Sales Code Leadership Podcast

Join us as we celebrate 101 epiodes of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast!

For this edition, we look back at some memorable moments with our previous guests as we uncover what they wish they knew at the start of their career - and what advice they would pass on to their younger selves.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

Join us for a very special 100th edition of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast as we speak to Jacqueline de Rojas about variety of interesting topics.

Jacqueline is President at Digital Leaders, board member at techUK, and Co-Chair of the Institute of Coding. The first in her family to attend university, she has had a 30 year career in tech and risen to executive leadership roles across global software businesses. She currently sits on the boards of techUK, Rightmove and global software vendor IFS AB. She is also a founding member and Co-Chair at the Institute of Coding.

Over the last 15 years, Jacqueline has collaborated with government to shape policy and create conditions for the tech industry to thrive by using her platform as president of techUK until July 22 and in parallel as President of Digital Leaders, a global initiative to bring together 180,000 tech leaders across all professional sectors.

Jacqueline is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion and was awarded a CBE in 2018 for her services to International Trade in Technology. She has been acknowledged with a plethora of awards and accolades during her professional career, including being voted the Most Influential Woman in IT in 2015; recognised the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government in 2019, and winning Global Positive Impact Leader of the Year 2021 at the Stroeous Awards.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast as Kevin is joined by Andrea Kayal to talk about the marketing perspective of revenue.

The fundamental purpose of marketing is revenue, so while Andrea has never held a sales role, she is uniquely positioned to shed light on how the two functions can help one another. She has empathy for both!

The challenge for sales people now, as Andrea sees it, is continuing to differentiate their solution in real ways that communicates the value. Tune in to hear just how they can accomplish that, and to hear Andrea’s top tips for CMOs!

Andrea Kayal is currently the Chief Revenue Officer at Help Scout where she serves the Marketing, Sales Development, Business Development, and Partnerships teams. She has over two decades of experience overseeing GTM strategy, demand generation, brand message and design, product, content and customer marketing, customer retention and more. Prior to Help Scout, Andrea served as CRO at Teampay and CMO at Electric, Upserve, Signpost, and Sailthru. She is an active advocate for the advancement of women in tech and LGBTQ rights.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, Kevin is joined by Gareth Morris, SVP International at Own, exploring the transformative power of leading with vulnerability.

Ambitious from a young age, Gareth walks Kevin through his journey to sales leadership – including the struggles that came with selling SaaS when no-one knew what it was.

For Gareth, leadership is about creating a compelling vision and convincing people to align with it, but also about being in service of others. Sales is about using your head and your heart, and so is leadership. A big part of this involves in-person interactions, which can truly make a difference in this increasingly virtual world. Covering the various complexities of leadership, this episode is a must-listen, as Gareth even teaches Kevin about Brazilian jiu jitsu!

With over 20 years of sales and commercial leadership experience in software and SaaS, Gareth Morris is a seasoned sales leader who thrives in fast-paced and high-growth environments. He has successfully led teams across different stages, from bootstrapping to VC stages B-E, across EMEA & APAC.

As the SVP International at Own,Gareth is responsible for expanding and scaling the company's global presence and customer success, serving over 2,000 customers in more than 50 countries.
He is passionate about building and empowering high-performance teams, delivering value and innovation to our customers, and driving revenue and market share growth.

His constant challenge is to drive for results with a sense of fun, humour, and humanity.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

“When you’re a walking disruption just by being in the room, you get used to it.”

In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, Kevin is joined by author and leader Charlene Li for a compelling conversation about leadership, AI, and the future.

To be a leader is to be a change-maker, otherwise you’re just a manager of the status quo. Charlene tells Kevin about how essential disruption is to leadership, and why she was at first so drawn to that space. They dive into what Charlene calls ‘The Four Archetypes of the Disruptive Leader’, and talk about how each type plays an important role.

The root of disruption right now lies in AI, and while it will change your job and your culture, that doesn’t mean you should be afraid of it. If you embrace AI, Charlene explains, you can give yourself a superpower and elevate your capabilities beyond what you might expect.

Tune into this episode to gain an insight into the future of leadership!

Charlene Li is an expert on business transformation strategy and disruptive leadership, and the NYT bestselling author of six books, including her latest, "The Disruption Mindset". She is working on her next book on generative AI. Charlene has advised hundreds of top companies, from Adobe to Southwest Airlines, and worked with 49 of the Fortune 100 companies. Previously, Charlene was the founder/CEO of the disruptive analyst firm Altimeter Group and Chief Research Officer at PA Consulting. Charlene is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and was named one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

Sometimes, leadership is just about leading people the way they want to be lead.
In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, Kevin is joined by Tom Glason, CEO of ScaleWise, to delve into the intricacies of leading sales teams. Together, Kevin and Tom discuss the route Tom took into sales and into sales leadership, and the things that inspired him to lead teams the way he does.

Tom’s leadership philosophy centers around focusing on individual growth and on what motivates people to do their best work. According to him, to build a sales team that thrives,you need to create a space where they feel safe and where they have autonomy.

This episode is really a must-listen! Tune in as Tom candidly shares his insights with Kevin, challenging industry-standard views on the value of sales targets.

Tom has spent 20 years in B2B tech sales, over a decade of which has been in senior GTM leadership roles within VC-backed SaaS scale-ups.

