Untap Your Sales Potential

In her first year of coaching, Katie Pierce nearly doubled her income from $250K/year to $500K/year. But what’s most interesting is that we didn’t focus on her sales skills at all. Instead, we focused on her self-care and work habits.

Prior to coaching, Katie was consistently hitting around 100% of quota, but doing it the hard way and burning herself out. She would put things off for most of the year, find herself at 25% of her number in Q4, then grind through late nights to barely hit quota the last month of the year. On the outside, she was one of the most joyful people you'd ever meet. On the inside, she was exhausted, and she knew something had to change. That’s when she decided to get help.

In one of our first coaching sessions, we sat down to set her goals for the year. Katie realized she would never reach them until she dealt with something personal she had been avoiding for years. So that's where we started. She found a therapist, and between her therapist, our monthly coaching and her weekly calls with our group, she had support every step of the way.

After courageously facing her demons, we began to work on her mindset. Early in her career, a manager she looked up to told her to land right at 100% of quota so the company wouldn't raise it the next year. She had been playing small ever since and holding herself back. So we set a goal that scared her: $4 million, more than she had ever sold in a year.

Then we built the work habits to get there. She started planning tomorrow before logging off today, running her year in 12-week sprints, and starting every morning with a routine that sets her up to feel her best.

She also started rigorously qualifying every deal upfront. Her criteria were simple: she needed to be connected to power, solving a significant business problem with substantial pain, and have confirmation that addressing the problem was a high priority for a senior executive.

She blew past her goal. In her first year in the program, Katie sold $4.2 million, finished at 275% of plan, and made almost $500K. This year she's tracking to 150% and on track for President's Club again, while planning her wedding, hiking, and making time for the hobbies she loves. The Q4 scramble is gone.

Near the end of our conversation, Katie said something I loved. Most of us wouldn't think twice about spending $25,000 on a car, but nobody tells us it's okay to spend that kind of money on ourselves. She told me that on her own, it would have taken her 20 years to double her income. She did it in just one year and saw a 10x return on her coaching investment.

Her story is proof of something I believe deeply. Most people think they need to hit the number before they can be happy. It works the other way around. When you focus on your happiness and self-care first, the results follow.

In this week's podcast, Katie shares how she put herself first and nearly doubled her income in the process.

We discuss:

• What was really behind her cycle of coasting all year and cramming in Q4
• The goal-setting session that changed everything
• Her five-minute reset to avoid procrastinating
• The worst sales advice she ever got, and the $4M goal that replaced it
• Why every deal she works needs an executive connection
• Why facing her demons changed everything
• Her commitment to ongoing health

If you're barely hitting your number and burning yourself out to get there, I strongly encourage you to watch this entire episode.

If there's something you've been avoiding for years and need to face, Katie’s story will inspire you.

Learn more about Untap Your Sales Potential at: https://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/

In this Fireside Chat episode, I sat down with Matty Pauls, an OG member of Untap Your Sales Potential and a 1:1 client who just renewed his membership for a fourth year. Matty is a top performer who has grown his average deal size to 500K+, closed record-breaking deals, and recently took a bold leap to a Series A startup while training for a marathon and showing up for his family and community in a big way.

Normally, our Member Spotlights stay inside the program. The Member Spotlight calls are designed so that highly successful clients can share their story, inspire others, and allow other UYSP members to get coaching from their top-performing peers in the program. The stories are very inspirational, and the reason why I love coaching.

After this particular conversation, I knew in my heart that others needed to hear it. In a world which often feels dark and overwhelming, this particular conversation brought light, joy, and peace to myself and many others in our community.

This conversation was so powerful that, with Matty's permission, I am releasing it to the public for the first time.

Why this conversation matters

We talked about the things that actually make success feel like success: family, gratitude, spirituality, and aligning your pursuit with what is truly important. If you chase the wrong things, you will keep chasing. Hearing that truth from a top performer who is still in the arena makes it land.

Top lessons from Matty's journey

Family first is a choice, not a slogan. Matty reshaped his career to be more present at home. He volunteers at school, serves in his community, and builds rhythms that reflect his values.

