Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

By John BarrowsBusiness
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Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows episodes

  • The Psychology of AI Adoption: Why 95% of Pilots Fail with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky

    Only nine percent of people at your company are excited about AI. Fifty two percent are more anxious about it than excited. If your rollout plan only accounts for the nine percent, you already know how this ends.

    In this episode, John sits down with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a behavioral scientist and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work, to talk about why 95 percent of AI pilots fail to scale, the three distinct types of resistance blocking your team from adopting AI, and the leadership policy that lets companies grow revenue and headcount at the same time instead of cutting jobs to pay for efficiency.

    If you're in sales leadership, building or rebuilding a team for the AI era, or just trying to get your own reps to actually use the tools you already paid for, this conversation gives you a practical playbook for the two different rollouts your company needs, one for the people already excited about AI, and one for everybody else.

    Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    Get the Book on Amazon: The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647127491?lv=shuf&channelId=510&plpRedirect=mhFallback

    What You'll Learn

    • Why 95 percent of AI pilots fail to scale, and the three psychographic profiles (AI alarmists, pragmatic resistors, reluctant adopters) blocking adoption long before rollout
    • Why AI forward companies grow revenue nine percent faster and headcount six percent faster than AI backward competitors, and the leadership policy that makes both true
    • Why only about ten percent of the old apprenticeship grind was ever formative, and what junior employees need to learn now that AI does the research
    • Why Gleb tells most people to skip college unless their career requires a licensed degree, and how to use AI as a personalized learning roadmap instead
    • Why the debate over AI's existential risk isn't a side conversation from adoption strategy, and what Anthropic's own head of research has said about it

    Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is a behavioral scientist and consultant who has spent over two decades helping companies navigate major shifts in how work gets done. He holds a PhD in the history of behavioral science from UNC Chapel Hill and has taught at Ohio State University. He is the author of eight books, including the global bestsellers Never Go With Your Gut and The Blindspots Between Us, and his newest book, The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work, is available now from Georgetown University Press.

    Visit disasteravoidanceexperts.com/aibook for a free sample of the book.

    Connect with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky:

    Website: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-gleb-tsipursky/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrGlebTsipursky

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_gleb_tsipursky/

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    58 min
  • AI Is Changing Sales How Salespeople Can Stay Valuable in 2026 with Tim Sanders

    Half of your buyers already picked their shortlist before your sales team even knew they existed. The only question left is whether your team knows what they typed in to get there.

    In this episode, John sits down with Tim Sanders, Chief Innovation Officer at G2 and author of five books including Love Is The Killer App, to talk about why half of all software buyers now start their research inside ChatGPT, how BDRs have quietly become the frontline of business intelligence for companies trying to win AI search, and why the one thing AI still can't replace in a sales rep is domain expertise.

    If you are in sales, sales leadership, or building a go-to-market team that needs to hold up in the AI era, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about what AI search means for your pipeline, why your BDRs might be sitting on your most valuable data, and how to make sure the human in the deal still has something the algorithm doesn't.

    Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why half of all software buyers now start their research inside ChatGPT or Gemini, and are eighty percent through their purchase before a sales rep ever talks to them
    • Why the BDR, not the AE, has become the frontline of business intelligence for companies trying to win inside AI search
    • Why Tim says today's best AE is a sommelier, not a closer, and what that metaphor means for a buyer drowning in AI-generated options
    • Why verifier's law explains what AI still can't be trusted to do in sales outreach, and why domain expertise is the one thing that makes a generalist model useful

    Tim Sanders is Chief Innovation Officer at G2, where he researches how AI is reshaping B2B buying and helps G2's customers adapt their go-to-market strategy. Before G2, he was Chief Innovation Officer at Upwork and spent years as an executive at Yahoo, following his early career with Mark Cuban's audio net, which became broadcast.com. He is the author of five books, including Love Is The Killer App and Today We Are Rich.

    Visit timsanders.com to learn more about Tim's work and books.

    Connect with Tim Sanders:

    Website: https://timsanders.com/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanderssays

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    1 hr 4 min
  • How Steve Jobs Built the Apple Store: Big Ideas, Innovation & Leadership with Ron Johnson

    The Apple Store almost didn't happen. Not because the idea was bad, because it was too big for anyone but Steve Jobs to say yes to.

    In this episode, John sits down with Ron Johnson, the retail executive who built the original Apple Store and Genius Bar alongside Steve Jobs, led Target's design transformation, and later served as CEO of JC Penney, to talk about why he turned down a scaled down test of the Apple Store concept, what actually went wrong with the JC Penney pricing overhaul he's still willing to own, and why he tells people to challenge every answer AI gives them the same way he had to challenge decades of accepted retail wisdom.

