Kevin "KD" Dorsey

finally

Finally is the all in one platform for businesses and start up. Blessed to be leading the entire revenue org. Sales. Marketing. Customer Success.

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Sales Leadership Accelerator

The Sales Leadership Accelerator is #1 SaaS Sales Leadership Training Program & Community

https://www.salesleadershipaccelerator.com/slamembershipoverview

Ya’ll these are the exact trainings, systems, processes I’ve used to build 4 teams over 100 people, 2 unicorns (working on my third) and have trained 1000s of others on as well. 

That's part of what makes this different, is I'm still doing it. 

I'm still in the game. I'm still executing on these things, fine tuning, improving, and growing. 

These aren't the tactics that worked 8 years ago, this is the stuff working NOW.

That’s what the Sales Leadership Accelerator is all about. 

A program to level up the LEADERS!

Leaders need systems, processes,and skill development too. 

That's what this is all about.

Over 15 hours of leadership training (sorry ya’ll, no micro course here, if you want one of those, go somewhere else! it takes more than 90 min to learn this stuff. ) That has been incredibly highly reviewed by 100s of sales leaders and companies. 

Covering things like… 

The BIPSY Leadership Methodology
The WGLL and 4Ds
How to run 1x1s
How to truly develop skills
Coaching and Motivation
Tough Conversations and Accountability
Issue Diagnosis and Metrics
And much more!

Plus over 12 Templates you can take and make your own tomorrow. 

1x1s
Coaching Plans
Issue Diagnosis Checklists
Calls Scorecards
Goal Calculators
And more

Plus monthly group calls, AMAs, and outside experts.

Join today!

Founder & CEO

Not-A-Conference

Tired of fluffy conferences that are just about networking and cringy parties? Not A Conference is the opposite. All tactics No Fluff.

Co-Founder

500 Startups

Helping mentor early stage founders on how to scale sales the right way.

Mentor

Sendoso

Advisor

regie.ai

Aligned

Bench Accounting

I'm blessed to be leading the Sales, Sales Dev, Enablement, Channel, Partnerships and Expansion orgs at Bench.co 

Bench takes one of the most frustrating parts of running a small business off the plates of already busy owners, bookkeeping and taxes. The mission is to help every small business owner build a thriving and profitable business by helping them make more, keep more, and pay less in taxes.

SVP of Sales and Partnerships

Worklyfe.io

Winning by Design

The leader in recurring revenue acceleration and optimization for B2B organizations, Winning by Design has appointed Kevin Dorsey as a key advisor focused on its sales leadership enablement and coaching practice. Dorsey will advise Winning by Design on the continued expansion of its sales leadership offerings to meet the requirements of a changing workplace and workforce, including the design of sales coaching programs and playbooks, and training and coaching of newly minted frontline managers, sales directors, and sales executives. The demand for these programs from high growth companies is rapidly expanding, as evidenced by Winning by Design earning a placement of #147 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list.

Focused on creating and leading world class coaching, training and content for SaaS Sales Leaders. Through playbooks, courses, training and on going coaching. The frontline manager and directors are the KEY to any orgs growth, but are massively underserved from a training and coaching level. That is about to change...

Practice Lead: Revenue Leadership

CRO at finally - Founder of Sales Leadership Accelerator - The #1 Sales Leadership Community & Coaching Program to Transform your Team and Build $100M+ Revenue Orgs - Black Hat Aficionado - #TFOMSL

Formal Education will make you a living… Self Education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn

Sales Leadership Accelerator - The #1 SaaS Sales Leadership program - 
www.salesleadershipaccelerator.com


Patreon Group - Monthly Live Trainings, Podcasts, AMA's and more!
https://www.patreon.com/insidesalesexcellence

Awards and Recognition

- DemandBase Top 25 Sales Leaders
- Salesforce - Top Sales Influencer to Follow
- InsideSales top 10 Sales Leader
- Pavillon 🗣 Lecturer of the Year
- Salesforce Top 16 Sales Influencers to Follow
- Ambition Top 100 Sales Coaches
- SalesLoft Rev Star
- TOPO Sales Development Exec of the Year
- LinkedIn Top Sales Voices
- LinkedIn Sales Star
- The Modern Sale Top 100 Global Sales Leaders
- Crunchbase Top Sales Leaders You Should Know

I believe in focusing on the "person" in "salesperson" 

As I've grown as a leader I have a better understanding of what truly drives behavior, motivation, and long term success. If we can make better people, the sales will follow. 

I love scaling sales teams. I have built multiple teams from 0-150+ reps, revenues from 0-100M+ ARR (multiple times). 2 Unicorns (ServiceTitan and Tebra) I believe in processes and systems, paired with skill development, as the code to success. 

I also love to share what I have learned, and what I am learning with others. I consult all sorts of different companies and people as they look to improve their results. I mentor and consult early, mid, and late-stage SaaS companies all across the world. Sharing my playbooks and processes for scaling sales teams successfully.

I have spoken at the top conferences across the country, mentor/coach start up's across the country, and love sharing as I go. 

If there is a book on sales, psychology or influence I have probably read it. I am a voracious learner and am constantly pushing myself and my team to reach new heights of achievement. Because of my own internal desire to learn and grow, that also gets translated out to my team with non-stop growth, coaching and training.

The Sales Leadership Accelerator is #1 SaaS Sales Leadership Program

https://www.salesleadershipaccelerator.com/slamembershipoverview

Ya’ll these are the exact trainings, systems, processes I’ve used to build 4 teams over 100 people, 2 unicorns (working on my third) and have trained 1000s of others on as well. 

That's part of what makes this different, is I'm still doing it. 

I'm still in the game. I'm still executing on these things, fine tuning, improving, and growing. 

