Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

From an idyllic early childhood to enduring “unbelievable racism” as a teenager, sales and LinkedIn coach Niraj Kapur learned to adapt. After facing mental health challenges and “a horrendous divorce,” Niraj was ready to rebound — then the pandemic hit and his income went to zero. He threw himself into his consulting business, Everybody Works In Sales, and devised ways to make sales connections on LinkedIn. Today he is sought after as a speaker and sales coach who offers as his No. 1 piece of advice: Better understand the sales process and “engage with customers who are not doing business with you.” … After John laments that too many entrepreneurs and sales executives “take money from anybody to keep the lights on,” Niraj replies that he says “no to anybody” who isn’t a good fit.Connect with Niraj on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkapur/Twitter @nirajwriterInstagram nirajkapurFollow Sell Better to get the latest actionable tactics from sales pros at the top of their game:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYNJ0Become a member and never miss quota again:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYRV0

Daphne E. Jones is no stranger to adversity. As a young black woman interested in a STEM career, a career counselor once told her that she should be a secretary. Instead of blindly following this so-called “professional” advice, Daphne developed a plan to change the impossible to the inevitable. Since then, she’s held numerous executive and leadership positions with companies like IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and General Electric. Her tactical and structured approach to career ownership includes a realistic framework for envisioning, designing, iterating, and transforming your life. In this episode, Daphne opens up about her new book, Win When They Say You Won’t: Break Through Barriers and Keep Leveling Up Your Success, and offers valuable advice for overcoming the adversity in your life. Connect with Daphne E. Jones on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphne-e-jones/Get her new book hereOr Visit www.daphneejones.com/book Follow Sell Better to get the latest actionable tactics from sales pros at the top of their game:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYNJ0Become a member and never miss quota again:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYRV0

Growing up in Israel, Udi Ledergor studied magic, music, and puppeteering. He uses showbiz skills today, not on a stage but in business conference rooms as chief marketing officer for Gong, one of the hottest and fastest growing tech companies in the world right now. “I see B2B marketing as a way of performing to an audience and creating a show, creating truth and experience,” he says. As the 13th employee hired at Gong — which today has a headcount above 1,500 — Udi says scaling the company while fostering its inclusive “Gongster” culture requires tact and candor: Be “respectful to everyone in the room, but calling things out as they are, so we can fix them and move forward.” … Also hear John and Udi discuss the challenges of providing direct feedback to associates of different ages and backgrounds.Connect with Udi on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor/Or visit https://www.gong.io/Follow Sell Better to get the latest actionable tactics from sales pros at the top of their game:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYNJ0Become a member and never miss quota again:https://hubs.ly/Q01tLYRV0

From working his way up the ladder at Oracle to becoming a top executive at customer experience management platform Sprinklr, Mark Siciliano has invested in people. He reveals what he’s learned in the last quarter-century about sales, sales enablement, and what it takes to make an impact on people’s lives — both customers and colleagues. Treating others as they want to be treated “seems old school,” Mark says, “but technology has shot so quickly ahead of us that we forget that those core things still count.” Hear John and Mark riff on a musical analogy about the future of sales, when everyone will know how to play more than one instrument.Connect with Mark on LinkedIn at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksiciliano1/

The booming psychedelic industry offers hope to those with psychological challenges as well as opportunities for workers and investors, according to two pioneers in the business. Jay Godfrey and Richard Meloff left investment banking to create Nushama, a network of psychedelic wellness centers. Jay says his first experience with supervised use of psychedelics “uncovered things that I couldn't uncover in three years of therapy.” Seeing people living in fear during the pandemic inspired creation of the company, which is part of a fast-growing segment of healthcare that treats PTSD, addiction, and mood disorders. … John encourages people suffering to consider psychedelics and offers a reminder to those facing stress in sales: "You're never as good as your best deal; you're never as worse as your worst deal."Connect with Jay on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-godfrey-090b602/And with Richard here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmeloff/Find out more about their Nushama psychedelic wellness centers here:https://nushama.com/

