Building Your Sales Engine

Building Your Sales Engine

By Mark McGrawBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducationHow To
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Building Your Sales Engine episodes

  • Mindset During Adversity: Turning Brain Cancer Into a Blessing w/ David Karp

    How a brain cancer diagnosis became the best thing that ever happened—and what it teaches us about responding to adversity in business and life.

    "It was one of the best things that ever happened to me." That's how David Karp describes his brain cancer diagnosis—and he means it.

    On his 60th birthday, David got a call from a neuro-oncologist confirming he had a tumor in his brain. Instead of falling into despair, he made a choice—and that choice changed everything.

    In this conversation with Mark McGraw, David shares the mindset shifts that helped him navigate adversity: deciding it's not about you, pre-deciding how you'll respond before crisis hits, and being a "person person" instead of a "people person." He also shares the "dog poop principle"—a moment on January 1st that prepared him for the hardest year of his life.

    If you're facing adversity in business, health, or life, this episode is a masterclass in perspective, resilience, and choosing growth over fear.

    About David Karp:
    David Karp is Chief Customer Officer at Disqo, where he leads customer success for some of the world's biggest brands measuring brand advertising impact. With decades of experience in sales, account management, and customer success, David specializes in closing operational gaps and championing the customer. He's been married for 36+ years, is rooted in his faith, and believes in showing up for others—especially when life gets hard.

    🔗 David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidalankarp/

    Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

    In This Episode:

  • The brain cancer diagnosis on his 60th birthday—and why David calls it "the best thing"

  • How to pre-decide your response to adversity before it happens

  • The "dog poop principle": What stepping in dog poop taught him about perspective

  • Why "it's not about you" is the most powerful mindset shift in crisis

  • The roller coaster analogy: Holding hands through the terrifying moments

  • How David influenced 10+ men to start going to the doctor

  • Be a "person person," not a "people person"—the power of presence

  • Why 80% of people you meet are going through something serious

  • The sphere of control vs. influence: What you can actually change

  • Learning from adversity: Growth-minded lessons from failure and hardship

    • Links

    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

    32 min
  • Quality Over Quantity: Prospect with Purpose w/ Rich Simons

    How to build a sustainable sales career by prioritizing quality prospecting, strategic partnerships, and giving value—without burning out on empty activity.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

    Most salespeople start their careers chasing numbers—60, 70, 80 dials a day—hoping volume will lead to wins. Rich Simons did exactly that. But 17 years later, he's built a thriving sales career by flipping the script: quality over quantity, relationships over transactions, and giving over taking.

    In this conversation with Mark McGraw, Rich shares his journey from cold-calling burnout to sales leadership. He walks through his morning routine (prayer, physical, then professional), why he plans each day the night before, and how speaking at industry events became his #1 prospecting channel. Rich also explains why LinkedIn has become "noisy," how to network with authenticity, and why he's intentional about slowing down the sales process to truly understand his clients' businesses.

    If you're tired of grinding through empty activity or want to build a sales career rooted in relationships and real value, this episode delivers a proven blueprint.

    About Rich Simons

    Rich Simons leads sales at Edge Business Systems in Georgia. With 17+ years in B2B sales, he's known for building deep client relationships, strategic partnerships, and mentoring emerging sales talent.

    🔗 Connect with Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richsimons/

    Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

    In This Episode:

  • Why "quality per day" beats "volume per day" for sustainable success

  • Rich's morning routine: prayer, physical, professional

  • Planning your day the night before (and why it matters)

  • How to define a "win" and track small victories

  • The hunter vs. farmer mistake and staying in your role long enough to succeed

  • Speaking in front of groups: the underutilized prospecting channel

  • Why LinkedIn is "noisy" and how to network with authenticity

  • Listening for symptoms (not explicit requests) to connect people

  • The philosophy of giving to your network without keeping score

  • Mentoring the next generation and why most people want to help


    • Links
    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Podcast Webpage page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richsimons/

     

     

    41 min
  • Q4 Urgency: Fewer Selling Days, Faster Decisions w/ Josh Pitchford

    Why Q4 isn't 92 selling days — and how to keep deals from slipping to January.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

    The calendar says 92 days in Q4. The reality? Subtract weekends, holidays, PTO, and slowdowns in legal and purchasing — and you've got a fraction of that. In this conversation, Mark McGraw and Sandler trainer Josh Pitchford map out how to close strong when time is short:

  • Count your real selling days and plan around them

  • Start earlier — budgets are set sooner every year

  • Get higher in the organization to accelerate decisions

  • Map the path to the PO: timeline, events, people

  • Quantify the cost of delay (the $250K/month example)

  • Be in the room where decisions happen

  • Prepare for the handful of predictable objections


    • Links:
    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/40
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/

    26 min
  • Manage the Exceptions: Build the Right Sales Dials w/ Chris Blum

    How to build validated sales dashboards, manage exceptions, and make better decisions—without flying by gut feel.