These aren't the tactics that worked 8 years ago, this is the stuff working NOW.

That’s what the Sales Leadership Accelerator is all about. 

A program to level up the LEADERS!

Leaders need systems, processes,and skill development too. 

That's what this is all about.

Over 15 hours of leadership training (sorry ya’ll, no micro course here, if you want one of those, go somewhere else! it takes more than 90 min to learn this stuff. ) That has been incredibly highly reviewed by 100s of sales leaders and companies. 

Covering things like… 

The BIPSY Leadership Methodology
The WGLL and 4Ds
How to run 1x1s
How to truly develop skills
Coaching and Motivation
Tough Conversations and Accountability
Issue Diagnosis and Metrics
And much more!

Plus over 12 Templates you can take and make your own tomorrow. 

1x1s
Coaching Plans
Issue Diagnosis Checklists
Calls Scorecards
Goal Calculators
And more

Plus monthly group calls, AMAs, and outside experts.

Join today!

Everyone LOVES arguing about sales methodologies.

MEDDIC vs SPICED vs Challenger vs BANT vs GAP vs CTM whatever's trending this week.

Meanwhile, your deals are dying from something completely different.

Poor. Deal. Management. 

You don't lose deals because of your methodology.

You lose them because of poor deal management.

Big difference.

Your rep can nail discovery. Crush the demo. Get everyone excited.

Then watch the deal slowly bleed out over the next 8 weeks.

Why? Because no one taught them the difference between **selling a deal** and **managing a deal**.

It's not sexy. 

It's not complicated. 

But it's the skill gap that's killing your close rates.

- Next steps that actually happen (not "circle back next week")
- Follow-ups that add value (not "just checking in")
- Multi-threading that matters (not collecting LinkedIn connections)
- Momentum that builds (not hope that fades)

Most teams spend 90% of their training on selling.

And 10% on what happens after.

That's backwards, ya'll.

**THE LOST ART NO ONE'S TEACHING**

I'm joining Consensus's RevAMP conference to speak on this exact problem:

**"The Lost Art of Deal Management: How to 2X Your Close Rates Without Changing Your Methodology"**

We're going deep on:

- How to schedule next steps that prospects actually show up for
- Value-added follow-ups that move deals forward (not sideways)
- Multi-threading strategies that create real champions
- Keeping momentum without being that annoying rep

This isn't theory. It's the tactical stuff that separates good reps from elite ones.

Everyone who attends gets my personal Deal Management Checklist.

Not some generic template. The actual checklist my teams have used to keep deals on track.

Take it. Customize it. Make it yours.

Because here's what I know:

The best methodology in the world can't save a poorly managed deal.
But great deal management can save an average pitch every time.

Ready to stop losing winnable deals? Sign up. Be there live or catch the recording. 

https://lnkd.in/ePTD3_vp

Let's fix what's actually broken.

Brand partnership • CRO at finally - Founder of Sales Leadership Accelerator - The #1 Sales Leadership Community & Coaching Program to Transform your Team and Build $100M+ Revenue Orgs - Black Hat Aficionado - #TFOMSL

Your buyer doesn't give a damn about your product.

They care about not getting fired. Making their bonus. Looking smart in front of their boss.

But you're still pitching features like they matter.

**THE 11 REASONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY BUY**

I love to read on consumer psychology (some of my favorites Buy-Ology, Why We Buy, Nudge, Decoded)

In one of these it talks about the 11 reasons we buy ANYTHING in life. 

These 11 reasons we buy:
- Make Money
- Save Money  
- Save Time
- Avoid Effort
- Escape Pain (mental, physical, embarrassment)
- Get More Comfort
- Better Health/Hygiene
- Gain Praise
- Feel More Loved
- Increase Social Status
- Joy

That's it. That's the list.

Everything else is just noise.

Your goal is to map out at a high level how your product can (or can't) connect back to each of these buckets. Like go deep here, really write it all out. 

**ONE FEATURE, THREE BUYERS, THREE REASONS**

Watch this:

Same dashboard feature. Three different conversations.

CFO: "This saves us $50K in reporting costs" (Save Money)
Sales Manager: "My team gets 5 hours back each week" (Save Time)  
Rep: "I'll never look unprepared in a meeting again" (Escape Embarrassment)

Most reps show it the same way to everyone:
"Look at all this data you can see!"

Come on, ya'll. That's not selling.

You need to tailor it to the outcome you're trying to achieve. 

**THE QUESTION THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING**

Here's what elite reps do differently.

They ask one simple question early:

"Is this a growth goal, a savings goal, or a security goal?"

Growth = Make money, gain praise, increase status
Savings = Save money, save time, avoid effort  
Security = Escape pain, get comfort, feel safe

Now you know which of the 11 reasons matter most.

Now you can position everything through THEIR lens.

**YOUR NEW DISCOVERY FRAMEWORK**

Stop asking "What are your goals?"

Start asking:
- "Is this about growing, saving, or protecting?"
- "What happens to YOU if this works?"
- "What happens to YOU if it doesn't?"
- "Who notices when you nail this?"

Then connect every feature to what they ACTUALLY care about.

Not what your deck says they should care about.

**HERE'S THE MOVE**

Before your next call:

1. Pick your top 3 features
2. Write how each delivers on growth, savings, AND security
3. Let THEM tell you which matters most
4. Position everything through that lens

Stop selling products.
Start selling outcomes that matter.

Because nobody buys features.
They buy better versions of their life.

Save this one. Map it out. Write it out. 

Then use it.

Your demo check in questions are killing your deals.

"Does that make sense?"
"Any questions?"
"How do you think about this?"

Weak. Weak. Weak.

