Taking the Lead

Adopting a sales methodology can help develop a successful sales process because it provides sales reps and managers with a scalable and predictable way of operating that ultimately determines the organization's ability to improve win rates. Further, it is critical that as many people as possible in the organization should be fully trained in the sales methodology to apply it successfully. But in many companies, even if the entire company has undergone comprehensive long-term methodology training by experts, employees may struggle to provide that level of training to others. In that case, the company has to allocate money from its budget to train new people on their methodology.Dina Gallay, Senior Specialist in Sales Enablement at Relativity, suggests a scalable way to train employees in the company’s sales methodology. "It's shadowing people, providing the resources (the talk tracks, the questioning strategies, objection handling), and a lot of role-play," says Dina.In this episode of Taking the Lead, Dina explains why she left people leadership and moved into the sales enablement sector. Dina and our host Christina Brady get into the similarities and differences between sales enablement and sales leadership and discuss the sales process and methodology.

If you work hard, succeed at your job, progress quickly, and contribute to your organization, you may eventually want to start your own business. While being a founder can bring you more money, more free time, and more freedom to implement ideas, there's no denying that starting a business is challenging, especially if you're a woman. Women generally face many more obstacles than their male counterparts in entrepreneurship. Some apparent challenges are gender bias and discrimination, but women often do not even have government support, and their access to funding is limited.In this episode of Taking the Lead, our host Christina Brady welcomes Samantha McKenna, the founder of #samsales Consulting. Sam describes her journey in sales and how she became a founder. Sam and Christina discuss sales, prejudices relating to jobs in sales, and how to create a successful brand.

An important segment of any organization is its employees — on whom the company's success depends. It is just as important to take care of your current employees as it is to find suitable candidates when recruiting new ones.That's why many choose to transfer employee management from manual to digital and use platforms and tools that quickly find suitable candidates.In healthcare, the Apploi platform can help you attract, hire, and engage talent. Their comprehensive analytics dashboard gives you complete visibility into every stage of the hiring process, and you can actively follow and analyze workforce, recruitment, and hiring trends at each of your facilities.In this episode of Taking the Lead, our host Christina Brady welcomes Natalie Lambert, the CRO at Apploi. Natalie describes the quota-carrying AM, retention-focused CSM, and enablement-focused CSM roles, and she gets into the importance of using discussion, debate, and commitment to reduce moments of friction at work. Natalie and Christina discuss how to structure a CSM team and how to start creating a compensation plan.

Data-driven teams use company-wide data insights to identify, advance, and achieve their business goals. And using data, you can have insight into how your employees operate daily.But inaccurate data can be a big problem that can lead to bad business decisions and negative business performance. Also, incorrect data can lead to a drop in productivity because everyone — sales, marketing, customer support, etc. — uses the same data.According to Stephanie Sanders, it's important to take action if data seems inaccurate and collaborate with others to get their perspective. "It's always about communication. It's always about being open to other perspectives and ways of looking at the same slice of the pie and then using that to help progress your agenda and everything else in the next situation," says Stephanie.In this episode of Taking the Lead, Stephanie explains how you can use data as a diagnostic and to make decisions. Stephanie and our host Christina Brady discuss the importance of being open to other perspectives when analyzing data, data usage in the sales funnel, and wrong data.

An executive is a powerful leader who is in charge of their company's growth, and it takes a lot of hard work, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills to become one.But you can be authentically yourself and still be a successful executive. In this episode of the Taking the Lead podcast, our host Christina Brady welcomes Jamie Kirmess, the managing director at Shift Paradigm. They talk about the power of being yourself, how to embrace your biggest strengths, and why you should never stop learning.

A partnership is a relationship between two or more companies who come together to provide even more value to their customers. There are different types of partnerships — strategic, channel, or technical — and they can have a significant impact on the business. Each such relationship plays a specific part in the company’s strategy and must be entered into after giving it a lot of thought.In this episode of Taking the Lead, our host Christina Brady welcomes Jessie Shipman, the CEO and founder of Fluincy. Jessie and Christina get into the importance of partnerships and how a partnership strategy can improve business. They discuss strategic, channel, and technical partnerships, partnerships as a go-to-market strategy, and how a partnership team can achieve success.

When certain companies are hiring new people, usually the first step is to review the CVs of interested candidates. And then, the company eliminates those candidates who don't have the specific qualifications they're looking for, whether it's the experience in that job/industry or education.But if you just look at the resumes and reject candidates based on them, without talking to them, you can miss out on people who would contribute to your company. By rejecting diversity, that is, by not digging into each candidate before making a final decision, you may not hire the best.In this episode of Taking the Lead, our host Christina Brady welcomes Kimberly Evans, a global sales enablement director at Logz.io. Kimberly and Christina get into the importance of diversity in the company and providing opportunities for people. They discuss how previous experiences can be used in a completely new environment and how companies can contribute to increasing diversity.

''What do you want to be when you grow up?'' is one of the most common questions kids are asked. But what about adults? Just because someone finished school, got a job, and succeeded doesn't mean they are happy where they are. Maybe they still wonder what they want to do when they grow up. After all, growing up is a life-long process. Of course, at some point, life kicks in; we have to pay the bills and earn a living. Therefore, it is critical to set priorities, be realistic with your resources, and see what's important to you and will make the lives of you and your loved ones better. So, don't assume. Instead, seek to understand yourself and others.In this episode of Taking the Lead, we have a fantastic guest — a woman who proves that determining what you don't want to do is sometimes more important than knowing what you want to do. She is Margaret Weniger, once a successful sales leader, and now, an entrepreneur and a podcast host living her purpose. Margaret and our host Christina Brady discuss the challenges and concerns of quitting the well-trodden career path and digging into the unknown. Margaret shares why she decided to step out of the sales leadership role and dedicate herself to creating a space for women to share their stories and become entrepreneurs. They also discuss what it takes to be a good leader and how celebrating and learning from small victories is the path to great success.

Believe in yourself and never settle for less than your authentic self. But that's easier said than done, especially in the corporate world, where employees are sometimes expected to hold back a part of their personality and natural strengths to meet certain expectations.It's time to eradicate that belief and prove to executives that only a culture of trust and open communication drives success. Therefore, we asked Amy Hegarty, SVP of Sales at MedTrainer, to join us on this episode of Taking the Lead.Amy shares her professional and personal background and explains how a strong support system is a prerequisite for professional growth. She also talks about gratitude as the key ingredient of success and why encouraging employees to nurture and be their authentic selves in the workplace will help take the business to the next level. 

You have to work hard to get your dream job. You also have to continuously learn and be ready to take certain risks to reach your goal.However, despite a strong desire, many people are insecure and afraid to step into something new. They are lulled into the routine of their current job, and although they are aware that they will not progress there, they remain in their comfort zone and do not make their career into what they really want.Megan Dimmer is someone who has taken risks to make her dreams come true. She made decisions that may seem frightening to some. But, those calculated risks are why she is the CRO at Esellas today.In this episode of Taking the Lead, Megan gets into her career journey and describes her transitions through it. Megan and our host Christina Brady discuss career planning, taking career risks, and the importance of having your life team.