Gratitude is a skill. On hard days, Matty returns to a simple gratitude practice to reset perspective and energy.

Spirituality fuels resilience. You need a reason bigger than yourself. Faith, prayer, church, or quiet reflection can give you the courage to keep moving forward.

Imposter syndrome can be a green light. Feeling stretched often means you are in the right room. Use it as proof you are growing.

Executive selling starts with service. Get to power early. Be honest about fit. Focus on the reason behind the reason. When it is not a priority, say so.

Confidence comes from integrity. When you are good with who you are, you can let go of neediness and put the full focus on the customer.

Community changes outcomes. Coaching, brotherhood, and mentors help you remember who you are on the days you forget.

Progress beats perfection. After a setback in marathon training, Matty recommitted. He finished the run by changing the target from speed to finishing strong.

Coaching you will hear Matty give on the call:

Winning access to executives: Ask your executives to engage their peers. Ghostwrite short, direct emails. Senior leaders love to help when you make it simple.

Deal qualification: If there is no executive sponsor, it is not a real deal. Cut cycles early and redirect your energy.

Mindset hygiene: Use meditation, gratitude, and honest conversations to process negative thoughts rather than suppress them.

Career moves: Evaluate roles by impact, values alignment, and the chance to build, not just by brand name or comfort.

Serving beyond sales: Say yes to meaningful work in your community. Service expands capacity and perspective.

A few moments that hit hard:
"I am a leader of my family, my company, and myself."
"Pace is forward."
"Remember who you are."

This one will encourage anyone who is grinding yet feeling empty. It will also sharpen how you sell to power without making it about you.

Learn more about Untap Your Sales Potential at: https://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/

Salman Mohiuddin was once put on a PIP.

His manager asked him, “Is sales even right for you?”

He started looking at marketing and finance jobs as a backup plan.

Instead of leaving, he looked deeply in the mirror, asked what he could do better, and committed to improving every day.

He went on to spend 17 years as a top performing AE at IBM, Salesforce, and Asana. He closed the biggest deals of his career and finished as the top AE on his team.

And he did it without ever having a drink at a happy hour, without missing his prayers, and with his phone put away for two hours every night so he could be present with his wife and three daughters.

Today Salman is one of the best sales coaches in the world. And I’m thrilled to share he just joined our coaching team at Untap Your Sales Potential.

This episode is two top sales coaches breaking down exactly what it takes to go from average to elite seller, including:

• Why deals are won and lost in discovery, and how to get to the “why” behind the problem
• How to quantify pain using the metrics your buyer is measured on
• Why understanding the problem your clients face is much more important than understanding your product
• Where most reps lose control of their deals (right after the demo)
• How to ensure 70% of your calendar get allocated to revenue-generating activities
• Why he decided to join the Untap coaching team
• How to win in sales without compromising your faith, values, or family

People think you have to choose between success and your values. Salman and I are proof you don’t.

Learn more about Untap Your Sales Potential at: https://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/

A few years ago, Eric Cullen wasn't sure he should even stay in sales.

This year, at 50 years young, he's on track to earn $1M.

For most of his career, Eric made around $300K a year and hovered right around his number. Some years a little above plan, some years a little below, but he never broke through to the next level. .

I first met Eric at Salesforce eight years ago. At 47, he joined Untap Your Sales Potential and we started working together. At his first mastermind, I had everyone close their eyes and picture where they would be in 1 year. People were crying and writing in their journals. Eric saw nothing. That moment made him look inward and realize something had to change.

The next two years were the two biggest years of his career. Last year he finished at 155% of quota and made President's Club. This year he got promoted, and he's on pace for the best year of his career.

The biggest shift was why he was selling. Eric used to wake up every day thinking, "I gotta make money, I gotta make money." As he puts it, he was coin-operated, and customers picked up on that.

Coaching got him out of that mentality. Now he shows up to make his customers the hero of their own story. He does the work to understand what executives care about most in his accounts, and brings them bold ideas nobody else is bringing. The money followed.

He transformed at home too. He used to be impatient with his family. Now he walks out of his office at five o'clock with enough energy left in the tank to throw the football with his son.