Sales, social media marketing, and entrepreneurship coach Stacey Hall says many of us are in need of an alignment. Her new book “Selling from Your Comfort Zone: The Power of Alignment Marketing” argues that knowing yourself is essential for success in business. “You get into alignment with yourself, you get into alignment with the company that is selling something you can get behind,” she tells John, “and you get into alignment with the audience. Because if you can get behind that product, so can your audience. If it's a match for their needs, they'll get behind it.” … Hear John and Stacey discuss how understanding your core values can lead to success at work and in life.Learn more about Stacey at her website:https://www.staceyannhall.com/home/And connect with her on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceyhall1/

Sales is one of the only professions in the world where we’re expected to take a training or read a book and immediately apply what we learned to a real-world scenario without much practice. Most athletes spend over 80% of their time practicing and less than 20% of the time playing the game.Jonathan Mahan and Jordana Zeldin of The Practice Lab discuss with John the difference between practice, role play and memorization and how to structure practice so it makes a real impact on sales rep’s development and results. They also dive into the mentality you need to have for practice to be meaningful and how to teach genuine curiosity which is the super power of great sales reps. an online sales training platform. Jordana says that instead of rote playing and itches, sales professionals should provide "impactful questioning" of prospects, demonstrating "they're authentically curious in the context of a real conversation." Or as Jonathan puts it: “You can't truly sell in an enlightened, effective, top-of-the-line way, if you don't give a shit about what you're selling.” … Hear John Barrows describe being in the audience for a keynote that derailed into “one of the most awkward things I think I've ever experienced” — and get tips on how to avoid a repeat.Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtmahan/And Jordana here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanazeldin/The Practice Lab here:https://www.thepracticelab.co/ - applications for the q1 2023 cohort are now open.Wanna try this practice thing on for size? Join Jordana and Jonathan on the third Wednesday of every month for WHEEL OF OBJECTIONS, a fun and free practice-based training on a fresh approach to tackling your most common objections:http://lu.ma/tpl-wheel-of-objections

Salespeople are free to be “who we can be,” says Nikki Ivey, who used a career in sales to leave life in the housing projects far behind. From first working at a used car lot in Hinesville, GA., she rose to become a newly hired key executive at John’s company, JB Sales. As a director of training she wants to lead by example, and as a Black female executive in corporate America, “it's definitely about what people coming up right now are seeing as possible through me.” … John and Nikki “go there” and discuss race and racial identity in America and the sales profession.Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-ivey/

John Costigan (JC) has been in Sales and Sales training well before John Barrows (JB) got into the industry. JB has been a long time fan but the two never actually met until one day JC reached out to JB one day on LinkedIn with a message “it’s probably time we need to talk. I really admire what you’ve done to represent our space.”During their first call it was evident they shared similar values along with a similar mentality and approach to the profession of Sales. During this episode they talk about their respective training journeys and how JC broke through the noise by doing live cold calling on stage. They talk through tactics, strategies, what’s changed and what has stayed the same throughout the years in Sales.Recently JC fought and beat throat cancer which gave him a completely new perspective on life and appreciation of time. With JB’s dad passing recently they both shared how these challenges affected them and ultimately made them stronger and more purpose driven.Connect with John Costigan on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncostigan/

The majority of salespeople aren’t aware of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and how it can help in the sales process. If you haven’t heard of this (and even if you have), you’ll want to listen in to my conversation with Valerie Fischer, co-owner of The Conversion Engine and an NLP-Certified Practitioner. I was introduced to NLP early in my sales career but didn’t really get too deep into it because I thought it could be manipulative. But Valerie feels it’s really just getting to know your client and helps them to label their thoughts and behaviors. “It’s trying to understand what your clients think-points are,” Valerie says. “What are the possibilities they see for themselves. When you ask questions like that, you’re able ot squeeze that out of them.” We also delve into identifying whether your client is a visual, auditory or a kinesthetic person and how to mirror your messaging to take full advantage of these traits. We also discuss metamodel questions that can help get to the client’s actual motivations and goals for their business. Valerie says, “When you find your value, you find your purpose and they you find your why.”Connect with Valerie on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriepfischer/Find out more about Valerie’s ventures at:https://valeriepfischer.net/

