

Revenue Builders
Force Management
Welcome to the Revenue Builders podcast, a weekly show featuring B2B sales leaders and executives. Hosted by Five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management’s Co-Founder John Kaplan, the show goes in the barrel, behind the scenes with the people who have been there, done that and seen the results. Revenue Builders covers the best practices for scaling and growing your business, while sharing the pitfalls to avoid. Great conversation. Solid interviews. Tangible takeaways to help you succeed. If you enjoy our content, please subscribe, rate and review the show to help us reach more people.
This show is brought to you by: Force Management where we help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Check out forcemanagement.com more information.
This show is brought to you by: Force Management where we help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Check out forcemanagement.com more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 21, 2023 • 51min
Responding to RFPs in B2B sales with Scott Sinatra
Scott Sinatra, CEO and co-founder of Bountiful and a former senior sales leader at Glassdoor and LinkedIn, shares his expertise on navigating RFPs in B2B sales. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships within organizations and having a strong internal champion. Scott discusses the challenges of responding to vague RFPs and the critical need for strategic communication. He also highlights the necessity of making informed go/no-go decisions and aligns proposal criteria with client needs to stand out in competitive markets.

Sep 17, 2023 • 18min
Command and Control of the Business with Murray Demo
In this episode, John McMahon and John Kaplan host Murray Demo, a seasoned CFO with a wealth of experience at renowned companies. Murray shares valuable insights on the transition from sales leader to business leader, emphasizing the need for aligning with company-level problems and becoming a strategic thinker. The discussion explores the ideal profile of a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) with a focus on business acumen and alignment with company goals. Murray also discusses the challenges of budgeting during economic downturns and the delicate balance between fiscal responsibility and agility. Key metrics for evaluating sales performance, including command of the business, pipeline management, and discounting, are highlighted. The episode concludes by addressing the burden of budgeting within organizations and the importance of aligning compensation programs with corporate strategies.KEY TAKEAWAYS[00:00:50] Transition to Business Leadership[00:04:05] Aligning with Company Priorities[00:05:02] Adapting During Tough Times[00:16:06] Aligning Compensation with StrategyHIGHLIGHT QUOTES[00:00:50] Becoming Business Leaders - "The best sales leaders are actually business leaders. They've made a transition from carrying the bag and trying to make their number."[00:04:05] Sales and Business Strategy - "So how do my priorities or the company priorities get funded and does my team know that I utilize my seat at the table as well as I could to try to better the sales organization?"[00:05:02] Adapting During Tough Times - "When the recession hits, customers just don't have as much money to buy things. So you're going to have to pull back in marketing and you're going to have to pull back on sales."[00:16:06] Aligning Compensation with Strategy - "I think there has to be some thoughtfulness about how you transition from, you know, here's your quota. Here's what you can do on accelerators. It's all cash. To start mixing in more stock as you go."Listen to the full episode with Murray Demo in this link:https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/leading-through-economic-challenges-with-murray-demoCheck out John McMahon’s book here:Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4
Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management

Sep 14, 2023 • 55min
How to be a Well Being in Sales
Jim Pouliopoulos, storyteller, author, and Senior Lecturer at Bentley University, discusses the importance of happiness in business and life. He emphasizes focusing on the process rather than the outcome and shares insights on minimizing negativity bias. They also explore the impact of regret on living in the present and the significance of character traits in sales hiring.

Sep 10, 2023 • 16min
Learning Leadership with Jeremy Duggan
In this episode, hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan sit down with Jeremy Duggan, a seasoned sales leader with a track record of success. They delve into the challenges and strategies of building a sales team from scratch and inspiring them to achieve greatness. Jeremy emphasizes the importance of data, facts, and transparent leadership. He shares insights on the three R's of leadership, leading indicators for success, and the role of education and development in reaching sales goals. The episode highlights the value of constant self-improvement and learning in the dynamic world of sales leadership.KEY TAKEAWAYS[00:01:09] Starting from Scratch and Inspiring Teams[00:01:51] Data and Facts in Leadership[00:02:03] Leading Indicators for Success[00:02:44] Education and Development[00:13:13] The Importance of Full Transparenc[00:13:38] Continuous Self-ImprovementHIGHLIGHT QUOTES[00:02:27] The Winning Lottery Numbers of Leadership - "What I say to people here is, when I talk to you about leadership and the three R's or the leading indicators in sales, what I'm actually doing is handing you the winning lottery numbers. All you've got to do is go down to the shop and buy a ticket."[00:05:41] The Importance of Inspection for Improvement - "Inspection is a mechanism for improvement because they know you have their best interest at heart."[00:09:18] Self-Coaching and Continuous Improvement - "I didn't really remember big mistakes, even though I know I've made loads of little ones because, for me, the whole point of making a mistake is immediately recognizing it, and then you figure out why you did it so you don't do it again." [00:11:28] Participate in Your Own Rescue - "You have to participate in your own rescue and have self-awareness and self-reflection. You don't wait for anybody to tell you or give you feedback. You give yourself the feedback first."Listen to the full episode with Jeremy Duggan in this link:https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/all-you-need-to-know-about-good-leadership-with-jeremy-dugganCheck out John McMahon’s book here:Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4
Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management

8 snips
Sep 7, 2023 • 1h 8min
Product-Led Growth in B2B Sales with Oliver Jay
Oliver Jay, former Chief Revenue Officer of Asana, discusses product-led growth (PLG) in B2B sales. He explains PLG's impact, different models, factors to consider, managing trials, and combining PLG with sales-led growth. The importance of measuring metrics and analyzing user behavior is highlighted, as well as challenges and strategies for expanding upmarket in PLG.