**THE BAZAAR PRINCIPLE**

Ever been to a farmers market? A bazaar? Even those kiosks at the mall?

They all know one thing: If they can get you to HOLD it, you're 10x more likely to buy it.

Software demos don't have that luxury. You can't physically hand them your product.

So you have to make them hold it mentally.

**THE WEAK QUESTIONS KILLING YOUR DEMOS**

Most reps treat demos like a presentation.
Show feature. Ask "make sense?" Move on.

That's not selling. That's hoping.

Your prospect is nodding along, half-listening, checking Slack.

They're watching your demo. They're not IN your demo.

**MAKE THEM HOLD IT QUESTIONS**

Stop asking if they understand.
Start asking how they'd USE it.

"Which team would you put on here first?"
"How would you design this dashboard?"
"What metric would you track in this view?"
"Which workflow would you automate first?"
"Who on your team would own this?"

See the difference?

Now they're not watching a demo. They're building THEIR solution.

**THE PSYCHOLOGY AT WORK**

When prospects visualize using your product, three things happen:

1. **Ownership bias kicks in** - They're mentally claiming it as theirs
2. **IKEA effect activates** - They value what they help create
3. **Future pacing locks in** - They see themselves succeeding with it

That's leverage, ya'll.

**YOUR NEW DEMO PLAYBOOK**

Next demo, try this:

Instead of: "Does our reporting make sense?"
Ask: "What's the first report you'd build for your CEO?"

Instead of: "Any questions on the workflow?"
Ask: "Walk me through how you'd set this up for your team"

Instead of: "How do you think about automation?"
Ask: "Which manual process would you automate first?"

Make them touch it. Make them build it. Make them own it.

Before they've even bought it.

What's your best "make them hold it" question?

Too often reps just completely waste discovery. 

They spend 30 min 'discovering' (and by the way buyers we LOVE to be discovered, it's our favorite thing...)

Then run the exact same demo they always run.

What the hell are we doing, ya'll?

We teach discovery. We preach discovery. We role-play discovery.

Then we throw it all away the second we share our screen.

"Let me show you our features..."
"Here's how our dashboard works..."
"This is what makes us different..."

Meanwhile, everything they told you in discovery? 

Sitting in your notes. Unused. Wasted.

Sadly...

Most demos are just feature parades with a prospect audience.

But the best demos? They're discovery on steroids.

Every feature loops back to their pain.
Every benefit connects to their goal.
Every screen ties to something THEY said.

It's called **looping**, and it's the difference between a demo and a decision.

Here's the thing about software - they can't physically hold it.

So you have to make them hold it mentally:

**Get them to control the screen**
"Click that green button for me"
"Which color would you make this dashboard?"
"How would you set this up for your team?"

Now they're following YOUR lead (authority bias).
Now they're building THEIR solution (ownership bias).
Now they're invested (IKEA bias).

**Get them to say the magic words**

"So what do you think would happen if you had this?"
"How would this change your Monday mornings?"
"What would your team say if they saw this?"

When THEY say it, they believe it.
When YOU say it, you're just selling.

**THE LOOPING FORMULA**

Bad demo: "This dashboard shows your pipeline"

Good demo: "Remember when you said you waste 2 hours every Monday on reports? This dashboard solves it. Here's how. 

Better demo: "You mentioned your reps don't know what to prioritize. If they opened this every morning, what would change?"

Best demo: "Earlier you said [specific pain]. Watch this... *shows feature* ...so tell me, how would this solve that for you?"

Let THEM connect the dots.
Let THEM sell themselves.

Next demo, try this:

1. Write down 3 specific pains from discovery
2. Only show features that solve those 3 pains  
3. After each feature ask: "How would this help with [their specific pain]?"
4. Shut up and let them answer

Stop running demos.
Start facilitating decisions.

Because if they don't use their own words to buy it, they won't buy it with your words either.

What's your best "make them say it" question?

Stop telling your people what to do.

Start selling them on why it matters.

There's a massive difference between "Fill out the CRM fields" and "Let me show you how these fields help us predict which deals will close and which need attention."

One creates compliance. The other creates believers.

**THE TELL VS SELL BREAKDOWN**

TELL: "Everyone needs to be on calls by 9am"
SELL: "Starting at 9 gives us 3 hours before prospects get pulled into meetings. That's our golden window."

TELL: "Update your pipeline every Friday"
SELL: "Clean Friday data means Monday mornings start with clarity, not chaos. You'll know exactly where to focus."

TELL: "We're implementing a new process"
SELL: "This process eliminates the three biggest time-wasters you told me about. Here's how it gives you 5 hours back each week."

**WHY LEADERS DEFAULT TO TELLING**

It's faster. It feels efficient. It uses less brain power.

But it also creates:
- People who follow without thinking
- Teams that resist without understanding  
- Organizations that move without believing

And that's how you build a culture of box-checkers instead of problem-solvers.

**THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND SELLING YOUR TEAM**

When you sell the vision, you're doing three things:

1. **Respecting their intelligence** - They deserve to know why, not just what
2. **Creating ownership** - People support what they help build
3. **Building trust** - Transparency about the 'why' shows you see them as partners

Think about it - would you rather work for someone who barks orders or someone who helps you see how your work connects to something bigger?

**HOW TO START SELLING INSTEAD OF TELLING**

Before your next ask, answer these questions:
- What problem does this solve for THEM?
- How does this connect to their goals?
- What happens if we don't do this?
- What becomes possible when we do?

Leaders. Just because you don't carry a quota anymore doesn't mean the selling stops...

Just keep selling.  Just keep selling (Dory voice)

Then lead with that. Not the task.

**A SIMPLE FRAMEWORK**

"I need you to..." becomes "Here's what this makes possible..."
"Just do it because..." becomes "This matters because..."
"The new rule is..." becomes "This protects us from..."

The ask stays the same. The approach changes everything.

Leaders who sell their vision don't need to micromanage.
Their people are too busy believing to need supervision.

What's one thing you need to stop telling and start selling?

Sales isn't random. It's a predictable pattern.

And most reps don't see it.

We treat every call like it's brand new. Like we've never heard these objections before.

Meanwhile, sales is just one big IF-THEN game:

IF they say "I need to think about it" → THEN they're not sold on value
IF they won't intro you to the CFO → THEN you don't have a champion
IF they go dark after pricing → THEN you skipped pain discovery

It's all predictable. Even at the enterprise level.

**THE BEAUTY OF IF-THEN THINKING**

Sales feels complicated because we make it complicated.

But when you break it down, it's just patterns:

- IF they say "we don't have budget" → THEN ask about the cost of NOT solving this
- IF they say "happy with our current vendor" → THEN dig into what "happy" means
- IF they bring up a competitor → THEN you didn't differentiate early enough

Every scenario has a predictable response.
Every objection has a proven path.
Every stall has a next move.

**LEADERS: MY FAVORITE PRE-CALL PREP**

Forget feature reviews. Forget slide decks.

Forget even a long role play. 

The best pre-call prep? Rapid-fire IF-THEN scenarios:

"IF they say price is too high?"
"IF they want to loop in legal?"
"IF the champion gets cold feet?"
"IF they ask for references?"
"IF they push the decision to next quarter?"

Bang. Bang. Bang.

No thinking. Just patterns.

When you've rehearsed the IF-THENs, you're never caught off guard.

Your brain isn't scrambling for answers.
You're not making stuff up on the fly.
You're executing a proven playbook.

The prospect thinks you're brilliant.
Really, you're just prepared.

**THE IF-THEN PLAYBOOK**

Start building yours:

1. List the 10 most common objections you hear
2. Write the IF-THEN response for each
3. Role-play them until they're automatic
4. Add new patterns as you discover them
5. Share them with your team
6. Leaders schedule if/then call preps for UPCOMING demos/discos/procing calls. 

Because here's the thing:

Sales isn't about being smooth.
It's about being ready.

And when you know the patterns, you're always ready.

Most sales playbooks are missing the most important part.

And it's costing you deals.

Here's what kills me:

I review playbooks all the time. They're full of features, benefits, and process steps.

But they skip the ONE thing that actually matters:

**What problems do you solve?**

Not benefits. PROBLEMS.

I just wrapped a training on this, and y'all, the lightbulbs were going off.

**THE BRUTAL TRUTH**

Ask your rep: "What problems does your product solve?"

They'll say: "We save time, increase revenue, improve security."

Wrong. Those are benefits.

If you save time, the PROBLEM you solve is wasting time.
If you increase revenue, the PROBLEM is missing revenue targets.
If you improve security, the PROBLEM is data breach risk.

See the shift?

**WHY THIS MATTERS**

People can't picture the future. They can't see that 3X pipeline you're promising.

But they can feel the pain of not having enough pipeline RIGHT NOW.

Talk about problems they're experiencing today, not benefits they might get tomorrow.

**THE PERSONA PROBLEM**

Here's where it gets worse:

The problems you solve for the VP are different than for the CFO.
The pain points for ops are different than for sales.

Yet most playbooks treat every buyer the same.

My man Keenan . nailed this with his Problem Implication Chart in Gap Selling (still one of my favorites) 

Map it out:
- Problem: No access to customer data in the field
- Impact: Inaccurate quotes, wasted time, bad customer experience

Problem → Impact → Solution. In that order.

**"YOU GET DELEGATED TO WHO YOU SOUND LIKE"**

This hit different when I heard it.

Talk to the CRO about deliverability issues? You're getting sent to ops.

Talk about increasing CAC because response rates are tanking? Now you've got their attention.

Same problem. Different language. Different result.

BONUS TIP - You have to describe the problem the same way THEY would. 

Classic Example I hear - 'Working in Silos' - when is the last time you heard a prospect say that vs 'no idea what the other side is doing'

You have to describe the problem the same way they would, in THEIR language. 

**THE FIX**

1. List every benefit of your product
2. Flip it - what's the opposite? That's the problem
3. Map problems by persona
4. Create questions that uncover those specific problems
5. Practice talking problems, not features

Your playbook should be a problem-mapping machine.

Not a feature factory.

Most playbooks start with product. 

No wonder they don't work.

Do you REALLY know what problems you 

Save this one. Share this one. Put this stuff to work ya'll.

CEO | Author of Gap Selling | Creator of the Problem-Centric OS™ | Driving Predictable, Reliable, Revenue Growth -- Every Time

"Do you even know what your rep wants to achieve this year?"

I asked a room full of sales leaders this last week.

Crickets.

We know their quota. We know their pipeline. We know their activity metrics.

But their actual goals? The stuff that gets them out of bed?

Blank stares.

**HERE'S WHAT KILLS ME**

We spend all this time on the WHAT.

Hit this number. Make these calls. Close these deals.

But we completely ignore the WHY.

And then we wonder why they're not motivated. Why they burn out. Why our best people leave for a $5k base bump somewhere else.

People only change for THEIR reasons, ya'll. Not ours.

**THE BELIEF PROBLEM**

Had a rep come to me recently. Smart kid. Tons of potential. Performing at 40% of quota.

Most managers would drill into activity. Scripts. Pipeline hygiene.

I asked one question: "Do you actually believe you can hit quota?"

Silence.

Then: "Honestly? No."

There it is.

If they don't believe in themselves, nothing else matters.

**THE 3-PART BELIEF SYSTEM**

1. They have to believe in themselves
2. They have to know YOU believe in them  
3. Then (and only then) they believe in you

Most leaders have it backwards. They think people need to believe in them first.

Wrong.

When's the last time you told a struggling rep: "I know things are tough. But I couldn't be more proud you're on my team. I believe we're going to figure this out together."

That's not soft. That's leadership.

**CONNECT THE DOTS**

Your SDR doesn't want to hit 120% of quota.

They want to move out of their mom's basement.
They want to take their partner to Cabo.
They want to pay off their dad's medical bills.

Stop talking about quotas. Start talking about Cabo.

"Hey Jordan, you said you wanted that Bora Bora trip next year. Let's map out what that looks like. When? Which hotel? How much?"

Now do the math backwards.

Trip costs $8k → Need $12k pre-tax → That's 115% of quota → Here's exactly how we get there.

Now we're not talking about hitting numbers. We're planning their dream vacation.

**THE ASSIGNMENT**

This week, have ONE conversation with each of your people:

1. What are you trying to achieve professionally? (promotion, income, skills)
2. What are you trying to achieve personally? (house, trips, family goals)
3. How can I help connect those dots?

Then shut up and listen.

Write it down. Reference it weekly. Watch what happens.

Because here's the truth:

When you help someone achieve THEIR goals, you'll blow past yours without even trying.

That's leverage.

That's leadership.

Who's ready to actually lead?

Have you ever gotten to the airport at 5:30am only to realize you don’t have your drivers license?

You panic. 

But then you remember you have you passport in your pack back…

Only to pull it out and it’s your wife’s?

Yep. 

So you drive home, find your ID in your wife’s purse, call to switch your flight, switch your flight…

Make it back to the airport in just enough time to catch a stand by seat on your original flight. 

Oh you have?

Good. Me too. 

This morning. 

Good. Lord. 

This is why routines and checklists are so important. 

I normally go through the same routine every time before flying. 

But this week was thrown off completely because my wife got SUPER sick, so I had to change my flight earlier this week. 

I had done my routine that night. 

I didn’t do it this time because “I had already done it”

It matters. 

A lot. 

Checklists and routines are there to make sure the little things actually happen. 

I made it. 

Lesson learned. 

Ooof.

Your sales methodology isn't broken.

Your execution is.

And until you understand the difference, you'll keep switching methodologies like they're magic pills.

**THE DIET COMPARISON NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR**

MEDDIC works. SPICED works. Challenger works. BANT works.

Just like keto works. Paleo works. Intermittent fasting works.

Know what doesn't work? Doing them halfway while looking for the next shiny framework.

Most teams treat methodologies like checkboxes.

"Did you identify the Economic Buyer?" ✓
"Did you find the Champion?" ✓  
"Did you uncover the Decision Criteria?" ✓

Congrats. You filled out a form.

You didn't execute a methodology.

**THE METHOD BEHIND THE METHODOLOGY**

Here's what kills me:

We train reps on WHAT to ask but not WHY to ask it.

"Find the Economic Buyer" becomes a scavenger hunt for a title.

But WHY do you need the EB? Because deals die in finance. Because pricing conversations without power are just wishful thinking. Because that person can CREATE budget when none exists.

See the difference?

One is checking a box. The other is understanding chess.

**THE EXECUTION GAP IS REAL**

Watch how different reps run the same methodology:

Average rep: "Who makes the final decision?"
Prospect: "It's a team decision."
Rep: *checks Champion box and moves on*

Elite rep: "When your team made the decision on [previous vendor], walk me through how that actually played out. Who was in the room? Who had concerns? Who had the final say when there was disagreement?"

Same methodology. Completely different execution.

**THE BRUTAL TRUTH ABOUT CURIOSITY**

Most reps aren't curious. They're compliant.

They ask questions because they're supposed to.
Not because they actually want to know.

Real execution requires real curiosity:
- WHY is that their process?
- WHAT happened last time they tried to change?
- WHO got burned and how?
- WHEN did this become a priority and why now?
- HOW do they personally win if this works?

But we've trained robots, not detectives.

**THE UNDERSTANDING TEST**

Can your rep explain WHY each element matters?

Not "MEDDIC says to find the Champion."

But "I need a Champion because internal selling happens when I'm not there, and without someone fighting for us in those closed-door meetings, we're just another vendor."

If they can't explain the WHY, they're not executing.

They're performing.

**HERE'S THE MOVE**

Stop training the WHAT. Start training the WHY.

Next team meeting, pick one element of your methodology:

1. Have each rep explain WHY it matters (not the textbook answer)
2. Share a deal they lost because they missed it
3. Share a deal they won because they nailed it
4. Role-play the difference between checking the box and real execution

Then watch your close rates jump.

Not because you changed methodologies.

Because you finally started executing the one you have.

It's the 'unsexy' things that will actually create the success you want in sales. 

The in the trenches, no one sees it, never get credit for it things. 

Everyone wants to talk about the big wins. The killer demo. The perfect discovery call.

Nobody wants to talk about the boring stuff that actually makes you elite.

**THE UNSEXY TRUTH ABOUT SALES SUCCESS**

While everyone else is practicing their "showing up and throwing up," the BEST are:

- **Taking actual notes** -  Real notes. What they said. How they said it. What they didn't say.
- **Prepping like maniacs** - 15 minutes before every call. Every time. Even for "easy" ones. Plus prepping for the next day the day before
- **Following up same day** - Not when they "get to it." Same. Day.
- **Updating the CRM** - Yeah, the thing everyone hates. They do it daily.
- **Reviewing their calls** - Listening to themselves suck until they don't.

Sexy? Hell no.
Effective? Every damn time.

**THE MATH NOBODY WANTS TO DO**

Average reps guess their numbers.
Elite reps know them cold.