Alabama football Coach Nick Saban doesn’t set lofty goals, but his teams win national championships. Guest John Talty, who covers the Crimson Tide as sports editor at Alabama Media Group, says Saban is “much more focused on what we need to do on a daily basis to put ourselves in a position to have success.” Creating a system where players and coaches share understanding of their roles and how they fit in with the team allows Saban to succeed year after year, Talty writes in his new book, “The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban.” … Coach Saban’s philosophy prompts John Barrows to challenge sales team leaders by asking, “When was the last time you actually really genuinely painted a vision for them about where you're taking this, and how they fit into that vision?”Connect with John Talty on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-talty-586642b/Get a copy of his book:https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Secrets-Nick-Saban-Alabamas/dp/1637740832 Connect on Twitter @JTalty

As founder of The Sales Evangelist, consultant Donald C. Kelly “sells sales to salespeople.” When he sat down with John they declared the conversation “just two sales guys talking.” But it was more a crash course in selling with observations like: Showing genuine curiosity engages clients; get “yesses” along the way; an empowered consumer “will buy all day;” avoid “fake personalization” in outreach, people know; work hard to land government contracts “because government people don't like to switch.” … John agrees strongly with Donald’s advice to educate prospects instead of dazzling them, advising him to use analogies and “help it make sense to them in their world.” Connect with Donald on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/

If you’re a sales professional whose job revolves around procurement, you’ll want to listen to my discussion with Mark Raffan, CEO of Negotiation Ninja. Mark provides a master class in negotiations because he knows all the tricks in this field as he used to work on the procurement side. “I come from the dark side, the other side of the procurement world,” he said. “I started in sales and moved into procurement.”One of the biggest fallacies in the world of negotiations is the “win-win” scenario. Renowned negotiator Chris Voss says “fair is like a four-letter word in negotiations,” and Raffan mostly agrees with this philosophy. “The whole idea of fair is really, really scary,” Raffan says. “But it’s also the foundation for win-win. I used to put stuff in my (starting) negotiations just to give them up just to make you feel good.”One aspect in negotiations we discuss is when you have to concede in pricing, make sure to get some sort of reciprocity, such as payment up-front or a larger order than originally intended. We also talk about “nice to have” solutions versus a “must have” solution, along with knowing when to walk away and the impact time has on negotiations.Connect with Mark on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/markraffan/Find out more about Negotiations Ninja:https://www.negotiations.ninja/

After battling a brain tumor as a teenager and depression as a young entrepreneur, wellness advocate Chris Mirabile “grew to appreciate that I was here, living still.” Today the founder and CEO of longevity company Novos Labs says he has slowed his aging process by 31% through a holistic approach to mental and physical health that includes meditation, aerobic and strength training, and a good diet. ”All of these different things, they all interact with each other, and they impact your physical health, your biological health, your emotional well being, and so on,” he says of what he calls his “longevity lifestyle.” … Hear John and Chris discuss how ego and entrepreneurship can pose unique challenges to mental and physical health.Connect with Chris on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismirabile/Follow his health journey here:https://slowmyage.com/

Lisa Catto caught John’s attention with her self proclaimed title on Linkedin as the Queen of Automation. John has been saying for years that automation is turning sales reps into robots so he had to have her on to discuss where automation can help and hurt throughout the sales process. Lisa says digital selling tools can be effective as long as they are “being valuable, not being creepy.” From finding leads to engaging prospects, online outreach can save time and resources and pave the way for more meaningful personal connections. “We have lost the art of building rapport and conversation,” she says, and automating mundane tasks like scheduling and exchanging basic information allows for better person-to-person communication. The London-based consultant and business coach warns, though, that abusing automation tools on LinkedIn and Facebook can lead to being banned on the platforms. … John challenges Lisa about the “fake personalization” sometimes found in digital outreach campaigns; she responds that good salespeople don’t try to fool potential customers and notes that standardized scripts have long been part of selling.Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcatto/

Shelton Banks is someone who embodies the “Make it Happen” mentality. He was a high school dropout who lived in a tough neighborhood growing up but didn’t want that to define him. He found a job on Craigslist that didn’t need a high school diploma and worked her way up to then get himself into finance and now runs two non-profit organizations focused on improving diversity in the workforce and “empowering untapped talent.” In this episode we talk about his journey and what he learned along the way. We also talked about the work he is doing now with organizations and why diversity isn’t just a good thing to do from a social standpoint, it actually helps companies become more successful and profitable!Connect with Shelton on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheltonbanks/Find out more about Re:Work Training:https://reworktraining.org/home

