Building Your Sales Engine

The movable middle — that 60% in the center of every sales team — is where leaders win or lose the year, and Kelly Ross joins Mark McGraw to unpack exactly how to elevate them.

The movable middle is the 60% of your sales team that decides whether your year is great or just "okay." In Episode 62 of Building Your Sales Engine, host Mark McGraw sits down with Sandler enablement leader Kelly Ross to break down the 20/60/20 rule and how sales managers can systematically shift their middle performers upward.

Kelly and Mark unpack why top performers show up bright-eyed to every training while the middle hides in the back of the classroom, the role noise and distraction play in stalling growth, and how assessments, one-on-ones, and proven playbooks remove the guesswork. They get tactical on strategic vs. tactical coaching, the danger of "death by PowerPoint," and why progress (not perfection) is the real metric.

They also tackle a counterintuitive lever: addressing the bottom 20%. When managers tolerate underperformance too long, they give the middle permission to coast. If you're a sales leader trying to raise the average — or a seller ready to climb out of the middle — this episode hands you the framework.

About Kelly Ross

Kelly Ross is a longtime Sandler advocate and leader who runs Sandler's Oregon operations on the West Coast. With deep experience on the sales enablement side, Kelly specializes in coaching, training design, and helping sales teams turn frameworks into real behavior change.

Kelly Ross LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyannross/

Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

Marks LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

In This Episode

The 20/60/20 rule and why the middle 60% is where leaders make or break the year

Why top performers always show up — and what their mindset signals about hiring and retention

The real obstacles holding the middle back: noise, distraction, and unclear priorities

Why "death by PowerPoint" loses the middle and how engagement-first training wins them back

Using assessments and surveys so sellers can't argue with their own data

AI in coaching — useful, but never a replacement for the human one-on-one

Strategic vs. tactical coaching: stop running every meeting on the next deal

Identifying the one bottleneck in a seller's pipeline instead of rebuilding the whole process

Playbooks beat "figure it out" — give sellers the system, then let them weave in their sauce

Mindset, the stories we tell ourselves, and reconnecting with your "why"

The counterintuitive move: addressing the bottom 20% to motivate the middle

Eagles vs. ducks — what kind of team are you actually building?

Links

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

Kelly Ross on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyannross/

A friendly, no-pressure tour of practical AI use cases for sales -- shared not by self-proclaimed experts, but by fellow learners passing along what's actually working.

AI use cases for sales don't have to feel overwhelming. In this webinar-style episode, Mark McGraw opens up the toolbox and walks through a wide range of practical ways he and the Sandler Sales Engine team are using AI -- with one honest caveat up front: nobody here claims to have the world's knowledge of AI. The goal isn't to crown gurus or sell you on getting left behind. It's to give everyone an approachable entry point and a few ideas worth trying.

Recorded live from one of our most popular workshops -- you'll see the audience chat pop up on screen throughout -- Mark covers tool-agnostic thinking, project folders, prompting fundamentals, recording and transcribing your calls, turning transcripts into LinkedIn posts, automating LinkedIn connections, stringing prompts into a prospecting workflow, pre-call planning, weekly briefings, AI role play, and creating decks and visuals. By no means all of it, but plenty to spark ideas wherever you are on the curve.

Fun fact: the intro and graphics for this episode were created entirely with AI. As Mark puts it, you can't do everything -- but you can do one thing at a time. Pick the idea that fits your world and give it a try this week.

Host: Mark McGraw -- Building Your Sales Engine

In This Episode:

Why you don't need to be an AI expert to start using it in sales

The 84% stat: most people haven't touched AI, so showing up already puts you ahead

George Carlin's "idiots and maniacs" and why everyone's at a different level

Being tool-agnostic and thinking like an architect instead of chasing platforms

Project folders: a simple, high-impact first step

Adding skills/plugins and customizing a sales skill to Sandler methodology

Five simple rules for writing better prompts

Why you should record (almost) everything you can

Matching and mirroring using a prospect's exact words from transcripts

Tools worth knowing: Fathom, Plaud, and iPhone call recording

Building a searchable "Virtual Mark" knowledge base from past calls

Using AI to score sales calls, demos, and deal reviews

Turning meeting transcripts into ready-to-edit LinkedIn posts

Creating surveys and calculators that help prospects surface their own pain

Automating LinkedIn connection requests with an AI-controlled browser

Stringing prompts into a prospecting workflow (research → CRM → dialer)

Pre-call planning and a weekly "chief of staff" briefing prompt

Speeding up scope-of-work and RFP writing

Practicing tough conversations with the Sandler AI Role Play Tool

Why it all comes down to picking one thing and starting today

Links:

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

In this episode of Building Your Sales Engine, I sit down with Josh Pitchford to discuss the intricacies of team selling. We delve into strategies for managing the chaos that often arises when multiple team members participate in sales calls. Learn how to effectively prepare through pre-call planning, ensuring each member knows their role and how to contribute. We explore the importance of maintaining balance in team presence, avoiding overwhelm, and the necessity of clear communication. Additionally, we emphasize the value of debriefing after meetings to capture lessons learned and ensure everyone is aligned on next steps. Join us for insights that can elevate your approach to team selling and enhance your overall sales effectiveness.

