Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

By John Barrows

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... more

· Business

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The podcast currently has 572 episodes available.

Best of Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: 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 LearnWhy Ron turned down a scaled down test of the Apple Store, and the four billion dollar answer from Steve Jobs that changed his mindWhy doubling Target's kids' clothing business came down to something as simple as how the sizes were labeledWhy the JC Penney pricing overhaul improved customer satisfaction but still failed, and why Ron says the mistake was the pace, not the ideaWhy Steve Jobs wanted believers on his team, not skeptics, and how many skeptics is actually too manyWhy 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
September 21, 20261h 1min
Number 2: 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 LearnWhy 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 callWhy the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting built around objective judgmentWhy every AI tool on your team needs a role brief, the same way every hire needs a job descriptionWhy Kristie tests candidates by making them argue with an AI generated plan live, not just use oneWhy 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
September 14, 202648min
Number 3: 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 LearnWhy AI made personalization easier to fake, and easier for buyers to spotWhy authenticity is about being trusted, not being likedWhy Jeff hires SDRs on exactly two traits, work ethic and coachabilityWhy a smooth sales call without objections is a warning sign, not a good signWhy 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
August 31, 202649min
Number 4: Be the Mentor Who Mattered: How Mentorship Drives Real Revenue with Colleen Stanley
IQ is a commodity now. AI can out-think, out-research, and out-process almost anyone in the room. So what is left? In this episode, John shares a conversation with Colleen Stanley, bestselling author and founder of Sales Leadership Development, to talk about the two things that AI cannot replicate — emotional intelligence and meaningful mentorship. Colleen has spent decades proving that EQ is not a soft skill, it is a revenue skill. And her new book, Be the Mentor Who Mattered, makes the case that the next generation of leaders cannot go it alone. They get into why self-awareness is the mega skill every sales leader needs to develop, how to give feedback without triggering defensiveness, and why the best mentorship rarely comes from a formal program. If you lead a team, coach reps, or are trying to figure out what your competitive edge looks like in a world of AI, this one is for you. Want to build the skills that hold up in any market? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen. What You’ll LearnWhy self-awareness is the mega skill and how to actually develop itHow to give feedback using empathy followed by assertivenessWhy the best mentorship happens informally, not through assigned programsHow one conversation from the right person can change your entire trajectoryWhy mentorship cultures produce two times the profit of those without themHow to find a mentee instead of waiting to be asked to be a mentor Colleen Stanley is president of SalesLeadership, a sales development firm specializing in the integration of emotional intelligence, sales, and sales leadership skills. She is the author of three books, Emotional Intelligence For Sales Success, now published in eight languages, Emotional Intelligence For Sales Leadership, and Growing Great Sales Teams. Connect with Colleen Stanley: Website: https://www.salesleadershipdevelopment.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenstanleysli YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColleenStanleySalesLeadership Grab your Free Corporate Sales Training Resources: https://www.salesleadershipdevelopment.com/resources/ 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
June 01, 202656min
Number 5: HubSpot’s First CRO on Scaling Smarter, Not Faster with Mark Roberge
Most startups obsess over growth. Very few actually understand when scaling makes sense—and when it doesn’t. In this episode, John talks with Mark Roberge about the real science behind building and scaling a company. They unpack the myths around product-market fit, the ethical decision point every salesperson faces, and why revenue alone can be a dangerously misleading signal for founders. If you're building, selling, or leading a team, this conversation will challenge how you think about growth, customer value, and the future of sales in an AI-driven world. Ready to sharpen your sales skills and stay relevant in a rapidly changing market? Head over to www.jbarrows.com and keep learning how to Make It Happen. What You’ll LearnWhy revenue isn’t product-market fitThe ethical decision point in salesWhy retention beats new revenueThe role of a customer success matrixHow AI may reshape sales careers Mark Roberge is the founding CRO of HubSpot, where he scaled revenue from zero to over $100M and helped take the company public. After leaving HubSpot, he joined the faculty at Harvard Business School and co-founded Stage 2 Capital, the first VC firm run and backed by go-to-market leaders. He’s also the author of The Science of Scaling, which introduces a data-driven framework to help founders decide when to scale, how fast to grow, and whether scaling makes sense at all. Connect with Mark Roberge: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markroberge Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roberge_mark X: https://x.com/markroberge Mark's Bestselling Books Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00NSKE4WY 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
March 23, 20261h 5min