Samantha McKenna

Founder @ #samsales l Sales + Cadences + Executive Branding on LinkedIn l Ex-LinkedIn l Keynote Speaker l 13 Sales Records l Early Stage Investor l Overly Enthusiastic l Swiss Dual Citizen l Creator, Show Me You Know Me®

I had my first exposure to competitive "sales" in sixth grade when my school raised money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  Knocking door to door and delivering a pitch was the start of my education; I still have the portable TV that I won for second place, which fuels my competitive spirit.

I’ve spent my career in sales doing a few things – breaking records, putting others first, creating global sales programs, educating through peer interaction, and going to great lengths to make people feel valued.  I’ve launched new verticals, overseen the GTM strategy for some of the most successful initiatives in company history, and put in processes across businesses that redefine how each company works and succeeds.

As the founder of #samsales, I oversee an all-women team of 14 who believe in a manners-first and buyer-first approach. We:

•	Run sales trainings that cover prospecting via your likely under-utilized LI Sales Nav licenses, how to write great email copy, Show Me You Know Me™, perfect discovery calls, etc. all while being sales methodology agnostic

•	Speak at 100+ annual events - keynoting for SKOs, international conferences, and podcasts alike re: sales, social selling, and women in tech/sales/leadership

•	Write the content you have in Outreach.io, etc using our proprietary techniques + the most up-to-date data on what works to drive opens + replies

•	Teach social selling - as an LI influencer, ambassador of Sales Navigator, and former LI leader, I understand how to use the ecosystem to truly SELL. I've personally trained tens of thousands on the platform, ranging from 10-person teams to Fortune 500 brands. 

•	Build brands for C-Suites on LinkedIn.  If you want to build a brand on LI but don't know what to write, don't understand the algorithm, and don't have the time to manage, our full-service strategy will manage it exclusively like we do for some of the most prominent/highly visible execs you see on LI.

As a founder, I have one goal - to make as much positive impact as we can.  Since our inception, we’ve raised over 120K via personal donations + our annual charity events for incredible causes, and have given away hundreds of our trainings to the military and transitioning teachers, free of charge.

When you hire us, you're not just hiring a team, but rather investing in one who constantly puts good into the world.

Who am I, otherwise - 

Philanthropist, investor, dog lover, die hard competitor, writer, former Nickelodeon game show contestant, extrovert, expert in self-deprecating humor, and willing to walk through fire to make you laugh.

Limited Partner

Sign up for our newsletters, webinars, and all our content here www.samsalesconsulting.com 

We just fired off an update to every one of our LinkedIn Executive Branding clients on the changing nature of the algorithm and reach on LinkedIn. A quick snippet from one part of our email, if you're also looking for a bit of reasoning on the changes:

What we're seeing today:

Feed saturation: 20% more daily posts competing for the same space.

Rise of suggested and paid content: now ~35% of all feeds.

Quality filters: comments, saves, and profile clicks now count more than likes.

Audience fatigue: people scroll faster and engage more selectively.

How the Algorithm “Thinks” Now:

LinkedIn now groups every post into topic clusters (AI-based “buckets” like sustainability, leadership, or innovation). The stronger your connection to a clear theme, the more likely your content is to be suggested to new, relevant audiences beyond your followers.

That’s why keywords and consistency of posting matters more than ever. The algorithm looks to your headline, about section, and recent posts to confirm your expertise before deciding who sees your content.

Note, you might still see some posts doing tremendously well and wonder, am I the only one getting hit? One of the downfalls of social: easy to feel great about yourself when your content tanks...

But, it's important to keep in mind that you only see half the story: the engagement and comments, not the impressions. Some of my highest engaged with content gets the lowest views, but some of my most curated-for-my-buyers-thought-leadership gets the lowest engagement and highest sends/saves.

Take yesterday's LI/algo post: 86 likes but 12,000+ impressions and 35 saves and 19 sends on LI. 

Then there's also my Dumb and Dumber GIF with 123 likes and 55,000 impressions so...at least it was shared around? 😏 

But as always, do a quick check on your Dark Social score (impressions/likes) - if you're sailing above 50 on average, you're doing great. Above 70 (like the above) and it means your content is resonating and useful to broad audiences.

****************************************************************

The best I can offer is that this platform is like the gym. We get easy wins when we start but things fluctuate daily, we hit plateaus, and what worked then doesn't work now, but keep at it. I've been posting since 2011 and this platform has done more for me than I could ever pay back to it, even if it's a fickle little creature most days.

#samsales #LIEB

Black Box

In my role at Black Box, I spearhead the Networking and Infrastructure practice, driving strategic initiatives that aligns with the company's ambitious growth targets. I focus on identifying innovative solutions to enhance service delivery while building a collaborative team culture. My key goals are to drive improved client satisfaction and the establishment of lasting partnerships with clients, OEM's and Alliance partners

Black Box® is a trusted IT solutions provider delivering cutting-edge technology solutions, products and world-class consulting services to businesses around the globe. Black Box's recent achievements showcase phenomenal growth that aims to reach a $2 billion milestone in the next three years. 

