Preface:  Orrin Broberg has such a diverse and fascinating background in selling.  He has worked in some of the largest organizations through starting his own companies.  Whenever, I talk to Orrin, he is deeply thoughtful about all the business, strategy, leadership, growth issues that arise in our conversations.  But the thing that’s always struck me is is deep involvement, in support of his teams, with the customers.  His final sentence sums things up:  “Call it sales if you want, but to me, it is connecting, understanding, educating, and solving problems. I was raised in a perfect family to do that.” […]

Preface: Sheevaun Thatcher is a well known leader in the Rev Ops community. We were talking about this series, I said, “I’d really love your views on this, but you aren’t a ‘seller.’” Sheevaun quickly corrected me, “Dave everyone sells, every day!” This is such an important concept for everyone, yet too often we forget it. We think the sellers are those that carry quota. But everyone in the organization carries goals and to achieve those goals they need to engage others and get their support in moving forward. None of us can achieve our goals/quotas alone, we achieve them […]

Preface: For those of you who are fortunate enough to know Maddy Goldberg, you might be asking yourself, “I didn’t think Maddy was a sales person…..” In reality, everyone sells! We are always trying to get others to buy into our ideas or strategies, to do things that are important to achieving our goals, to change and move forward. When I first met Maddy, I was immediately struck by her ability to engage people in meaningful ways. She has an ability to listen deeply. She always demonstrates her caring in every interaction. And these are critical in moving forward. Two […]

Preface: “Yo dudes and dudettes…..,” in reading this I learned something new about Spence Wixom. I learned he is a surfer and that he was hitting the waves just about 30 miles north of where I was trying to hit the waves…. Wish I had known back then, we could have had some great conversations waiting for the right wave. More seriously, Spence is one of a small number of people I include in my “kitchen table board of directors.” He and I share ideas about the state of selling and how we can drive improvement. His story, is similar […]

Preface: Jose Andrade is a thoughtful sales leader with one of the most varied backgrounds I’ve seen. In working with Jose, I’ve come to deeply appreciate how he thinks about driving growth and performance improvement in the teams he leads, and his general approach to selling. He sums it up, “Although I enjoy developing successful sellers, I am still most satisfied when I see that what we sell to customers meets or exceeds their expectations.” Why I’m So Interested In Selling I worked as a sales engineer and trainer for a technology company, where I was exposed to fascinating technology. […]