Tom Pisello

Tom Pisello is a founder, CEO, speaker, and author with over 30 years of experience in value marketing and selling, sales enablement, and go-to-market (GTM) strategy. He is the founder of and Partner at Genius Drive, a consultancy that helps organizations craft, communicate, and quantify their value story to prospects and customers.

Tom is also a growth evangelist and a purpose-driven leader who founded Growth through Grief, a ministry and resource for widowers, and the Enterprise Value Collective (EVC) a community for value-centric sales, marketing and customer success professionals. 

Tom has authored several books on value management, enablement, and selling (Evolved Selling and Frugalnomics Survival Guide), and co hosts The Value Coffee Talk podcast. Tom is passionate about helping others achieve their personal and professional goals through value storytelling and leveraging a growth mindset.

When not at work, you can find Tom working out, running, playing piano, writing poetry and articles at a local Chelsea coffee shop, checking out vintage 356 or air-cooled 911 Porsches (for when he has a garage again), or walking the streets of New York City (with the Staying Alive soundtrack playing in his head).

Founder / CEO

Helping organizations better craft, communicate and quantify their value story to ever-more economic focused prospects and customers.

2025: It's a Wrap

Thank you all for such an incredible growth year: more than doubling our community memberships and podcast / article downloads!

See the stats: what you and the Business Value Collective community said were the most popular insight articles, podcasts and white papers. 

https://lnkd.in/dDy54W28

#valueselling #GTM #B2B
Genius Drive

Founder/Partner @ value selling consulting firm Genius Drive | Podcaster | Author | Helping B2B Solution Providers with Inspired Value Storytelling for improved Sales, Marketing and Customer Success

🎉 What does 2026 have in store?

Checkout my top 5 predictions for the New Year here: https://lnkd.in/dvf9wvZ8

#valueselling #GTM #B2B
Business Value Collective
Genius Drive

Ever want to get Inside the mind 🧠 of a PE Operating Partner, to learn what's working best (and what to absolutely avoid)? 

🎙️ Checkout our podcast with Mike Slater here: https://lnkd.in/eVwvgkbG

#PE #B2B #GTM

Genius Drive
Business Value Collective

👉 Value Leaders and Practitioners: Checkout this interview with Mike Samuels, revenue and value veteran at Pendo, to learn exactly how to optimize your value practice for 2026. ✅ 

🎙️ View the episode here: https://lnkd.in/eFMjUu6b

#valuemanagement #valueselling #GTM
Genius Drive
Business Value Collective

🎉 Realized Value: An absolute mandate for 2026 Customer Success.

Checkout the 🧠 research on why this should be your #1 priority for the New Year, and what our Business Value Collective shared is working best, where you should be investing, and what you definitely should avoid when it comes to Realized Value.

👉 Read more:
https://lnkd.in/d5hSirdF

#realizedvalue #valueselling #customersuccess
Genius Drive

Loved this conversation with Ray Meiring!

In the latest episode of the Value Coffee Talk podcast, Tom Pisello sits down with Ray Meiring, CEO of QorusDocs, to explore why proposals without value are destined to fall flat.

Ray shares a powerful analogy. A proposal without value is like a light bulb without electricity. It might look polished, but without the power of clearly articulated business value, it simply does not work.

Together, they discuss how proposal volumes are rising across industries, from technology to legal, professional services, and engineering. At the same time, proposals are becoming more complex, expectations are higher, and AI is pushing teams to move faster. In this environment, speed alone is not enough. Trust, credibility, and value must be present from the very first interaction.

The conversation dives into why value modeling must be embedded directly into proposals, not treated as a separate exercise. When proposals combine strong storytelling, compelling presentation, and defensible business value, they resonate with stakeholders, earn trust, and drive better buying decisions.

🔗 Watch the full episode: https://lnkd.in/g-GYDj2y 

We are proud to sponsor the Value Coffee Talk podcast. Follow Business Value Collective to stay up to date on the community resources.

#GeniusDrive #ValueCoffeeTalk #Podcast #ValueSelling #ProposalManagement #RevenueLeadership #ValueEnablement #GTMStrategy #B2BSaaS #BusinessValue

✅  Checkout a valuable Value Coffee Talk episode with Angela Hughes , revenue acceleration leader from Ping Identity 🔒 - on how to best elevate customer conversations to drive bigger opportunities and better win rates. 📈 

🎙️ https://lnkd.in/eq9BksPh

#b2b #salesenablement #valueselling
Genius Drive
Business Value Collective

🚀 New Episode Alert! 🎙️

🤔 Ever wondered if sales engineers hold the key to unlocking customer value? 

