Ambition transforms sales when you can see the full potential of every account and build a process to capture it.

In this episode of the Supercharge Your Sales Velocity podcast, Fergal is joined by Dennis Deal Sorenson, CEO of Cove Group and co-founder of Horizons West. Dennis has built a reputation for turning sales teams into high-performing growth engines through his focus on ambition, strategy, and execution.

Dennis explains how to look beyond quotas and short-term targets to uncover the total potential of an account.

He shares his philosophy on ambition as the precursor to strategy, teaching sales leaders how to build multi-year account plans that expand thinking and unlock bigger deals.

Together, they discuss the practical frameworks of strategic account planning, the GOST execution model, and the four Ps of sales: plan, prepare, practice, play.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Dennis Sorenson

01:20 The origins of ambition in sales

10:25 Building plans to unlock total potential

12:02 Overcoming objections and pushing past limitations

15:00 The four Ps of sales: plan, prepare, practice, play

17:57 Strategic account planning

23:12 Execution and the GOST framework

26:40 Using strategic planning for both accounts and prospects

28:07 The role of AI in sales strategy and execution

31:20 Talent, hiring, and building high-performing teams

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe to the podcast, share it with your network, and leave a review to help us reach more sales leaders!

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Dennis Sorenson

LinkedIn: Dennis Deal Sorenson

Enterprise sales isn’t about pushing products. You need trust, strategy, and innovation to win multi-million-dollar deals.

Fergal is joined by Eamonn Hughes, VP of Corporate Financial Affairs at Johnson Controls.

With over 30 years’ experience leading global sales teams and driving adoption of technologies from enterprise analytics to IoT and smart building solutions, Eamonn shares a career’s worth of insights into the art and craft of selling.

He goes deep into methodologies such as challenger selling and insight-based selling, showing how to transform complex technology into compelling stories that win senior-level buy-in.

The conversation also covers the transition from sales rep to sales leader, the vital role of coaching and mentoring, and how account planning can unlock growth in large enterprise accounts.

Fergal and Eamonn finish the episode by exploring the impact of generative AI on enterprise sales.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introducing guest Eamonn Hughes

01:35 – Lessons from the early days of sales

07:50 – Breaking into IoT and smart building innovation

14:09 – Coaching and mentoring in sales

20:50 – Account planning and strategies for enterprise growth

25:15 – Generative AI and the future of selling

30:17 – Get in touch with Eamonn

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share this episode with your network!

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Eamonn:

LinkedIn: Eamonn Hughes

Confidence is not just something you are born with, it is a skill you can build and use to change the way you show up in your career and relationships.

Fergal is joined by Vanessa to explore the power of confidence in business, sales, and leadership.

Vanessa shares her journey of moving from a technical role into becoming a trusted advisor, showing how confidence shaped the way she connected with others and built influence in her industry.

Vanessa discusses the challenges facing the tech world, the opportunities and risks of AI and automation, and the importance of adapting to constant change.

They also explore the role of sales coaching, cultural differences in communication, and the way human connection drives long term results.

Toward the end of the conversation, Vanessa introduces mindfulness and breath work as practical tools for managing stress and staying focused.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Vanessa

01:17 The biggest challenges facing the tech industry today

02:05 Why confidence and human connection are essential for success

03:10 How sales coaching helps professionals become trusted advisors

05:20 Vanessa’s shift from technical expert to trusted advisor

07:50 Adapting to AI and rapid changes in technology

08:34 Vanessa’s approach to training and coaching teams

15:09 Understanding cultural differences in communication

20:14 Career advice, networking tips, and building strong relationships

28:32 The value of mindfulness and breath work in business

31:24 Closing reflections and how to connect with Vanessa

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe, share it with your network, and rate/review the show!

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Vanessa:

LinkedIn: Vanessa Porter

Website: https://www.beelinecommunications.com/

What does it take to thrive in sales, lead with diversity, and grow a business from scratch on LinkedIn?

Dr Elisha Foust joins Fergal to talk about how she went from getting a PhD in ethics to leading sales and go-to-market teams in some of the world’s biggest enterprises and startups.

She talks about why she thrived in the energy of sales teams, the lessons she learned from the pressure of being a sales manager and how she founded the Women of Teradata network to champion diversity in tech.