People looking for answers need to ask questions first, advises consultant and writer Christie Hunter Arscott, author of the upcoming “Begin Boldly.” You see children “asking so many questions about the world,” she says, adding that we should encourage curiosity and “teach people to approach life with a spirit of inquiry.” She says that trait is part of being successful, describing the high achievers she deals with in her coaching business as “the craziest curious people I've ever met.”Christie has been called “one of our generation’s foremost thinkers” on women and the workplace. Hear her help John better understand how his daughter looks at the world, where fear of failure can weigh more heavily on women than men. Her advice: Share stories about women who overcome adversity on their paths to success.Connect with Christie on LinkedInOrder her book “Begin Boldly: How Women Can Reimagine Risk, Embrace Uncertainty & Launch a Brilliant Career”

Sales trainer, and self proclaimed “King of Sales,” Jeffrey Gitomer has been in the sales game longer than most and he has the stats and social following to prove it. With over 15 books, many of them on the NYT Best Seller list, 70k followers on LinkedIn and thousands of followers on other social channels he has influenced millions of sales professionals throughout his career. In this episode John and Jeff talk about the power of personal brand, how the phone (cold calling) isn’t exactly a great way to sell but it is a great place to learn, characteristics of the best sales professionals and much more. John and Jeff also spar over the value of having front line sales professionals trying to catch the eye of prospective client’s CEO. Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreygitomer/

Brandon Bornancin, CEO and founder of Seamless.ai, has known John for more than a decade, back to when they started their respective companies. In that time Seamless, which helps clients broaden and deepen their business connections, has become one of the country’s fastest growing tech companies. On the podcast they discuss how passion can sometimes put people off, the difference between ego and confidence, why sales sometimes gets a bad rap, the state of entrepreneurship, dealing with toxic people, and what leadership means today.Hear how abiding by one of John’s guidelines to success — that you can learn something from anybody in any situation — helped Brandon connect with a Hollywood dealmaker.  Connect with Brandon on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbornancin/ 

After landing his dream job, Sean Castrina was set. Then new management spoke the dreaded words that the company was “going in a different direction.” His response: “I'm never ever going to depend on anybody again,” and an entrepreneur was born. He has since launched 15 companies, coached other business owners, and started a podcast. Among the traits of a successful entrepreneur, Sean says, “Number one is you see problems, and you naturally want to solve them.” He cautions that leaving work early is a thing of the past for entrepreneurs, but relying on yourself brings peace of mind.Hear John and Sean discuss how to navigate the “Bermuda Triangle” of startups, where companies can disappear because of lazy management.Interested in connecting with Sean?https://www.linkedin.com/in/seancastrina/When you’re done listening to “Make it Happen Monday,” check out Sean’s podcast, “The 10-minute Entrepreneur.”https://seancastrina.com/podcasts/10-minute-entrepreneur/

When Chris Schembra visited Italy and feasted on its food and love of life he realized he “was lonely, unfulfilled, … (and) overwhelmed.” After despair led him to self-harm, he discovered that embracing gratitude in the face of adversity is good for the soul and the bottom line. Today he is a successful consultant and author, having just released “Gratitude Through Hard Times,” a follow-up to 2020’s “Gratitude and Pasta.” He says too many of us suffer from “the plague of the ungrateful man, when you think that you've done everything yourself.” His remedy: Appreciate the contributions of others. Hear Chris open John’s mind about how his recently deceased father helped — and continues to help — shape him as a parent, husband, and person.Want to get in touch with Chris?https://www.linkedin.com/in/schembra/www.747club.org

Successful selling requires being able to “push past the concept of just the transactional mindset of sales,” says Dale Dupree, founder of the Sales Rebellion sales training company. He gained that perspective during his time selling copiers, which went from expensive tools to commodities. Rather than trying to win “a race to the bottom” on pricing, Dale says successful salespeople earn business by helping companies be more efficient and profitable. He also credits introspection and finding “something much deeper” for his recovery from depression and a suicide attempt — and he uses those skills today to better engage clients.Hear Dale and John discuss their shared histories in copier sales and how that shapes their approach to selling today.Interested in connecting with Dale?https://www.linkedin.com/in/copierwarrior/

