Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford reveal the six essential checkpoints every seller needs to crush their goals and start the new year with confidence.

Are you ready to hit the ground running in the new year? In this milestone 50th episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford break down the six critical areas every sales professional must address to start strong and finish stronger.

From setting stretch goals you'll only achieve 25% of the time (yes, really) to building your "cookbook" of controllable behaviors, Mark and Josh share the exact framework they use with clients to transform overwhelming annual quotas into manageable, motivating action plans. You'll learn about the KARE model for account segmentation, why your personal goals drive your professional success, and how to identify and crush the self-limiting beliefs holding you back.

Whether you're a sales leader preparing your team or an individual contributor mapping out your year, this checklist will help you move from daunting quotas to confident execution. Plus, hear Mark's "star salesman" story and why that's not the compliment you think it is.

About Josh Pitchford: Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology.
🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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Summary: The 7 biggest lies that keep salespeople stuck—and how to replace them with a winning mindset that closes more deals.

Description: Mark McGraw sits down with Josh Pitchford to break down the 7 biggest lies that keep salespeople from reaching their full potential. From believing your job is to educate prospects to thinking you need to win every deal, these mindset traps are costing you sales—and you might not even realize it.

In this episode, Mark and Josh reveal why discounting is lazy selling, how to handle price objections like a pro, and why there's never a bad time to call your prospects. You'll learn why buyers don't need to like you (they need to respect you), how emotions drive every purchase decision, and why chasing unwinnable deals has a massive opportunity cost. If you're struggling with confidence, pricing, or qualifying, this episode delivers the mindset shifts you need to win more deals without working harder.

About Josh Pitchford Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology.

🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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How to build a repeatable channel sales engine—from partner selection to enablement to metrics—with a 30-year channel sales veteran.

Selling through channel partners without a system feels like that old vibrating football game—everyone's running around hoping to score. John Rosati has spent 30 years building channel sales engines that create predictable revenue, and in this episode, he reveals exactly how he does it.

As a channel sales leader at Motorola with experience across distribution, manufacturers reps, and two-tier channels, John knows what separates successful channel programs from chaotic ones. In this conversation with Mark McGraw, he breaks down his "sales engine" framework: partner selection (willingness and ability to invest), enablement (training, co-selling, monkey-see-monkey-do), and metrics (dashboards that drive behavior). You'll learn why Sandler is the "how" that enables every channel tool, how to make it easy for partners to do business with you, and why the best partners invest in their people and infrastructure.

About John Rosati John Rosati is a channel sales executive with 30 years of experience in technology sales, currently leading Motorola's channel partner business for professional communications and radio across North America. Starting his career with cold calls at Motorola (70-100 calls a day), John moved through inside sales, outside sales, and eventually into channel leadership roles managing billion-dollar partner networks. He specializes in building repeatable sales engines for channel partners, partner enablement, co-selling strategies, and using metrics to drive predictable revenue. John is passionate about Sandler Training and has implemented Sandler methodologies across his channel teams to create consistent, scalable results.

🔗 John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrosati911/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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Why traditional therapy can make emotional triggers worse—and how neuroscience-based techniques dissolve limiting beliefs in minutes, not years.

What if reliving your past trauma actually makes it stronger? Rochelle Carrington explains why traditional approaches to emotional healing can deepen the very patterns you're trying to break—and reveals a faster, neuroscience-based alternative.

As a coach specializing in subconscious emotional patterns, Rochelle works with CEOs, business owners, and high achievers who look successful on the outside but are burnt out inside. In this episode with Mark McGraw, she breaks down how emotions drive actions (which create results), why understanding "why" isn't necessary for healing, and how she helps clients dissolve decades-old limiting beliefs in 3-4 weeks. You'll learn about the 95/5 rule of the subconscious mind, why managing emotions doesn't work, and real results like sleeping through the night, doubled revenue, and healed relationships—all from dissolving emotional triggers in minutes.

