James "Saywhatsales" Buckley

Board Of Directors & Host of The UNCrushed Podcast

Sell Better 

I have the privilege of hosting incredible salespeople and leaders ever day. 

Follow us @sellbetter.xyz on the gram and on Tik Tok for daily tips, techniques, and takeaways that will help you in your daily routines.

My Key responsibilities: 

Host and MC public and private events for/with Sell Better
Help sales reps through tough times with proven tactics
Provide best practices to sellers globally
Elevate the Sales Profession overall
Show salespeople their true value and worth
Give salespeople the confidence they need to be successful
Educate and entertain our audience

Host & Sales Content Creator

Following this tip will get you reply rates that are bananas 🍌

So, here you are...

After a successful interaction with your prospect, you fix the next meeting

You have a good feeling

The day comes and you join the call

You read on the screen: “Waiting for others to join”

3 minutes, maybe they are still in another call - no worries

10 minutes, ok...

15 minutes ... You leave the meeting

If you hadn’t left, you would still be waiting

Look the truth in the face, you have been ghosted 👻

James "Saywhatsales" Buckley tells you how to avoid this in a funny way 😂

👉 stay tuned, the episode will get published soon on Europe's B2B Tech Sales Podcast

Director Of Business Development | Partner Manager

I am a sales practitioner that also trains. I teach sales teams how to create, and then leverage their personal brand to bolster pipeline, connect with key accounts, build relationships, and ultimately become well known entities in their respective spaces. 

I consider myself very fortunate to work at JB Sales. John Barrows is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities regarding sales best practices and training. It’s a pleasure, and an honor to represent this team. 

WHAT I DO:
- I create content related to sales, and connect with others to add value to their routines
- Provide training for SDR/BDR and Account Executives on prospecting, personal branding, and closing techniques
- Learn new technologies and new tactics so that JBarrows is always up to date on the latest sales industry standards and beyond
- Teaching others why personal brand and social media is important for the long term of your career. You are worth so much more than you realize. 

CORE VALUES FOR SUCCESS:
1. A constant need for feedback that creates growth opportunities
2. Hyper-responsive to colleagues and prospects
3. Coachability and willingness to change
4. The Power of Persuasive Conversation
5. Work/Life balance - Loving what I do

When I’m not working, I love watching television shows and movies, writing, public speaking, reading books, and socializing with friends.  

My personality types are DISC Id (Influencer), Myers-Briggs ENFJ, and Enneagram 2. I tend to be adventurous and persuasive, eager to explore new paths and find creative solutions. I'm most energized by storytelling, exploration & discovery, and fun & excitement. See my full personality profile here: https://www.crystalknows.com/p/saywhatsales

Director, Sales Execution & Evolution

UNCrushed

Our mission is to raise awareness of the many mental health challenges faced and how people have overcome them. Many people around us are suffering from challenges such as grief, depression, addiction, burnout, anxiety and PTS, yet they remain nameless and faceless. 

Through people sharing their stories of experience, strength, and hope, our community will reassure you that you are not alone and no longer need to suffer in silence - there is a different path. Only through talking about these challenges, can we help to break down the many stigmas associated with mental health.

We share content from multiple sources. The views and opinions expressed in this content shared are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNCrushed Inc.

Please help support this cause at https://www.uncrushed.org/take-action

- Want to talk? Post in our private LinkedIn group or email us at: contact@uncrushed.org
- Want to share your story? Email us at: shareyourexperience@uncrushed.org
- Want to partner? Email us at partnerships@uncrushed.org

Follow us on:
- LinkedIn Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncrushed
- LinkedIn Community: https://lnkd.in/gZB_pNW
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/uncrushed
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncrushed.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncrushed_org/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncrushed_org

UNtold, UNanswered, UNited.

RingLead, Inc.

