Paul Higgins Podcast

You keep telling everyone the business is fine, and your pipeline, your LinkedIn profile, and your bank balance at the end of the month keep telling the truth. In this episode I go back to the years I spent saying "great" to anyone who asked, while my body was in kidney failure and everyone around me could see what I refused to. I see SaaS partners doing the exact same thing, using AI to make their delivery sharper than ever while the footpath outside stays empty. Nobody could help me until I let someone close enough to see what was actually going on, and the same holds for a business you keep describing as fine. If you have been saying everything's okay for a lot longer than you know is true, this one is worth sitting with.

Resources and Links

• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 686 - 28 Moments Decide the Deal Before You Know It Exists
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Why you should listen

1. Gideon Shalwick built Vubli after nearly 20 years in online video and software, and he breaks down why your personal brand channel outranks your company channel in both search and AI results every time.
2. Learn how to structure a short-form video so viewers stop scrolling and watch to the end, including why the hook is the one element worth 80% of your effort.
3. Discover how to take one raw idea and publish it across six platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X) without hiring an editor or managing a team.

The vendor referrals that used to fill your pipeline are drying up, and the partners who relied on the platform to hand them leads are the ones now scrambling. In this episode I talk with Gideon Shalwick from Vubli, who has spent nearly 20 years working out how business owners actually get found online. We get into why hiring an agency or a marketing person to do this for you usually fails, and why the partners who win are the ones willing to put their own face on camera. Gideon and I both learned this the expensive way, after burning money on agencies and hires that never delivered. If you have been telling yourself you are too busy, too introverted, or too far behind to start, this one is for you.

Resources and Links

• Vubli
• Gideon Shalwick on LinkedIn
• Codex
• Claude
• Elgato teleprompter
• Take the Big Promise Audit paulhigginsmentoring.com/audit
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 686 - 28 Moments Decide the Deal Before You Know It Exists
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

A buyer in your niche just picked their SaaS partner. It wasn't you, and you never knew the deal was happening. In this episode I break down what Jay McBain, the most quoted channel analyst in the world, told me about the 28 moments that now decide every considered purchase, and why the deal is usually won or lost at moments 10 through 12, long before a salesperson knows it exists. I explain why waiting for the platform to send you a lead is finished, and I walk through the exact buying journey of a Salesforce buyer who books a call with a partner she has never spoken to. If you feel invisible while smaller, sharper partners keep landing the work you should be winning, this one is for you.

Resources and Links

• Jay McBain on The Paul Higgins Podcast: Episode 683 - Get Specific, Get Rich, or Get Out with Jay McBain
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 685 - Why Your Client Will Ask for 5 on 60 Next Month
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

A client called you last week. The report used to take an hour. Now it takes five minutes. They want to know why they're still paying for the hour, and the honest answer is you don't have one. In this episode, I break down why AI didn't break your pricing model, it just exposed what was already broken the day you started selling time instead of outcomes. I walk through what's happening across Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Monday, NetSuite, and Acumatica partners right now, why the hour collapse means you never had pricing power, and the four moves that protect your revenue before that phone call lands. If you're still quoting in hours and hoping clients don't notice, this one's for you.

Resources and Links

• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 684 - 73 Minutes to Stop Running Two Businesses at Once
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Working hard on the wrong thing and you can feel it, but you can't see it from inside the jar. In this episode, I break down the Decision Call format, what it is, why it works, and the pattern showing up across four very different SaaS partner businesses I ran calls with recently. One was a Microsoft partner at $800K running two business models pretending to be one. One was a Salesforce solopreneur serving nonprofits who couldn't pay her real rate. One was a NetSuite partner whose revenue had dropped from $75K a month to under $15K. One was a Zoho partner building bespoke AI with no packaged offer. Different platforms, different countries, same problem. If you're stuck on your number one challenge and need clarity to act on it, this one is for you.

Resources and Links

• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 683 - Get Specific, Get Rich, or Get Out with Jay McBain
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Why you should listen

1. Jay McBain breaks down the data behind why 51% of partners are in double-digit profit decline while the industry grows at 10.2%, and what separates the partners winning from the ones quietly falling behind.
2. Learn the specific positioning shift that gets you found by large language models, buyers, and vendors, including why "I sell to midsize banks in Perth and do compliance" beats every generic services page on the internet.
3. Walk away with the new partner economics: the 6.3 partners surrounding every SaaS deal, the 28 measurable moments in a buyer's journey, and where partner revenue actually sits inside the next 20 years of AI.