In this episode of Building Your Sales Engine, I sit down with Steve Popp to delve into the critical topic of driving adoption within sales organizations. We explore the challenges sales leaders face when implementing new initiatives and the importance of prioritizing effectively. Steve shares his insights on how to engage team members, crowdsource ideas, and establish a culture of buy-in for new training programs. We discuss the necessity of having influential advocates within the sales team to champion initiatives and the role of strategic planning in ensuring successful execution. If you’re looking to enhance your organization’s ability to adopt new strategies and drive revenue, this episode is packed with actionable insights you won’t want to miss.

Discover why sales forecasts miss the mark -- and how curiosity, skepticism, and clear future commitments can fix your pipeline accuracy for good.

Happy ears have ruined more sales forecasts than bad markets ever will. In this episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford break down the real reasons sellers miss their forecasts -- starting with the dangerous habit of hearing only what they want to hear when a prospect gives them positive signals.

Josh shares his go-to rule -- "curiosity and skepticism is the antidote to hope and happy ears" -- and explains why sellers are always just one question away from the truth. The conversation dives into the concept of clear future commitments: knowing exactly what's next, who's involved, and what the anticipated outcomes are, rather than settling for vague promises like "give me a call next Tuesday." Mark adds the manager's perspective, introducing the Eeyore-to-Tigger continuum for calibrating whether reps are sandbagging or over-projecting.

The episode also tackles why forecast accuracy matters far beyond making the boss look good -- from resource planning and inventory to cashflow and staffing -- and how pipeline meetings should be coaching opportunities, not checkbox exercises. If your forecast feels more like a weather prediction than a business tool, this episode will show you how to fix it.

Host: Mark McGraw -- Building Your Sales Engine

Co-host: Josh Pitchford -- Building Your Sales Engine

In This Episode:

Why happy ears are the number one forecast killer

"Curiosity and skepticism is the antidote to hope and happy ears"

The danger of taking positive buyer signals at face value

Why sellers stop asking questions when they hear good news

Beware the positive prospect -- and the positive salesperson

Risk mitigation: always asking "where could this go wrong?"

The optimistic-realistic-pessimistic dial for forecast calibration

The Eeyore-to-Tigger continuum for reading your reps

What "clear future commitments" really means vs. vague next steps

Knowing date, time, participants, agenda, and anticipated outcomes

Why "I'm supposed to give them a call Tuesday" is not a clear future

How missed forecasts reveal that a seller doesn't know their account

Why forecast accuracy matters: resource planning, inventory, cashflow, staffing

Think a level or two above where you are

The importance of giving sellers permission to tell the truth

Setting upfront contracts with your team around honesty

Why end-of-quarter deals get weaponized by trained buyers

Pipeline meetings as coaching opportunities, not checkbox exercises

Using group pipeline reviews to keep the whole team learning

Links:

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

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

"If you're not committed to doing the work to get to a goal, don't set the goal. Because all you do is hurt your self-esteem and hurt your confidence." Discover the critical difference between desire and commitment -- the two ingredients of the will to sell that determine whether your sales goals drive you forward or drag you down.

Every sales manager has seen it: a rep who knows what to do but won't do it consistently. In this episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford unpack why desire without commitment creates a dangerous gap -- and how managers can uncover a salesperson's compelling why without becoming a persecutor in the relationship.

In this episode, you'll learn:

The real difference between desire and commitment in sales

Four types of motivation -- and why only one is sustainable

How to uncover your (or your rep's) compelling why

The 1-to-10 commitment scale for honest goal conversations

Why caring more than your rep makes YOU the problem

The pilot light test: how to know if someone has the drive

Why setting uncommitted goals destroys your confidence

Host: Mark McGraw -- Building Your Sales Engine

Co-host: Josh Pitchford -- Building Your Sales Engine

Links:

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

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

"If you don't have a system, it's backyard football, after Thanksgiving dinner, everybody go out there and get open. You score touchdowns every now and then, but there's too much on the line to play backyard football." Discover why having a proven sales system beats winging it -- and how it transforms results for sellers and managers alike.