    If you are in sales, sales leadership, retail, or building anything that requires a team to believe in an idea before the proof exists, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about pitching big ideas instead of small tests, building a culture of believers instead of skeptics, and using AI to speed up research without letting it make the decision for you.

    Want to build a sales team that can think as boldly as Ron Johnson built the Apple Store? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why Ron turned down a scaled down test of the Apple Store, and the four billion dollar answer from Steve Jobs that changed his mind
    • Why doubling Target's kids' clothing business came down to something as simple as how the sizes were labeled
    • Why the JC Penney pricing overhaul improved customer satisfaction but still failed, and why Ron says the mistake was the pace, not the idea
    • Why Steve Jobs wanted believers on his team, not skeptics, and how many skeptics is actually too many
    • Why Ron says to challenge every answer AI gives you before you accept it, the same way he had to challenge decades of accepted retail wisdom

    Ron Johnson is the retail executive who led Apple's retail strategy and built the Apple Store and Genius Bar concept alongside Steve Jobs. Before Apple, he spent years at Target leading the company's design transformation, including its original Michael Graves partnership, and he later served as CEO of JC Penney. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Business School, and his new book releases September 22nd.

    Visit RonJohnsonShopsDifferent.com to learn more about Ron's work and his new book.

    Connect with Ron Johnson:

    Website: RonJohnsonShopsDifferent.com

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shopdifferent

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    1 hr 1 min
  • AI Is Changing Sales Leadership: The New Skills Every Sales Rep Needs with Kristie Jones

    AI didn't kill the sales fundamentals. It just made everyone forget what they actually are.

    In this episode, John sits down with Kristie Jones, Author and Founder of Sales Acceleration Group, to talk about why the buyer now wants to talk to a human 80 to 90 percent of the way through their own research, why the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting, and why AI is forcing sales leaders to teach objective judgment for the first time in their careers.

    If you are in sales, sales leadership, RevOps, or GTM, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about writing a role brief for the AI tools on your team, replacing the post-mortem with a pre-call meeting, testing for objective judgment instead of just tactical skill, and why the old playbook is dead even though playbooks aren't.

    Want to build a sales team that can think critically in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why the buyer now wants to talk to a human 80 to 90 percent of the way through their own research, and what that means for how a rep opens the call
    • Why the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting built around objective judgment
    • Why every AI tool on your team needs a role brief, the same way every hire needs a job description
    • Why Kristie tests candidates by making them argue with an AI generated plan live, not just use one
    • Why the four skills sales leaders need now are systems thinking, workflow design, decision leadership, and accountability clarity

    Kristie Jones is the Author and Founder of Sales Acceleration Group, where she works with sales organizations on hiring, training, and leadership development. She's the author of Selling Your Way In and the upcoming The Sales Leadership Gap, releasing October 2026, which looks at how AI is forcing a fundamental rethink of how sales leaders hire, coach, and make decisions.

    Visit kristiekjones.com to learn more about Kristie's work and get updates on The Sales Leadership Gap.

    Connect with Kristie Jones:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristiekjones

    Website: kristiekjones.com

    Instagram: instagram.com/kristiejones.sales

    YouTube: youtube.com/@kristiekjones

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    48 min
  • How Customer Success Drives Retention, Revenue & Growth with Elizabeth Salmoun

    AI is not replacing customer success. It's turning it into the most important revenue function in the business.

    In this episode, John sits down with Elizabeth Salmoun, Head of Customer Success at Otter.ai, to talk about why products and tooling have become table stakes in the AI era, why the sales to CS handoff decides whether a client renews inside the first 90 days, and why AI is turning CSMs into AI advisors and workflow consultants instead of relationship managers.

    If you are in sales, customer success, RevOps, or GTM leadership, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about handoff timing between AE and CSM, segmenting a book of business by tier instead of treating every renewal the same, the three W's framework for discovery, and why AI generated work should never go out the door without a human reviewing it first.

    Want to build a customer success team that turns renewals into your biggest growth lever? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why products and tooling became table stakes, and why the relationship is what actually differentiates you now
    • Why the first 90 days after a deal closes decide whether a client renews or churns
    • Why Elizabeth starts every renewal conversation 120 days out instead of waiting for the discount fight
    • Why AI is turning CSMs into AI advisors and workflow consultants instead of relationship managers
    • Why a sales rep who's just running the process is already irrelevant, and what still makes the role critical

    Elizabeth Salmoun is the Head of Customer Success at Otter.ai, where she leads retention and expansion strategy in one of the most competitive corners of the AI tooling market. She built her career in retail before moving into tech sales and account management, and she has spent the last several years turning customer success into a revenue generating function built on discovery, relationship building, and clear rules of engagement with sales.

