Nooks

Nooks is the fastest-growing AI dialing & prospecting platform trusted by the world’s best sales teams. The reps of the future will have superpowers and will be 10x as productive. We’re building these superpowers today!

Vice President Marketing

21Senses

Supporting 21Senses as they build their vision for multi-gas sensing solutions that support the Hydrogen economy.

Advisory Board, Marketing

SetSail (acquired by ZoomInfo)

Worked with a world-class team of marketers and revenue experts to deliver SetSail's AI-powered sales solution. Partnered with the marketing organization, executives, and external agencies to:

* Craft messaging strategy to focus on industry-first Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities with a video-first approach to content
* Reposition brand from a technical story to a mission-critical business pitch focused on our true budget owner
* Implement an ABM approach that tripled SQLs in our target market

Spreedly

I hired and partnered with a professional, dedicated, and innovative group of content, events, digital, and sales development professionals that have:
* Built a comprehensive, full-lifecycle marketing strategy -- from brand development through demand generation and customer marketing -- including deep partner and ecosystem marketing.
* Led and executed marketing programs that drive 85%+ of pipeline; significantly increased overall revenue; 45% increase in GMV YoY for 4 years in a row
* Developed customer journey and messaging framework, including full brand management refresh and revamp of messaging to an enterprise focus
* Established our position as market pioneer and clear industry leader through market research, content, awareness programs, Search Engine Optimization, online marketing, and a massive industry community -- including an annual conference with over 1,450 registrants in 2020 and 2,500 in 2021 with speakers from Netflix, Disney, Uber, Groupon, Walmart, HBO, and more.
* Leveraged Social Media Marketing, Marketing Communications, and Email Marketing to deliver a constant drumbeat of visibility in the e-commerce / payments space

Senior Vice President Marketing

Vice President of Marketing

SAVO Group

* Retained post acquisition to manage transition of KnowledgeTree’s go-to-market; supported unified messaging of newly expanded product portfolio

Vice President of Marketing (via acquisition)

KnowledgeTree Inc.

* First marketing hire; built marketing organization from ground-up into a high-functioning team of inbound, digital, and outbound professionals
* Executed marketing programs as “player-coach”, tripling volume of inbound leads and delivering high quality pipeline via content, press, and analyst programs
* Built, trained, and managed outbound team of 6 SDRs and ISRs with strong esprit de corps; generated consistently high volume of quality opportunities
* Led product marketing and supported fundraising; transforming niche player to recognized market leader; pivoted and grew from $0 to acquisition

Vice President of Marketing and interim Vice President of Sales

Micro Focus

* Retained post-acquisition to lead product marketing for acquired product
* Promoted to manage six senior product marketers; managed product marketing across $200M+ business unit
* Focused positioning of diverse, acquired product lines in complex, mature market 
* Pioneered “sales-first” enablement, consistently sought out by global sales teams

Head of Product Marketing, AMQ

I led product marketing for Application Portfolio Management solution area.  Positioned and promoted product line as key enabler of all application modernization and development activities.  This includes a broad range of analyst, pipeline development, press, and thought leadership activities.

Director of Product Marketing (via acquisition)

Relativity Technologies

* Hired as first and only full-time marketer 
* Developed a portfolio of low/no cost marketing programs that were a core reason for acquisition; acquiring company described Relativity as “punching above its weight” in the market
* Led content and awareness strategy that massively increased company exposure
* Built sales enablement assets, identified as sales team’s “best friend”

Director of Marketing

Togethersoft

* Coordinated competitive take-out program

Product Marketing Consultant

HAHT Commerce

* Created and executed multiple integrated marketing campaigns 
* Developed a broad range of sales-centric white papers and content

Marketing Manager (via acquisition)

CMO @ SetSail | AI that Helps Sales Get on Track

As the VP of Marketing at Nooks, I support a world-class team of marketers and GTM experts. 

From my start in B2B tech as a Netscape intern, I have a proven track record of building and executing full-lifecycle marketing strategies that drive revenue, brand love, and customer loyalty.

Peter Mollins

OK, we're not talking the Olympics here. It's a local turkey trot. 

And no songs will be sung about my time. 

But, over the summer, my youngest and I said we'd get top 3 for our respective age groups. And that's what we did.

Marketing @ Nooks | 💟 outbound? Let's connect!

Our SDR team says “thank you” on basically every call.

Rejections. Gatekeepers. Booked meetings. Doesn’t matter.

My colleague Asa Sweetser and I pulled data from nearly 19,000 calls made by the Nooks SDR team and used Nooks AI to sample the transcripts.