In building his sales career, Jamie Shanks found he could make more genuine connections on LinkedIn than trying to “shake hands and kiss babies” at in-person networking events. Eventually, people were more impressed by his “social selling” skills than his products, and a career in training was born. The CEO of Pipeline Signals sales intelligence company shares how savvy account executives can “reverse engineer somebody's LinkedIn social network to look for referrals.” He adds that LinkedIn can provide a trove of data as well as connections to its 60 million active U.S. users.Hear Jamie tell John that because they forged an “authentic relationship” as competitors more than a decade ago, “good things will come out of each of our lives and businesses because of that.”Interested in learning more about Jamie and Pipeline Signals?www.pipelinesignals.com

Laura Palmer got into sales because she “always wanted to be paid what I was worth.” She sharpened her skills at Google and today Laura is a Web 3.0/Metaverse pioneer as global vice president of sales for Unity Technologies, a major video game industry supplier. As she scaled her career, she says it became even more important to listen to her team. That helped her identify why account executives in Asia were so conservative in booking sales: They feared a loss of face if the deal got derailed, which is much less a concern in the West.Hear Laura and John share in the excitement that business travel is returning, even if her “packing muscle” is out of shape. (Laura’s tip to beat jet lag: Force yourself to exercise in the morning.)Interested in connecting with Laura?https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-r-palmer/ 

Growing up poor in an affluent community could have left Scott MacGregor bitter, but he chose to be grateful for family and being born in the United States. The founder and CEO of the recruiting firm SomethingNew says appreciating what you have is a catalyst for “building relationships with amazing people” who share that outlook and can become business connections. Scott says be ready to “pump the brakes, and do things right the first time and not try to score easy quick wins,” whether that’s choosing fitness over a fad diet or building long-term business relationships over a fast buck.Hear how contributing to Scott’s book on gratitude helped John better realize the many opportunities life places in our path.Interested in connecting with Scott?https://www.linkedin.com/in/macgregorscott/

Pioneering designer Richard Banfield calls the product “a non-human salesperson” that can promote brand affinity and help generate revenue. He says meaningful communication between design and sales teams is “when you can get that truly innovative insight” to create products that don’t just dazzle consumers, they solve problems. Banfield credits his insights to the “fortune and misfortune of doing many different things,” including being trained as a microbiologist, serving in the South African army, and living off-grid on a remote island — all part of his path to becoming an innovative product leader.Hear how Richard is helping John grow his company by making sure vision and values, mission and strategies remain aligned.interested in connecting with Richard?https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbanfield/IG: richardmbanfieldhttp://www.richardbanfield.com/https://richardbanfieldart.com/

Mindset coach Amber Deibert: helps Silicon Valley business leaders get past impostor syndrome, which she once battled herself. She says too many top performers miss out on life’s joys because their accomplishments only reinforce a sense of unworthiness. She turns that thinking on its head, saying, “You cannot feel impostor syndrome unless you’re a  success.” Her advice to those afraid of achievement: Accept anxiety as a natural response to the mind being challenged, just as muscle ache follows a workout.  “Don’t make it mean anything about you,” she says.Hear Amber help John deal with his own impostor syndrome, which she says stems from a long-standing fear that he’s not smart, despite a successful business career.Learn more about Amberhttps://amberdeibert.comLinkedIn.com/in/amberdeibertAnd check out her podcast "The Achiever’s Podcast" available wherever you get your podcasts and at amberdeibert.com/podcast 

Business and brand development consultant Kasey Jones, CEO of A Better Jones, found inner peace and a fresh approach to business while recovering from a near-fatal dog attack. The growth strategy coach explains that healing her soul along with her body was part of “a period of personal discovery in a very, very powerful and rewarding way.” Hear how she learned to embrace emotional pain and today applies those lessons in business. She says many entrepreneurs waste too much energy worrying about what the competition is up to instead of serving the customer. “There’s room for all of us”.

Roderick Jefferson, Global Vice President of Enablement at PRO Unlimited, Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker talks about his experience surviving a near fatal stroke and his renewed outlook on life, faith, family and friends. We also discuss focusing on what you can control and the importance of asking for help.