In Episode 91 of Value Coffee Talk, I sit down with Stephen Morse, CEO of the SE Leadership Institute, to explore how SEs are evolving beyond technical roles 🛠️ into strategic value creators. 💵 

👉 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/dJFtJvrk

#Podcast #SalesEngineering #ValueSelling
Genius Drive
Business Value Collective

Open article: Episode 91: Unlocking Customer Value - Do Sales Engineers Hold The Key? by geniusdrive.com

Episode 91: Unlocking Customer Value - Do Sales Engineers Hold The Key?

What's next for Value Leaders in 2026? Checkout @Max Elster's take here in this Value Coffee Talk podcast!

Max Elster, CEO and Founder of Minoa, explains that value teams are evolving from deal support to value orchestration. The modern value leader no longer focuses on building isolated business cases, but on owning the end to end value narrative across the entire go to market motion.

In this new role, value teams align sales, marketing, customer success, and product around a shared value framework. They ensure every asset, message, and customer conversation ties back to real use cases, outcomes, and consistent positioning. This shift is being driven by CROs and executive teams who want value to operate as a system, not a one off activity.

Value leaders are becoming the owners of how value is defined, communicated, and scaled. Orchestrating value is now a leadership responsibility, not just an enablement function.

#GeniusDrive #ValueCoffeeTalk #Podcast #ValueSelling #ValueLeadership #ValueEngineering #GTMStrategy #RevenueGrowth #CustomerOutcomes #ValueOrchestration #B2BSaaS #SalesEnablement

🚀 New Value Coffee Talk Episode! 🎙️

In Episode 90, I talk with Tom Canning, experienced CRO and Operating Advisor, about the emotional toll GTM and sales teams face when customer priorities shift and deals slip out of their control. We dig into why burnout is so common - and how to build resilience to stay confident and successful.

Key points to inspire you into the New Year:
 • Burnout often stems from lack of control
 • Customer shifts create stress and uncertainty
 • Emotional resilience is essential in GTM
 • Strong support systems help reduce burnout

👉 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eMAnUDwQ

#GTM #SalesLeadership #Resilience
Genius Drive
Business Value Collective

Open article: Episode 90: B2B GTM - The Emotional Toll of Customer Control by geniusdrive.com

Episode 90: B2B GTM - The Emotional Toll of Customer Control

Avensia

Avensia is an IT consulting, services and software provider focused on modern eCommerce solutions.

As Americas Technical Lead, responsible for the hiring and onboarding, development and retention of technical staff, project managers and pre-sales consultants.  Responsible to assist the US General Manager grow Avensia's business in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America through customer and partner relationships.

As a Senior Solution Architect, responsible for all pre-sales activities in the US Market, including sales presentations, demonstrations, customer discovery and detailing workshops and delivery oversight for customers' multi-channel commerce solutions.  Designed and built eCommerce solutions based on: Commercetools, Optimizely B2C and B2B Commerce, Contentful CMS, inriver PIM, Apptus eSales, and Algolia.

Americas Technical Lead and Senior Enterprise Architect

As a senior presales leader in the financial services market, guided multiple teams through a series of reorganizations that impacted territory and product coverage.  Recognized for quickly developing a productive team with diverse skill sets and experience levels, getting the most out of each team member.

☑ Partnered with sales leadership, pairing senior pre-sales professionals with junior sellers to quickly enable a new sales team to achieve aggressive sales targets. 
☑ Established clear systems of accountability to ensure my team could efficiently meet corporate training and certification requirements while also meeting sales targets.
☑ Assisted my leadership by collecting and maintaining metrics on customer software utilization and pre-sales impact on the sales cycle.

Senior Pre-Sales Manager, Data & AI and Automation

As a strategic presales leader, recognized for developing highly effective organizations and fostering high presales productivity. Effectively led and developed teams of technical sellers and architects to execute high-value selling strategies for eCommerce, marketing, digital analytics, digital experience and order management solutions. 

☑ Recruited Directors and C-level executives from marketing, retail, and financial services companies to better engage with customers and ensure outstanding service levels to grow revenue and market share. 
☑ Spearheaded presales organization responsible for client demonstrations, proof of concepts, and managing client success.
☑ Trained and mentored new account managers, accelerating their pace toward achieving business objectives.

Senior Pre-Sales Manager, Commerce, Marketing and Supply Chain

As the Software Client Architect Manager, directed the efforts of Solution Architects covering IBM’s top 50 accounts, generating over $1B in business. Led the team to design and implement cross-brand software solutions in accounts across the Southwestern US. Major Account Wins: Target, Walmart, AT&T, JC Penney, PepsiCo, American Airlines, Sysco Foods, Neiman Marcus, NV Energy, HP, Century Link & Sprint.

