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

There are a bunch of standard lines we use in sales that I think we need to ditch in our modern day, but there's one that seems innocent enough and almost always makes me want to say "nope." and another that needs a little refining.

1. "Would you be open to...?"

We use this line when we're being direct that we're making a pitch, or when we're asking for something we know the person might not want to do.

"Would you be open to seeing how we can do this for you?" Nope.
"Would you be open to helping me move this weekend?" Nope. Jk, I'm a sucker for helping, will there be pizza and beer?

And buyers hear this so often. 

Think instead of this quick change: "If you're up for hearing a bit more about how we can help here, I'd be grateful for the time and happy to send a calendar invite over."

2. "Feel free to..."

I see this misused so often, and I think it secretly damages our brand. It's used when we want something from someone, when it should be used when we're offering to do someone a favor.

"Feel free to book time on my calendar..." <-cold email from a seller 🚫 
"Feel free to send an invite." <--to a mentor who agreed to give us time 🚫
"Feel free to look at my network and see if there's anyone I can introduce you to!" <--offering to do a favor 👌 

Success is hinged on the boulders of our sales process, but I think most often exponentially accelerated by these tiny nuances, semantics, and manners that build our brands in unexpected ways.

#samsales #semanticsmatter

FRONTLINE Selling

Director of Client Development

Aptos Retail

Global Sales Development Manager 

Account Manager

Cabin Rentals of Georgia

I am the Operations Manager for Cabin Rentals of Georgia.  I oversee the housekeeping and maintenance departments.  Currently, I am also taking on a marketing campaign to attract new homeowners to our property management company.

Operations Manager

McDonald's

General Manager

Mountain Laurel Cabin Rentals

Maintained vacation rental properties. Duties included, but not limited to, hot tubs, electrical, plumbing, landscaping and carpentry.

Lead Maintenance Technician

Capital Safety

Assembler

J and J Electrical

Designed and installed electrical systems in residential construction.

Crew Lead

Director of Client Services | Changing the world, one SDR at a time.

I began my career in Sales Development as an SDR at FRONTLINE Selling in January of 2018. Within a year, I knew I'd found my calling.

In January of 2020, I was promoted to Account Manager (SDR Manager) and that is when I found my true passion. I noticed that anyone can be taught the physical skills that are required to be an SDR. While also noticing it's the ones who have certain personality traits, that are the most successful. 

Being Driven, Coachable and Innovative, are traits that can't be trained.  You either are these things, or you aren't. Those that are, also have a strong desire to grow professionally.  

"When you're green, you're growing. When you're ripe, you rot."

My goal is to find those people that are Driven, Coachable and Innovative. That know they will never fully ripen. I want to make them a part of my team. But only for a short time. 

My ultimate goal is to help them grow, realizing their full potential. So they can one day lead their own teams. 

Where they can identify those that are Driven, Coachable and Innovative. Starting the process themselves.

taplio

The Battle

Samantha McKenna

Patrick Dahling

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taplio

The Battle

Samantha McKenna

Patrick Dahling

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);}Samantha McKenna's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

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