Ian Koniak

I help tech sales AEs perform to their full potential in sales and life with coaching, courses, and community | Sales Coach | Former #1 Enterprise AE at Salesforce | $100M+ in career sales

I help B2B Account Executives perform to their full potential by mastering their  mindset, habits, and selling skills. 

As the former #1 Enterprise AE at Salesforce globally, I teach you what works. I've sold over 100M in my career, hit quota 16 of 19 years, and broken 7 figures 3 times. 

My coaching programs help sales professionals achieve the results they know they are capable of, while also finding joy and fulfillment outside of just their work. This program is built specifically for SaaS AE's and provides the training which you likely aren't getting from your company or manager. 

Prior to starting my own business, I worked in B2B technology sales for 19 years at F500 tech companies as an individual contributor, Sales Manager, and Director of Sales, with over 100M in career sales and numerous finishes at #1 nationally, including finishing #1 in the US Enterprise Select Division of Salesforce.

Most recently I worked as a Strategic Account Director for the Enterprise West Sales team at Salesforce, where I partnered with our largest customers to help them drive growth, innovation, and success on the Salesforce Platform. At Ricoh, I led a team of 10 Sales Managers and 70 reps responsible for 60M Annual Revenue across hardware, software, and services. 

After a near death experience, I started a coaching business to serve others and help them achieve incredible success by mastering the mindset, habits, and skills needed to perform at the highest level. I've also had to overcome numerous hardships in my personal life, including nearly losing my family to addiction. 

My mission is to share my learnings over 20 years in tech sales to help AE's perform their best without sacrificing their personal time, families, or health. To hear my full story, visit www.iankoniak.com or visit https://untapyoursalespotential.com

When I'm not coaching, I enjoy spending quality time with my wonderful family, running, and traveling.

Founder & CEO

We help Account Executives perform at their full potential by mastering the mindset, habits, and skills needed to perform at the highest level in sales with our sales coaching programs and online courses.

We offer private, group, and online sales coaching programs. We teach the exact playbook Ian Koniak used to become the #1 Enterprise AE at Salesforce and close over 100M in his career. 

Through a combination of live coaching calls, online training videos, live events, and a vibrate community, we help sellers perform reach the top 1% and change their lives and their families lives forever by maximizing their impact and impact. 

To learn how to get started, book a free coaching strategy call here https://calendly.com/tanveermostafa/30min-1

I can't stop thinking about Untap Your Sales Potential's Fall Mastermind.

95 incredible sellers coming together not to sell more, but to live better.

This wasn’t sales training. It was truly about transformation.

We put together this video to share with the community.

And I thought I'd share it with LinkedIn too.

I hope we see YOU at the next one!

I help tech sales AEs perform to their full potential in sales and life by mastering their mindset, habits, and selling skills | Sales Coach | Former #1 Enterprise AE at Salesforce | $100M+ in career sales

Most sellers don’t have a sales problem. They have a habits problem.

If you want to grow your sales, start by changing your habits.

Changing your habits builds confidence.
And confidence is the number one driver of sales success.

When you keep your word to yourself you feel better about yourself.

And when you feel better about yourself, everything changes.

You tackle hard tasks with more courage.
You take bigger swings.
You stay present in front of customers.
You speak with conviction.
And conviction is what buyers respond to.

This is why we spent the last four months inside my coaching program focused entirely on habits. Last week we wrapped up the Habits module during our group call. At the end of the call, I asked members to share their biggest wins. 

Here are a few highlights across three areas that matter most: mind, body, and spirit.

𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱
Your mind is your operating system. When it’s calm and centered, everything gets easier.

David Beckley has been doing a morning routine with meditation and a workout for almost two years. It has become part of who he is. He recently leveled up by adding Joe Dispenza’s “Box Meditation,” which has elevated his clarity and execution.

Rob O'Keefe went from never meditating to fully leaning into Transcendental Meditation. He completed the formal training and now meditates twice a day. He shared how much calmer and clearer he feels, even on a simple walk with his dogs.

𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆
Your body is your energy source. If you don’t take care of it, nothing else works.
Falyn Coleman-Wright, PMP committed to a 30 day morning walk challenge. As of last week, she hit day 21. Her biggest win wasn’t the walk itself, it was the identity shift.
 “I’m proud that I’m a person who keeps my word to myself. I’m proud that I prioritize my health.”

Stephany realized her sleep quality wasn’t where she wanted it. So she built a stronger nighttime routine to show up more present and energized. Better sleep created better days, and better days created better performance.

𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁
Your spirit is your purpose. Your why. Your fuel.

Ahiman has been in the program for nearly two years. The habit that changed him most is reading his mission statement every morning. It reconnects him to what he is building over each 12 week period and the man he wants to become as a husband, father, and leader.

This clarity makes the hard days easier and gives meaning to the work.

Seeing these transformations is the most rewarding part of what I do. If you want to get inspiration from sellers doing the deep work on themselves, hear their stories below: 

https://lnkd.in/gzNhK96V

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.

My AVP at Salesforce to me on last day of the fiscal year: “Thank you for not listening to me.” 😐

Let’s roll the clocks back 9 months prior.

I took over an account. Not just any, but the largest bank in the country.

My AVP - who was the AE on the account years ago - pulled me aside my first few weeks in role and said, 

“Salman, just take down the small deal in this account. We’ve sold them almost everything.” 

Not exactly what I wanted to hear from my AVP when I took over the account.

They’d already invested quite a bit with us, I get it. But I had a quota to hit. A big one.

Nobody thought we could sell them more. 

There was a small opp… and they recommended I just take it down

and move on.

……………………………………………..

Well, here’s what I did to prove them wrong 👇


BACKGROUND CHECK

- spoke to the CSM, SE, Core teams
- specialists, external partners, SI’s, etc…
- to get the lay of the land across the account


- identified a segment that had whitespace
- it was their Wealth management division


BUILT A POINT OF VIEW

- did some initial digging and discovery
- built PoV on how they may be losing rev to competiton
- because of insights not captured in real-time on digital channels


STARTED WITH THE PROBLEM

- focused on this business challenge
- uncovered a exec priority at risk because of problem
(increased market share)


MULTITHREAD

- the PoV + disco helped gain meetings with Dir/VPs
- leveraged our internal x-functional teams
- SE, CSM, Business Value, Product mgmt, etc…


VALIDATION + ALIGNMENT

- business problem, impact to the business
- uncovered metrics important to each stakeholder 
- how said metrics were being affected by problem
- impact to business if nothing actioned on


CUSTOMER’S BEST INTEREST BEFORE OURS

- shared pros and cons to each option
- options included ones that wouldn’t work in our favor
- we didn’t take one side or other, which built trust


CO-CREATED BUSINESS CASE

- with our champion
- got buy-in from each stakeholder


MUTUAL PLAN

- which was truly MUTUAL 


NO BUDGET WAS ALLOCATED

- we uncovered a problem that put a priority at risk
- they dug up budget from other areas of business

………………………………………..

The result?

Our champion achieved the 1% club, because of the impact the platform had on their segment.

I closed one of the largest deals of my career 

because our internal teams worked together to solve a big problem.

Hit almost 200% of my number (when I was told to take down the small deal)


The deal came on the last day of the fiscal year and the AVP sent me a message,

“Thank you for not listening to me”

………………………………………………………

I took my AVP’s statement at the start of the year as a challenge.

Don’t let a few words stop you from accomplishing something you believe you can do.

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

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

If I started a new AE role tomorrow, I wouldn’t open the CRM.

I wouldn’t review the product slides (for now). 
I wouldn’t watch demos of features & function. 

Here’s what I would do instead in my first two weeks (and why it works) 👇


1. Find the top 3 AEs in the org
 Buy them a coffee (virtual or not) and ask:
 → “What are you doing that others aren’t?” → “What would you do differently if you had to start over?”
 I used to let ego get in the way of these convos.
 I realized: replicating what already works saves you months of trial and error.


2. Skip product enablement (for now)
 You’ll get flooded with features anyway.
 Start with problem enablement.
 Build a simple doc:
 → choose 3-5 buyer personas → list out real problems they face
→ (not capabilities, jargon or buzzwords)
→ understand how they typically tackle them today → map out the negative impact on them and business  → identify what metrics they care about/how affected 
Document how those problems show up in their world.
 This helps you speak the prospects language, when everyone else is just pitching features.

Prospects will think “this person gets me”.


3. Study your competition (and status quo) 
Not just from a deck, go deeper:
 → where they win → where they fall short → what your product does better → what problems your differentiators actually solve

👆 that last one is the most important
 You can’t stand out if you don’t know what you’re up against.