The result: almost every single call ended with gratitude.

Here’s why that matters.

That prospect just gave you a few minutes of their day. Maybe they rejected you. Maybe they pointed you to someone else. Maybe they shared intel that will sharpen your next pitch.

Regardless, they helped.

The best sellers I know treat every interaction like the start of a relationship, not a quota checkbox.

That gratitude isn’t a tactic. It's a state of mind that puts us in the right place to help others. And possibly be helped. 

Thank you to every seller out there grinding daily. And especially to the Nooks customers and community who make this work possible.

Your SDRs are burning your best prospects before 9am.

Here’s how to fix it.

Most teams use role play bots for the obvious stuff:
- Onboarding new reps
- Objection handling practice
- Sharpening talk tracks

All good. Keep doing that.

But there are two use cases I don’t hear talked about much (I'll post the second one tomorrow):

**The morning rust remover**

First thing in the morning, reps are cold. Voices are shaky, brains are still booting up, and that first batch of dials is usually rough. I know I'm not on the top of my game at day break.

So why have them warm up on your best accounts?

Have them spend 10 minutes with a bot instead:
- Run 3 to 5 mock conversations
- Practice intros and openers
- Get hit with real objections

By the time they hit the live list, they’re already loose and confident instead of using your pipeline as practice.

cc Nooks

A little story about how I completely messed up a not very promising voice over career. And how tone of voice matters more than you think when selling or speaking to a prospect. 

h/t to Chris S. for the idea for the video

cc Nooks

Last week’s Pipeline Conference is a wrap. And it was a blast.

I caught up with old friends, finally met a bunch of folks I’ve traded messages with for years, and had hallway conversations that reminded me why I love this craft. 

Everywhere I turned, people were comparing notes on what really will be the future of sales development, from live conversations to smarter routing to how teams will scale without losing the human touch.

Proud of the Nooks crew. The team brought real creativity to every meeting and booth chat, and really worked to support the community. Our founders were everywhere, working the room, then up on stage sharing practical playbooks and what we’re seeing across millions of calls. Real, data-based insights.

Huge thanks to Sam Nelson Laura Morgan Julie Osterhout and the whole SDRLeader.com organizers and everyone who made time to connect. If we spoke and I owe you a follow-up, it’s coming. If we didn’t get to link up, my DMs are open. Let’s keep the momentum going.

I'll be honest, I've been checking back on this all week.

Just crossed 10,000 followers.

When I joined Nooks, my LinkedIn network was half this size. Since then, the dialog here pushed me to share more data, stories, opinions, and practical ways to actually build pipeline.

If you've shared, commented, debated, asked a question, or dropped a win in the comments ... Thank you. You've made me sharper. And hopefully helped other marketers, pipeline generators, and others do the same.

I'll keep posting what's working, what isn't, and what we're learning in real time at Nooks.

What topics would help you most over the next quarter? Drop them below. More video??

51% of meetings come from rep follow-up. But less than 25% of sellers actually do it.

That gap is where a lot of pipeline dies.

I was thinking about this on the flight home from a CRO event.

Great sessions. Strong hallway conversations. Lots of “let’s keep in touch.”

Then you land, open your laptop, and real life hits.

Quarter to close. Inbox at 200+. Internal meetings stacked.

Follow-up turns into “I’ll do it later.”

If you want more meetings from events, here are three simple things that help:

1. Be Memorable 
Start with a real moment you shared. They met a ton of people. Help them remember you. Reference something specific:
“You were walking me through how you rebuilt your SDR team after Q2.”
“We were talking by the coffee station about reps drowning in admin work.”

Your goal is for them to say, “Right, *that* conversation.” They'll be more likely to prioritize action when there's a personal connection.

2. Tie to challenges
Coming back from an event, they have a long list of “important” things. Your note hits harder if it connects to a problem they mentioned:
“You said your team is buried in manual follow-up after events. That stuck with me.”
“You mentioned onboarding success rates are flat even though activity is way up. I think we can help there.”

Show that you listened and that this is worth a slice of their attention.

3. Make an easy ask
 “Got 30 minutes this week?” is often too big as a first step. Especially when they just spent 48 hours offsite. 

Try a lighter ask:

“Is there one person on your team I should connect with about this?”

Simple, specific, and easy to execute in under ten seconds.

Events are great for starting relationships. Follow-up is where those relationships turn into pipeline. If 51% of meetings come from follow-up, it is worth asking: What is your follow-up habit after an event?