    Visit otter.ai to learn more about Otter.ai's AI meeting assistant and how its customer success team helps teams capture, act on, and get real value from every conversation.

    Connect with Elizabeth Salmoun:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/esalmoun

    Connect with Otter.ai:

    Website: otter.ai

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/otter-ai

    YouTube: youtube.com/@Otterai

    Instagram: instagram.com/otter.ai

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    57 min
  • Why AI Will NEVER Replace Real Sales with Jeff Kirchick

    AI is not going to replace real sales. It's going to expose who was never really selling in the first place.

    In this episode, John sits down with Jeff Kirchick, author of Authentic Selling and a sales leader who has closed multi-million dollar contracts without ever going through formal sales training, to talk about why AI made personalization easier to fake and easier for buyers to spot, why authenticity is not the same as being liked, and why disqualifying the wrong buyer matters more than qualifying the right one.

    If you are in sales, sales leadership, enablement, or RevOps, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about AI-generated outreach, hiring for coachability over polish, the give and get scorecard behind real qualification, and why a smooth call is not always a good sign.

    Want to build a sales team that stays authentic as AI changes the job? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why AI made personalization easier to fake, and easier for buyers to spot
    • Why authenticity is about being trusted, not being liked
    • Why Jeff hires SDRs on exactly two traits, work ethic and coachability
    • Why a smooth sales call without objections is a warning sign, not a good sign
    • Why disqualifying the wrong buyer matters more than qualifying the right one

    Jeff Kirchick is the author of Authentic Selling and a sales leader who built his career without formal sales training, closing multi-million dollar enterprise contracts through intuition, empathy, and direct relationship building. He hires his team on two filters, work ethic and coachability, and has built his own sales org's AI infrastructure in house, including deal scoring and call coaching.

    Visit jeffkirchick.com to read more of Jeff's writing on sales, authenticity, and AI.

    Connect with Jeff Kirchick:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeffkirchick

    Website: jeffkirchick.com

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows

    Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    49 min
  • Why Platform Sales Are Breaking Traditional B2B Sales with Zachary Gropper

    Buyers have more information than ever, but that does not mean they have more confidence.

    In this episode, John sits down with Zachary Gropper, Founder and CEO of Insight Revenue, to talk about Challenger, platform sales, AI research, buyer validation, and why old sales motions are breaking under modern buying pressure. Zachary brings a practical lens from his years around CEB, Gartner, Challenger, Pavilion, and the teams now trying to sell more complex platform solutions in a market full of stalled deals.

    If you are in sales, leadership, enablement, or go-to-market strategy, this conversation gives you a clearer way to think about insight, trust, buyer confidence, change management, and what sales reps still need to do when buyers already show up with AI-generated research.

    Want to build a stronger sales motion before buyers get even harder to move? Visit Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You’ll Learn

    • Why simply sending methodology books does not change sales behavior
    • How AI can make reps sound smart while weakening real credibility
    • Why buyers now need validation and trust before they commit
    • How platform sales require change management, not just product positioning
    • Why sellers need to build a bridge from customer strategy to the outcome
    • Why asking why matters when buyers come to the call with AI research

    Zachary Gropper is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Insight Revenue. With more than twenty years studying the art and science of B2B sales and marketing best practice at CEB, Gartner, Challenger, and Pavilion, he helps commercial teams bring repeatable practices, processes, and go-to-market strategies into companies of any size or industry.

    Connect with Zachary Gropper:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zgropper/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zgropper/

    Learn more About Insight Revenue:

    Website: https://www.insightrevenue.com/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/insightrevenue/

    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCutptmXap5pi5PuPZcU1fDQ

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://go.jbarrows.com/

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    1 hr 3 min
  • Why AI Role-Play Is the Missing Piece in Sales Training with Neha Gupta

    AI role-play is not another tool to dump on your sales team.

    In this episode, John sits down with Neha Gupta, Founder and CEO of Breakthrough AI, to talk about why traditional role-play fails, why managers are often asked to coach without the tools or time to do it, and how AI can help reps practice hard conversations before the pressure hits. Neha breaks down what makes AI role-play feel realistic, why audio can be more effective than distracting avatars, and why adoption depends on structure, leadership energy, and deliberate practice.

    If you are in sales, leadership, enablement, RevOps, or any role responsible for improving rep performance, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about AI coaching, realistic role-play, feedback loops, remote sales teams, and the communication skills that still separate good reps from average ones.