Half the channel is in double-digit profit decline in an industry growing 10% a year, and most SaaS partners can't work out why their pipeline is drying up. In this episode, I talk with Jay McBain, Chief Analyst at Omdia, the world's leading voice on channels, partnerships, and ecosystems, with 32 years entirely in the channel. We get into why digital sameness is killing smaller partners, why large language models can't find you when you do all things to all people, and where the real money sits inside the 20-year AI era. Jay shares the data behind the 1,000 partners doing two-thirds of all tech services globally, and the niche play that puts you on the right side of that line. If you're tired of competing in a sea of identical websites and watching better-positioned partners win deals you should have been in, this one's for you

About Jay McBain

Jay McBain is Chief Analyst for Channels, Partnerships, and Ecosystems at Omdia, with more than 30 years analyzing the global channel landscape. He has held executive channel roles at IBM, Lenovo, Autotask, ChannelEyes, and Forrester, and was named Global Channel Influencer of the Year by Channel Futures Magazine. His research on the 28 measurable buyer moments, the 6.3 partners surrounding every SaaS deal, and the shift from resell to ecosystem-driven revenue has made him the analyst vendors and partners turn to when they need to understand where the channel is heading next.

Resources and Links

• omdia.com
• Jay's LinkedIn profile
• Jay McBain on The Paul Higgins Podcast: Episode 435
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 682 - 82% of Tech Partners Are Not AI Ready Are You
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Your clients keep asking you about AI, and you keep talking about tools. That's the problem. In this episode, I break down why most SaaS partners are giving away the most valuable conversation they could be having, AI readiness diagnosis, for free. I share Jay McBain's latest research showing 82% of channel partners don't feel prepared to deliver AI services, and I unpack the real reason it's not demand, complexity, or talent. If you've been winging the AI conversation in client meetings and wondering why the work that follows feels like a once-off, this one is for you.

Resources and Links

• Jay McBain on The Paul Higgins Podcast: Episode 435
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 681 - Generalists Get Referrals Specialists Get Chosen
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Your revenue is inconsistent and you already know why you haven't made the decision yet. In this episode, I break down the WHO problem most SaaS partners mistake for a skills problem, why serving more industries makes you the best option for no one, and the audit I run on every client's last twelve months of revenue to find their real signal. I share what Jay McBain's data shows about the fastest-growing tech partners right now, and the three steps to rebuild your business around one industry and one problem type. If you keep getting random referrals and repricing every engagement from scratch, this one's for you.

Resources and Links

• Jay McBain on The Paul Higgins Podcast: Episode 435
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 680 - The 28 Moments Your Clients Use to Choose Without You
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

You didn't lose that deal in the proposal. You lost it six months earlier, before the prospect ever found your name. In this episode, I break down why the buyer's journey for tech business owners has shifted, why AI is accelerating it, and why most owners are still showing up only at the last two touch points and wondering why win rates feel random. I walk through the channel analyst data from Jay McBain on the 28 touch points in a modern B2B buying journey, and I share the three fixes that decide whether your business compounds or flat lines over the next five years. If you are tired of being invisible in the early part of your client's buying journey, this one is for you.

Resources and Links

• Jay McBain on The Paul Higgins Podcast: Episode 435
• Need help with your WHO and WHAT decisions? Apply for a FREE Multiplier Call
• Book a Decision Session here
• Previous episode: 679 - The LinkedIn Secret Filling Tech Business Owners' Calendars with Donald Kelly
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources

Why you should listen

1. Donald runs one of the top B2B sales podcasts in the world, heard in over 155 countries, and breaks down the exact LinkedIn-first sequence he uses to turn cold prospects into booked calls without paid ads or cold spam.
2. Learn the three-step system Donald uses to move a prospect from stranger to conversation: engage on their content, send a personalised connection request tied to something specific about them, then bridge to a short email that speaks to real pain, not surface pain.
3. Get Donald's follow-up sequence that replaces the lazy "bumping this up" email with relevance-based touches your prospect actually wants to reply to, plus the exact tools (Hunter.io, Sales Navigator, Apollo) he uses to find verified business emails.

Tired of sending LinkedIn messages into a black hole and wondering why your outbound never converts? In this episode, I talk with Donald C. Kelly, founder of The Sales Evangelists and one of the most recognised B2B sales voices in the world. Most tech business owners default to pitching before earning attention, and it is the reason their pipeline stays empty. Donald walks through the exact sequence he uses to break through the noise, earn engagement, and turn it into a real conversation, without faking friendship or copying the spray-and-pray playbook every SDR is running. If you sell on LinkedIn and the results are not matching the effort, this one shows you where the gap is.

About Donald Kelly

Donald C. Kelly is the founder of The Sales Evangelist and host of one of the longest-running B2B sales podcasts in the world, with nearly 2,000 episodes heard across 155+ countries. A LinkedIn Top Voice in Sales and three-time Salesforce Top Influencer, he helps SMB and mid-market sales teams build LinkedIn-led outbound systems that turn cold prospects into booked calls. He is the author of Sell It Like a Mango and based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Resources and Links

• thesalesevangelist.com
• Donald's LinkedIn profile
• Donald's free prospecting tool
• Hunter.io
• Apollo.io
• SNOV.io
• ZoomInfo
• Gemini Nano Banana
• Base44
• Previous episode: 678 - 81% of Partners Will Grow Below the Industry Rate
• Check out more episodes of the Paul Higgins Podcast
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel: @PaulHigginsMentoring
• Join our newsletter
• Suggested resources