Dave Gerhardt, Founder of ExitFive.com and author of Founder Brand, talks about sales and marketing alignment and how we should all be using our personal brands to promote ourselves instead of outsourcing. We also explore the idea of sales reps becoming marketers and the struggle companies now have with employees who have strong personal brands.

Melanie Fellay, CEO at Spekit and Forbes magazine 30, under 30 women CEOs, talks about the need to adapt herself through the different stages of her leadership role along with managing the pressures of being a young woman leader. We also focus the conversation on her personal values and the impact they have on company values and the importance of using her voice to support the different causes that are close to her beliefs.

Todd Caponi, sales author and historian, discusses the history of sales, the evolution of the profession of sales throughout recent history, and the importance of transparency in the future of sales.

Amy Volas, founder and CEO of Avenue Talent Partners, discusses decision-making and energy management versus time management. We also learn about her passion for journaling and how she uses journaling as part of her decision making process along with being meaningful and purposeful in ones career.

Kyle Porter, CEO of Salesloft, joins us today to talk about what it’s like to go from startup all the way to acquisition. Kyle dives deep into his experience, how he grew as a leader and what he did to stay consistent on his journey. We also chat about the future of sales tools and the necessary skills we must acquire in order to advance as sales professionals.

Larry Long Jr. Chief Energy Office at LLJR Enterprise discussing the importance of understanding your why and your core values. We also talk about the importance of staying positive through tough times and how to stay motivated.

Ralph Barsi, VP of Global Inside Sales at Tray.io breaks down accountability and how to hold yourself and others accountable along with removing obstacles as a leader and what your role is in that. Finally we look forward to five years into the future to see how we will feel about ourselves and our actions today.

Doug Landis, Growth Partner at Emergence Capital, discusses the importance of core values, and how recent events have forced companies and individuals to rethink those values. The great recession and how to attract and retain talent. Discussions and opinions on NFTs and the metaverse and the impact they're having on business.

Chris Merrill, Meghan Forgione, and John Barrows come together in the last episode of 2021 to reflect back on the year and talk about why 2022 will be even better for JB Sales. With the addition of new trainers, big company moves, the community growing legs of its own, and continuing to provide impactful events and experiences for revenue-facing professionals, this team is ready to amplify this next chapter.

In the spirit of giving thanks this past week, we are recognizing our membership community, who truly show up and show out for every webinar, livecast, AMA, and event we have. Thank you for bringing your greatness and energy!This episode, James Buckley talks with member Sterling Frandsen, inside sales representative at Tiled, about his career start in sales, early realizations, and how the JB Sales Membership has shaped his goals, performance, and mindset.

Nick Cegelski, AE at Time by Ping, frequently participates with the JB Sales teams on their webinars and is always a welcome guest, so we are thrilled to bring him back onto Make It Happen Mondays. This is a very tactical episode talking about what you can do before, during, and after the sale. Listen in for advice on how to manage deals, how to ensure you are moving in the right direction, and getting out of deals that you shouldn't be in.

This week Alice Shaff joins John to talk about how his trainings have helped her over the years launch a career from starting as an SDR, to Head of Business Development at Anjuna. She talks about mindset, how important it is to have mentors in business, and how you have to launch your sales career first because no one else will care as much. Alice's energy and motivation to stay successful is contagious.

Suneera Madhani, mentor, investor and Fortune's 40 Under 40 CEO at Stax by fattmerchant, joins John this week to talk about mom guilt, building a legacy of empowering women, and evaluating $10 tasks versus $10,000 tasks. This episode is filled with serious life advice from two different generations, actionable time management tips, and how to approach life knowing work-life balance does not exist for anyone. Suneera truly believes "You deserve to have it all" but to remember that "Hard work IS the shortcut."

Thank you for 1 million downloads of Make It Happen Mondays Podcast! We are incredibly grateful for your listenership and couldn’t be more proud of this milestone. Let’s countdown the top 5 episodes of all time!Episode #1: This week we’re replaying one of our most impactful episodes that we’ve ever produced on Make It Happen Mondays. Our guest is Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference, former FBI hostage negotiator, CEO and Founder of The Black Swan Group, and one of the most talented negotiators of our time. Chris and John talk about due diligence, loss aversion, discounts, emotional intelligence, language, and how all these things impact our negotiation results when we work deals in our pipeline.

