’s rep likable. That was honestly all it took.

This deal wasn’t ours to begin with. The buyer had looked at the competitor earlier in the year and they liked them. Good conversations, good impression, all of that. So when they came back to the market, it was pretty clear they expected to go with the same vendor again. We were just another option they wanted to keep in the mix. Nothing more.

Then the competitor did a reconnect call with them. We weren’t on it, obviously. We didn’t know anything about it. The only thing we know is the champion didn’t walk out of that call feeling good. Not angry. Not frustrated about a missing feature. Just off.

We only found out because the champion reached out to us afterward. They were already talking to us a little in parallel, and when they replied, they forwarded the email they had sent the competitor. It literally said, “That meeting did not go well.” No extra explanation. No big breakdown. The tone alone told us everything.

So now the whole deal is different, and none of this has anything to do with us doing something heroic.

Our next call with them was the same way we always run a first call. Understand what’s going on internally. Ask real questions. Slow down where we need to slow down. Make sure the buyer feels heard. No performance. No trying to be clever. Just a normal, grounded conversation. But because trust on the other side had cracked, that “normal” suddenly felt like safety to them.

This is where the psychology really kicks in.

People act like likability is this soft, nice-to-have thing. It isn’t. It’s the first thing a buyer picks up on, how you talk to them, whether you listen, whether you jump in too fast, whether you’re pushing when they’re not ready, whether you’re actually paying attention. Half the time they don’t even label it as “likability.” They just feel it.

And once something feels off, they don’t go looking for ten reasons.

They look for one. They just need one moment they can point to and think, “Yeah, that didn’t sit right with me.” And that’s why likability isn’t a “kickoff call mindset.” It’s the whole cycle.

You can have a great discovery and lose the deal in a random reconnect meeting because of tone. You can be the trusted vendor for weeks and lose it because you hurried one answer. It doesn’t take a pattern, it takes a moment.

When that moment hits, the buyer gets cautious on one side and leans toward the other. We weren’t the front-runner in this deal. But once the competitor created friction, the buyer stepped away from them and that gave us all the leverage.

And this is the part I repeat to my team all the time:

There’s no such thing as a “small meeting.” There’s no such thing as “this call won’t matter.” You never know which conversation is the one that decides the deal or the one that breaks it.

SVP of Global Sales @ Everstage | Scaling B2B SaaS from 0-$100M | Extreme Ownership | Angel Investor

We just released our Uncappd Insider series  with someone who has built one of the biggest sales compensation engines in the country:

John Lee- Senior Director of Sales Compensation at LinkedIn
What he and his team operate is massive:
25+ years in the field
5,000+ Reps
50+ sales comp professionals
$100’s of millions in commissions each year
A comp org that influences the behavior of one of the biggest revenue teams 

As a sales leader, I can tell you the comp team can make or break your go-to-market motion.

When it works, you get clarity, trust, and predictable performance.
When it doesn’t… You feel it instantly on the floor.

In this episode, John breaks down the sales comp parts into:

How LinkedIn designs comp plans you can explain in under a minute

Why Comp moved from “back office” → “front office” → a growth engine

Governance that feels like partnership, not policing

Why AI agents will reshape comp ops faster than people expect

And the mindset shift every future sales comp leader needs

If you’re running a revenue team or partnering closely with RevOps and Sales Comp, this is worth your time. It gives you a deeper understanding of the systems behind performance.

👇Full episode link in comments.

Big thanks to John for being so candid.

This is why we’re building the largest, most engaged community for sales compensation professionals Uncappd
To bring together the operators on a platform and to learn & grow together.
Sales comp deserves a bigger stage and we’re building it.

#SalesLeadership #SalesComp #RevOps #Uncappd #GTMSystems #SalesOps #Leadership #Everstage #SalesExecution

Hey RevOps community! Do you remember when you got into RevOps and your experience didn't "look" like you had the necessary credentials but you absolutely did? 

I have someone who is in the same boat that I want to highlight!

Kate Kozyra is a complete bad ass at everything she does! She has experience running a variety of GTM functions and has extensive technical experience with AI that most folks do not. 

She checks the boxes for some of the most important things needed in RevOps:

✅ Translate strategy into process (clear stages, clean handoffs, fewer “who owns this?” moments)
 ✅ Build a trusted data + systems foundation (CRM hygiene, definitions everyone agrees on, dashboards people actually use)
 ✅ Create leverage for Sales/CS/Marketing (automation, enablement, and insights that make reps more effective)

Kate brings that exact energy: structured, business-minded, and focused on outcomes over activity. The kind of operator who can sit with leaders on “what should we do?” and then roll up sleeves on “how do we operationalize it?” — without losing the plot.

If you’re hiring for RevOps (or you just want your GTM motion to run smoother), she’s the type of talent worth betting on.

#RevOps #RevenueOperations #GTM #SalesOperations #MarketingOps #CustomerSuccess #Operations

The territory allocation debate in SaaS sales is the worst debate of 2025. And the only reason it keeps resurfacing is because people still treat SaaS like a field-sales operation.