Business Development Manager:
Research prospective RingLead accounts in targeted verticals, pursue leads and follow through to a successful agreement
Understand RingLead’s target markets 
Develop market strategies can be used to attract clients
Collaborate with design and sales team to ensure that customer needs are met
Maintain relationships with current clients and identify new prospects within the big data space
Possess a strong understanding of RingLead products, our competition in the industry and positioning
Follow the latest data industry developments and stay up-to-date on corporate competitors

Brand Ambassador:
Representing the RingLead brand positively in a multitude of settings
Assisting in content creation (ie. writing blogs, newsletters, product reviews, etc.)
Participating in event marketing
Generating brand awareness through word-of-mouth marketing and social selling
Opinion leader in the data and CRM ecosystem 
Providing feedback and insight on new products/services
Promoting the RingLead brand via my personal social media accounts

Business Development Manager Brand Ambassador

Cirrus Insight

Enterprise Business Development Manager

I am a strong personality. The greatest gift I can offer is the gift of laughter. Sales is supposed to be fun and I try and personify that notion to the best of my ability. I bring creative and innovative relationship building skills to the table. Be prepared to hear me smile on a call. :-)

Account Executive

As Business Development Director I serve a team of 3 Sales Development Representatives. I aid in creating workflows, and sales training. I provide tools to my team that allow them to create leads, and create relationships that help close opportunities and boost retention.

Director Of Business Development

My aim is to develop long term business relationships with organizations on a global scale. I look to train incoming sales representatives so they are equipped with strong habits that lead to fruitful, and meaningful conversations. 

I like to think I put the personal touch back in sales. Old school sales for the new school sales rep. 

There's no substitute for hard work, and I enjoy seeing others become successful. That's how I know that I make a difference.

Business Development Manager

Engage prospects in healthy conversation about Salesforce productivity. Develop long term relationships that lead to long term reoccurring revenue, and referrals to boot. 

* Cold calls, and cold emails to prospects
* Creat effective templates that command responses 
* Sales market research and development
* Catalyst for effective sales trends throughout sales team
* Networking events, and direct sales
* Ensure quality customer care, and lead the sales team in new business

Client Engagement Specialist

University of Miami

As a network specialist I was responsible for tending to end user issues such as connectivity, software updates and installation, and printer issues. For the Telecommunications department I took inventories of devices on our network, conducted routine repairs for jacks and routers campus wide, and occasionally got some work done as well.

Host & Sales Content Creator @ Sell Better

My mission is to walk alongside sales professionals as they develop the skills and best practices needed to find sales success. 

Our purpose is to show salespeople their true worth as the tip of the spear. 

I have the pleasure of hosting the best minds in sales every day and creating content that elevates the sales profession.

Connect with me @saywhatsales on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter. Join us live daily to learn and grow into a top-performing sales professional.

I have the privilege of conducting content with incredible salespeople and leaders. It's my honor to create content that elevates the sales profession. We take great pride in bringing the best sales talent in the world to the screen so they can aid other sellers in their journey to crush quota and earn the results they deserve. 

We are sales practitioners that happen to teach others how to do it, as well. With thousands of members, our content helps change the game and take your sales to the next level. 

Follow us @sellbetter.xyz on the gram and on Tik Tok for daily tips, techniques, and takeaways that will help you in your daily routines.

My Key responsibilities: 

Host and MC public and private events for/with Sell Better by JB Sales
Help sales reps through tough times with proven tactics
Provide best practices to sellers globally
Elevate the Sales Profession overall
Show salespeople their true value and worth
Give salespeople the confidence they need to be successful
Educate and entertain our audience

John Barrows

JB Sales

I don’t waste time on sales training that never gets used. I help sales teams and individual reps improve where it counts. They develop real sales skills, follow a clear sales process, and close more business. My sales training is blunt, practical, and proven because sales is about results, not fluff.

I have worked in the trenches as a sales trainer with teams at companies like LinkedIn and Salesforce, helping them sharpen how they sell. I know what does not work. Scripts, gimmicks, and long-winded pitches. I teach what does. Simple, repeatable steps. Real conversations that move deals forward. Sales skills your team can use right away.

