Sales Rewritten

“I was a man who sold cars…but I wasn’t a car salesman.”

James Newell sold more than £600M worth of vehicles while working for a well-known European car manufacturer for 12 years. During that time, he never missed a monthly target. But in 2017, he decided to walk away to build his own company: Clear Sales Message.

He now teaches sales teams and B2B founders how to sell with clarity and confidence by focusing on communication.

In episode 9 of Surfe’s Sales Rewritten podcast, James explains why he never identified with the salesperson stereotype, he reveals the £30 hack that put him ahead of his colleagues and shares why most people are great at what they do but terrible at explaining it.

In this episode, we cover:

◼️ Why the “Wolf of Wall Street” stereotype holds sellers back

◼️ The £30 Fiver hack that won him deals before colleagues

◼️ The scarcity mindset behind never missing a target in 12 years

◼️ Leaving “the best job in the world on paper” to start his own business

◼️ The false consensus effect: why people can’t explain what they do

◼️ Why nobody’s waiting for your 14th follow-up, and what to send instead

◼️ AI in sales: what’s really going on

Sales Rewritten is an honest conversation about sales - by salespeople, for salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow James:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesnewelluk/

Clear Sales Message - https://www.clearsalesmessage.com/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch every episode now: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5lCGcbGyNxoc7WfoXsWTIiJO-leoBXRi

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://tinyurl.com/5e4xmkrv

Start your 14-day free trial today.

"It's about blooming deals versus closing deals."

That's how Angela Lindberg - a trained business psychologist turned enterprise salesperson - describes her career closing multi-million dollar deals.

In episode 8 of Surfe’s Sales Rewritten podcast, Angela traces her path from psychology PhD to becoming one of BetterUp's first EMEA sales hires.

She lifts the lid on her journey and the lessons learned along the way: 13 back-to-back meetings in a single day, the sabbatical that changed everything and the deal she decided to walk away from.

In this episode, we cover:

◼️ How a psychology PhD led to a successful sales career

◼️ Building BetterUp's European sales team from scratch

◼️ What it takes to close a million-dollar deal

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:55 - What do you do for a living?

01:42 - A non-linear sales career

03:32 - Life before sales

06:21 - Clinical psychology v Business psychology

07:31 - Learning from earlier job roles

09:19 - The day a recruiter asked if I wanted to work in sales

11:56 - 'Employee #87' and start-up culture

14:19 - Being a Senior AE

15:53 - How psychology HELPS salespeople

17:28 - Sales stereotypes - do they exist?

19:57 - Being resilient v asking for help

22:08 - Mental health culture in sales

24:04 - Moving to London from the US!

26:51 - What do you look for when hiring junior salespeople?

28:55 - Working for Unmind

30:39 - Enterprise sales - what do you like about it so much?

32:13 - Salesperson...or trusted advisor?

32:52 - Most memorable deal closed

35:31 - The deal you walked away from

37:02 - AI and the future of enterprise sales

40:33 - What's next for you?

41:45 - Outro

Sales Rewritten is an honest conversation about sales - by salespeople, for salespeople.

Brought to you by Surfe, the pipeline generation engine for your revenue team.

Follow Angela: LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/angela-lindberg-shrm-scp-phd-9ab81b43/

Sales Rewritten:🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & all major platforms

📺 Also available to watch on YouTube: @surfehq

Sponsored by: Surfe - https://tinyurl.com/4jwt5p7z Start your 14-day free trial today.

She spent years as a seller sceptical of sales enablement's impact. Now she manages it for 250+ sellers at HubSpot.

In Episode 7 of Sales Rewritten, Ally Kavanagh - Lead Enablement Partner (EMEA) at HubSpot, and a sales professional who's worked in Boston, New York and London - shares what 15+ years in the sales game has taught her.

We cover:

◼️ Starting out in radio - with a phone book, a laptop, and all of Massachusetts as your territory

◼️ What HubSpot has taught her about mindset, competition and consistency

◼️ Why selling in Europe is harder than the US

◼️ The making of a successful enterprise deal

◼️ MEDDIC: why it works + why it keeps everyone honest

◼️ AI in sales: what HubSpot is experimenting with right now + where we need to draw the line

◼️ Sales enablement: why does it get such a bad rep?

Chapters:

00:00-01:01 Intro

01:01-01:58 Welcome to Ally

01:58-02:52 What is field sales enablement?

02:52-04:26 Ally’s first job in radio!

04:26-05:15 Falling into sales and the start of a career

05:15-07:36 Mock sales calls are TERRIFYING

07:36-10:33 Early sales wins at HubSpot

10:33-12:32 The competitive culture

12:32-15:45 The mindset of a top salesperson

15:45-18:17 Moving from the US to EMEA

18:17-20:40 Why selling in Europe is harder than the US

20:40-23:45 Building strong relationships with buyers

23:45-27:17 Let’s talk about enterprise deals

27:17-28:19 Progression to sales enablement

28:19-31:48 Value of the MEDDPICC framework

31:48-35:20 The buyer's perspective and follow-ups

35:20-36:44 A typical week in field enablement

36:44-38:22 AI in sales

38:22-42:39 Where to draw the line: AI versus the seller

42:39-45:12 Quick-fire questions

45:12-46:09 Ally’s future plans

46:09-47:40 Outro

Sales Rewritten is an honest conversation about sales - by salespeople, for salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow Ally: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-kavanagh/

Sales Rewritten: 📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by: Surfe - https://tinyurl.com/bdhu9t3p

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Most people think high performance is about motivation.

Roberto Forzoni has spent 30+ years inside elite sport - and he’ll tell you it’s about process, preparation, and what you do when something goes wrong.

In Episode 6 of Sales Rewritten, Roberto (sports psychologist and keynote speaker) shares lessons from working with Premier League clubs, Olympic athletes, and world-class individuals - including tennis player Andy Murray and boxer Derek Chisora.

In this episode, we cover:

◼️ Outcome vs performance vs process goals (and why sellers get this wrong)

◼️ “What’s important now?” - staying calm under pressure

◼️ Rejection, resets, and why the best don’t dwell

◼️ Language, mindset, and words that add pressure

◼️ Team dynamics: what leaders can do to lift performance fast

◼️ The habits Roberto sees in high performers

Chapters:

00:00-01:01 Trailer

01:01-02:03 Intro

02:03-02:46 What do you do for a living?

02:46-04:32 Starting out in football

04:32-07:58 The 'spark' for psychology

07:58-09:09 Working with different teams + athletes

09:09-11:14 Bringing psychology to the Premier League!

11:14-12:35 Being challenged by Razor Ruddock

12.35-15:00 The key to goal-setting

15:00-17:34 Dealing with 'No' and rejection

17:34-18:43 Release, review, reset

18:43-20:23 Setting up Team Murray

20:23-22:03 Applying lessons from football to tennis

22:03-22:40 Get started with Surfe today!

22:40-23:37 Andy Murray's 'obsessive' personality

23:37-25:26 Don't call it unlucky!

25:26-27:28 Not every game is must-win

27:28-28:28 Setting the wrong goals at Brentford

28:28-29:43 Why feedback is so important

29:43-30:22 '99 things out of 100 you tell me, I'll ignore!'

30:22-31:40 Working with Alan Curbishley at West Ham in 2006/07

31:40-32:39 Crisis meeting with Dean Ashton, Lee Bowyer and Carlos Tevez

32:39-34:00 Free-kick training with Carlos Tevez and scoring against Tottenham

34:00-35:51 West Ham's unlikely survival and how psychology helped

35:51-37:00 Three athletes you'd most like to work with!

37:00-38:19 Dealing with targets and pressure

38:19-39:53 The time Derek Chisora's wife called me

39:53-41-45 The showbiz personality of Chisora

41:45-42:27 Should salespeople have personas?

42:27-45:34 Applying the 'fish' philosophy to sales

45:34-45:59 What's next for you?

45:59-47:30 Outro

Sales Rewritten is an honest conversation about sales - by salespeople, for salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow Roberto:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertoforzoni/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://tinyurl.com/vm5y9rs2

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Did you know that roughly only 2% of professional footballers are financially able to retire after they finish playing?

That’s according to Sean Evers, VP of Sales at Pipedrive and a former professional football player for British clubs including Luton Town, Reading and Plymouth Argyle.

In the latest episode of Sales Rewritten, the #1 podcast for sellers, Sean reveals his unusual second ‘career’ in sales after hanging up his boots in 2003. From retraining as an estate agent to managing North American sales for an international firm, Sean’s story is a remarkable journey defined by luck, success and opportunity.

In this episode, we explore:

◼️ Why most footballers still need a second career after they finish playing

◼️ Why sales rewards resilience more than confidence

◼️ Why great sellers guide buyers instead of persuading them

Chapters:

0:00-1:55 Intro

1:55-2:48 How do you describe what you do?

2:48-5:43 Did you always dream of becoming a footballer?

5:43-9:40 The feeling of signing my first professional contract

9:40-11:25 How much I earned as a footballer at the time

11:25-12:27 Coming to the end of my football career

12:27-14:36 Deciding what to do AFTER football

14:36-16:20 Working as an estate agent and the ‘Gordon Ramsey’ manager

16:20-18:49 The danger of qualifying OUT a buyer too soon

18:49-21:58 Managing a contact center

21:58-23:47 A move to America?

23:47-24:28 Working for Pitney Bowes…what do they do?

24:28-27:01 Progressing from IC to sales manager - FAST

27:01-28:10 Building up your network

28:10-31:52 What type of manager are you?

31:52-33:01 Did football prepare you for the pressure of sales?

33:01-34:42 Working in different sectors as a salesperson

34:42-36:45 Thinking ‘strategically’ about career progression

36:45-39:25 AI in sales…what’s changing?

39:25-41:05 Is AI going to replace reps?

41:05-42:35 Applying AI to become a better seller

42:35-45:07 Defining a modern-day seller

45:07-46:18 The importance of having an opinion

46:18-47:10 What’s next for you?

47:10-48:32 Outro

Sales Rewritten is an honest conversation about sales - by salespeople, for salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow Sean:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-evers-b56494112/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://kntn.ly/ca397b8b

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Sales Rewritten (S1E4) - Frances Arville, Head of Sales, Zinc

Why do salespeople love what they do?

In the latest episode of Sales Rewritten, the #1 podcast for sellers, host Alex Wood (Surfe) is joined by Frances Arville (Head of Sales, Zinc) as she reveals the “high” of closing a deal.

Frances fell into sales “by coincidence”, fell in love with the profession and admits she spent years believing sales managers were just lazy reps who couldn’t sell. Then the pandemic hit, and Frances moved from the US to London - managing a team while learning to sell into EMEA.

In this episode, Frances breaks down:

◼️ Why sellers chase the “high” of closing

◼️ Why reps hesitate to ask for commitment - even on £100k deals

◼️ The biggest difference between US and EMEA sales cultures

◼️ Why consistency matters more than being “number one”

◼️ How hiring, selling and dating are basically the same thing

Chapters:

0:00-1:03 Trailer

1:03-2:02 Introduction

2:02-2:42 What do you do for a living?

2:42-4:20 Landing my first sales job

4:20-5:42 Selling high-end whiskey

5:42-6:29 Sales…a job or a career?

6:29-7:43 ‘Nothing gets me high like hitting a gong’

7:43-8:59 The importance of staying in a first job for 3-4 years

8:59-9:31 Progression from rep to AE

9:31-11:25 Moving from Chicago to London

11:25-12:19 The impact of the pandemic

12:19-14:28 Why I NEVER wanted to manage

14:28-16:02 Working EMEA hours in the US

16:01-17:37 The THREE things I wanted to be as a sales manager

17:37-19:37 Gaining the respect of your team as a manager

19:37-21:11 Arriving in London and selling EMEA

21:1-23:38 Mistakes I’ve made as a manager

23:38-25:13 Why some reps won’t ask for a phone number

25:13-26:30 The importance of confidence in selling

26:30-27:53 Learning the art of cold calling

27:53-28:57 Learning from lost deals

28:57-32:06 Learning to love being a sales manager

32:06-34:41 Helping sales reps reach their potential

34:41-36:14 What I’m looking for in a sales rep

36:14-38:32 How can someone go from SDR to AE?

38:32-41:12 Go and find yourself a mentor!

41:12-42:09 What I look for in a mentor

42:09-44:59 Deciding to leave G2 for Zinc

44:59-46:45 Why SALES and DATING are basically the same thing

46:45-47:20 What I’m leaving behind in 2025

47:20-48:51 Biggest deal WON

48:51-50:22 Biggest deal LOST

50:22-51:00 What you love most about working in SaaS sales

51:00-51:45 What you hate most about working in SaaS sales

51:45-52:48 What’s next for you?

52:48-53:53 Outro

Sales Rewritten is an honest look at modern sales - for salespeople, by salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow Frances:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesarville/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://kntn.ly/cde7a84f

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Sales Rewritten (S1E3) - Coralie de Robert, Director of Account Management, G2

Coralie de Robert’s sales career didn’t follow a straight line.

From reading the news on French radio to selling coffee at Borough Market, Coralie’s path into SaaS was built on curiosity, resilience and learning the hard way. After getting fired in her late twenties, she reset her career, joined tech sales as an SDR and climbed to senior leadership in just four years - 10x’ing her salary along the way.

In this episode of Sales Rewritten, the #1 podcast for sellers, Coralie shares:

◼️ How her background in journalism HELPED her transition to sales

◼️ Why she LOVES selling at markets

◼️ Why she got fired

◼️ How she went from SDR to sales leadership in four years

◼️ What she looks for when hiring salespeople at every level

Chapters:

0:00-1:12 Trailer

1:12-1:53 Introduction

1:54-2:30 How do you describe what you do?

2:31-4:41 Becoming a journalist

4:41-6:01 Working in radio and interviewing politicians

6:01-6:56 Transferrable skills between journalism and sales

6:56-8:33 Why nerves can be good

8:33-9:23 Why I love market selling

9:23-11:56 Moving to London in my early 20s

11:56-14:37 Learning to sell with no real experience

14:37-16:28 Selling coffee for a living

16:28-19:50 Admitting I was a terrible manager

19:50-22:44 Working in the food industry

22:44-27:02 Getting fired and starting in SaaS

27:02-28:25 I went from SDR to AE in 4 years and 10x’d my salary!

28:25-31:01 What I did to become a top performer

31:01-32:48 Cold calling the same prospect every day for 6 months

32:48-33:34 Is it harder being an SDR or an AE?

33:34-35:55 Managing a team at G2

35:55-39:30 What NOT to do in a sales interview

39:30-43:02 What to do AFTER a sales interview

43:02-44:49 Life at G2 and why B2B software reviews matter

44:49-47:37 The impact of LLMs on search

47:37-49:45 My BIG prediction for sales and marketing teams in 2026

49:45-51:22 Outro

If you’ve ever had to start again in your career, or wondered whether a non-linear path can work to your advantage, this episode is for you.

Sales Rewritten is an honest look at modern sales - for salespeople, by salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high-quality data platform that makes prospecting simpler and smarter.

Follow Coralie:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coralie-de-robert-15b4a550/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://kntn.ly/b51a5292

Start your 14-day free trial today.

Sales Rewritten (S1E2) - Brett Runyan, VP of North American Sales, EZRA Coaching Brett Runyan’s sales career took off fast - from becoming employee #200 at Groupon to leading international teams at LinkedIn and Glassdoor. But behind the rapid rise came burnout, isolation and a need to redefine what success really means. In this episode of Sales Rewritten, a podcast for the sellers, host Alex Wood sits down with Brett Runyan, now VP of North American Sales at EZRA Coaching, to talk about the highs and lows of pursuing a global career - and why personal growth matters just as much as professional.

Sales Rewritten (S1E1) - Evelyn Oluwole, The Follow-Up Queen

From selling £20 classified ads to closing six-figure global deals, Evelyn Oluwole has lived every side of sales. In this first episode of Sales Rewritten, a podcast by Surfe, host Alex Wood sits down with WeTransfer’s Global Senior Sales Director to talk about the mindset, mistakes and moments that made her The Follow-Up Queen.

She explains:

◼️ How she started her career in TV

◼️ Why she used to cold call HUNDREDS of businesses selling classified ads

◼️ Built a global sales career and closed a six-figure deal

◼️ Nearly won Spotify as a client

◼️ Uses her “follow-up cheat code”

If you’ve ever wondered how top performers stay motivated, handle knock-backs and stay sane in sales, this conversation is for you.

The Sales Rewritten podcast is a raw, honest account of sales - for salespeople, by salespeople. Brought to you by Surfe, the high quality data platform that makes prospecting easy.

Follow Evelyn:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelynoluwole/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thefollowupqueen/

Sales Rewritten:

📺 Watch on YouTube: @surfehq

🎙 Listen on Spotify, Apple Music & all major platforms

Sponsored by:

Surfe - https://tinyurl.com/cxexkrjx, start your 14-day free trial today