As Eric told me, without coaching he'd be in the same place he was a few years ago. Unhappy, frustrated, and probably looking for a new job.

Eric's story proves something I believe with my whole heart. When you put others first and help them succeed, the money follows.

In this week's podcast, Eric shares how he transformed his career and what it took to get there.

We discuss:

• How he let go of the "coin-operated" mindset and the impact it had with customers.
• The moment that made him realize something had to change
• How to sell consumption instead of licenses, and the transition from Salesforce to Databricks.
• Why he chose a hunter role instead of a farmer role.
• How to build a CFO ready POV by understanding a company’s financials.
• How to get to the business when you sell a technical product
• How he's become more patient at home, and the marriage advice I shared at the end

If you're a good seller who knows there's another level in you, I strongly encourage you to watch this entire episode. Eric’s story will inspire you and give you the exact blueprint you need to succeed.

If you've ever told yourself you're too far into your career to transform how you sell, this might be the exact story you need to hear today.

Learn more about Untap Your Sales Potential at: https://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/

The night after Ian Mai closed the biggest deal in his company's history, he couldn't sleep.

The deal was about 20 times the average deal size at the time. By every outside measure, it was a massive win.

But instead of celebrating, he felt more beat up and more broken than before. One question kept running through his head: how am I going to keep doing this?

He had built his entire career on pressure, stress, and anxiety. And he couldn't keep pretending he had it all together.

I think a lot of sellers experience some version of this.

When it's the end of the quarter and you're behind your number, you lock in. Pressure is the only thing that gets you moving.

But on a normal day, it's the opposite. You know exactly what to do. Call the prospect. Write the executive email. Build the proposal deck. And you sit there and can't make yourself start.

I deal with this too. Most mornings, I'll find something else to do before I start my workday. For example, right now there's a lead generation project for our business that’s one of the most strategic things we should do for our business, yet I've been putting it off for a month.

Most sellers spend two to three hours a day on RGAs (Revenue Generating Activities). If they could get that to four to six hours, it's game over. President's Club this year and every year thereafter.

But KNOWING what to do and DOING it are two completely different things.

That's why I wanted to host Ian Mai on our monthly Fireside Chat.

On paper, he had it all. Valedictorian. President's Club winner. Professional bodybuilder.

Behind the scenes, he was battling overwhelm, addiction, and shame. After hitting rock bottom, he cleared $60,000 in debt, lost 60 pounds, and saved his marriage.

With a background in electrical engineering and 12 years in technical sales, Ian now helps executives, founders, and sellers understand why they struggle to do the things they know they should be doing. His approach combines neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and faith.

What I loved is that he didn't just explain the problem. He gave us practices we could use right there on the call.

What's actually happening in your brain

Ian explained that getting started takes two things: pressing the accelerator and letting go of the brakes.

The brakes come from the amygdala, your fight, flight, freeze response. It fires in under 300 milliseconds, faster than you can even notice it. That's the numb apathy you feel staring at your laptop screen.

Why constant dopamine makes deep work harder

Quick hits of dopamine from your phone, sugar, and scrolling lower your brain's sensitivity to it. Then the parts of your brain you need to focus and follow through don't get what they need.

Because your brain is constantly in search of immediate gratification, focusing and doing work that requires thinking feels much harder than it should.

Instead of understanding the reasons behind why we struggle to get started, I asked Ian to share and demonstrate simple techniques we can all start using immediately.

Learn more at: https://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/

Last week I had my mind blown by one of our clients Ahiman Alexander, who doubled his income during his time in our program from $220K to $420K/year.

The thing that impressed me most about Ahiman is that he found a way to apply strategic selling skills to his mid-market role at Asana, and scale this approach across 4,000 accounts!

His average deal size is just 15K, yet he will sell over 2M this year. That’s 10-12 deals per month! He set the record for the biggest deal in his division, and closed over 500K last quarter and is very close to hitting his aspiration goal of $750K this quarter.

Before joining the program, Ahiman was in a dark place, losing his father and mother in-law in a period of 6 months. That’s when he decided to go ALL IN on the program, and applied nearly everything I teach to his sales and personal life.