- Calls to meeting ratio
- Meeting to opportunity ratio  
- Average deal size by segment
- Sales cycle by deal stage
- Win rate by competitor

They can tell you exactly how many calls they need to make on Monday to hit their number on Friday.

That's not luck. That's math.

And math doesn't care about your feelings.

**THE INVESTMENT NOBODY SEES**

While you're at happy hour, they're reading.

Sales books. Psychology books. Industry reports. Customer case studies.

While you're complaining about marketing's leads, they're taking copywriting courses.

While you're waiting for enablement to train you, they're building their own playbooks.

Nobody sees this part. But everyone sees the results.

**THE SYSTEMS THAT SCALE**

Elite reps have systems for everything:

- **Call prep checklist** - Same 5 things. Every call.
- **Follow-up templates** - Customized, but systematized
- **Discovery frameworks** - Not winging it. Following a process.
- **Objection handling doc** - Updated after every loss
- **Win/loss analysis** - They know why they win. And why they don't.

Is this fun? No.
Does it work? Like clockwork.

The said reality for most is this...

You want the glory without the grind.

You want the closed deals without the call reviews.
You want the President's Club without the prep work.
You want the commission without the consistency.

But that's not how this works.

The best reps aren't the smoothest talkers.
They're the most disciplined operators.

**HERE'S THE MOVE**

Pick one unsexy thing. Just one:

- Take real notes after every call
- Prep 15 minutes before every meeting  
- Update your CRM daily (not weekly)
- Review one call recording per day
- Track your actual conversion metrics

Do it for 30 days. No exceptions.

Watch what happens when you do the work nobody wants to do.

Because success isn't about the spotlight moments.

It's about the discipline between them.

For a lot of ya'll your follow-up emails might as well not exist. I'd go so far as you shouldn't even send it. 

Because "just checking in" isn't follow-up.

It's giving up.

Most reps treat follow-up like a participation trophy.

Send email. Check box. Feel productive.

Meanwhile, your prospect is rolling their eyes at another pointless ping in their inbox.

We spend hours perfecting our pitch. Days preparing for demos. Weeks building pipeline.

Then we follow up with the sales equivalent of "u up?"

Come on, ya'll.

**YOUR FOLLOW-UP HAS A SECRET AUDIENCE**

Here's what most reps miss:

Your follow-up isn't just for the person you talked to.

It's for:
- The CFO who got forwarded your proposal
- The IT director asking "what's this vendor about?"
- The VP who's deciding if you're worth their time

Every email gets forwarded to someone you've never met.

And you're sending "Just wanted to circle back..."

That's not follow-up. That's amateur hour.

You have to write it and include things in it that will matter to those 'hidden' DM's. Does your email and proposal speak to a CFO just as well as the Director? 

If not

Re-Write it. 

**WHERE'D THE PROBLEM GO?**

This is the next part where follow up goes wrong. 

Watch this magic trick:

Discovery: "Our biggest challenge is X"
Demo: "Here's exactly how we solve X"
Follow-up: "Hope you're having a great week!"

Poof. The problem disappeared.

You spent 30 minutes uncovering pain, then act like it never happened.

No wonder deals go dark. You stopped talking about what matters.

Look at your proposals, shoot even your contracts, where is the problem? 

Is it even there?

We wonder why deals disappear, it's because the problem we were trying to solve disappears 

**THE GIVE WITHOUT THE GRAB**

Elite reps do something different.

They follow up with VALUE. No strings attached.

"Saw this article on [their problem]. Thought of you."
"Another VP just solved [same issue] this way - might help even without our tool."
"Remember you mentioned [specific challenge]? Quick fix attached."

No meeting request. No "thoughts?" Just value.

That's how you stay relevant without being desperate.

**YOUR NEW FOLLOW-UP FORMULA**

1. **Write for the forwarded audience** - Every email should make sense to someone who wasn't on the call

2. **Keep their problem front and center** - Every touchpoint ties back to their pain and goal

3. **Give value 30% of the time** - No ask. Just help. Build trust before you build pipeline.

4. **Reference THEIR words** - Not your template. Their actual language from the call.

Stop treating follow-up like a chore.

Start treating it like the deal-maker it actually is.

The money really is in the follow-up. But only if you do it right.

Change doesn't care about your timeline.

It shows up when it wants.

And you get two choices: Better or bitter.

That's it.

I've been running trainings on leading through change lately. And ya'll, this is the one thing that separates winners from whiners.

Better or bitter.

When the market shifts? Better or bitter.
When leadership changes? Better or bitter.
When your best rep quits? Better or bitter.

Most people choose bitter without even realizing it.

"This isn't fair"
"We've always done it this way"
"Why is this happening to us?"

Cool. How's that working for you?

Meanwhile, the "better" crowd is asking different questions:

"What can I learn from this?"
"How do I adapt faster?"
"Where's the opportunity hiding?"

Same change. Different choice. Different outcome.

Here's what kills me:

We resist change like it's optional.

Like if we complain enough, it'll go away.
Like if we dig in our heels, time will reverse.
Like if we get bitter enough, things will go back to "normal."

Reality check: If your company isn't changing, it's dying.

The market's changing.
Your buyers are changing.
Your competition's changing.

You can get bitter about it.
Or you can get better.

Only one moves you forward.

I've watched teams implode because they chose bitter.
I've watched careers stall because they chose bitter.
I've watched companies die because they chose bitter.

But I've also watched people use the exact same changes to level up.

Same circumstances. Different choice.

Your move.

Better or bitter?

The biggest lie about "soft skills" in sales leadership.

Everyone's talking about soft skills. Empathy, communication, emotional intelligence.

But in sales leadership, "soft" doesn't mean "easy" or "optional."

It's the hardest, most impactful work you'll do.

**HERE'S WHAT KILLS ME**

We call them "soft skills" like they're nice-to-haves.

Meanwhile, your best rep just quit because their manager "doesn't get them."
Your pipeline's stalled because no one knows how to have a real conversation.

Your team's burnt out because leadership thinks motivation means more pressure.

But sure, let's keep calling them "soft."

**THE BRUTAL TRUTH**

The hardest skills in sales leadership aren't in your CRM.

They're in your ability to:

- Read the room when your rep's about to break
- Know when to push and when to pull back
- Turn a tough conversation into a breakthrough moment

You can't dashboard your way to trust.
You can't spreadsheet your way to loyalty.
You can't KPI your way to inspiration.

**WHY "SOFT" IS ACTUALLY HARD**

Technical skills? You can Google them.

Sales processes? There's a playbook for that.

But try teaching someone how to:

- Detect BS in a pipeline review without destroying confidence
- Know when a rep needs coaching vs when they need space
- Build psychological safety while maintaining high standards

That's PhD-level difficulty, ya'll.

**THE REAL DIFFERENCE**

Average leaders HAVE soft skills.
Great leaders LEVERAGE them.

Big difference.

Having empathy means you feel bad when your rep struggles.
Leveraging empathy means you know exactly how to help them through it.

Having communication skills means you can run a meeting.
Leveraging them means every interaction moves the needle.

**HOW TO ACTUALLY DEVELOP THESE SKILLS**

1. **Stop calling them soft** - Start calling them revenue skills. Because that's what they are.

2. **Inspect them like you inspect pipeline** - Role play difficult conversations. Review how you handled that tough 1:1. Get feedback on your feedback.

3. **Measure the output** - Track rep retention, engagement scores, promotion rates. The numbers will tell you if your "soft skills" are working.

4. **Practice when it doesn't matter** - Don't wait for the crucial conversation. Practice active listening in every interaction.

5. **Get uncomfortable** - The best soft skill development happens in the moments you want to avoid.

Here's the thing:

Your competition has the same tools.
The same data.
The same market.

The difference? 

How you lead the humans using those tools.

And that's not soft.

That's everything.

Your move.

Most sellers think influence is about being smooth.

It's not. It's science.

I've read 50+ books on persuasion (yeah, I'm that guy). Yet the classic still stands firm “Influence” by Cialdini is a must read and must apply book. 

Let me give you a breakdown. 

**THE 7 LAWS THAT CLOSE DEALS**

**1. Law of Reciprocity**

Give first. They're 3-5x more likely to give back.
That free month of books? That's reciprocity working.
Not manipulation - genuine value.

**2. Law of Authority** 

Visual cues matter, y'all. People don’t like this one but how you show up and appear does matter. 
Why do you think doctors wear lab coats?
Same reason you should look the part on Zoom.

**3. Law of Consistency**

Get them to say their current solution isn't working.
Now they have to stay consistent with that.
"Something's gotta change, right?"
*Then shut up and let them agree*

**4. Law of Likability**

People buy from people who like what they like.
Not from people they like.
Big difference.
Find common ground that actually matters.

**5. Law of Social Proof**
We've served 50,000 businesses over a decade.
Processed millions of transactions.
Use your numbers. Let others sell for you.

**6. Law of Scarcity**

Real deadlines. Real consequences.
"2.49 this week, 2.79 next week."
Hold to it or lose all credibility.

**7. Law of Commitment**

Stop making statements. Start asking questions.
"Will you get this done by Friday?"
Not "Can't wait to get this done Friday!"
Get the YES.

Here's what kills me:

We make decisions emotionally, then back it with logic.

Yet we're out here selling spreadsheets and features.

The best part? This isn't manipulation when you actually believe in what you're selling.

It's helping people get unstuck.

Master half of this, you'll make more money.

Master all of it? Different career trajectory entirely.

Which law are you sleeping on?

Get on it.

85% of enterprise sales reps run their entire book of business from spreadsheets.

Sellers... you know it's true haha. 

Not their CRM. Not their fancy tech stack. Spreadsheets.

What the hell are we doing, ya'll?

It aint their fault by the way, most tools weren’t actually built for the SELLER. 

**THE DISCONNECT THAT'S KILLING YOUR PIPELINE**

Here's what's wild:

Every CRO thinks (and honestly wishes) their reps are living in the CRM.

Meanwhile, your reps are running their entire business from Excel.

Then leadership wonders why there's no notes in Salesforce.
Why deal data is always outdated.
Why forecast calls feel like fiction.

You're looking in the wrong place, ya'll.

**THE DIRTY SECRET NO ONE TALKS ABOUT**

ZoomInfo just pulled some crazy stats on enterprise deal management. 

85% of reps use spreadsheets
10% use their inbox
5% actually use CRM

We've spent billions on sales tech. Enablement platforms. AI assistants. Digital transformation.

And your best reps are still running their business from a spreadsheet they built in 2019.

**HERE'S WHY SPREADSHEETS WIN**

It's not because reps are lazy.
It's not because they hate technology.

It's because spreadsheets are the only place where everything actually comes together.

Deal data? That's in Salesforce.
Call recordings? Gong.
Content? Seismic.
Account intelligence? 6 different tabs.
Next steps? Post-it notes.

Your rep has to be a data architect just to prep for a call.

**THE EXECUTION GAP IS REAL**

We keep solving the wrong problem.

The problem isn't strategy. Every team has a strategy.
The problem isn't process. Everyone's got MEDDIC or whatever.
The problem isn't even tools. We've got plenty of those.

The problem is execution.

The gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

That's where deals die.

While everyone else built another system of record, ZoomInfo built the system that executes.