About Rochelle Carrington Rochelle Carrington is a coach and consultant specializing in helping high achievers dissolve subconscious emotional patterns that drive burnout, stress, and self-sabotage. Using neuroscience-based protocols, she works with CEOs, business owners, and peak performers to release limiting beliefs formed in childhood—without reliving past trauma or telling their stories. Her approach combines neuroscience, somatic psychology, and quantum physics to create rapid, permanent shifts. Rochelle has helped clients sleep through the night after years of insomnia, stop procrastinating, improve relationships, and significantly increase business revenue—all by addressing the emotional patterns running 95% of their actions.

🔗 Rochelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochellecarrington/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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How to expand relationships in your accounts, identify all the influencers, and protect yourself before your main contact leaves or competitors wedge in.

If you're only talking to one person in your account, you're one resignation away from losing everything. Josh Pitchford reveals why the "best defense is a good offense" when it comes to account relationships—and shares practical frameworks for expanding higher, deeper, and wider.

As a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, Josh helps sales teams protect and grow their key accounts through strategic relationship building. In this episode with Mark McGraw, he breaks down the "3x3" strategy for identifying influencers, explains why relationship maps beat org charts, and shares why you need to know people's "5 to 9" (not just their 9 to 5). You'll learn how to fence your accounts, and expand relationships before your competition does.

About Josh Pitchford Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology. He's passionate about helping sellers move beyond single-point-of-contact relationships to build the depth and breadth needed to protect and expand strategic accounts.

🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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How to build influence and lead without a title—from an individual contributor to recognized leader in your organization.

Can you be a leader without managing anyone? Absolutely. Darryl Stromberg reveals exactly how to position yourself as a leader even when no one reports to you.

As a Sandler Coach at Sales Engine with 30+ years of experience, Darryl knows what separates people who get promoted from those who get stuck. In this episode, he shares the strategies that helped him mentor 18 people—16 of whom earned promotions, above-average raises, or recognition as top performers.

You'll learn why your spouse's behavior at company events can derail your promotion, how to "manage up" when you have a weak boss, and the critical difference between leadership and management. Whether you're an individual contributor or a manager developing your team, this episode delivers career-accelerating insights.

About Darryl Stromberg Darryl Stromberg is a Sandler Coach at Sales Engine, bringing over 30 years of leadership and sales operations experience. His career includes roles as Director of North American Operations and Manager of Sales Operations at Motorola Solutions, where he led teams, streamlined processes, and drove performance improvements. Known for his mentoring and coaching, Darryl has helped dozens of professionals advance their careers through intentional leadership development.

🔗 Darryl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrylstromberg/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

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How to run sales kickoffs that actually work—align, enable, inspire—from a CCO who's transformed 3+ organizations.

Most sales kickoffs overwhelm teams with content and drain energy by day three. Lisa Gosselin has cracked the code on SKOs that inspire action, not confusion.

As Chief Commercial Officer at Cars Commerce, Lisa has transformed go-to-market organizations at three different companies—and she's phenomenal at setting vision. In this conversation with Mark McGraw, she breaks down her SKO framework: align the team around vision, enable them with simple playbooks (not 100-page manuals), and inspire them to execute. She also shares a game-changing insight that surprised Mark after 29 years in sales leadership: finish your SKO with a motivational speaker, not product presentations.

If you're planning a sales kickoff or struggling to get your team aligned on vision, this episode is your playbook.

About Lisa Gosselin

Lisa Gosselin is Chief Commercial Officer at Cars Commerce, where she leads go-to-market strategy, deepens strategic partnerships, and drives revenue growth for dealers and OEMs. Appointed in February 2025, Lisa brings 25+ years of commercial leadership across SaaS, ad tech, and data-driven marketing. Previously, as Chief Revenue Officer at Numerator (Bain Capital-backed), she transformed the commercial organization and delivered four consecutive years of double-digit growth. Lisa has also held senior leadership roles at Conversant-Epsilon, Catalina Marketing, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, and Suntory. She specializes in organizational transformation—building high-performing teams and turning vision into execution.

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagosselin/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

In This Episode:

Links

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/
Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagosselin/