Justin Jay Johnson

Beautiful Savage Sales Academy

Beautiful Savage Sales Academy helps B2B Technology Sales Professionals leverage the profession of Sales to win the game of life by learning how to Master their Conscious, Craft, and Career. The end result is increased income, faster promotions, and less burnout. The value is delivered through private coaching, group coaching, access to an exclusive community, and over 100 actionable lessons and exercises.

Prior to launching BSSA, I worked in B2B technology sales for 12 years at startups all the way up to the Fortune 500. From almost dying twice before the age of 11, to being the #1 Sales Rep at Salesforce in 4 different roles, to helping scale multiple tech startups to 9 figure exits, to being recognized as one of the top CRO's in tech at the age of 34, all of this equipped me with a unique skillset to help others accelerate their career just like he did.

My goal is simple: Be the person for others that I wanted in my life when I first started in Sales.

Interested in learning more? Email me at jjj@justinjayjohnson.com

Founder and CEO

Justin Jay Johnson Consulting

Some of the companies that are benefiting from our services: 

Salesforce, Zendesk, Hubspot, Mulesoft, Databricks, Sendoso, Samsara, Classy, and more 

Metrics We Help Improve: 
- Qualified Pipeline Generated
- Deal Win Rate
- Avg Deal Size (ACV) 
- Avg Total Contract Value (TCV)
- Avg Sales Cycle Length
- Forecast accuracy
- Productivity Per Rep
- Rep Attrition
- Net Revenue Retention
- Logo Churn


If any of these are metrics you are looking to improve, schedule a free GTM strategy session to see if we're a fit to help your business 👇

https://calendly.com/justinjayjohnson/freegtmstrategyconsultation

CEO & Founder

FitGrid

GTM Advisor

FitGrid is the boutique fitness industry’s first SaaS solution to fuel studio owners with the data and tools they need to strengthen instructor-client relationships, improve retention, and drive greater revenue.

Our clients see the following benefits: 
- 2.4x increase in new client spend
- 3 month increase in client lifespan
- 35% increase in new client retention

I'm fortunate enough to lead our Revenue Organization where we live by the following principles:
- EXECUTE
- EVOLVE
- CELEBRATE 

If you're interested in learning how FitGrid can help your studio or if you want to learn more about our culture, send me an email at justin@fitgrid.com

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Responsible for the following areas: 
-RevOps
-SDR
-Sales
-Channel
-Onboarding/Implementation
-Expansion
-Renewals
-Pricing/Packaging
-Opening new revenue streams

Most important - Developing my team as fast as possible so they can thrive and prosper in life

Vice President - Sales & Customer Success

Vice President of Sales

QFlow.ai

Qflow provides GTM Finance in a box

I advise the executive team on their GTM strategy

GTM Advisor 

Primary Venture Partners

As an Expert, I provide strategic advice and guidance to founders and operators within the Primary portfolio and broader network. Experts enjoy access to early stage businesses, emerging trends and technology, and an expanded network of exceptional leaders, and resources through a top-tier seed-stage firm. 

Primary is New York City’s premier early stage venture firm working alongside founders to build unicorns like Alloy, Chief, Electric, K Health, Slice, and many more.

Expert

Sales Assembly

Featured Thought Leader

Sendoso

Help provide guidance on Sales strategy and execution with Sendoso's leadership team

Advisor

VentureSCALE

Mentor early-stage SaaS startups to help them establish a scalable sales foundation to fuel their growth

Mentor

Catalyst Software

Growth Coach for Catalyst's Coaching Program, to help aspiring Customer Success professionals grow in their careers

Growth Coach

Pavilion

Pavilion (FKA Revenue Collective) is a private membership for high-growth operators who are looking to thrive in today's evolving business world.

Executive Member

Teaching Sales Reps How To Be In The Top 1% Without Burning Out 👊 2023 Top 40 CROs to Watch | 5x Sales Leader | Author | Beautiful Savage

I’ve been blessed with adversity. From nearly dying at birth as the first ever ECMO baby at Children’s Memorial in Chicago, to having 34 surgeries after another near death snowmobile accident, to growing up blue collar in construction and being the first one in my family to graduate college, blessings upon blessings helped prepare me for life as a leader once I entered the workforce. 