     To find our handout for this episode, click here. 

    Static reports are lagging. In this conversation, Mark McGraw and Chris Blum (EH Blum Company) walk through moving from canned outputs to interactive, validated dashboards. Start simple (revenue, mix, low-margin drivers), manage the exceptions, hunt the 1% margin gains, and use leading vs. lagging indicators to forecast. Chris shares a private-pilot "six dials" framework (trust instruments, not feel), how to visualize obsolescence (new-in/old-out), why your dials must be custom, and where AI helps—as long as you validate the output before you act.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

    Links
    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/39
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-blum-5439aa30/


    In this episode:

  • Reports → dashboards and real-time data validation

  • Manage exceptions; the Power of 1% margin improvement

  • Leading vs. lagging indicators for practical forecasting

  • The pilot's six dials mindset for sales leaders

  • Obsolescence: visualize new-in/old-out to protect margin

  • Custom dials (cash flow, growth, R/Y/G alerts) tailored to your business

  • AI to build faster—validate before you act

  • Mark's practice: rolling 12s and "AI is great until it's not"

    • 37 min
  • How to Use Assessments to Hire & Coach Sales Teams w/ Rachel Chang

    How to hire, place, and coach sellers with assessments—so you avoid hunter/farmer mis-hires and reduce burnout.

    Assessments aren't paperwork—they're how you hire better, place smarter, and coach faster. Mark McGraw and Rachel Chang break down using work style/DISC, personality, sales capacity, and object reasoning assessments to prevent bad hires, align roles with natural strengths, and target training where it moves the needle. Interviews show experience; assessments reveal potential and capacity.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

    Guest: Rachel Chang — Project and Consulting Manager @ Sandler Training by Sales Engine
    Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine

    In this episode:

  • The hunter vs. farmer trap (and how assessments prevent it)

  • What each tool measures: work style/DISC, personality, sales capacity, object reasoning

  • Reading energy × focus (DISC) and adjusting in real time

  • Natural vs. adjusted style: why sustained "masks" burn people out

  • Team assessments: find capability gaps; tailor training (composure/resiliency, negotiating, relationship skills)

  • Experience vs. potential: use both—stop guessing

    • Links
    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/38
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    Rachel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-chang246/

    28 min
  • How to Manage Change with Heather Martin

    How to lead sales teams through change with KPI discipline, psychological safety, clear cadence, and a risk register so signal beats noise.

    Change doesn't break sales—silence and guesswork do. In this episode, Mark McGraw and guest Heather Martin lay out a practical playbook for leading teams through change: build a KPI foundation before you pivot, create psychological safety so truth flows up, communicate like a sales cycle (even when the update is "I don't know yet"), and use a risk register to prioritize signal over noise.

     

    In this episode:

    • Sales and pipeline are lagging indicators—how to read real market signal

    • Build the KPI funnel (activities → meetings → opps) before change hits

    • Psychological safety: set permission, protection, potency so reps speak up

    • "Bring data to your gut": document with SCQA and metrics

    • Managing up: write it down, include the risk register

    • Be the stable leader: cadence, transparency, consistency

    • Prioritization: signal vs. noise—what to park and how to track it

    • Mental health: model PTO/boundaries so the team follows

    • IC playbook: how sellers manage themselves (and their manager) through change

     

    About Heather Martin

    Heather Martin is Vice President at Crisp, where she leads CPG sales and go-to-market. With 15+ years in automation, data management & analytics, and category/shopper insights, she builds KPI-driven, psychologically safe teams and guides organizations through high-change periods with clear communication, documentation, and disciplined execution.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com
    Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/37
    Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    Heather on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinhl/

    45 min
  • Mastering Long Sales Cycles wth Brian Hayes

    Long sales cycles aren't a patience test—they're a process. In this episode, Mark McGraw and guest Brian Hayes break down how to win 12–24-month capital deals without rushing: speak the buyer's language, use curiosity to find context, and build momentum through meaningful next steps instead of shortcuts.