Most salespeople default to the buyer's process without realizing there's another option. In this episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford break down the real benefits of systematizing your sales approach -- from creating predictability and shortening sales cycles to recognizing patterns, combating fear in the moment, and getting to "no" faster.

The conversation then shifts to the manager's lens: how a shared system improves forecast accuracy, makes pre-call planning and debriefing actionable, and gives your team a common language for team selling.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- Why predictability is the #1 benefit of a sales system

- How to shape the sales process instead of being shaped by it

- The "start with no" mindset that takes all the pressure off

- The GATE process: Goals, Actions, Tools, and Exit criteria

- How the 10-80-10 concept applies to manager-rep sales calls

- Why the most important upfront contract is between seller team members

- How a documented system accelerates new rep onboarding

🎙️ Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

🎤 Co-host: Josh Pitchford — Building Your Sales Engine

👇 Timestamps below 👇

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🎙️ Full podcast episodes: buildingyoursalesengine.com

**Links:**

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Website: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

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

Learn how to put a dollar amount on any sales problem -- the skill that justifies investments, creates urgency, and helps buyers sell internally.

Quantifying pain is one of the most powerful skills in sales, yet most sellers avoid the financial conversation entirely. In this episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford break down why putting a dollar amount on a problem changes everything -- from justifying the investment and creating urgency to empowering buyers to sell internally to decision makers.

Learn practical tactics for doing the math with prospects: stacking numbers to lead the witness, uncovering opportunity costs, calculating the cost of doing nothing, and using the value gap to multiply impact over time. The key insight? When they do the math, they're buying. When you do it, you're selling.

Host: Mark McGraw -- Building Your Sales Engine

Co-host: Josh Pitchford -- Building Your Sales Engine

In This Episode:

Why people pay attention when there's a number attached to a problem

How quantifying pain justifies investments, creates urgency, and accelerates decisions

The cost of doing nothing: what happens when buyers delay six months

Empowering buyers to sell internally with a financial business case

How to put a dollar amount on nebulous problems like bad service

Stacking numbers: giving prospects a multiple choice range to start the math

The value gap: where are you today vs. where do you want to be

Opportunity cost: where the real money is

When they do the math, they're buying -- when you do it, you're selling

Having business conversations vs. product conversations with decision makers

Links:

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

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

Discover the hidden weaknesses that sabotage sales hires -- and how assessments reveal the sales DNA that resumes can't show.

Hiring the right salesperson is harder than it looks. 72% of salespeople say the job was misrepresented after they were hired -- and most hiring managers focus on technical skills while ignoring the beliefs and mindset that actually predict success. In this episode, Andy Miller of Objective Management Group reveals how to build a hiring system that uncovers hidden weaknesses before they cost you.

Andy breaks down the three buckets that determine sales success: will to sell, sales DNA, and tactics. Learn why hunters and farmers require completely different profiles, how need for approval sabotages execution, and why the best candidates often interview the worst. Plus, Andy shares the Goldwing motorcycle story -- a perfect example of how head trash kills deals.

About Andy Miller: Andy Miller is a Partner Coach at Objective Management Group (OMG) and a sales consultant with 35 years of experience. He is the author of the international bestseller "The Science of Hiring Quota-Busting Sales Teams."

Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bigswiftkick/

Host: Mark McGraw -- Building Your Sales Engine

In This Episode:

Why 72% of salespeople say the job was misrepresented after being hired

Hiring is a system, not just picking the right assessment

The three buckets: will to sell, sales DNA, and tactics

Why managers hire for technical skills but should hire for attitudinal fit

Hidden weaknesses: the beliefs that sabotage sales execution

Hunter vs. farmer: why hybrids rarely work

Need for approval: how likable candidates often can't close

"You hired a cat when you needed a hunting dog"

Weeding vs. wooing: why top producers don't respond to job ads

Always be recruiting: Google's one-day-a-week rule

The Goldwing story: how head trash loses sales

Why great resumes and great interviews don't predict performance

How your own shopping habits show up in your selling

Building relationships vs. having acquaintances

One contact disorder (OCD): the danger of single-threaded accounts

Links:

Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com

Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/

Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmcgraw/

Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bigswiftkick/

In this episode of Building Your Sales Engine, I delve into the significance of conducting effective discovery calls. Joined by my colleague Josh Pitchford, we explore why many sales professionals struggle with this crucial aspect of the sales process. We discuss the common pitfalls of falling into pitch mode too early, the importance of understanding the prospect's needs, and how to avoid the trap of focusing on our own solutions instead. By shifting our mindset from selling to understanding, we can foster more meaningful conversations that lead to better outcomes. Tune in as we share practical strategies to enhance your discovery calls, ensuring they are both insightful and productive.