ZoomInfo Copilot Workspace.

One workspace where sellers actually work.
Complete context without tab-hopping.
Strategy turns into action. Action turns into pipeline.

No more spreadsheet gymnastics.
No more 30-minute prep for a 30-minute call.
No more execution gap.

**THE BRUTAL MATH**

Your rep manages 50+ accounts.

For each account they need:
- Updated org charts
- Funding updates
- Competitor intel
- Job changes
- Engagement data
- Deal history
- Next steps

That's 350+ data points to track. Manually.

In a spreadsheet.

While also hitting quota.

This is actually insane.

**HERE'S THE MOVE**

Stop asking reps to be data architects.
Let them be GTM artists.

Stop celebrating busy work.
Start enabling execution.

Stop adding more tools.
Start unifying where work happens.

Because here's what I know:

The teams crushing it aren't working harder.
They're executing smarter.

They've closed the execution gap.

And that's the difference between hoping for pipeline and building it.

Your move.

Leadership isn't headcount. It's leverage.

1 great leader can have a 10x, 20, 50x impact on an org. 

The 1:10 leadership multiplier effect most sales managers miss.

One great leader can turn one good hour into ten better reps next week. That's the job. 

Especially in Q4 when "more pressure" is the default move and the worst strategy.

Most teams crank dashboards and pipeline reviews. 

The teams that scale install clarity and coaching.

What this looks like in practice:

Coach champions, not just reps: Your champion isn't a trained seller. Give them the 90‑second story, a simple 3‑slide exec deck, an internal email they can forward, and rehearse it with them. If they can't sell it internally, you don't have a deal.

Teach buyer psychology before pipeline: Deals don't stall for lack of features. They stall from fear, effort, and uncertainty. Reduce perceived risk, reduce the lift, increase decision confidence. Pilots, phased rollouts, clear success criteria.

Manage the buying process, not just the sales stages Mutual plans with real owners and dates. Movement from meeting to proof, not meeting to "next meeting."

Adjust your management style to the cycle Transactional motion? Tight cadences, clean talk tracks, speed and repetition. 

Enterprise motion? Stakeholder maps, multithreading, champion enablement, risk removal. Different games, different coaching.

A simple 30‑day multiplier plan:

Week 1: Publish "what good looks like" for discovery, recap, and next‑step design. One page each. No fluff. 

Week 2: Ship a Champion Kit (talk track, exec slides, CFO/IT one‑pagers, internal email). Role‑play it. 

Week 3: Add a 10‑minute buyer‑psych block before pipeline review. Make it a ritual. 

Week 4: Let two reps run the drills while you coach the coaches. Build coaches, not dependents.

Track lift in:

-Multi‑threading per opportunity
-Movement from meeting → proof/pilot
-Champion‑initiated next steps
-Manager coaching hours vs behaviour changes

When leaders LEAD and leverage systems, there is no greater multiplier across an org. 

As leaders get better the team gets better. 

Leverage baby. Leverage

"We can't use AI for that."

My SDR and CX leaders both said something along these lines over the last few weeks.

Cool. That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

Time to challenge some thinking. 

Because that's when the real work starts.

I told you I was pushing AskElephant to the limit. Well, turns out the limit wasn't the product (yet! I’m still going to keep pushing it).

It was our thinking.

Most teams are stuck in binary thinking about AI:

- Either it's fully automated or it's manual
- Either it replaces humans or we don't use it
- Either it works perfectly or it's useless

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

The answer? **Human-in-the-loop.**

AI doesn't replace your team's judgment. It amplifies it.

We (as revenue leaders) are not looking at AI the right way enough. 

SDR teams sitting on goldmines:

- Call reviews that could surface patterns you're missing
- Meeting prep that could take 5 minutes instead of 20
- No-show analysis that could fix your scheduling problems

CS teams ignoring obvious leverage:

- Ticket investigation that could happen in minutes
- Root cause analysis across accounts
- Pattern recognition humans can't see alone

But we say "that won't work for us" and move on.

Meanwhile, the teams that push past that first "no"?

They're finding leverage everywhere.

Stop asking "Can AI do this job?"

Start asking "How can AI make us better at this job?"

Stop thinking "automated vs manual"
Start thinking "amplified human intelligence"

Stop looking for perfection
Start looking for leverage

**YOUR MOVE**

Pick one thing your team said AI can't help with.

Challenge them to find three ways it could.

Not to replace what they do.
To multiply what they do.

Push the product. Push your thinking. Push your team.

Because if you're not pushing AI to its limits, you're not pushing hard enough.

The limit isn't the technology, but it sure does help having an AskElephant to make it easy!.

It's us.

Most teams don’t have a strategy problem — they have an inspection problem.

Ever notice how leaders say they want “more visibility”… but then spend zero time actually looking at what’s happening?

Here’s the truth:

We’ve got the dashboards.
We’ve got the tools.

But we’re not inspecting what good actually looks like anymore.

Who are we talking to?

What’s actually being said on calls?

What patterns are showing up in the data that could change the message entirely?

That’s the work.

That’s leadership.

And here’s the wild part — AI is finally giving us time back to do it.

I used to spend hours buried in spreadsheets and reports.

Now, tools like ZoomInfo Copilot Workspace pull the noise together so I can spend time where AI can’t (yet): coaching, inspecting, improving the craft.

Because the problem was never data.

It’s execution.

The best leaders aren’t asking for “more reports.”

They’re blocking time to learn from the data they already have — and making sure their team actually uses it to get better.

That’s the edge right now.

Execution. Awareness. Coaching.

AI’s not replacing great leaders — it’s freeing them up to lead again.

Happy ZoomInfo Customer and #ZoomInfoPartner

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