    In this episode:

  • Why speed kills deals (and how context saves them)

  • Capital buying reality: budgets, board approval, and timing

  • Cost of delay as a lever to align urgency

  • The Italy negotiation story: delivery date > everything else

  • Stakeholder mapping: "Who else is involved?" and signatory authority

  • Meaningful Next Steps: an operating system for long cycles

  • "Help me understand" → "What if" (first 30 min vs. next 30 min)

  • Pre-call reports, 3×3 matrix, and pre-mortems to avoid blind spots

  • Being the Sherpa: guide the buy, don't just pitch

    • About Brian Hayes:

    VP of Sales & Marketing at GPA (Global Process Automation). Brian sells and leads large, complex automation programs across paper, mining/minerals, and chemicals—bringing a Sandler-driven approach to discovery, stakeholder alignment, and clarity in next steps.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

     

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    https://www.Sandler.com

    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/36

    https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-frank-hayes/

     

    47 min
  • Be Elite: From Mindset to Technique w/ Rob Vaka

    Elite selling isn't hype — it's standards. In this episode, Mark McGraw talks with sales leader and master connector Rob Vaka about how to link mindset to technique so you sell with clarity, qualify fast, and build trust that lasts.

    In this episode:

  • The connector mindset: be more interested than interesting

  • Curiosity that leads to real discovery (not interrogation)

  • Up-Front Contracts (UFC): agenda, time, outcome — clarity that reduces pressure

  • Fit-first qualification: why "we may not be a fit" builds credibility

  • Situational fluency: get in more rooms, play up, learn fast, course-correct

  • "Imperial Guard" standards: raise the bar on people, process, and culture

  • Fail forward: the buffalo-into-the-storm metaphor and keeping perspective

    •  

    About Rob Vaka:

    Sales leader and connector with a track record across life-saving technology (AED programs), luxury membership, wealth services, and sports media. Today he's building a high-standard ("Imperial Guard") sales team and teaching practical discovery, authentic qualification, and clarity in next steps.

     

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway

     

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    https://www.Sandler.com

    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/35

    https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-vaka-1029264/

    46 min
  • How to Reframe Stress to Improve Sales Performance With Rebecca Heiss

    Stress isn't the enemy — it's energy. In this episode, Mark McGraw talks with Dr. Rebecca Heiss, stress physiologist, keynote speaker, and author of Springboard, about how a simple mindset shift can transform performance in sales, leadership, and life.

    Rebecca explains why believing "stress is bad" is linked to worse outcomes, why "calm down" fights your biology, and how to reframe stress into focus, service, and action. You'll hear practical, science-backed tools you can use before your next presentation or sales call.

    In this episode:

  • The "stress mindset" and why the 43% mortality stat matters

  • Why "calm down" is terrible advice — and what to do instead

  • The "I'm excited" reframe to turn stress into usable energy

  • The Fearless Framework: invite the tiger, choose adventure, set trajectory toward service

  • How small wins beat procrastination via the Winner Cycle

  • Why stress correlates with meaning and purpose (plus the bison-in-a-storm metaphor)

    •  

    About Dr. Rebecca Heiss:

    Biologist, stress physiologist, and author of Springboard, a short, action-first guide to using stress to your advantage. She donates 100% of her book's proceeds to charity and offers the Fearless Masterclass, a 52-module program on stress, fear, and imposter syndrome. Learn more at rebeccaheiss.com.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway


    Mentioned in This Episode:

    https://www.Sandler.com

    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/34

    https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaheiss/

    https://rebeccaheiss.com/books/springboard/

    36 min
  • Pivot Like a Pro: What to Do When the Sales Call Goes Sideways w/Emily Yepes

    In this episode of Building Your Sales Engine, Mark McGraw sits down with Emily Yepes to explore the tension between sales theory and real-world execution. They dive into four core concepts—upfront contracts, pricing, demos, and decision-making—and reveal how the best salespeople adapt when things don't go by the book.

    Whether you're navigating internal power dynamics or figuring out how to tailor your message to an analytical buyer, this episode is a masterclass in pivoting with purpose.

    Topics covered:

  • The difference between breaking the rules and earning the right to break them

  • When and how to discuss pricing early in the sales cycle

  • Making demos conversational and customer-centric

  • How to sell when the decision maker isn't in the room

    • Listen in to sharpen your instincts and elevate your ability to respond in the moment.

    🔗 Download exclusive sales resources at: buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway


    Mentioned in This Episode:

    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/follow
    https://www.Sandler.com
    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/sandler
    https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/33
    https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-yepes-90734620/

    44 min

About Building Your Sales Engine

From the publisher's feed

A show where Mark McGraw, a top Sandler Sales Trainer and David H. Sandler award winner, interviews salespeople and sales managers to discover their successes and how they got to be the people they are today.