4. Master 3 customer stories
 Not surface-level. Break it down:
 → what problem were they facing → what negative impact it had (think metrics)
→ bonus points if there was a priority it put at risk → what changed after they used your product → what were the positive business outcomes

(make the champion the hero)


5. Meet your internal teams
 SDRs, SEs, CSMs, Legal, Deal Desk, Partner team, etc
 Ask them: “What can I do to make your life easier?”
 It builds trust fast, and that pays off when deals get complex.

…………………………………

Do these 5 things and you won’t just ramp up super fast 
you’ll build your internal brand.


P.S. Problem Enablement (2) is an absolute game changer… my clients ramp up SO much faster

17 years as an AE I was never taught one crucial skill.

→ how to quantify pain in deals

I was told that I should do it.  Got some high level theory on how to approach it.

Told that I needed a business case to drive deals forward.

Provided some building blocks to get there, but nothing tangible that I could use on a repeatable basis.

I tried, but couldn't crack the code.

One of the key reasons early in my career I couldn't get prospects to justify the spend and lost more deals than I won.

Until I realized something.

We're usually all measurable on something. We're accountable for certain metrics.

For salespeople it could be ACV, ARR, quota attainment, pipeline, call metrics, etc...

So that means our prospects, the personas I speak to, are likely accountable for something as well.

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

I began applying this principle in discovery:

Once I uncover a problem and its impact.

I ask these questions in the flow of the conversation 👇 

1. what’s the KPI or metric they care about

"Linda, usually when I speak to leaders like yourself they are usually accountable for certain metrics like conversion rates or campaign ROI. If you don’t mind me asking, what KPI or metrics are most important to you?"

- they’re typically measured on something, find out what that is


2. how’s the metric being affected

"How’s that KPI or metric being affected by this problem you're facing today?"

- e.g. for a marketing leader, conversion rates could be suffering


3. do they have a target

"What's your ideal target for this KPI or metric?”

- they may have a goal to it; built trust and uncover it

(don’t create a business case on one call)


4. have they done any internal analysis 

"Not sure if you've done any sort of internal analysis, but you been able to quantify the impact to your business?"

- most cases they won’t be able to quantify the impact... still ask

……………………………………………………………

My recommendation, ask these questions to each key stakeholder in your cycle.

Each will usually have their own KPI + metrics they’re measurable on.


It will give you the foundation you need to help quantify pain

and build a compelling business case in their language... not your's.

Got a verbal from a prospect, “We’ve decided to move forward with your platform.” My response:

“Sounds great! I’ll send over an order form later today.”

I forecasted the deal for the month and told my manager the good news.

Got the internal approvals and sent it out.

One day passed. Nothing. Two days. Crickets.

Finally got a hold of them:

“When can we expect a signed order form?”

Prospect: “It’s not that simple. We’ll need to go through vendor approval. You’ll also be hearing from InfoSec to fill out some forms. Plus, we need to get in touch with legal to discuss the MSA.”

Me: “How long do you think that’ll take?”

Prospect: “I’ve seen it take as little as 6 weeks and as long as 6 months.”

Head down. I had to break the news to leadership on a deal I’d committed

👆 This situation happened more than once for me earlier in my career. Lesson learned.

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

Don’t assume a deal is done because a prospect gives you the thumbs up.

It’s on us to uncover their buying process, early.

You could try something that sounds like this:

You: “Linda, you’ve been with the company for 5+ years. Fair to assume you’ve been part of evaluations like this in the past?”

Prospect: “Yup.”

You: “Could you walk me through how you typically evaluate, decide, and purchase tech? What are the steps and who’s involved?”

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

Or something like this, for more complex deals:

“Linda - working with customers like you, I’ve noticed that once a platform gets the green light, there’s often a vendor onboarding process

which could include InfoSec, privacy assessments, and potentially getting legal involved.

Is that something you anticipate and if so could you walk me through the process and who’s involved?”

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

Get ahead of the process in your deal cycles.

It’ll save you a headache and heartache.


P.S. who’s heading over to Sales Enablement Summit in downtown Toronto today?

See you there!

Have you ever experienced something so incredible that it didn’t really hit you until after it was over?

Like way after...

That’s how I felt looking back at what happened last month in Toronto.

Our 2nd annual Sales Sprint conference. This time bigger and better.

All I can say is… next level (just check out the video below).

What I loved about it wasn’t just the top notch speakers

wasn’t just the AEs, SDRs, and Sales Leaders who attended (more than a third flew in for the event)

wasn’t just the actionable Sales content shared by some the top voices in the game

But it was the RESULTS that came out of it.

one AE messaged me , “We’ve already started implementing some of the learnings — we booked 10 meetings from our recent sales sequence!” 

another AE, “I’ve got calls I can apply the learnings to this week.”

“I put the guidance on a call today and it made a noticeable impact.”

They even intro’d myself and another speaker to their Sales Enablement lead recommending that we run training for the sales team.

Other leaders asked speakers to run sessions for their team after the sales insights shared at the conference.

THIS is why we put this on. So we can spread the knowledge, help the Sales profession level up, and allows folks to learn from each other.

(Folks came up to me saying they got a few leads from folks attending too!)

If you know me, I've always been a believer about sharing ACTIONABLE sales content based on experience in the trenches, not theory. 

So people can apply the learnings and make an impact in their day-to-day as an AE, AM, BDR or Sales leader.

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

An absolute unreal 2-days.

Highlight of the event was the Discovery and Cold Call role-play competition powered by Hyperbound's platform.

Huge shoutout to them for being a great sponsor (btw, if you haven’t checked out Hyperbound for sales enablement AI coaching, you’re missing out). Folks were raving about them at the event.

So grateful.

Let’s run it back next year!

(If you’re interested in locking in a spot for Sales Sprint ‘26, hit me up)

P.S. HUGE shoutout to MVMNT Media for capturing Sales Sprint with incredible photo and video coverage. If you’re hosting an event in the Toronto area, these folks are the real deal.

website: www.themvmntmedia.ca
Insta: @themvmntmedia

Wish someone had told me this about discovery when I stepped into my first AE role at IBM (a long time ago 🙃 )

→ “Vague, generic questions will give you vague, generic responses.”

Would've made a world of a difference if I knew this back then.

Why?

Because here’s how my discovery sounded like back then:

➤ When I uncovered some pain, asked a few questions around it, and got to impact, I’d ask:
 
“What impact is this having on your business?”

The response? Pretty generic and high level.

➤ Or when I wanted clarification on next steps after a demo, I’d ask:

 “What do next steps look like?”

The response? Pretty vague. Nothing of substance.

Then I realized… wait. My questions aren't cutting it.

Sounded like a rookie (which I was).
I needed to be more specific and more purpose behind my questions.

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

Flip the script 👇 

To uncover impact, for example:

“Was talking to a few leaders in your space recently who came across this challenge, and they said it’s leading to product launch delays and missed revenue opps. Not sure if you’re seeing this, but what would you say is the ripple effect across the business?”

To uncover next steps after the a good demo, for example:

“Linda, let’s say we agreed to an investment you and your team were comfortable with, what would happen next? Could you walk me through your internal process step-by-step on how you’d get this approved and who usually gets involved?”

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

When you go from asking vague, generic questions

 → to thoughtful, intentional, and specific ones

You’ll get answers with much more substance...

and it’ll help you navigate your sales cycle with much more confidence.

It starts with HOW you ask, in discovery.

Was at a conference yesterday and had 60- seconds to pitch a Sales Enablement leader I’d never spoken to before.

I had to run to a meeting and the next session was about to start.

Wanted to try to catch the leader whom I heard from someone else said she was looking for training for her team.

No time to qualify or run any discovery.

Just a shot to earn her trust (and a next step).

Here’s what 23-year-old Salman would’ve said:

“Hey Linda, heard you’re looking for sales training. I can help streamline your manual processes, help with your sales execution and increase win rates.”

😐


Here’s what 27 year-old Salman would’ve said:

“Hi Linda, how are you? What inspired you come to the conference?… that’s great. Hey I heard you’re looking for training. What are you hoping to accomplish?”

😐


Here’s what 42-year-old Salman actually said:

“Hi Linda, how are you enjoying the conference so far?”

Linda: “Going really well.”

Me: “Hey, know we got a minute before the next session. Just wanted to say I was on your website and I love how you focus on the problem you actually solve for.”

[I talked through the specific problem they solve for with no buzzwords, no product jargon]

“It’s refreshing to see that because I don’t very often.” I said


Linda: “Really appreciate that. I’ll definitely share what you just said with my internal team.”

Me: “Thanks. Ya the thing I see today with a lot of sellers is that they tend to focus more on the product vs truly understanding and articulating the problem, in the prospects language not their language.”

Linda: “You’re right…. we should connect.”

Me: “Know we have to run but let me send you a note and we can find some time, sound good?”

Linda: “Let’s do it.”

She smiled the entire convo.



Problem before product.

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