The sales training programs I deliver are built around your reality, your buyers, your team, and your pipeline. No gimmicks. No jargon. Just tested strategies that keep deals moving and help people buy from people.

If you are looking for a sales trainer who tells it like it is and a sales training program that actually improves how your team sells, let’s connect. I will show you how to build sales skills and a sales process that actually works.

GTMfund

Most funds just write checks. I roll up my sleeves. As a Limited Partner at GTMfund, I work directly with SaaS founders to help them build go-to-market strategies that actually work. I bring years of experience running sales training programs and building repeatable revenue systems that teams can execute with confidence.

I coach founders on designing the right sales training for their teams, creating playbooks, and delivering sales courses that strengthen sales skills across the board. I act as a sales trainer, a sales coach, and a trusted advisor, helping them simplify the sales process, hire effectively, and build the kind of sales training programs and coaching frameworks that scale.

At GTMfund, we back companies that care about selling the right way from day one. No hacks. No shortcuts. Just consistent pipeline, strong buyer relationships, and internal clarity. I stay engaged through quarterly syncs, deal flow reviews, and community panels, making sure founders have the sales training courses, systems, and support they need to grow the right way.

This role keeps me close to the front lines of how modern SaaS companies scale and gives me a way to give back by helping the next generation of founders build the skills, processes, and programs that actually deliver results.

Limited Partner

Sales Community

This is not another networking group full of theory and noise. Sales Community is where GTM operators, sales reps, and leaders come together to focus on what works and what to avoid. As an Advisory Board Member, I help keep the conversation grounded in execution, ethical selling, and enablement programs that actually deliver.

I bring my perspective as a sales trainer and sales coach to help members simplify the sales process, strengthen their sales skills, and build sales training programs that produce measurable results. We tackle hard topics including buyer trends, pipeline pressure, leadership burnout, and bloated tech stacks. I make sure the discussion always cuts through the noise and leads to actionable strategies that teams can apply immediately.

I contribute to events, roundtables, and panels on outbound strategy, coaching cadence, and SaaS sales leadership. My work helps members design impactful sales courses, scale sales training programs, and build coaching systems that improve team performance and confidence.

Serving here allows me to give back to a community of high-integrity sales professionals by helping them sharpen their sales skills, master the sales process, and lead their teams with clarity and results.

Advisory Board Member

The Jack Welch Management Institute

I worked directly with Jack and Suzy Welch to help launch the Jack Welch Management Institute MBA program. They brought me in to build the go-to-market plan and enrollment sales strategy from scratch. This was a blank slate. My role was to establish a sales training program, develop the sales process, and coach the admissions team to produce measurable pipeline.

I embedded with the internal team as a sales trainer and sales coach. I designed the first sales training courses and created a sales manual that became the backbone of their admissions playbook. We focused on strengthening sales skills, building confidence in the sales process, and testing outbound messaging that connected with ambitious working professionals.

I supported event strategy and enterprise partnerships to help move intent-based leads through a higher-consideration education sale. We applied narrative-based selling, buyer mindset frameworks, and credibility sequencing to keep the approach authentic and effective.

This project laid the foundation for JWMI’s growth model. Even in a short time, it proved how the right sales training courses, coaching, and process clarity can transform a team. To this day, I still draw on what we built here whenever I think about positioning and persuasion in high-trust verticals like education and leadership development.

VP of Global Market Development (Consultant)

Basho Technologies

As Director of Sales & Training at Basho Technologies, I delivered enterprise-level sales training programs and brought new business into the firm by helping Fortune 1000 sales teams execute with discipline and earn trust faster. My mandate was clear: scale Basho’s methodology into global organizations and prove its impact where it mattered most.

I worked as both a sales trainer and sales coach, embedding with sales teams across technology, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. I led sales training courses designed to strengthen sales skills, simplify the sales process, and build confidence for high-stakes boardroom conversations. We drove measurable improvements in qualification rigor, pipeline forecasting, and buyer engagement by giving teams a clear, actionable playbook.

Internally, I developed curriculum and refined our sales training programs based on field feedback and client results. I collaborated with leadership to test outbound strategies, improve coaching cadence, and enhance sales training courses so they reflected what actually resonated with senior buyers.

This role proved to me that repeatable success comes from clarity, coaching, and execution — not theory. The frameworks I helped deliver at Basho still drive results today, shaping how I design sales training programs, lead sales courses, and coach teams to outperform expectations in any market.

Director of Sales & Training

Thrive Networks

I joined Thrive Networks as employee number five and helped grow it from a scrappy startup to an 85-person company that Staples acquired. As Vice President of Sales & Marketing, I owned all revenue. I carried a quota, built the sales team, and developed partner channels while turning our services into a recurring revenue engine.

I built sales training programs from scratch to strengthen sales skills and teach reps how to simplify the sales process. I worked hands-on as a sales trainer and sales coach, running sales training courses for new hires and embedding coaching into our daily rhythm. My focus was making sure the team could actually execute — not just talk about it.

We grew revenue every year through direct sales, referral programs, and smart vertical plays. I aligned sales and marketing, launched campaigns that worked, and refined our message until it stuck. I made sure delivery always matched our promise and that our sales process stayed tight even as we scaled.

Thrive was named one of Boston’s fastest-growing companies and best places to work multiple years in a row. That didn’t happen by accident. We stayed gritty, trained our people right, and kept our edge by listening to customers and outworking the competition.

Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Xerox

At Xerox I sold tailored document solutions to state and local government clients. This was a crash course in complex sales cycles, procurement rules, and RFP execution. It was also where I learned how to navigate the politics and processes inside large institutions.

My focus was understanding workflows and identifying where print, scanning, and digitization tools could reduce costs and increase efficiency. I had to sell outcomes, not features. I partnered with procurement, IT, and compliance teams to get deals across the line.

It taught me patience, planning, and how to manage long sales cycles with multiple decision-makers. It was not glamorous, but it built the foundation for how I handle enterprise sales today. If you can win in government, you can win anywhere.

Sales Executive

DEWALT

I cut my teeth at DeWalt running live demos and driving sales in big-box stores like Home Depot. I built and led the first event marketing team in Boston, making sure customers saw, touched, and bought our products on the spot. It was fast-paced, gritty, and all about showing up ready to win.

I designed campaigns that moved market share and trained reps to run demos that actually worked. I wrote quick sales training programs, acted as a sales trainer and sales coach, and ran sales training courses on the floor to sharpen sales skills and tighten the sales process. Every shift was about execution.

That hustle got me promoted into the Black & Decker sales team where I managed the third-largest territory in the country. The stakes were higher, and the stage was bigger. I kept the same mindset and continued to build sales training programs, lead sales courses, and coach reps to deliver under pressure.

Those early lessons stuck. Hustle. Consistency. Face-to-face execution. Even now, I use what I learned at DeWalt to design sales training programs, lead sales courses, and coach teams that perform when it counts.

Sales/Event Marketing Specialist

Elevating The People & Profession of Sales

I have been in sales for over 25 years. I have made 400 cold calls a week, led a startup to acquisition, and trained some of the best-performing teams at Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales I teach practical sales execution rooted in real-world experience.

My work focuses on performance. I deliver live workshops, on-demand training, and coaching to help reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build buyer trust. I created Filling the Funnel and Driving to Close for reps and managers who want systems that convert.

I work with SaaS companies, agencies, and professional services teams that want to scale ethically and efficiently. My podcast Make It Happen Mondays has over 100,000 listeners and brings weekly strategy and tactics for sales pros looking to level up fast.

I speak on stage, coach in the trenches, and push for better execution across the board. Topics I cover include outbound frameworks, sales leadership, pipeline velocity, and GTM enablement in an AI-driven environment. I also share openly about mindset, mental health, and managing pressure in this career.