There are industries where territory planning absolutely matters.

If you sell into manufacturing, field services, or any environment where reps physically visit sites, geography plays a real role. Travel time, proximity and face-to-face access matters - I’m not arguing that.

But SaaS is a different world. Most selling happens online. Buyers evaluate software from wherever they sit and geography tells you NOTHING about how a buyer communicates, what they value, or how they make decisions. Yet companies continue to assign accounts based on maps as if state lines guarantee fairness. 

They don’t. 

Some regions will always be richer. Some will always be slower. New York will never resemble Arkansas. Drawing neat borders has never solved performance gaps in SaaS.

The real driver of performance is something leaders rarely sit with long enough: how well each rep’s communication style, natural tendencies, and persona align with the buyer environments they’re selling into.

If you have ten reps, this is the part you cannot skip.

You must understand, with intention:

— Which reps are analytical and naturally align with analytical buyers.

— Which reps are outgoing and relational, and build trust faster in conversational environments.

— Which reps are more reserved and thrive with buyers who prefer structure and detail.

— Which reps are fast-paced and comfortable in quick decision cycles.

— Which reps need deeper, steadier conversations to build long-term trust.

— Which reps handle multiple stakeholders with ease versus those who perform best with focused one-on-one relationships.

— Which reps align with rigid, formal communication norms versus more fluid, exploratory ones.

This is not optional work. If you skip this, no territory model will ever feel fair or perform well, because you’re matching accounts to locations instead of matching accounts to the actual capabilities of your reps.

When you allocate accounts based on communication fit and persona alignment, everything changes. The conversations feel smoother. Trust builds faster. Reps operate with more confidence because they’re selling into environments that make sense for how they naturally work. You get more predictable performance without changing your headcount or your product.

This is why the territory debate in SaaS needs to end.

SaaS doesn’t have a geography problem. It has a fit problem and once you solve for fit, the map stops mattering.

Had such a great time chatting with Chris Bussing around a variety of topics I'm super passionate about. I love nerd-ing out on sales craftmanship and, if you do to, take a listen! 

Hope you enjoy!

Outbound Sales Coach, Trainer, & Speaker For B2B Tech & Services Companies | Ex-Google | Ex-Oracle

MEDDIC makes average sellers WORSE according to Mike Groeneveld, SVP of Global Sales Everstage. 

Many AEs fail because they run discovery like clinicians with no beside manner.

They’re just checking boxes with the prospect… 

“What’s your timeline?” ❌
“Do you have budget?” ❌

They get all the answers and then wonder why prospects ghost them in the follow ups?!? 

In our recent in depth podcast, Mike emphasized that discovery isn’t just about checking the boxes and getting the answers.

It’s about asking questions in a way that gets the answers while also creating a positive emotional experience for the prospect that builds the trust needed to move forward together.

Don’t ask “What’s your timeline?” 

Too clinical ❌

Instead ask “What happens if this problem persists another quarter?”  

Smooth & conversational ✅

Don’t ask “What’s your success metrics?”

Too clinical ❌

Instead ask “What would make this project a huge win for you?”

Smooth & conversational ✅

Long story short, stop asking discovery questions the way you want to ask them.

Frame the question for the individual and how they might want to think about it and how it would help them.

The prospect doesn't care that you want to know the paper process but when you put yourself in their shoes you can find a way to ask that provides value. 

“Hey I know in situations like this someone will ask for money at some point so is there any budget allocated to this? Has that discussion happened at all? I’d love to offer my ability to help.”

Want to learn more about the art of selling how customers actually want to buy along with tactical strategies to gain access to power, move deals forward, & grow in your career?

Comment “better discovery” & I’ll share the full podcast featuring Mike along with my free cold call system as a bonus to help you win on the phones!

Happy Selling & Happy Living,
Chris

#techsales #accountexecutive #salestrainer

My worst quarters didn’t miss because of the pipeline.

They missed because, when it really mattered, my team didn’t fully trust the way they got paid.

If you’ve ever spent the end of quarter arguing over attainment, clawbacks, and edge cases instead of closing business, you know the feeling.

On paper, you have a comp plan. In reality, you have a system that is just mature enough to pay people, but not mature enough but not mature enough to actually shape behavior. 

And that’s the gap that kills quarters.

Most sales leaders think of that as an operational problem. But here’s the truth most leaders discover too late.

Your ICM is THE system that turns strategy into frontline behavior. And when that is immature, you lose reliable control over how your team behaves and where their attention goes - especially in the moments that decide the quarter.

That’s why Jose Aleman, our VP of GTM Excellence, built the first-ever ICM Maturity Quiz.

It’s a practitioner-grade self-diagnostic tool that doesn’t treat sales compensation as a vanity score. It benchmarks your org across five pillars that actually shape revenue outcomes: plan design, operational accuracy, transparency, reporting, and governance.

If you run a quota-carrying team, I’d encourage you to take it and then message me what surprised you most in your results.

https://lnkd.in/eZgN_bHw

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