Now the founder of Future By Design, Elisha talks about LinkedIn growth, selling yourself as a founder, handling adversity, and reframing imposter syndrome.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Elisha Foust

01:00 How Elisha went from academia to sales

03:14 Leading the Women of Teradata network

05:17 A balanced look at the future of DEI initiatives

08:05 First experiences with sales and leading sales teams

14:13 Accountability when running your own business

16:36 The story behind founding Future By Design

18:03 How Elisha grew her business through LinkedIn marketing

22:08 Building resilience and handling adversity in your career

24:38 Reframing imposter syndrome and building confidence

28:26 Practical advice for anyone starting a business

31:34 The future of sales in the age of AI

34:11 Connect with Elisha

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Supercharge Your Sales Velocity Podcast and leave us a review. It really helps us reach more people in the sales community!

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Connect with Elisha

Website: www.future-by-design.co.uk

LinkedIn: Elisha Foust

To kick off Season 3 of the podcast, Fergal sits down with Steve Fiore, a seasoned sales and customer success leader with over 25 years of experience driving revenue and leading high-performing teams.

In this chat, Steve opens up about the highs and lows of his career. After being losing his job, he decided to approach the job search in a completely different way and treat it as he would a prospect.

He talks about how focusing on the right opportunities, being clear on your ideal company profile, and building confidence can completely change how you approach finding your next role.

He shares practical advice for anyone in sales or customer success, from staying resilient during slow periods to setting better boundaries so work doesn’t take over your life.

You will also hear about Steve’s time as an adjunct professor, his TEDx talk on productivity, and why confidence, whether in selling or job hunting, is one of the biggest differentiators you can bring.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Steve Fiore

01:04 Career transitions and the value of taking time off

02:35 The right strategy to search for a job

06:12 The importance of networking

06:54 Standing out from other applicants

09:31 The reality of job hunting

15:03 Job search tips and spotting red flags

16:54 How scammers target job seekers

17:40 Building confidence

20:43 Steve’s advice on staying out of debt

23:44 Steve’s experience as an adjunct professor

27:51 Productivity lessons learned during COVID

30:37 Setting boundaries and balancing work with life

35:44 How to connect with Steve

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to the Supercharge Your Sales Velocity Podcast for more insights from top sales leaders. Please rate and review the show to help us reach more listeners.

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Steve:

• LinkedIn: Steve Fiore
• TEDx Talk: How Drinking Olive Oil and Curiosity Changed My Life
• Webstie:  www.rootedandrefinedliving.com

In our final episode of Season 2, Fergal is sitting down with Andy Jaffke, VP of Sales, coach, and co-author of Teams Win Championships.

With over 30 years in the sales world, Andy shares how he leads a high-performing international sales team while staying committed to his health, his family, and his passion for coaching.

They talk about time management systems, strategic account planning, the power of AI tools like Gemini and CoPilot, and what it really takes to build trust with clients.

He also shares the inspiration behind his book and what it was like to co-write it with four other individuals.

Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Andy Jaffke

01:17 Managing a large sales territory

03:55 Balancing work and personal life with the Top 3 Planner

07:33 Using AI (CoPilot, Gemini) to support sales

09:15 How Andy makes time for coaching every week

12:14 Building a competency-based sales framework

14:32 Strategic account planning and management

18:46 Building trust and intimacy with clients

20:28 Strategic account planning and QBR

23:00 Writing Teams Win Championships

27:58 Sales principles that still stand today

30:52 Embracing Gen AI in sales

34:05 Transitioning newsletter to Substack

35:54 How to attract more young people into the sales profession

37:09 Get in touch with Andy

Enjoyed this episode?

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Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Andy:

LinkedIn: Andy Jaffke

Andy’s Newsletter: Substack

If you want to learn more about the neuroscience behind selling, this is the episode for you.

Fergal sits down with Silvia Li, founder of BrainSells Global, a company that blends neuroscience, co-creation, and commercial strategy to help companies close deals faster.

Silvia shares her unique journey from helping her father’s import-export business at age 10 to transforming the sales strategies of Fortune 500 companies. She chose sales as her career path, driven by a fascination with human connection, trust, and the psychology behind buying decisions.

Silvia challenges the traditional hunter vs. farmer sales mindset and shares how co-creation, neuroscience, and autonomy are reshaping modern sales.

She speak about the power of feedforward over feedback and unpacks strategies to overcome client radio silence and accelerate deal velocity.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro to Silvia Li

00:56 Selling at the age of 10

02:18 Transition to a Sales Career

04:08 The Hunter vs. Farmer Debate

07:12 Building Skills and Crafting a Sales Career

08:58 The Birth of Brain Cells Global

11:21 Co-Creation and Client Engagement

16:19 Asking Different Questions

19:21 The Concept of Feed Forward

23:02 Shortening the Sales Cycle

27:16 Building Trust with Neuroscience

32:07 Get in touch with Silvia

Make sure as always to share this episode with someone who you think will find it helpful and rate the show if you enjoyed!

