Most hiring fails before a single candidate is ever seen. The brief is wrong, the behaviours are undefined, and the process gets handed to someone who wasn't involved in figuring out what the business actually needs.

This episode is about why that keeps happening, what the best companies do differently before they even brief a recruiter, and why a growing group of revenue leaders have stopped applying for jobs entirely, and are going straight to CEOs instead.

Then there's speed. Not just speed to respond — though that matters more than most people realise — but speed to differentiation. The faster a buyer understands what makes you different, the harder you make it for everyone else in the process. James and Rich get into what that looks like in practice, why most deals take far longer than they need to, and what happens when a rep stops waiting for the meeting and starts creating urgency right now.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

--

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #SalesHiring #HiringStrategy #JobDescription #TalentAcquisition #SalesLeadership #SpeedToDifferentiation #MEDDIC #SalesEnablement #InboundSales #SalesCoaching #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #GoToMarket #SalesDifferentiation #SalesProcess #SalesPerformance #TechSales #StartupSales #ScaleUp #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

Most sales training misses the mark, not because the training is bad, but because nobody diagnosed the actual problem before commissioning it. Gut feel and guesswork are not a diagnosis. This episode is about how to identify the real root cause of a performance gap, why "we need MEDDICC training" is almost never the answer it seems, and what it takes to build a narrative compelling enough to get everyone in the room aligned, including the people who would rather spend the budget somewhere else.

Then there's a different kind of leadership question. Most managers know what their people's targets are. Very few know what their people's dreams are. This episode is about why that gap matters, what the English dream reveals about how we think about ambition, and what happens to a sales team when the manager starts to manage around what people actually want out of their lives, not just out of their quarter.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

--

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #SalesEnablement #SalesLeadership #GoToMarket #SalesTraining #SalesDiagnosis #RootCause #SkillsAudit #ForgettingCurve #DreamManager #SalesCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #SalesPerformance #SalesProcess #TechSales #StartupSales #ScaleUp #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

There's a generation of salespeople who have never sat across a table from a prospect, never walked a client around an office, never asked for a referral over lunch. That's not a criticism, it's what happens when a career path disappears and a pandemic fills the gap. This episode is about why in-person selling has become a lost art, what the best enterprise sellers are still doing differently, and why the deals that get signed on a handshake are harder to replicate over Zoom than most people want to admit.

Then there's the call plan, or rather, the absence of one. Most reps walk into discovery calls with no plan, no stakeholder map, and no idea who else needs to be involved to actually get this done.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

--

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

Rich opens with something he saw first-hand in London last week — two managers whose candidates chose to join their businesses not because of the role or the salary, but because of them. He gets into why great managers are gravity, why they need to be the first person a candidate speaks to in any recruitment process, and why putting a junior TA person at the front of your most important hires is quietly costing you the best people in the market.

James follows with something most sales organisations leave too late — the onboarding playbook. He gets into how to use garden leave to start developing people before they've even handed in their notice, how to build a resource that gets a new hire phone-ready by 1 PM on their first day, and the one thing he'd do today if he wasn't sure his playbook was actually working.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

--

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #SalesLeadership #SalesManagement #Onboarding #SalesPlaybook #RampTime #SalesEnablement #FirstLineLeaders #TalentAcquisition #SalesHiring #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #GoToMarket #SalesCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #StartupSales #TechSales #ScaleUp #SalesPerformance #GardenLeave #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every sales leader says the same thing when a role opens up: I want an A player. James has one question back — what does that actually mean?

Most can't answer it. This episode is about that gap. Why a term Steve Jobs made famous has quietly become a mask for bias, why 85% of businesses have never documented what a top performer actually looks like, and what keeps happening to the organisations that hire on gut feel and wonder why the same problems keep coming back around.

James and Rich get into why defining the characteristics isn't enough without a way to assess for them, what a proper interview process looks like when you actually know what you're testing for, and why without the fundamentals in place, every new tool you buy is just gasoline on a broken engine.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

--

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #APlayer #APlayers #SalesHiring #HiringStrategy #TalentAcquisition #SalesLeadership #RevenueLeadership #CulturalAlignment #SalesAssessment #SalesCoaching #B2BSales #GoToMarket #SalesEnablement #SalesManagement #SalesProcess #StartupSales #TechSales #ScaleUp #LeadershipDevelopment #SalesPerformance #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James follows with something he rediscovered while tidying his office: a discovery planner he built two years ago.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

Where to find James and Rich:

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #Collaboration #HiringStrategy #CompanyCulture #TalentAcquisition #SalesLeadership #CulturalAlignment #SalesCoaching #DiscoveryCall #SalesPreparation #Storytelling #FinancialStorytelling #AIinSales #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #GoToMarket #SalesEnablement #SalesProcess #StartupSales #TechSales #ScaleUp #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

Rich opens with something he's seeing right across the market — businesses banning AI from their recruitment process without thinking through what they're actually testing for. He gets into why that's the wrong move, what truly AI-enabled candidates look like, and how the smartest companies are already doing this differently.

James follows with something most sales leaders leave too late. It's June. 2027 targets are six months away. He gets into why the time to start having those conversations with your board and investors is right now — and what happens to the leaders who don't.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #AIHiring #RecruitmentStrategy #SalesLeadership #ArtificialIntelligence #TalentAcquisition #SalesPlanning #2027Planning #RevenueLeadership #SalesForecasting #GoToMarket #B2BSales #SalesEnablement #HiringStrategy #CandidateExperience #TechSales #StartupSales #ScaleUp #SalesManagement #RevenueGrowth #B2BPodcast #salespodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One topic. Against the clock.

James and Rich dig into something neither host got when they stepped up as leaders: actual training. From the moment a rep gets promoted, they're expected to coach calls, run forecasts, have tough conversations, recruit effectively, and drive team performance — usually without anyone ever showing them how.

They get into why this keeps happening, what it costs organisations, and what the first practical step looks like for a first-line leader who knows they have gaps but doesn't know where to start.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #SalesLeadership #FirstLineLeaders #SalesManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #SalesEnablement #SalesCoaching #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #SalesTraining #GoToMarket #TechSales #StartupSales #SalesPerformance #Coaching #PeopleManagement #SalesProcess #RevenueGrowth #ScaleUp #B2BPodcast #salespodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

Rich opens with something coming up in every conversation he's having right now — what happens to leadership when AGI arrives. He gets into why most managers will struggle, what the ones who won't have in common, and why IQ being democratised by AI makes EQ the most important leadership skill most organisations aren't investing in.

James follows with a framework he has been using in his business and his personal life. It starts with one question: what do I need to do today to be wildly successful? He gets into why most leaders end up managing scoreboards instead of people, and what actually changes when you stop obsessing over the quarter and start winning the day.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #AGI #FutureOfWork #FutureOfLeadership #EmotionalIntelligence #EQ #LeadershipDevelopment #SalesLeadership #AILeadership #WinTheDay #Productivity #SalesPerformance #Mindset #B2BSales #RevenueLeadership #GoToMarket #SalesEnablement #SalesCoaching #StartupLife #TechSales #DailyPlanner #FocusAndClarity #TimeManagement #HighPerformance #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two topics. Against the clock.

Rich opens with something most businesses aren't tracking — a funnel with no attribution, no visibility, and no data. It's where the best candidates quietly decide they're not interested, before you ever know they existed.

James follows with something he sees across almost every sales org he works with: teams loaded with tools, handed a quota and a Salesforce login, and given nothing else. He gets into what a real playbook looks like, why most teams reject the ones they do have, and what he found when his three-person business had better ICP documentation than organisations with 80 salespeople.

New episodes every week with James Bissell and Rich Washington.

Set the chicken. We're on the clock.

Field Notes is sponsored by Tick Talent and The Revenue Enabler.

If your sales team is missing quota and you're not sure why, The Revenue Enabler works with sales organisations to fix the fundamentals — from sales stage design through to seller capability. Find out more at therevenueenabler.com.

If you're looking to hire exceptional sales and revenue talent across the tech sector, from your first AE hire through to VP level, get in touch with the team at tick-talent.com.

James Bissell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bissell1/

Rich Washington on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwash/

The Revenue Enabler: https://therevenueenabler.com/

Tick Talent: https://www.tick-talent.com/

#FieldNotes #DarkFunnel #EmployerBranding #TalentAttraction #SalesPlaybook #SalesEnablement #B2BSales #SalesLeadership #PipelineCompliance #SalesProcess #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #HiringStrategy #SalesTools #CandidateExperience #GoToMarket #RevenueGrowth #SalesCoaching #StartupSales #TechSales #SalesManagement #ICPDocumentation #MEDDIC #SalesDevelopment #B2BPodcast #SalesPodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.