What’s enabled me to not only survive but thrive is leveraging this adversity to my advantage to fuel my endless pursuit to make an impact on the world. My inner BEAUTIFUL SAVAGE if you will. 

My approach to life has lead to many successes, failures, and learnings on my journey. 

My mission is to help tech sales professionals live life on their terms which is why I created the Beautiful Savage Sales Academy. 

BSSA is a destination for tech sales professionals to go to learn what it takes to be elite at their craft, master their conscious, and how to navigate their career.  The results are driven through 1-1 coaching, group training, robust coursework, and community. 

Want to join? Shoot me an email at jjj@justinjayjohnson.com

Here's the official overview of who I am: 

Justin Jay Johnson has worked with hundreds of tech sales professionals from Salesforce, Google, IBM, and many other top tech companies to increase their commissions, earn promotions faster, and ultimately live life on their terms leveraging the profession of tech sales.  

With degrees and certifications in over a dozen top Sales programs and 15 years of being #1 in Sales and Sales Leadership at top companies like Salesforce and several others, he is highly respected by tech sales professionals.  

His expertise has been asked to speak at dozens of leading University Sales Programs,  tech sales podcasts,  and tech sales communities like NIU, “The Brutal Truth About Sales Podcast”, and “Sales Assembly”. He’s also the author of the future best selling book O to Club: Everything you need to know to get to President’s Club.  

As a Sales Coach, he can help any Tech Sales Professional struggling with performance to increase their results through utilizing his rapidly growing Beautiful Savage Sales Academy

Surreal spending some time at Salesforce coaching reps a few weeks ago

I'll never forget that email

“We'd like to interview you”

I was failing miserably in my career at the time and was never expecting this email to come to me from the most innovative company in the world

Literally

That was my moment to land my dream job

When I submitted my application, I thought it was a long shot. I didn't even remotely meet the criteria they had outlined in the job description

I had less than one year of sales experience, no ivy league education, no prestige

I was honestly a really shitty candidate, and I knew it

So, I had to find a way to stand out

Before my interview I reached out to every single person in the company in that same role that I wanted

My goal was to get these people pass along a recommendation to hiring managers and hopefully land the job

If I flooded them, maybe...just maybe they would overlook my terrible background and take a chance on me

That was how I landed my dream job at Salesforce

I SHOWED them that I could sell by selling myself

That process transformed my career and my life, all the way from SDR to CRO and now Entrepreneur 

It's about doing what it takes to be undeniable

A few weeks ago, Salesforce hired me to coach their reps for a few days

That's pretty surreal

If I can do it so can you 

Be undeniable. It will change your life 👊 

Helping Tech Sales Reps Get To The Top 1% Without Burning Out 👊 Former #1 Rep at Salesforce in 4 Different Roles | Named Top 40 CROs to Watch In 2023 | 5x Sales Leader | Author | Beautiful Savage

How important are recommendations in job applications?

Light bulb moment

My wife and I recently had a couple of hours to kill and decided to watch a movie

We scanned on-demand options and a new release came up that we had never heard of

It had two major actors in it, but I was skeptical because these actors make some mediocre movies

I won't say who they are (*cough* Die Hard *cough* Grease), but decided to watch the trailer just in case

I'll admit it was a really good trailer so we decided to spend the $7.99 to rent it

Within 5 minutes I quickly realized red flags

- cheesy lines and dialogue
- poor acting
- super predictable plot
- overall mediocre production

I said to myself "Ok give it a little more time to see if this turns around"

20 mins later I said to my wife, "What do you say we turn this off and watch The Office? We'll enjoy that more than this"

She quickly agreed, and we decided to eat the $7.99 loss and watched a show we knew we'd enjoy

The episode we picked was one we've seen 20 times (When Pam's mural was vandalized), but still enjoyed ourselves much more

What if you are me BUT instead of watching a terrible movie you're at a terrible company or work for a terrible leader?

Should you wait til the end of the movie or cut your losses?

My advice...cut your losses and find a movie that's better for you

- A mission you're passionate about
- Coaching and development
- Leaders that care about you
- A great product you enjoy

Don't waste your life on a movie that's terrible

Your time to watch those movies is too valuable

Now, we're on the search for a good new movie to watch...any recommendations? 

Why is it important to have a mission you're passionate about?

How can you tell if you work for a terrible company?

Crossed 100 members in my academy today 

The truth is I never wanted to be a coach

It was never my goal 

My goal for myself was to run a $100 million dollar sales org 

But I realized something during my days at Salesforce 

It was a hypothesis in my first sales job 

But Salesforce solidified my view on two simple truths

1 Companies are terrible at developing their people 

And 2 they will never develop you as fast as you want to be developed 

All of the training that’s done is high level 

Often times by people who won’t walk the walk and show you how it’s done

All of the coaching from leadership is reactive and focused on what’s best for this one deal 

Basically attacking symptoms instead of teaching systems and processes that are the root cause

You’re sent to a 1-2 day training seminar expected to transform overnight 

No one is doing reinforcement until it’s 2nd nature 

I was shocked by this as a rep because those were the things that I wanted 

So I went all in on myself and during my time as a rep I invested close to 20k on my own development (close to 75k total now)

And I vowed that when I got into leadership I would simply provide the environment that I wanted as a rep

Both tactical and strategic training 

Walking the walk for my team 

Hands on in the weeds coaching 

Ongoing practice to drill skills  

Accountability to high standards 

And never ending improvement 

On both sales skills as well as mindset

That was the culture I wanted to build because it was the right thing to do 

And it’s a big reason why I was able to scale multiple companies I ran sales for 

And why I was able to become a CRO at 33 and named a “Top CRO in Tech” at 34

Because I didn’t care about helping people hit quota 

I wanted to help reps live better lives 

Me helping someone hit quota is table stakes. That’s easy. 

Instead I measured myself as a leader by one thing

When someone looked back on the experience working with me 5 years later

Their life was fundamentally better because of the skills they learned 

So when I became a CRO and thought I reached the pinnacle I was humbled 

 I was reminded that if I wanted to make the most of this thing called life 

I needed to help as many people as possible 

Which would never happen being a sales leader at a tech company 

I needed to create a destination for software sales professionals 

A place where the people that are hungry as hell can go

To get what they so desperately needed in a safe environment to grow

And that’s when I came up with the idea of the Beautiful Savage Sales Academy   

From just an idea 12 months ago 

To going live just 6 months ago 

To now 103 beautiful savages that I get to help 

It’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my professional career

But god damn does it feel good to help people take back control of their careers

If you have big goals

Stop waiting on your company to help you

Go all in today

Your future self will thank you ❤️👊

Write a description of this photo for people who have trouble seeing it.

MJ, Brady, Tiger, Gretzky, Messi

Besides their drive to be the best, they all have one thing in common even though their crafts vary

They knew they'd never reach their full potential on their own

The best in the game invest in a community around them to make them better

That's why they win

Top performers in any field, especially sales, treat their careers like an elite athlete

From body to conscience to craft to community

That's at the heart of why I started Beautiful Savage Sales Academy 

When I retired from the corporate game, my purpose became to coach 100,000 salespeople to live life on their terms

No one can be successful alone

Never have. Never will

Just like high-end athletes, the players I get to coach, like Lawrence Butts, MBA reap the benefits that sales can bring like higher pay, promotions, and career fulfillment

Plus they don't just get access to me and my brain from over 10 years killing it in the corporate rat race

The BSSA community is a vibrant support system for anyone looking to level-up

Sick of grinding it out for 12-16 hour days for low (or worse) commission checks?

Ready to unlock your full potential? 

Come see what you're missing 👉 https://lnkd.in/eMW5iBEe

10 things I owe to failure…

1. Having a soulmate for a wife. Lots of swings and misses before meeting Chelsea Hoenig

2. Working at Salesforce. If I had crushed my first gig out of college, I would never have pursued working there. That experience transformed my career

3. Succeeding at a high level at Salesforce and beyond. I wouldn’t have attacked every day with the same level of urgency and intensity if I didn’t struggle before joining

4. Better financials decisions. My finances are better now, because I took a lot of risks and failed several times

5. Patience. Without forced reflection on progress, because of failure I wouldn’t be as patient as I am today

6. Fulfillment. Without failure by pursuing the wrong things, I wouldn’t have pivoted my mindset towards pursuing things that truly bring me joy

7. Lower stress. Everyone says “failure is part of success”, but that didn’t click for me until I failed a few times. Now, I don’t stress about the day to day nearly as much

8. Healthier body. Yoga, physical rehab, better nutrition, and strength training are all decisions I make daily that make me healthier because I felt the impact of not doing this when I was younger

9. Becoming a CRO at 33.  I shaved 15-20 years off my career progression because of my willingness to take risks which sometimes ended in failure. Still netted positive

10. Retiring from the rat race at 34. Now, I live life on my terms running my  Beautiful Savage Sales Academy and helping others transform their careers. 

The lesson is this...

Failure is your best friend
Use it to your advantage
Lean into it

Feel free to share if this is helpful 👊 

How can failure lead to career progression?

What are the positive impacts of failure on personal growth?

9/10 deals I worked as a corporate AE came with red flags that threatened getting pen to paper

There are countless ways you can lose a deal

And early in my career, I learned the hard way the cost of not quickly identifying red flags and attempting to solve them

It wasn't until I developed this 6-question gut-check framework that my win rates started to soar 👇 

1. Coalition Building

Have we communicated the red flags to all relevant internal stakeholders?

Ensuring that everyone involved in the deal, from product to sales to customer success is aware of the potential issues allows for a unified approach to addressing them

2. Leverage 

What specific actions can we take to mitigate each identified red flag?

Develop a clear, actionable plan. This might involve providing additional information, adjusting your offering, or bringing in senior management to reassure the prospect

3. Pivot

Does our value proposition need adjustment to better meet the prospect's needs?

Sometimes, addressing a red flag may require reevaluating how your solution fits the prospect's needs

4. Tell a story

How can we leverage customer testimonials, case studies, or data to address these concerns?

Real-world examples of your solution's success can be powerful tools in alleviating concerns

5. Fend off the sharks

What are the prospect's alternatives if we cannot address a red flag, and how do we position ourselves against these alternatives?

Understanding the prospect's alternatives allows you to better position your solution. If a red flag cannot be fully addressed, focus on your strengths and how they outweigh any potential concerns compared to the alternatives

6. Speed kills

What specific steps have we taken already to address the red flags in the deal? 

Action is the ultimate equalizer. The faster you take action when you identify the red flags the better your chances of addressing them are

Tomorrow in my newsletter, I'll dive wayyyyy deeper on this. Wanna join over 1,000 tech pros who are killing the game with these weekly tips?

Signup in the comments 👇 

What are some common red flags that threaten closing deals?

How can coalition building help address red flags in deals?

How can customer testimonials be used to address red flags in deals?

Cold email that rubbed me the wrong way 
 
I've seen this style a couple times recently 
 
Their CTA 👇  
 
"I'm busy in board meetings this week but have an opening next week to speak. Book time on my calendar" 
 
Why I don't see this as effective 👇  
 
1. You're positioning your time as more valuable than mine 
2. I don't care about your board meetings, nor am I impressed 
3. You reached out to me COLD ...make it easy for me to do business with you 
 
If the goal is to raise your status in the prospect's mind, this does the opposite 
 
Come to the table with value and a solid reason to meet 
 
Then I'll book time 
 
Anyone else seeing this approach?

How can I create a strong value proposition for a cold email?

What are the best practices for cold emails?

Pipeline isn’t a marketing metric
Pipeline isn’t a product metric
Pipeline isn’t a sales metric

Pipeline is a company metric

If your company doesn’t look at pipeline as a cross-dept metric, you’re in trouble

No pipeline = no revenue = no business

How to fix it?

Don't overthink it

Just get in a room regularly and discuss how every team can support pipeline creation and/or progression

Brainstorm what good looks for every team from a pipeline perspective and develop simple metrics of success 

Then watch how much more harmony there is between teams

You’d be surprised how quickly things can change once everyone is aligned

How does your company view pipeline today?

Let me know in the comments 👇 

Most reps don't know how to use their manager and it costs them 

Lower results and more stress all because they view them incorrectly

Your manager is a resource at your disposal and when used properly 

Your results will increase 

Here's how to use your manager effectively 👇 

- Building a relationship with an executive in your deal
- Helping push back on asks in negotiations
- Navigating internal asks to help you win
- Coaching you on executing your role
- Being an extra set of ears on calls
- Account strategy brainstorms
- Career guidance and advice
- Prep for promotion
- Lifting your spirits

Even if you don't have a great relationship with your boss, you can still leverage them to help you be successful

Use the list above to identify your boss's superpowers (everyone has them)

Then use them

Just don't forget - asking them to join calls or for additional coaching is a sign of strength

Not weakness

Do you have a manager that crushes for you? Tag them in the comments. Lets make their day!

👊

What are some tips for building relationships with executives?

How can identifying my boss's strengths help me be successful?

How important is career guidance for professionals?

Your product is the last thing you should learn 

But many salespeople think it's #1 

And they fall behind and never fully ramp 

The knowledge you seek is in the work you're avoiding

And in this case, it's the conversations you're going to be having

Without them, you'll never know how to apply the product knowledge 

Obviously, you want to become an expert, but the reality, particularly in tech sales, is that software is complex

There's going to be a learning curve

That. Is. Ok.

While you're learning the product, don't be scared to keep it simple

Learn just enough to be dangerous
Get conversations going 
Fail fast and learn

The knowledge will come, and when it does, you'll be unstoppable

Work Ethic + Knowledge = Results

Don't Overthink it 👊 

How important is work ethic in achieving success in tech sales?

What are the best practices for having effective conversations?

What are the key skills required for tech sales?

Sales success is 10% learning, 20% execution, and 70% showing up every day.

Sending YouTube videos to your team is not “developing” them... 
 
And yet I still see so many leaders who think sending out a 30-second sound bite is them doing their job 
 
The transformation happens in the trenches:  
 
- deep dive into one deal instead of glancing at 10  
- stop coaching through slack and call them 
- break down granular aspects of a call  
- role play as the seller to show them 
- give them tools to self-assess 
- reward testing out new skills 
- be proactive with coaching 
 
It takes time to build great selling habits. Don't mail it in.  
 
Your reps will love your for caring about them.  
 
Roll up your sleeves and do the dirty work.  
 
There are no short cuts or hacks to this  
 
And it never stops… 
 
Never 

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Every so often you have to take a step back

Look at where you are today

You’ve made progress

It’s a net positive

Not always fun

But it’s there

Keep going

👊

How can reflection help with personal growth?

How can personal growth benefit my career?

What are some tips for tracking progress?

How to get to the 1% and STAY there

Finish tomorrow today 

What do I mean?

1. Get clear on what NEEDS to be accomplished tomorrow
2. Eliminate or reduce anything on your plate getting in the way of #1
3. Prepare - starting tomorrow is too late

Dialing in on tomorrow, today, you're already visualizing everything being done
In your mind, it's already settled

And that's why it's "finished"

Always finish TOMORROW and it will make your TODAY better

Action Step/Recommendation - Block 30-60 mins at the end of your day that's purely for tomorrow

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes 

What are some tips for preparing for tomorrow?

How can visualization help with achieving goals?

How important is productivity in achieving goals?

Stages of questions leaders ask themselves

FIRST-TIME LEADERS 🔽 
How do I get people to like me and respect me at the same time?

VETERAN LEADERS 🔽 
How can I unlock the best version of my people?

ELITE LEADERS 🔽 
How fast can I work myself out of a job?

Better questions = better outcomes 👊

Leaders. What questions are you asking?

How can leaders unlock the potential of their people?

What is the impact of job automation on leadership?

Taplio

Justin Jay Johnson's Linkedin Analytics