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Silvia:

LinkedIn: Silvia Li

BrainSells: https://brainsells.com/

Revenue is everyone’s business!

In this week’s episode of Supercharge Your Sales Velocity Podcast, Fergal is joined by Arthur Velasquez, founder of Better Revenue Teams.

With over 30 years of experience leading sales ops and scaling revenue across startups and enterprise organisations, Arthur shares his philosophy on building truly aligned go-to-market teams that drive sustainable growth.

Arthur explains how compensation models often fall short and offers ideas for aligning sales, customer success, and onboarding to ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction.

They also explore what makes a high-performing revenue team, how sales leaders can win the hearts and minds of their reps, and the value of marginal gains in sales performance.

Arthur shares how he uses AI to improve productivity and why practice, preparation and consistency are still key for sellers today.

This episode is packed with practical insights for CROs and sales leaders.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Arthur

01:31 About Better Revenue Teams

03:00 The Double Funnel Framework

08:11 Revenue Operations and Compensation

11:43 Customer Success

18:58 Viewing Sales as a Professional Sport

22:47 The Power of Marginal Gains

24:02 The Importance of Preparation for Meetings

25:48 Leveraging AI for Sales Efficiency

31:47 Winning the Hearts and Minds of Sellers

35:50 Sales Acceleration Formula

39:19 Building Trust with Today’s Buyers

42:25 Get in Touch with Arthur

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Arthur:

LinkedIn: Arthur Velasquez

Email: [email protected]

Stand-up comedy and sales have a lot in common, and this week Bill Conry is going to explain how.

A former LinkedIn and Gartner sales leader turned stand-up comedian and co-founder of Corporate Charisma, Bill brings a unique perspective to sales enablement, drawing from his experience in comedy to teach sales teams how to present with charisma, tell better stories, and genuinely connect with audiences.

They explore:

• How comedy techniques like cold opens and storytelling improve presentations
• Why most sales meetings are boring and how to fix them
• The role of pausing and silence in building engagement
• Being authentic with the emergence of AI
• The power of doing something different in your presentation to gain attention

Shownotes

00:00 Intro to Bill Conry

00:59 Getting into comedy

02:55 The start of Corporate Charisma

05:50 Overcoming the fear of public speaking

07:06 The importance of communication skills

11:19 Techniques for effective presentations

17:39 The memory palace technique

20:47 Making sales presentations engaging

25:11 Example of a cold open

26:55 Tips for sales managers to make meetings more interesting

29:56 Preparing for public speaking

34:12 The importance of authenticity in sales

37:10 How to react when your sales conversation is tanking

41:43 Where to find Bill

Thanks so much to Bill for all the great insights!

If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to rate the show five stars and subscribe.

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Bill:

Website: Corporate Charisma

Corporate Charisma LinkedIn: Corporate Charisma on LinkedIn

Bill’s LinkedIn: Bill Conry

Comedy Instagram: BCON101

All founders need to listen to this!

Fergal is joined today by Heath Barnett, VP of Revenue at Mixmax.

From launching his first company in his early 20s to leading high-performing revenue teams at Uber, Airwallex and Mixmax, Heath opens up about the highs and lows of founder life, including the personal cost of burnout, and how those experiences now shape the way he builds sales teams.

He also shares his take on AI in the sales world and also what he’s learned from starting his own podcast.

Fergal and Heath also discuss:

• How the “Plan Selling” framework works
• Why BANT and MEDDIC no longer cut it
• The importance of aligning with buyer priorities
• Building full-cycle AEs to improve pipeline flow
• The future of SDRs and sales roles in the AI era
• How to create a sales culture of accountability, ownership and grit

Timestamps

00:00 Intro to Heath

00:44 Lessons Learned from the First Startup

09:02 Joining Mixmax and Revolutionising Sales Engagement

13:00 AI in Sales

14:54 What most sales frameworks get wrong

21:26 Qualifying Leads with CHAMP

22:20 “Plan Selling” explained

24:36 Incentives, onboarding and long-term account growth

25:45 Changes in SDR and AE Roles

35:54 The Revenue Bow Tie Model

38:12 Launching a Podcast

41:38 Where to find Heath

Thank you again to Heath for coming on the podcast! If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to subscribe and rate the show 5 stars.

Connect with Fergal:

Website: www.sysvelocity.com

Contact: Get In Touch

LinkedIn: Fergal O’Carroll

Learn how to boost client retention and revenue with Fergal’s Key Account Planning Workshops

Connect with Heath:LinkedIn: Heath BarnettPodcast: Mixology by MixmaxWebsite: Mixmax.com