    Want to help your team practice before the pressure hits? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You’ll Learn

    • Why traditional role-play feels awkward, subjective, and hard to scale
    • How AI role-play can help reps build realistic muscle memory before live conversations
    • Why sales managers are often expected to coach without enough tools, time, or training
    • How leadership energy and structure can make AI training adoption actually work
    • Why remote teams lost some of the bullpen learning that used to happen naturally
    • Why communication skills need deliberate practice before the pressure moment hits

    Neha Gupta is the Founder and CEO of Breakthrough AI, a practice-first AI coaching platform helping teams master the high-stakes conversations that shape performance, client relationships, and career growth. With more than twenty years of experience across client management, strategic marketing and sales, growth strategy, brand marketing, product marketing, and business development, Neha is focused on helping teams spot communication blind spots, strengthen feedback processes, and build stronger practice loops.

    Visit https://joinbreakthrough.ai/ to see Breakthrough AI in action, including a demo comparing weak versus strong responses to price objections.

    Connect with Neha Gupta:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehagupta/

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    55 min
  • Why Charisma Is a Sales Skill You Can Actually Learn with Olivia Fox Cabane

    Charisma is not just something you either have or do not have. It is a skill buyers can feel before the pitch even starts.

    In this episode, John sits down with Olivia Fox Cabane, bestselling author of The Charisma Myth, to talk about the science of charisma, presence, body language, curiosity, manipulation, and why real connection still matters in sales.

    If you are in sales, leadership, or any role where trust matters, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about how you show up in front of buyers. You will learn why preparation makes curiosity stronger, why presence can change the quality of a conversation, and why trying to impress people often gets in the way of real connection.

    Want to build stronger sales conversations before the market gets even more transactional? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You’ll Learn

    • Why charisma is a behavior that can be learned
    • How presence, power, and warmth shape trust
    • Why preparation can make salespeople more curious
    • Why trying to impress people often backfires
    • How body language starts with mindset
    • Why sales should help people solve problems, not convince them into decisions

    Olivia Fox Cabane is a leading authority on the science of charisma and the bestselling author of The Charisma Myth and The Net and the Butterfly, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. She previously served as Director of Innovative Leadership for Stanford's StartX accelerator and has taught on charisma, leadership, and innovation at Harvard and MIT. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Wall Street Journal, and she is a cofounder of the KindEarth.Tech Foundation.

    Visit charismamyth.com for free sample chapters, videos, and downloadable exercises.

    Connect with Olivia Fox Cabane:

    Website: https://charismamyth.com/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviafoxcabane/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ofc/

    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@oliviafoxcabaneofficial

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    59 min
  • Why Sales Reps Need Business Acumen Now with Kevin Cope

    Sales reps who cannot speak the language of business are going to get exposed fast.

    In this episode, John sits down with Kevin Cope, founder of Acumen Learning and co-author of Business Acumen for Sales Success and See the Big Picture, to talk about why business acumen is now one of the most important skills in sales. Kevin shares lessons from his time at the Covey Leadership Center, the start of Acumen Learning, and 25 years helping companies close the gap between functional expertise and real business understanding.

    If you are in sales, leadership, RevOps, enablement, or any role where you need to speak with executives, this conversation gives you a practical way to think about cash, profit, assets, growth, people, discounting, cashflow, AI, and how to connect your solution to the business results buyers actually care about.

    Want to build stronger business acumen and sell with more executive relevance? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

    What You'll Learn

    • Why business acumen is one of the first skills sales reps need to build
    • Why round-number discounts can signal weak negotiation and weak business understanding
    • How a small discount can create a much larger hit to profitability
    • Why cash, profit, assets, growth, and people give reps a clearer business lens
    • How salespeople affect cashflow before and after a deal closes
    • Why AI research only matters if reps can translate it into business relevance
    • How curiosity helps reps use AI as a learning tool instead of a shortcut

    Kevin Cope is the founder of Acumen Learning and co-author of Business Acumen for Sales Success and the bestselling See the Big Picture. He built his career at the Covey Leadership Center, joining just before the release of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and later served as president of international for the combined organization following its 1997 merger with Franklin Quest to form Franklin Covey. Through Acumen Learning, Kevin helps organizations close the business acumen gap and connect everyday decisions to cash, profit, assets, growth, and people.

    Connect with Kevin Cope on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinrcope/) and grab his book, Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company, at https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Big-Picture-Business-Credibility-ebook/dp/B07DPWFK7T?ref_=ast_author_mpb, to build the business acumen that earns you a seat at the table.

    Learn more about Acumen:

    Website: https://www.acumenlearning.com/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acumenlearning/

    Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AcumenLearning

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcumenLearning/

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acumen-learning/?viewAsMember=true

    John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

    Connect with John Barrows:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

    Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast

    Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

    1 hr

About Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

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John Barrows helps sales leaders decide whether to replace or rebuild their teams for the AI era, drawing on 25+ years working with Salesforce, LinkedIn, Google, and Amazon. He advises CROs and VPs of…

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