His focus has been the journey from Series A to C, and he’s held roles as VP Sales & Operations at Trussle, SVP Sales & Marketing at Brightpearl and Chief Commercial Officer at Goodlord.
He’s now the co-founder & CEO of Scalewise which provides B2B scale-ups with unique access to a community of advisors, fractional, interim and full-time GTM leaders to help them accelerate growth.

As a qualified coach and the founder of the UK chapter of Pavilion, he has a passion for supporting other revenue leaders to achieve their professional potential.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, Kevin is joined by brand founder and motivational speaker, Lauren Bailey. Lauren’s passion is helping people fall in love with sales and staying in it.

Are good salespeople born, or made? Lauren thinks it’s a bit of both – to build a truly great salesperson, you need to combine art with science, and you can make magic. She shares with Kevin the characteristics she looks for in top performing salespeople, some of which you can develop, and some which are just innate.

Good coaching is essential in any sales person’s journey, which is why it’s so important to get it right. Tune in to hear Lauren tell Kevin about the things managers get wrong with coaching and leading teams, and how they can fix them.

Lauren Bailey is the Founder and President of three successful brands: Factor 8, providing front-line job training for inside sellers and managers, The Sales Bar, a subscription-based virtual sales training platform, and #GirlsClub, a community and development program helping more women earn leadership positions in sales.

Before entrepreneurship, Lauren led multiple sales divisions in the technology sector and then switched hats to building corporate training departments and launching virtual sales programs Globally for IBM and SAP.

Today Lauren and her teams at Factor 8, The Sales Bar and #GirlsClub are on a mission to change lives by helping all levels of sales feel more confident and more successful at work.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams.

Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

When you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail. But when you’ve got a toolkit, you start looking at things differently.

Join Kevin on a captivating episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast as he engages in a dynamic conversation with revenue growth specialist, Andy Champion. Explore Andy's remarkable sales journey and his expertise in scaling sales teams.

Andy’s leadership combines his military history and sales background, which gives him a unique perspective. The two dig into what drives Andy to land and expand, and the magic that comes as a leader when you are the catalyst in someone else’s success.

Having begun his career as a Commissioned Officer in the British Army, Andy has spent much of the last two decades building high-performance commercial teams across EMEA for high-growth, pre- and post-IPO technology businesses. He thrives in fast-paced organisations that are innovative and disruptive.

Andy has led the entry of multiple businesses into new European and International markets, with two IPOs and an acquisition along the way. His greatest passion at work is to attract and mentor world-class talent within a culture that promotes a deep sense of belonging, and one that delivers exceptional results.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

Have you ever thought about how project management can affect the way you sell?
In this episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, join Kevin as he engages in a dynamic discussion with Suzette Blakemore, VP of Sales at FranklinCovey. Together, they delve deep into the fascinating world of project management and its profound impact on your sales strategies.

Decision rooms are getting bigger and bigger, so understanding your stakeholders is paramount. Suzette shares with Kevin the secret to putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and becoming the trusted advisor who can carry the deal to the finish line.

Tune into this episode centered on project management to discover how you can sell and close more quickly by selling to the end result with what Suzette calls the ‘Critical Path’.
Suzette Blakemore is the Vice President of Sales for FranklinCovey’s enterprise division where she leads 160 salespeople and is accountable for 20% annual growth and almost $160 Million in annual revenue. At Franklin Covey for 11 years, Suzette has served in multiple positions from Productivity Practice Leader to Managing Director.

She is a subject matter expert for FranklinCovey’s communication advantage series and is well known for her practical approach to achieving and sustaining high levels of effective productivity. Suzette is also a beloved speaker, editor, and co-author of a best-selling book. Suzette has served on multiple board and peer committees and enjoys volunteering wherever she can.

The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams. Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/

In this recruitment-focused episode of the Sales Code Leadership Podcast, Kevin is joined by Asad Zaman, CEO of Sales Talent Agency. Together, they dive deep into the intricacies of recruitment for sales roles, uncovering the common pitfalls organizations stumble into.

Join Kevin as Asad takes him through the history of Sales Talent Agency and his own career; how he joined as a Junior Recruiter and rose through the ranks. He unveils the hidden red flags that often elude hiring managers in the recruitment process and offers valuable insights on how to steer clear of them.

Asad also shares the secret to analyzing talent to find truly great salespeople, the DNAPRO framework. To find out how to implement it, you’ll just have to tune in! Additionally, he and Kevin discuss the future of sales and recruitment with AI, and what the change will look like.

Asad is the CEO of Sales Talent Agency: a leading recruitment agency focused on helping their clients build elite go-to-market teams. Sales Talent Agency is a category leader in North America and has recently expanded its operations into parts of Europe and Asia-Pacific. Over the past 16 years, they have helped 1500+ companies hire elite go-to-market talent, from CROs to BDRs and everything in between, and along the way they have facilitated over $550M in salaries.

Since joining STA in 2014, Asad has launched multiple successful recruitment divisions, including Executive Search, Technical Sales, and Customer Success practices. With a passion for entrepreneurialism, Asad has worked closely with C-level executives at fast growth technology companies to help them develop and define their GTM hiring practices, and in Q4 2020 was appointed as Sales Talent Agency’s CEO. He was also chosen by the Toronto Board of Trade as Toronto’s Young Professional of the Year in 2019. The podcast is brought to you by Sales Code, a MEDDICC MEDIA production, helping revenue leaders unlock added value in B2B SaaS sales teams.

Your views on our podcast are always welcome, as well as any questions you might have for our podcast guests.Connect with the show host Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinthiele/