Are you looking to skyrocket your business's sales? Sales are a key indicator of how well a business is performing in the market. Sales coaching can guide us to the next level in the world of business.

In today's episode, we are joined by Rob Lime, an integral part of Lushin Inc., who shares with us how to achieve the highest profits through increased sales and improved company performance. He also discusses his personal journey of becoming a sales coach, despite not being a natural salesperson.

Rob highlights the importance of sales as a reflection of a company's competence and stresses the significance of improving sales skills and values in order to boost performance.

Show Highlights:

02:39 Sales coaching is the most enjoyable and significant part of the job

04:33 Rob stumbled into sales accidentally

10:35 Rob had a problematic relationship with money at the beginning of his sales journey

13:53 Being uncomfortable talking about money as a Sales Person

16:34 Self-assessment as part of the diagnostic process of sales coaching

20:04 CEOs do not see some issues that can hurt their business

27:00 Big companies can get away with worse sales people

29:43 Great salespeople do not mind being interviewed

32:21 Money tolerance is essential for business success

34:54 Overcoming rejection is key to succeeding with brilliant ideas

39:58 Sales coaching involves discovering

42:32 Asking good questions is a common trait among top salespeople

45:23 Hiring decisions affecting sales people achievement levels

47:12 Training commitment is challenging

48:34 Revenue is not the only measure of success

52:18 Relationships are overrated in sales

55:38 Asking how the meeting ended is a better question than how it went

57:04 Great sales managers prioritize the team's well-being.

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Rob Miles and learn more about Lushin Inc., head on to: 

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

Website: https://www.lushin.com/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on: 

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

Email: [email protected]

Are you interested in learning how to effectively lead your team? Your leadership directly impacts the success of your team. Executive coaching has proven to be a valuable tool for CEOs and executives seeking to improve their leadership skills and guide their companies toward success.

In today's episode, we are joined by J. Ryan Williams, CEO of REACH-ABLE, an executive coaching firm focused on revenue leadership teams. Ryan will provide insights on how to effectively handle sales and share his personal story of self-determination that has contributed to his professional success.

Ryan's natural curiosity sparked his interest in executive coaching, and he is passionate about helping individuals and teams reach their full potential. His vision of creating a better world through people improvement has enhanced his skills and expertise.

Ryan's executive coaching experience spans high-potential leaders from generation-defining technology companies such as Zoom, Lyft, and Airbnb, as well as veterans of the US Navy SEAL Teams and Top Gun instructors. His clients all possess outsized potential and the capacity for enormous impact in their organizations.

As a sales leader, Ryan built a $58M sales team and sales training program for 350 sales reps at AdRoll, Inc Magazine's fastest-growing advertising company of 2011 and 2012. He later joined a Y Combinator-backed data startup as VP of Sales, where he grew revenue from $4-$12M and supported a $15M Series B fundraise. Ryan has been an invited speaker at LinkedIn, Adobe, Lyft, Asana, Stanford University, Haas School of Business, and the University of Chicago.

J. Ryan's coaching practice has been recognized by Business Insider and Forbes, underscoring the value and expertise he brings to his clients.

Show Highlights:

01:41 - Helping Clients Master Sales Through Executive Coaching

04:45 - Self-Determination as the Core of Executive Coaching

07:00 - Ryan's Journey from Education to Sales to Coaching

14:03 - Natural Curiosity: A Key Factor in Ryan's Success

17:31 - The Importance of Making a Positive Impact on the World

22:00 - The Montessori Method as an Inspiration for Sales Coaching

29:19 - Finding the Right Coach for the CEO

37:08 - The Difference Between Mentoring and Coaching

45:17 - A Story of an Executive Power Move

50:35 - Assessing Your Potential to Improve Your Professional Standing

54:08 - Asking "What Could You Do?" Instead of "Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?"

56:33 - Strategies for Receiving Feedback and Developing Your Skills

1:04:32 - The Four Elements of Trust in Executive Coaching

1:18:25 - Different Types of CEOs and Their Unique Challenges

Links Mentioned:

Connect with J. Ryan Williams and learn more about REACH•ABLE, head on to: 

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

Website: https://itsreachable.com/ 

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on: 

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

Email: [email protected]

Marketing is one of the keys to reaching potential customers and boosting sales. That’s why investing in a great marketing strategy designed by experts will help you get ahead of the competition. How can you use marketing to open up more opportunities for your business?

In this episode, we have Mallory Lee as our guest. Mallory was a former Marketing Budget and Operations Manager at ExactTarget and the current Operation Vice President of Nylas. With a wealth of experience across both Revenue and Business Operations, she effortlessly juggles leadership duties between the two.

Mallory shares her experiences of learning and improving in marketing analytics and operations. She also shares tips on how to be efficient in marketing, including working in teams, hiring better people, and many more!

Show Highlights:

01:16   Mallory’s introduction to ExactTarget 8 days after graduation

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Mallory Lee and learn more about Nylas, head on to:

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

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on:

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

Helping People and Companies reach their Full Potential (with Joe Jordan of Ship Sigma)

Do you want to set your team up for success? Then surround yourself with amazing people and ask great questions. The opportunity is endless if only you understand the value of connectivity and the power of multiplication.

In this episode, we have Joe Jordan, the Chief Revenue Officer at ShipSigma, a supply chain data analytics software that helps shipping companies reduce costs without changing anything operationally in their business.

During the conversation, Joe shares his sales leadership journey and how he supports his team to reach their full potential and achieve company success.

Joe also discusses how to unwire your brain to understand what matters, the beauty of working in a fast-paced environment such as a startup, and the value of customer relationships to create success.

Episode Highlights:

01:36   Joe’s background and how he got to Indianapolis

06:55  How Accelerant helped Joe to grow and succeed as a leader

14:43  Joe’s personality and core values as a leader

19:35  The focus of the Chief Revenue Officer role

25:19  Leaving every meeting with clarity and commitment to win

28:19  Joining ShipSigma

35:30  The difference and benefits of working in different business sizes

41:18  How to help the team to reach their full potential

44:06  Joe’s favorite suit and tie color scheme and favorite sport

LINKS MENTIONED:

High volume shipper? Go here for a complementary analysis on how much you could save using ShipSigma

Connect with Joe Jordan and learn more about ShipSigma, head on to:

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

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on:

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

Email: [email protected]

Do you want to move quickly from an individual contributor to a leadership role? Then you need to listen to the people around you. Get their ideas and use that information to make decisions and grow.

Today, we have Sam Estes, the Senior Vice President of Revenue at Authenticx, a SaaS platform that works with large healthcare providers to help them understand their patients and use it to make informed, proactive decisions.

Prior to working with Authenticx, Sam first worked in different sales leadership positions at Aerotek, Paycom, and Bluecrew. He continuously built his career from an individual contributor to now one of the sales leaders of the startup.

In this episode, Sam talks about the first and most important avenue for the growth and development of leaders. He shares his leadership journey, the challenges of coming from a more established company to a startup, and the role of the company’s environment and culture in long term success.

Episode Highlights:

01:42    Sam’s first sales job and his career progression

04:14    Fulfillment in managing and leading people to success

07:48  LinkedIn connection with the CEO of Authenticx

10:40  How Authenticx solve problems in the healthcare industry

15:45  Sam’s leadership role and game plan to help Authenticx

18:15  The most important role of leaders

26:35    Creating a feedback-rich environment

29:25  What metrics do startup companies need to look into to scale

33:00  Simple recipe for growing your leadership career

36:31    Handling leadership conversation with the team

38:04  Sam’s favorite non-American food and hobby outside of work

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Sam Estes on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-estes-88389957/

Website: https://authenticx.com

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on:

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

Email: [email protected]

What do you think is the best marketing strategy to grow and scale a startup? You probably aren't going to like this, but the hard truth is there is no perfect solution.

Everything can change, and to be able to grow, we need to experiment and change for the better.

In today's episode, we have Sara Croft of Innovatemap, a digital product agency that helps companies of all sizes dream and delivers valuable digital products and services to the market. Sara was the first marketing hire of the startup and paved her way to becoming one of the marketing leaders as the company's Principal of Growth Marketing.

With no marketing background, Sara started as a marketing intern at a non-profit. She fell in love with the idea of blending art and solving client problems through marketing and pursued it as a long-term career.

During the conversation, Sara shares her unusual journey to marketing, how she uses art and creativity to uplevel her marketing career, and how aspiring leaders can find marketing strategies and tactics to grow the business and their leadership careers.

Episode Highlights:

01:04       Sara's internship in art and marketing

05:57       Being a marketing generalist

09:21       Honing her writing and content marketing skills

11:29       Sara's biggest lesson and win in her marketing leadership career

18:40       Stop focusing on the perfect solution and start experimenting

21:55       Innovatemap background and how Sara got involved

31:45       The LinkedIn post that sparked the podcast

37:12       How to use data to impact the marketing success of the startup

44:49       The strategies and tactics that work for Innovatemap

51:57       Using feedback loops in marketing

57:58       What skills early stage leaders need to uplevel their leadership career

01:05:31  Sara's restaurant and book recommendations

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Sara Croft on:

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

Sara’s book recommendation:

>> Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement

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

What is the best way to keep customers happy and achieve business success? Connect and communicate with them! Ask for their feedback and use it as a strategy to improve and scale. It gives customers a positive experience and makes your job easier.

Today we have Abby Warner, the Co-Founder & COO of LaunchCodes, an e-commerce technology and discovery platform that makes product drops and launches easy, predictable, and secure. Prior to Launch Codes, Abby also worked in different leadership roles in the startup tech space.

Her naturally curious and creative problem-solver personality enables her to quickly move from being an individual contributor to having a leadership role at various startups and eventually co-founding her own startup.

Throughout the conversation, Abby shares her journey in the startup and tech industry, her career progression, and the challenges along the way. Abby highlights the importance of understanding the product and considering customer feedback in long term business success.

Episode Highlights:

01:21    Abby’s background

08:34  Creative problem solving

19:04  Developing a Customer <> Product feedback loop

22:58  How to train and convert teams and customers to transition

28:24  The power of daily team stand ups in promoting good communication

33:16  What it takes to become a startup executive from being a individual contributor

38:20  Abby's journey to 120Water

53:50  Focusing on what matters to scale a startup

59:54  Abby's new startup, “Launch Codes.”

01:07:36 Abby’s book recommendations and how to connect with her

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Abby Warner on:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/abby41231

Abby’s book recommendation:

>> The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

>> Startup Cxo: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company's Critical Functions and Teams

>> Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on:

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

Want to grow fast in your career? Then work with the smartest people that you can find.

Today, we have Egan Montgomery, the Director of Go-To-Market at High Alpha, a venture studio based in Indianapolis. High Alpha helps B2B SaaS startup founders and companies launch and scale through their unique venture studio model.

Egan's passion for helping others and his intentional actions led him to succeed in his career and become a startup leader.

In this episode, Egan talks about the role of venture studios in helping startup companies launch and scale. He touches on the common problems of startup founders and companies, how to find product market fit, and how startups can move fast and grow quickly in their business.

Episode Highlights:

02:36   Interesting story of how Egan came to and why he stayed in Indiana

06:38  Egan's early career growth at DemandJump

09:13  The difference between working in a startup and a large established company

12:05  How Egan works with a venture studio like High Alpha

19:13  The willingness to absorb, learn and work with new ideas

21:52  How High Alpha helps startup founders succeed 

25:40  High Alpha's approach to determining product market fit

34:07  What are the criteria for identifying the ideal customer profile

40:29  How startup executives can be more involved in the investor side of the business

45:27  The growth of Egan as a leader after working with startups

LINKS MENTIONED:

Connect with Egan Montgomery on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/egan-montgomery/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eganmontgomery

High Alpha: https://highalpha.com

Connect with Grayson Faircloth on:

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

From student athlete to business owner to sales professional and leader. Different roles with one main goal, to succeed.

Ryan Ketchum is the Senior Director of Sales at Woven, a startup tech company designed to help other fast-growing companies seamlessly hire great engineers. Before working at Woven, Ryan began his career as a trainer and successful business owner in the fitness world, building his skills as a great salesperson and leader.

Now Ryan utilizes his sales knowledge and leadership experience to lead Woven's sales team.

In this episode, Ryan Ketchum joins us to share his experience and expertise in sales, coaching, and leadership to grow a startup business. Ryan talks about his different career transitions, challenges, business realizations, and shares his insights as to what it takes to be successful in any career role.

Episode Highlights:

01:26        Ryan’s academic and professional background

05:20        The first sales experience in fitness business

09:32        Selling the path to customers

13:17        Leveraging network and creating educational platforms

18:03        How Ryan found Woven

25:42        Moving backward in career title

34:27        The importance of coaching time for organization

38:11        Ryan’s characteristic and responsibilities in his different titles

44:45        The impact of mentors and coaches

48:34        Woven’s product market fit development

01:04:51   The passion to win but win together

01:08:09   How to be successful in your leadership career

Connect with Ryan Ketchum:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-ketchum/

Connect with Grayson Faircloth:

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

A strong customer department is the backbone of a fast growing SaaS business. Joe and the rest of the Customer Team at Socio built a world class customer experience. Listen to learn how!