Curious what has actually worked for you.

cc Nooks

One of the best SDR management tips was shared by Housien S. at the Pipeline Conference Conference last week. This one really hits home. He said: 

One of the best spiffs you can give an SDR is public recognition. Money is great, but sometimes a genuine shoutout travels further. 

Money can be spent, it can go fast. Gifts may or may not hit home. But recognition is great fuel and can power people through even tough times.

A few simple ways to make recognition a habit:
- Start-of-week shoutouts in All Hands / team meetings with the exact behavior you want to be repeated
- Post a short LinkedIn kudos with a concrete win and tag the rep and their manager
- Keep a visible leaderboard in the sales floor or Slack and rotate the spotlight
- Share a 30–60 second call clip, email copy, LinkedIn message, gift idea, etc. and what made it great
- Handwritten notes from leadership for milestone wins
- Monthly “customer love” highlights that credit the SDR who opened the door
- A traveling trophy that lives on the rep’s desk for a week -- you know we have championship belts!
- Let peers nominate peers, then read the best notes out loud
- We have our own SDRs call out others each week and when people hit quota 

(Melanie Smith lives this strategy)

Interestingly, Nooks ran a marketing program that recognized our customer SDRs that booked the most meetings for their companies per quarter. And when we posted those awards, we noticed that leaders at these companies would repost and share the success of their team. That's motivating. Energy up. More good outcomes.
 
If you lead an SDR team, try one new recognition ritual this week. If you’re an SDR, nudge your leadership with one idea from the list and offer to run it.

Tag a rep who deserves the spotlight today.

You’d never hire a pilot without seeing them fly.

So why are you hiring SDRs and AEs without hearing them sell?

Most interview loops still rely on polished stories:

“Tell me about a time when…”
“Walk me through your process…”

You get the rehearsed version. You don't see how they think in real time.
Here is where chatbots get fun.

If you are hiring SDRs or AEs, add this step:

1. Give them a “prospect” bot to call into and book a meeting. Ask them to record it. Set up a chatbot that acts like your ICP. Share a short brief:

- Who they are talking to
- The problem that person cares about
- Rough goal for the call (book a meeting)
- Ask them to treat it like a live cold call.

2. Have them record a short interaction, say, 5 minutes.

- Ask them to record their screen or camera as they talk to the bot.
- You are not grading perfection.
- You are watching how they actually show up.

3. Review with specific criteria
Look for:
- How they open the call
- How quickly they build a bit of rapport
- How they handle pushback
- Whether they ask real discovery or open ended questions
- How clearly they ask for a next step

You will see instincts you will never get from a resume or a panel interview. Some candidates come alive when there is back and forth. Others completely stall.

Yesterday was about chatbots as a morning rust remover. Today is about using them to hire better.

If you run an SDR or AE team, how are you testing live conversation skills today?

cc Nooks

Getting ranked #7 on a list of AI companies most likely to 10x is not the goal.

But it is a pretty great signal that what the team is building at Nooks is working.

Prospect and Next Play (a great read, subscribe to it!) published the 20 AI companies they believe have the highest odds of 10x growth. They looked at  funding, hiring velocity, web traffic, etc. The lineup is stacked: Summation, LlamaIndex, Decagon, Luma, Standard Bots, and many others that are at the top of the game. 

And Nooks is right there. 

We're there because of 
- A ridiculous pace of innovation from an engineering team that ships valued product, fast
- A company-wide focus on real customer problems from first touch in marketing, to sales conversations, to onboarding and success
- A culture that cares about earning customer love, not just closing deals
- A growing community of sellers, SDRs, managers, and sales leaders who share what’s working and push us to make the product better

There's a lot to do. But being recognized in this group is definitely fuel. 

Huge thanks to the Prospect and Next Play teams for including us, and congratulations to every company on the list. 

If you care about where AI is actually delivering outcomes (not just hype), it’s a fun group to watch. Link is in the comments.

My first sales job was cold calling local companies out of the white pages to sell international market research.

No CRM. No automation. No working AC.

Just me, my buddy, a giant desk phone, and a vague idea of what “exporters” might look like.

The process went something like this:

1. Flip through the white pages and guess which companies might be exporters
2. Dial, hope someone picks up, find the decision maker, try a pitch
3. High five each other just for making the call

If someone actually stayed on the line? We thought we'd hit it big time.

We landed a few clients that summer, but if I am honest, the job was more about the grind of dialing than about selling.

Fast forward to this year.

In one of Nooks SDR team’s cold call blocks, and it could not feel more different.

The energy was incredible. Celebrating booked meetings. Sharing talk tracks. Helping each other sharpen the next call.

The tools we have now completely change the game. Smart prospecting, instant contact info, AI-assisted dialing, real-time research, coaching,  

Hard not to think about what those sweaty, un-air-conditioned call blocks would have looked like with this kind of setup.

SDR and outbound coaching has a math problem.

Managers are supposed to be the best coaches in the org.

But most of their feedback still sounds like:
“You talked too much”
“Be more confident”
“Your opener felt a little weak”

But vibe coaching doesn't scale.

My wife, who is a teacher, would tell me that the solution is how she works with her students: have a clear rubric of what good looks like. And guide accordingly. 

That’s why I’m so interested in real-time call scoring. AI as a guide.

When every call or roleplay is scored against a clear rubric and past calls, a few big things change:

Coaching gets objective. Instead of “you talked too much,” a manager can say:

- Your talk to listen ratio was 72%
- You skipped 3 of 5 key discovery questions
- Your opener clarity score was 62% because of filler words

Now the rep knows exactly what to fix. And how far off the mark they were. 

Time goes where it matters. And not just for the rep, but for the manager too. They don't have to dig through mountains of calls to find the right "teachable moment".

If you have 10 SDRs, you don’t have time to review every call in depth.

Scoring lets you spot patterns fast:
- The team struggles with the “not a priority” objection
- Two reps are consistently low on next step setting
- One new hire is great at discovery but weak on openers

You can now plan coaching around data, not guesses. Practice becomes a loop, not an event

If you can score it, you can coach it. If you can coach it, you can scale it.

That’s a power of AI I’m most excited about for SDR managers: not more automation for automation’s sake, but smarter scoring that makes every minute of coaching count. 
cc Nooks

CROs are under pressure to “have an AI strategy.” But it's way different than last year.

I just got back from the CRO Exchange and one thing stood out:

Nobody cares about the “AI is the fastest-growing technology in history” slide. 

They are way past that.

What I heard over and over from GTM leaders sounded more like:

“Show me the 3 places AI can help my team close more revenue this quarter.”
"How can AI get my teams talking the same talk"
"How can AI help me bring more value to customers"

Very grounded. Very practical.

The themes were pretty consistent:

- Use AI to clear out the busywork that drags reps away from customers and prospects. Protect time for the human side of selling by stripping away complexity.
- Use AI to surface better targets and better context so calls and meetings are sharper and prospects more engaged.
- Use AI to train better and onboard faster by standardizing and scaling the best coaching programs.

The CROs who seemed most confident were already ahead of their board’s “What is our AI strategy for sales?” question.

They could point to specific answers:
Here is where AI plugs into our revenue engine.
Here is the motion it improves.
Here is how it shows up in conversations, meetings, pipeline, and retention.

Not a lab project or a vanity slide in a strategy deck.

A short list of real workflows that make their sellers more effective.

If you are working through how to make AI feel pragmatic for your team and legible for your board, happy to compare notes.

cc Nooks

Elevate Talent

Learn more at elevatetalent.co

Who is Elevate Talent? We’re a recruiting firm that provides world-class talent to today’s most innovative companies. Our clients benefit from a highly consultative approach, a deep talent network, thorough candidate vetting, streamlined processes, and an exceptional track record across multiple sectors.

Our recruitment team is experienced in building all Go-To-Market, Operations, and Finance teams.

Elevate Talent offers a hiring solution to meet your needs:

Contingency Search
We will find your most critical hires and only charge you when we are successful in doing so. 

Retained Search
Recommended for VP & C-Level searches. Market research, candidate profiles, and successful management level placements. 

Management Consulting
When you need VP or C-Level expertise while you scale your company, we have you covered. 

Reach out to me anytime at michael@elevatetalent.co

Managing Partner

Swapt

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Co-Founder

Carrington Fox

Senior Consultant, Head of Trading Recruitment

As a Managing Partner at Elevate Talent, I lead a team of recruitment experts who provide world-class talent to today’s most innovative companies. With over 14 years of experience in the talent acquisition industry, I have a proven track record of delivering successful hires across multiple sectors and functions.

My mission is to help clients scale their businesses and build top-notch teams by offering a highly consultative approach, a deep talent network, thorough candidate vetting, streamlined processes, and exceptional customer service. Whether it’s contingency search, retained search, or management consulting, Elevate Talent offers a hiring solution to meet your needs. Let’s chat! Reach out to me at michael@elevatetalent.co

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