☑ Introduced structured, repeatable methodology focused on identifying and providing solutions to customers’ compelling issues.
☑ Spearheaded a sales workshop series to identify and develop innovative, big-picture projects within IBM’s largest high-profile accounts.  These workshops generated more than $400M in new opportunities between 2013 to 2014.
☑ Regularly met with our largest customers to assess customer satisfaction and delivery progress.
☑ 100% Club 2012 and 2014

Software Client Architect Manager, Great West Territory ⇉ Client Annual Revenues $300M - $1B+ 

Led cross-brand technical teams at several major IBM accounts in the Southwestern United States.   Designed and sold complex software solutions spanning: development operations, ITSM, data warehousing, CRM, marketing/digital experience, eCommerce, enterprise integration and SOA.
Major Account Wins: JCPenney, Michael's Stores, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Fossil, BNSF, and PepsiCo.

☑ Led an IBM Software turnaround at the American Airlines account, taking the account from zero annual software revenue, to producing $3M annually.
☑ Designed and rolled out one of the earliest Federated ESB deployments in the U.S.
☑ Open Group Certified IT Architect 2005-2011
☑ 100% Club 2005 and 2006

Software IT Architect 

As a Technical Sales Manager, successfully led pre-sales force efforts for Fortune 100 accounts across the Western United States, recruiting, hiring, and retaining top talent to drive revenue growth. Worked closely with the sales leadership team to ensure technical resources were optimally assigned to client accounts. Major Account Wins: Northrop Grumman, Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Lockheed Martin, and Sprint.

☑ Open Group Certified IT Specialist 2002-2005.
☑ Earned 100% Club Award at IBM in 2002 and 2003.

IBM CrossWorlds Technical Sales Manager

CrossWorlds Software

As a Sales Engineer for CrossWorlds Software (later acquired by IBM), successfully executed pre-sales initiatives at Fortune 100 accounts across United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Collaborated with the sales team to overcome functional and technical obstacles to closing deals. 

☑ Executed proofs of concept that resulted in large sales at Pactiv, Caterpillar, RX.com, Whirlpool, Siemens, and West Group Publishing.
☑ Advised CrossWorlds Product Management on development of SAP Adapter.
☑ Participated in taking CrossWorlds public in June 2000. NASDAQ: CWLD.
☑ Earned 100% Club and Pre-Sales Excellence award at CrossWorlds in 2000 and 2001.

Senior Sales Engineer

Andersen Consulting (Accenture)

As the Technical Consulting Manager, led a diverse SAP Interface Architecture Team spanning several global SAP Solution Centers to develop, market and internationally distribute Andersen Consulting's SAP Interface Architecture offering (SAP/IA). This team was responsible for developing, documenting and installing the SAP Interface Architecture at Fortune 100 customers worldwide. The team also provided training to both Andersen and client personnel on SAP projects in the North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

☑ Coordinated vendor relationships for acquisition of third-party software used with the Interface Architecture.
☑ Performed architecture requirements analysis and design for new and potential SAP clients, effectively selling Andersen's architecture and services against the "build from scratch" option.

Technical Architecture Lead - SAP Integration

Senior Pre-sales Leader with cross-industry and international experience.

Manager/Director, Sales Engineering
kevin.safstrom@gmail.com

CAREER SNAPSHOT:  
As a customer-centric pre-sales leader, developed and retained high performing sales engineering and solution architecture teams.  Track record of success in aligning software offerings with customer needs across several industries including retail, manufacturing & distribution, financial services, and travel & transportation. Proactively develop operational processes, resourcing, and territory management strategies to get the most out of technical teams.  As a senior pre-sales leader, comfortable delivering executive level presentations for customers or conferences, but not afraid to deliver a demonstration either.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
☑ Developed a technical sales and delivery team for a Swedish digital commerce consultancy entering the Americas market while collaborating with Sweden-based resources to serve the growing Americas customer base.
☑ As a solution sales leader, recruited and led a team of former marketing executives to better connect commerce and marketing software solutions with our client’s CMOs and CEOs.
☑ Guided pre-sales efforts for Fortune 100 accounts across United States, Canada, and Mexico.
☑ Spearheaded a program to identify and develop “big idea” projects, leading workshops aimed at enticing IBM’s largest clients to make large, long term bets on IBM solutions. These workshops generated more than $400M in new sales opportunities.

SIGNATURE STRENGTHS & EXPERTISE: Commercetools | Optimizely B2C and B2B Commerce | inriver PIM | IBM Marketing, Commerce and Supply Chain solutions | Cloud & Hybrid Cloud Solutions | SaaS | Enterprise Software Architecture | SAP Integration | Process Integration | Business Process Design

LET'S CONNECT.
To learn more about how I can help drive pre-sales excellence for your organization, please reach out to me via LinkedIn or contact me by phone or email at:  kevin.safstrom@gmail.com / 469.667.7311

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