Aug 31, 2023 • 55min
Perfecting the Process with Terry Tripp
Terry Tripp, CRO of Tines, discusses the importance of a well-defined sales process and shares the top three things he focuses on when starting a new role. He also explains the concept of SOAR and how Tines is disrupting the cybersecurity market. Other interesting topics include the importance of thorough discovery before entering an account, the significance of hiring the right person, and the value of authenticity in leadership.

Aug 24, 2023 • 57min
Lessons Learned in Growing Sales Organizations
Listen to lessons learned from powerhouse revenue builders Carlos Delatorre, Dennis Lyandres, and Mark Thurmond. Topics include hiring while scaling, leadership lessons, removing friction for sales teams, assessing readiness of leaders, importance of managing time and prioritizing tasks, learning from failure in recruiting, and influential leadership over command and control leadership.

11 snips
Aug 17, 2023 • 59min
Building the Business Case with Dick Thomas
Sales consultant Dick Thomas discusses the importance of quantifying solution value and solving business problems in sales. He highlights the value pyramid, gold miner discovery, value-based demo, and business case ROI model as key components. Real-life examples are provided to showcase the competitive advantage gained by mastering these strategies.

Aug 10, 2023 • 55min
Little Things That Make a Big Impact in Sales with Anthony Palladino
Anthony Palladino is the Chief Revenue Officer at mabl. mabl is the enterprise SaaS leader of intelligent, low-code test automation that empowers high-velocity software teams to embed automated end-to-end tests into the entire development lifecycle.Prior to mabl, Anthony spent five years at Splunk from pre-IPO through $1 billion in revenue as the leader of their Americas Field Organization. As Chief Revenue Officer at Aisera, the industry’s first AI Service Management solution, he helped define the company’s product market fit, built and ramped their customer-facing functions, and increased revenue eightfold. Prior to Aisera, Anthony was the Senior Vice President at CloudBees overseeing global field operations. In just over three years, CloudBees quadrupled its revenue. A holistic growth leader with experience in building customer-facing organizations, go-to-market strategies, and diverse partner networks.In this conversation with John McMahon, Anthony discusses the importance of focusing on the little things in sales to drive big results. He emphasizes the need for disciplined execution, maintaining urgency with customers, and developing compelling energy in sales conversations. By identifying the deltas and addressing them, sales teams can build good habits and drive successful outcomes. Palladino also highlights the significance of documenting fit and gaining consensus in sales conversations.HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT:[00:02:03] Overview of Mabl and its impact on revenue, profitability, and risk[00:05:26] Top priorities for exploring with the salesforce[00:08:02] Importance of focusing on the little things that make a big difference[00:11:01] Example of using a sequence to drive pipeline generation[00:20:26] Importance of identifying and teaching people the knowledge areas[00:32:59] Creating compelled energy to compel customers to move forward[00:39:18] Importance of documenting the fit and gaining consensus in the first meeting[00:44:46] The components of compelled energy and the exit criteria for the first meeting[00:50:41] Importance of documenting customer requirements and identifying champions[00:55:24] The challenges of being a CRO and the importance of hiring well[00:58:00] Building a leadership team and establishing a common goalHIGHLIGHT QUOTES[00:53:41] "Who do we think is the champion? Right? And it's probably who do we think is the champion? Because an understanding if you're new to the organization, there's probably not a firm notion of what a champion is. And, you know, the definition we have is person with political respect and or technical authority who fights for us when we're not there and I have the and or in their job, because I think in a lot of cases with consensus, certain environments, those 2 things are very distinct today in some cases." - Anthony Palladino[00:57:59] “I think establishing a leadership team that is with each other. They're supporting each other. They're with each other. You're sharing that common goal to the mission. And but doing it, you know, as people and really creating that that's that's I think it doesn't come easy because you have to create a special relationship.” - Anthony Palladino Learn more about Anthony through this link:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypalladino/Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064
Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management

Aug 3, 2023 • 56min
Driving Accountability and Building Trust with Chris Riley
Chris Riley serves as President of Worldwide Field Operations of DataRobot, where he is responsible for accelerating the company’s revenue growth and global footprint, bringing DataRobot to organizations across all industries and geographies. Riley previously served as Chief Revenue Officer for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) leader Automation Anywhere, where he led global sales in over 90 countries and managed an ecosystem of over 1,900 partners. Prior to Automation Anywhere, Riley served as President of Global Sales at Dell Technologies, where he was responsible for a multi-billion dollar route to market. Riley also served as Vice President and General Manager for HP’s storage business at HPE. Riley lives in Naples, FL with his family.In this conversation with John McMahon, Chris discusses the importance of understanding the culture and processes of a new organization when stepping into a leadership role. He emphasizes the need for leaders to be adaptable and willing to learn from their teams. Chris also highlights the significance of metrics and productivity in managing a sales organization, as well as the importance of hiring the right people and providing them with the necessary training and development. He shares insights on building trust with the sales team, prioritizing pipeline generation, and the role of mentors, coaches, and godfathers in a leader's career.HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT:[00:01:51] Overview of what DataRobot does and its applications[00:15:13] The importance of work ethic, coachability, and aptitude in hiring[00:23:47] Characteristics of successful leaders and the consequences of failure[00:38:48] The most critical step in the sales process and the importance of a champion[00:47:26] Navigating a sluggish economy and advice for salespeople[00:54:15] The importance of hard work, generating pipeline, and following the processHIGHLIGHT QUOTES[00:22:02] "A mentor is somebody you can speak openly without fear of judgment." - Chris Riley[00:36:35] “A good leader builds trust with the team and shows genuine interest in their success.” - Chris RileyLearn more about Chris through this link:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisriley3/Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064
Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management