I live in Boston but work globally. I am here to raise the bar for sales and help professionals build careers they are proud of. If that mission speaks to you, let's connect.

My "Why" is to elevate the people and profession of Sales by sharing my earned experience with anyone willing to put in the work so they can achieve whatever level of freedom and success they want in life.

I've delivered my two Signature training programs (Filling the Funnel and Driving to Close) to thousands of Sales professionals at some of the fastest growing companies in the world like Salesforce, Linkedin, Amazon, Okta, Salesloft and many others. 

My membership provides individuals and teams with live monthly training (delivered by me) along with workshops, AMAs and an OnDemand library filled with actionable tips.

None of us have all the answers and things are moving too fast right now for any of us to try and figure it all out on our own.  We need to get back to fundamentals while learning how to evolve and where to add value in this new world of AI. 

If you're willing to put in the work and want to elevate yourself, along with this profession, come join me on this ride.

Sales Trainer & Coach | Building Sales Skills & Sales Process | Sales Training Courses & Programs That Deliver

“Why have we made it this hard?"
"Why have we not thought about the buyer and put them at the center of the experience?”

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Predictable Revenue (segmentation of roles) WAS great for us as companies to scale our sales teams  but it was NEVER a customer centric way of selling?

This is what I dove into with 🎺 Rory Sadler on this week's episode of the Make it Happen Monday podcast. 

Buyers have all the power now. The sales process? Full of friction, too many handoffs, repeated and/or irrelevant questions and almost no personalization.

And guess what’s killing deals? Indecision. 

Not price. Not competition. Just an overwhelmed buyer who doesn’t have time to figure out your product or how to sell it internally.

Here’s what’s shifting fast:
 • The old playbook (predictable revenue, handoffs, stages) is crumbling.
 • Buyers want answers now, not a meeting in two weeks.
 • Sales reps need to bring value every single interaction.
 • Mutual action plans and buyer enablement aren’t “nice to have.” They’re deal savers.
 • Reps who don’t prep, personalize, and guide the buyer? You’re irrelevant.

It’s not about what you sell anymore. It’s how you sell. The experience is the differentiator.

This conversation with Rory breaks down how sales needs to evolve and how reps can step up and win by making the process feel easy, personalized, and valuable.

Are you selling like it’s 2025 or still running the 2010 playbook?

Tell me you don’t travel a lot without telling me you travel a lot. 

I’ll start…

How do you deal with a client who tries to entice you with the promise of future business (non-contractual) in return for a discount on the initial engagement?

You know the ones. 

During the negotiation for the initial deal they ask for a discount and tell you "if this goes well, we'll definitely do more with you in the future."

I can maybe count on one hand in my career the amount of times that has panned out.

I have my thoughts and approaches on how I deal with this but I'm curious what you all think and how you deal with this.

Timing is everything when it comes to effective prospecting. 

In more ways than one.
  
I used to spend 30 minutes prospecting each lead:  
  -  Find the right contact  
  -  Research their business  
  -  Look for a trigger  
  -  Write a custom email  
   
That’s all changed.  
   
With the new Sales Assistant from LinkedIn for Sales, I now do all of that in under 5 minutes.  
   
Here’s how it works:  

✅ You tell it what you sell and the accounts you care about 
✅ It builds a persona based on your ICP and starts surfacing leads at those accounts highlighting the ones most likely to convert 
✅ For each lead, it explains why they were selected 
✅ It maps the warmest path in, using your network 
✅ Then it helps you draft a first email you can use for an inmail or email 
   
With LinkedIn's Sales Assistant, you’re no longer guessing. You’re not digging through filters or sifting through accounts and leads to figure out if they’re a good fit.  
   
Sales Assistant serves the right leads, with context, timing, and a plan.  
   
It turns prospecting from a crawl to a sprint.  
   
If you're still doing it the old way, you're burning time you can't get back.  
   
If you want to try it you can join the waitlist here: https://lnkd.in/eZH46J2U   
   
How long does your prospecting process usually take per lead when doing high quality, personalized outreach? 
 