Here are the 10 things he applied which made the biggest impact:

Mindset

1. He found his why and connected it deeply with a daily mission statement.

2. He shifted from an inward to outward focus. Instead of trying to sell, he focused on serving

3. Stoicism + Process thinking – he detached from the results and attached to the inputs

Habits

4. He joined a 12 week year accountability group and sold more in 12 weeks than most do in a year at his company

5. Addition by subtraction – he cut out the habits that no longer served him in his personal life

6. He set boundaries around his work hours so he could be present with his family at home

Selling Skills

7. He applied the 80/20 rule and had 80% of revenue come from 20% of his deals

8. He had rigorous prospecting discipline and made sure to complete 50 touches per day

9. Qualifying ruthlessly – every deal had to complete a PREDICT scorecard(opens in new tab)

10. He coached and educated his clients on how to buy software and controlled the process.

Every month I run a Member spotlight, where our members get the opportunity to receive coaching from our top performing clients. This month’s member spotlight with Ahiman was so powerful that I asked if he’d be willing to share the recording with my public audience. He graciously obliged.

If you want to change your sales and your life very quickly, check out this video and hear exactly how Ahiman transformed himself and his results in such a short period of time.

I know you will be deeply inspired after hearing his story. I will also serve as a wake-up call to execute every day, serve your clients, and give everything you got so that you can become a person you are truly proud of and get the results you always dreamed of!

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

Christi Civalier was crushing it in sales and making half a million a year, but something was missing. Deep inside she knew there was another level of selling she had yet to reach.

She felt stuck in her career, and had hit a ceiling..

Five years ago, while I was still working at Salesforce, she started messaging me whenever I posted on LinkedIn, asking to work together. At the time I had no capacity for 1:1 coaching, and told her to stay patient until I launched my coaching business. When the first cohort of Untap Your Sales Potential opened, she was the second person to sign up. She still calls herself an OG.

We coached together for three years, which turned out to be the best years of her career. She mastered executive selling, and consistently closed large, transformational software deals. She had so much success in the program, that I asked her to coach on my team as a side hustle.

Then her clients started seeing similar results. One of her clients just closed a $34 million deal. He got there because Christi talked him into walking away from a smaller deal he had been chasing for months, which freed up his time and attention to go find a much bigger deal! She found coaching so fulfilling that she decided to quit Corporate Sales entirely this year to coach full time.

Christi’s story is inspiring and powerful. She's 59 years young, and a single mom to two teenage daughters. She’s the breadwinner in her house, and walked away from a lucrative sales career to follow her passion and make an even bigger impact in the world. She just finished writing a book, which will be released in a few months.

In this week's podcast, Christi shares how she reinvented herself and how she now coaches sellers to do the same.

We discuss:

• Why successful and stagnant is such a dangerous place to be
• What she learned at Untap your Sales Potential, and how it helped her reach the next level of selling
• What the million dollar earners actually do differently with their time
• Why she left a successful sales career at 59 and started over
• The book she's writing, Identity Under Pressure, and who it's for

If you look successful on the outside and feel stagnant on the inside, I strongly encourage you to watch this entire episode.

If you have ever told yourself it's too late to become the person you know you could be, this might be the exact story you need to hear today.

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

I get asked all the time how to break into Enterprise tech sales.

Since I don't offer career coaching, I decided to interview my good friend Daniel Borodyansky, who broke into Microsoft with no sales experience.

Not only did he share his step-by-step playbook for landing his dream job, he also broke down how he hit 97% his first year at Microsoft, then used that as motivation to crush his quota the following year.

This year, Daniel will make well over $500,000 and have his biggest year yet. He is also a father of 3, avid boxer, and launched his own company building AI sales systems for other sellers.

The craziest part? He's only 30 years old.

Here's what we covered on the latest episode of the Untap Your Sales Potential podcast:

• The exact goal-setting and journaling practice Daniel has used since he was 19
• Why the side door beats the front door when you're trying to land your dream job
• How to tell your story so your current experience counts as sales experience
• Why he spent $12,000 on coaching two weeks into his first sales role
• Missing quota his first year, and what he changed to have his biggest year afterwards
• The frameworks that reshaped how he sells: the 12 Week Year, territory planning, and thinking like a businessman instead of a seller
• The buyer-not-seller mindset he runs every call with
• How he uses AI as a thinking partner at every step of the sales cycle

If you want to land your dream sales job, this episode is for you.

