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

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

Brian LaManna

"If you keep your nose to the grindstone and work hard and you've got the right people, anything's possible."

You don't have to Google him anymore.

🌹 Rose Bowl
🍑 Peach Bowl
🏆 National Champions.

I debated whether or not to go to the last game. Grateful for the people that pushed me to 'take the trip.'

Will forever be one of the most special times in my life. 

We work to live, not live to work. 

Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!!! 🥹

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

Until further notice, this is an IU Football + Mendoza fan account.

We are here in Miami and ready for the National Championship.

I have never anticipated a game more in my life.

Full butterflies. Pit in my stomach.

But confident as ever.

Predictions?


P.S. No matter how it ends… I’m sad this season will be over. A magical run and some of the most fun I’ve had traveling + reuniting with college friends. But we don’t go to war with warm milk & cookies. Time to win.

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I now have 12 free resources built for 2026, all of them below.


𝟭. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 - Organized way to keep track of all your prospecting efforts and people you're going after.

https://lnkd.in/gwjX9Nya


𝟮. 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 - Terms I never knew existed until I got into tech sales. 

https://lnkd.in/g9R9WH53


𝟯. 𝗠𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 - Template to keep you and your champion fully aligned through a deal cycle. Also, helpful to navigate security, legal, and who the signer ends up being.


https://closedwon.xyz/msp/


𝟰. 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 - Top 12 discovery questions to follow a typical first call flow.

https://lnkd.in/g75tkxRM


𝟱. 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 - Agenda slide to cut the 2 minutes and show a visual instead. Buyers love visuals. This is it.

https://lnkd.in/gD5vaXf7


𝟲. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 - Grab a Google Doc template of my exact resume. 2 pages on other best practices, tips, and dos/don'ts.

https://lnkd.in/gESuWPBW


7. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 - 8 proven openers to get the call started hot.

https://lnkd.in/gdPP_D8J


8. 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 - Actionable sales tips (and some B+ memes) delivered to your inbox every Monday. Trusted by 11,200+ sellers and counting. Read in 2-3 min.

https://lnkd.in/gjeVd_U8


𝟵.  𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 - Quick reverses for the most common objections and methodology on how to 'handle' them.

https://lnkd.in/g36efdAw


10. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 on Closed Won.

https://lnkd.in/gVY8Xpxc


♻️ Please consider resharing if it'd help others in your network.

📌 Sellers - what (free) resource should I build up next?

Joined Gong in 2021 to sell a -hot- product that (it felt like) everyone already knew. Then June 2023 happened...

We launched Gong Engage with 0 customers.

Suddenly, I wasn't selling just the #1 conversation intelligence platform anymore. 

I was selling an unproven sales engagement tool in a crowded market.

Here's the problem we hit immediately:

Every prospect asked: "Who else is using this?"

We had no case studies. Very few Beta references.

And burning through our early adopters on every single deal? 

Not sustainable when you're trying to get to 1,000+ customers fast.

That's when we started using UserEvidence.

Instead of manually tracking down customers for references, UserEvidence automatically captures product reviews, pulls verified stats, and creates battle cards we can actually use.

Now when a prospect asks "who else uses Engage?" - I can instantly share:
* Real customer quotes
* Specific use cases
* ROI metrics from similar companies

No begging customers for time. No stale case studies from 6 months ago.

As we've grown into a true multi-product platform, UserEvidence has become essential. 

Different products, different personas, different proof points - all organized and accessible.

If you're scaling a new product or expanding your platform, you need proof at scale.

Give UserEvidence a look: https://userevidence.com/


P.S. Will be partnering with them closely in 2025 to share other ways I am leveraging them. Thanks all for the support!

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

Tell tale sign of junior sellers is trying to avoid risk in their deals. 

And getting defensive about risk in forecast / pipeline reviews.

Risk is uncomfortable and junior sellers often try to ignore it and 'hope' that it doesn’t come to fruition. 

When in reality the opposite is best.

Get comfortable knowing risk exists in every deal and it doesn't mean it's your 'fault.'


I write out the biggest reasons why I will lose the deal. 

Then 'the action' of how I will get in front of it.

Here’s a (real) scenario of a deal I had earlier this year:
-12 month evaluation and we were named vendor of choice. Fit perfectly to their initiatives. Great critical event with a competitor renewal in 2 months but we aren’t speaking directly with the decision maker on it (CRO). Have 5+ champions advocating for us.

What most sellers would think:
- Wow, we are in a really strong spot! We have so many champions and fit perfectly with their goals. Bummer the CRO isn’t more directly involved but my champ will get it done.


Here’s how I’d approach it instead.

Risk:
- Work/effort to migrate over to a new platform
- CRO not having direct involvement
- Their current vendor will try to save this renewal with aggressive pricing.
 
Action:
- Call out the risk of both next call
- Recommend a 30 min call with implementation to discuss migration
- Recommend a 2nd, 30 min call with CRO and main POC to review one-pager exec business case we will build for them.


For any fans of the book 'The Obstacle is the Way.'

'The risk is the way' in your deals cycles.

Don't avoid it, go through it.


P.S. Closed Won Club goes live 1/26. Be the first to hear about it here: https://closedwon.xyz/

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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