#ad #LinkedInPartner #SalesAssistant

Demos suck, there I said it.
 
But they're one of the MOST important aspects of the sales process for your buyers. 
 
According to Gartner, interactive product demos are the most useful resource for B2B SaaS prospects. 
 
Where demos fail? 
 
Reps asking basic qualification questions and then jumping into their canned demo, going through every slide, pausing intermittently to say something meaningless like "does that make sense" and end by asking "do you have any questions."
 
No engagement, no customization, no value.
 
Let's be clear - NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE ENTIRE DEMO!!!
 
They only care about the part that is most relevant to them.
 
That's why I believe in the "Sell to the 20%" philosophy.
 
Think about any product you own or service you use. I almost guarantee you only use about 20% of whatever that product or service is (Your car, clothes, Excel, LinkedIn, Salesforce, etc.)
 
Because everyone only uses 20% of what they buy, that's how I believe people buy.
 
They only care about the things that are most relevant to them and their priorities.
 
That's what we need to focus on with our presentations if we want to differentiate our solutions and uncover/drive urgency.
 
That's why I've partnered with Consensus.
 
They help buyers figure out their own 20% before they even talk to you.
 
Every time a stakeholder hits the demo, Consensus personalizes what they see based on their role and priorities.
 
It’s like pre-discovery for everyone in the buying committee.
 
So instead of throwing everything at them, you deliver what they care about most automatically.
 
If you’re trying to break through the noise and shorten deal cycles, go check them out.
 
#MakeitHappen #Sponsor

Everyone talks about finding and using "trigger events" to personalize their prospecting efforts but does anyone really understand the "why" behind the trigger event?

Most don't. 

For instance, an M&A is a trigger event that many reps use but most of them have never been through an M&A in a leadership role and have no idea the phases businesses go through and what they need at each step. 

That's why their messaging falls flat. 

They don't have the business acumen to make the real/right connection. 

That's why I tell anyone who is looking to improve their sales results to improve their business acumen over any technique or tip I could ever teach them. 
I sat down to discuss this and a lot more with Lorenzo Bizzi on this week's episode of the Make it Happen Monday podcast. 

Lorenzo is an author, professor, and real-world business strategist who grew up in Italy, studied business at Bocconi University in Milan, and fell in love with blending theory and practice. 

He's now based on based in Los Angeles and teaches strategy at Cal State and trains CEOs across industries.

This conversation goes deep on one major idea: Sales is applied strategy.

Most reps are taught tactics, scripts, subject lines, cadences, etc but they miss the big picture: how business works. 

And without business acumen, tactics fall flat. Lorenzo argues that if you want to be taken seriously, you don’t just need to sound credible. You need to be credible.

95% of AI initiatives fail.

That stat comes from MIT research. And most people assume it’s because the AI isn’t good enough yet.

I used to think AI would fix the bad data problem. That it could come in, clean up the mess, and make sense of it all.

But the reality? It’s more “garbage in, garbage out” than ever.

I’ve seen companies pour resources into AI tools, only to watch them flop. Not because the tech was wrong. But because the foundation was cracked with bad inputs, disconnected systems, and no governance.

ZoomInfo’s new AI Readiness Assessment cuts through that noise.

It’s a 2-minute tool built on MIT research and real customer patterns. It shows whether your GTM team is ready to actually use AI or if you need to fix your fundamentals first.

Here’s what it reveals:

• Where your data strategy is holding you back
• How your org stacks up on readiness, from Foundation to Leader
• What to fix before you waste another dollar chasing “AI transformation”

If your team is pushing AI without checking the engine underneath, this is your wake-up call.

Take the AI Readiness Assessment now: 

https://lnkd.in/eBnqMiRZ

taplio

The Battle

James "Saywhatsales" Buckley

John Barrows

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taplio

The Battle

James "Saywhatsales" Buckley

John Barrows

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}John Barrows's LinkedIn Performance

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