Beyond the Sales Playbook: The #1 Skill for Getting Ahead in Tech with Emma Maslen

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Nov 19, 2025

Emma Maslen, an accomplished author, angel investor, and founder of Inspir'em, shares her insights on the practical application of sales playbooks. She highlights the difference between theoretical frameworks and their real-world usage, advocating for curiosity over checklists. Emma also emphasizes the necessity of intentional networking, explaining common pitfalls and strategies for successful connections. She underscores that networking should be a consistent commitment, offering valuable advice on establishing and nurturing professional relationships.

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INSIGHT

Founders Need Structural Shortcuts

Working with founders revealed many shortcuts to apply corporate sales playbooks early-stage.
Founders often lack sales structure and benefit from targeted, small-bite guidance.

ADVICE

Network Before You Need It

Network continuously; don't wait until you urgently need it.
Talk to people about career intentions early and ask for small, specific favors.

ADVICE

Be Intentional And Generative In Networking

Avoid calling your network only when you need something; offer help first.
Purposefully target the people and groups that map to where you want to go.

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In this episode of the Great Leaders UK series, we welcome Emma Maslen, author, angel investor, and founder of inspir'em. Emma draws on her successful career in large organizations like SAP and BMC to discuss the crucial difference between theoretical playbooks and their real-world, behavioral application. She stresses that the playbook is a framework to drive curiosity and risk mitigation, not a tick-box exercise. Emma also shares why networking is a constant professional necessity, detailing the common mistakes people make and how leaders can intentionally build their networks to gain knowledge and accelerate their careers. 🙌 Thanks to Our Sponsors! PGAI: https://www.getpg.ai Selr: https://selr.ai 🏹 Key Topics Covered 01:40 - What's inspir'em? 03:06 - It's about curiosity, not checklists 04:36 - The flaw of the "100% Med-Pic score" 06:50 - Why the playbook can't be a preach 11:09 - Leaders not present during sales training 12:05 - Verbalizing questions and intentionally 14:13 - Customizing the discovery process 16:48 - Discovery is a Two-Way Dating Process 18:05 - Career Shift from corporate MD 25:37 - The Power of Networking 30:50 - Good vs. Bad Networking 35:51 - Networking for internal success. 41:05 - The value of community 51:37 - The value of coaching 💥 3 Biggest Lessons: The Playbook is a Framework for Curiosity, Not a Checklist: When Meddic, Med-PICC, or any framework becomes a mere tick-box exercise, it becomes pointless. It should instead function as a tool to continuously drive curiosity, expose risks in your pipeline, and prompt deeper questions. Winning Requires Leadership Buy-In (Not Dictation): Sales training fails when executives and leaders see it as something "done to the sales team," often not even attending the training themselves. Successful adoption requires the playbook to be a dialogue driven by empathy and shared accountability. Networking is a Professional Must (Not Just a Job Hunt): Many people only realize they have a networking problem when they desperately need a new job or advice. Good networking is about proactive investment: focusing on who you can help, giving back to the network, and making small, specific asks to gain knowledge, not just taking. 💬 Notable Quotes "There are still a lot of organizations out there that think Meddpicc is something to be done to the sales team." "If it's become a tick box exercise, you might as well just get rid of it because it becomes pointless." "It should be a framework to drive curiosity." "People feel like networking is about finding another job rather than being better at your current job." "I once said to him, why are you mentoring me because I'm like here and you're here and he said, because you've got a whole different perspective." 🙌 Thanks for listening! This episode was hosted by Simon Kouttis and Ollie Kuehne, founders of Hunters & Unicorns, and post-produced by the team at videoforce.pro. If you enjoyed this episode, please drop a like/share and subscribe to our channel! 🦄 Connect with Hunters & Unicorns Website: http://huntersandunicorns.com Twitter: / huntersun1corns Instagram: / huntersandunicorns Blog: http://huntersandunicorns.com/blog #softwaresales #huntersandunicorns #playbookuniverse