Thank you for 1 million downloads of Make It Happen Mondays Podcast! We are incredibly grateful for your listenership and couldn’t be more proud of this milestone. Let’s countdown the top 5 episodes of all time! Episode #2: This week we’re pleased to have an award winning sales rep on the podcast. You may remember back at Dreamforce, Chili Piper threw a competition judged by John Barrows and other sales leaders. The criteria to win was to tell the panel about a deal you closed against the odds, using teamwork and generating a great solution for the buyer a the same time. Enter Danny Read from G2 who was one of the winners. In this podcast, he talks us through the story of his deal and the hurdles he overcame. This is a killer episode for AE’s out there looking to master the art of closing a deal!

Thank you for 1 million downloads of Make It Happen Mondays Podcast! We are incredibly grateful for your listenership and couldn’t be more proud of this milestone. Let’s countdown the top 5 episodes of all time! Episode #3: This replay of Episode 109 welcomes Sean Sheppard, who’s friendship spans years with John. Sean is a 5-time Founder and has 3 successful exits on his resume already, he’s now running GrowthX. He’s always been a salesperson, but Sean goes deep in this podcast about the routes of new sales professionals. His introduction to the industry involved building repeatable processes, testing and optimizing everything as far as you could. He cares a lot about helping the new generation of sales professionals to get that level of training and grounding.

Thank you for 1 million downloads of Make It Happen Mondays Podcast! We are incredibly grateful for your listenership and couldn’t be more proud of this milestone. Let’s countdown the top 5 episodes of all time!Episode #4: This replay of Episode 129 welcomes Tom Williams, Head of DealPoint (part of Clari), onto the podcast. Tom joins us and brings a ton of ideas on how top sales reps can be their best-self and make those small tweaks that really make the difference. We’re talking small tweaks to how you find the right prospects, how you run your calls and how you follow up. Nothing that any sales rep can’t do. Like us, Tom wants top sales reps to keep honing their craft to become even better every day. In this episode, you will learn about establishing transparency & trust, finding your best customers, and the “Mutual Action Plan” follow up.

Thank you for 1 million downloads of Make It Happen Mondays Podcast! We are incredibly grateful for your listenership and couldn’t be more proud of this milestone. Let’s countdown the top 5 episodes of all time!This replay of Episode 136 explains Armand Farrokh’s winning formula that allows him to crush quota repeatedly. Hitting 100% of quota is one thing but getting above 200% is a whole new ball game. Since the original episode has aired, Armand has become the Head of Sales at Pave. He details his process on staying focused, tunnel vision & time blocking, how he created massive efficiencies to increase conversion rations, creating confidence on the phone, and dealing with objections. He uses practical processes and tries to simplify the ball game of sales to make it easier.

Heather Monahan, Top 40 Keynote Speaker in 2020 and Best-Selling Author, comes together with John this week to discuss building confidence when you’re not the expert throughout all stages of your sales career. This conversation is filled with advice for sales reps and beyond on how and why you should listen to your gut & the voice in your head, searching for purpose, and shifting values as you move through life stages and workplaces. Heather’s book, "Overcome Your Villains", is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Heather and John don’t miss a beat in this episode that gets deep.

Jules Kun, social media marketing strategist for many of the trainers at JB Sales, talks about her start in social media (tweeting to chefs for free appetizers!), her favorite lessons from working with Daymond John’s team while he was on Shark Tank, and in this episode hosts a mini consulting session with John on redefining his own brand in sales. Some of Jules’ most important advice is: always be what you are best at, leverage your community on relevant platforms, and consistency rules over everything.

James Buckley takes over Make It Happen Mondays podcast this week as he brings on guest Ashleigh Early, founder of The Other Sales Coach and podcast host of “The Other Side of Sales”, to share their opposing views on sales reps leaving voicemails. Ashleigh believes salespeople should not leave voicemails in general, with some caveats, "because the 20-30 seconds spent leaving one does not garner an ROI". James likes to leave notes that are short & sweet with a little bit of context. This episode on voicemails even discusses cultural differences in salespeople, standing up for yourself, and walking away when it’s not right.