With more than 50 years of technology excellence and 4000 team members globally, managing over 2,000 plus customers across 75 countries we are uniquely positioned to build a global IT services brand that can deliver maximum value, world-class integrated solutions, deliver results, cultivate strategic relationships, and enable lasting relevance for our customers across six continents. 

Discover more about Black Box - https://www.blackbox.com/en-us/discover-bb/about-blackbox

Vice President Networking and Infrastructure Practice

Bridgepointe Technologies

I led the central US region team of enterprise network services strategist who represented IT services such as Lan/Wan infrastructure, datacenter, cloud/AI, compute, cybersecurity, UCaaS, CCaaS, managed NOC, SOC, and helpdesk services as well as assessment, consulting, and project-based resources.

Bridgepointe Technologies is a tech consultancy firm renowned for its ability to align technology investments with business objectives. Bridgepointe Technologies stood at the forefront of the IT and networking services industry. They strive to obliterate the gap between technology investments and business goals. Their mission is to deliver unparalleled success to enterprise clients by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and business practices that drive efficiency and cost management.

Vice President

Lumen Technologies

CenturyLink rebranded as Lumen Technologies (Sept 2020).

I served as the sales leader for the four-state (TX, OK, LA, and AR) region with one hundred sales, sales engineers, and support professionals. 

In this role, I exceeded growth targets year over year by adding an additional 30 to 40 million in monthly services revenue to a $350M base. Due to this success, my region recognized as top performing region in the country in 2022.

The services sold include enterprise network Lan/Wan infrastructure, datacenter, cloud, application hosting, cybersecurity, managed network, security, SD-Wan, SASE, and CASB.

I led the integration of a legacy team and business into the new TOLA region, streamlining operations and ensuring a smooth transition. Simultaneously, I focused on implementing an innovative culture and sales methodologies, driving team engagement and boosting performance.

My efforts related to culture did not go unnoticed as I achieved the highest employee engagement scores across the company in 2023. I also achieved one of the highest scores on the company’s leadership assessment and development platform, setting a benchmark across my peer group.

Fundamental to my teams success relates to continuously driving sales tool adoption, enhancing collaboration, data management, and driving significant increases in sales and revenue production.

Vice President of Enterprise Sales, TOLA

CenturyLink Business for Enterprise

•	Recruited and built a global team of ten responsible for managing the company’s largest and most complex opportunities.
•	This team managed both client-facing sales and internal stakeholder approvals for the solutions sold to clients.
•	 The team regularly exceeded targets of 1M in new recurring monthly revenue while maintaining responsibility for profitability and ensuring processes were in place to support the complexities of the solution sold.
•	Worked and built relationships with F1000 global accounts.
•	Established alliances with other suppliers to provide complete solutions.

Senior Director of Sales, Strategic and Complex Deal Team

Level 3 Communications

Level 3 was purchased by CenturyLink

•	Managed a sales team of eight global enterprise sellers.
•	Primarily sold WAN and managed services internationally to global enterprise clients
•	Presidents club multiyear winner.
•	Recruited top sales talent and consistently coached for success

Director of Enterprise Sales Global Accounts

I’m a powerhouse in organizational transformation, operational efficiency, strategic sales growth, cultural management, and revenue generation. 

As the VP and head of Black Box's Networking and Infrastructure Practice I bring over two decades of client facing sales and technical experience and over a decade in leadership roles within the IT and networking services industry to the table. 

I don’t just build C-level relationships, I forge unbreakable alliances. 
I don’t just create sales and retention strategies. I tailor them for maximum impact. 
I don’t just implement sales methods. I execute proven methodologies that deliver results.

I help enterprise clients achieve unparalleled success. My forte? Forming strategic, game-changing partnerships with clients, and building successful teams that drive growth.

My core strengths? 
🌎 Consulting
🌎 Network infrastructure/architecture
🌎 Cloud
🌎 Data center
🌎 Security
🌎 Managed services
🌎 AI
🌎 UC/CX and anything else related to a client’s path to digital transformation.

I live and breathe IT services. 
Connect with me and let’s revolutionize success together.

Christopher Brunetti

Executives in transition, this is for you. Attend virtually or in person. Tamika Brunetti is diving into how to Make LinkedIn Work For You today. If you have time, you should attend. The link to register is below in the comments.

#DigitalSwagger

🧠 Engineer at heart, strategist in sales. 🌐 Enterprise IT sales leader for Fortune 500, direct, alliance, and channel teams, resilient networks, long-term client partnerships 🤝VP, Networking & Infrastructure Practice

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The Battle

Samantha McKenna

Christopher Brunetti

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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);}Samantha McKenna's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreSamantha McKenna's LinkedIn Performance