And if you want to know how to crack $500,000 with just a few years of sales experience, this one's for you.

Learn more at: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

Nine years ago, a guy I just met at a mastermind was in the middle of a strange challenge. He was handwriting five thank you cards a day every day for a full year. This challenge eventually led to a book “The Mr. Thank You Project,” Ted Talk, and professional speaking business.

Not long afterwards, I started my own 365-day challenge, where I posted a motivational video every day for a year on Instagram. Those videos became the foundation of my sales coaching business, which ultimately became Untap Your Sales Potential, the world’s fastest growing sales coaching company.

So it's fair to say this company exists in part because of John Israel.

This week I finally got to sit down with John on our monthly Fireside Chat and hear his entire story. Including why he owns 205 chickens on his homestead outside Dallas, Texas.

Here's the part about John most people don't know.

John was the #6 seller out of 10,000 reps at Cutco, where he sold gifting services for client appreciation. And in his own words, he had become the most ungrateful gratitude salesman on planet Earth.

One evening he got home ready to complain to his wife about his day, and he stopped. She was nursing their newborn with one arm and handwriting a thank you card with the other. He couldn't appreciate this beautiful moment because he was too stressed and overwhelmed.

He has a name for that which he calls “perpetual discontentment.” That never-ending feeling that you aren’t where you’re supposed to be in life.

If you carry a quota, you probably know the feeling. Only allowing yourself to be happy when you’re performing, and typically that happiness is short-lived when you have to start all over again next year.

That was the catalyst. John committed to five handwritten thank you cards a day for 365 days, and that one year turned into a book, a TED talk, and a career built on a single idea: gratitude is one of the biggest, underutilized advantages in sales.

We covered a lot in this one:

• What he actually does with his 205 chickens
• The four black-and-white rules that made him finish 365 days straight, when most of us quit a challenge by day nine
• The $1,000-a-day bet that guaranteed he never missed a single day
• The "Story, Significance, Struggle" formula for building real connections fast (it lines up almost exactly with what we teach for executive conversations)
• How to make everybody in your life feel safe, seen, significant, and supported
• How he uses strategic gifting to turn expensive, hard-to-reach executives into lifelong customers
• The quickest way to get yourself to prospect every single day

If you've been grinding hard and still can't enjoy the results, this episode is for you.

Learn more at: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

There are only a few individual sellers on the planet who have sold 28M in a single year.

Mike Webster is one of them, and I just interviewed him last week as my Fireside Chat guest.

Mike is a top seller at a leading Microsoft services partner and reseller.

His numbers are absolutely insane – last year he sold over 28M against a 15M quota and had his best year ever.

He has broken 7 figures W-2 for the past several years, and his consistency is off the charts.

During this Fireside Chat, Mike and I dive into the following:

• Mike’s origin story and how he transitioned from Field Service to sales
• What character traits, qualities, and actions separate him from other sellers
• Knowing the value of your time, and your team’s time
• How to become a trusted advisor in his biggest accounts
• How to win 75% of your deals, even in competitive situations
• Why walking away early from deals is key to success, and when to walk away

And MUCH, MUCH, MORE.

Best of all, Mike is not a sales influencer or guru who gives out sales advice online.

He’s quietly crushing it at his company and practicing what he preaches,

Mike is the real deal, and this is the first public interview he has done where he shares his wisdom with the world.

Enjoy!

Learn more at: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

On paper, Ed Wakefield was successful by every measure.

Successful career in B2B sales.
President's Club winner at Salesforce.
Happily married with two young boys.

But behind the scenes, Ed was secretly struggling with alcohol.

18 months ago, he decided to get sober completely on his own.

No rehab, AA, or sponsor.

Instead of following conventional paths to sobriety, Ed built his own path based on discipline, replacement habits, changing his environment, and being radically honest with his wife.

His wake-up call came while sitting at an airport bar drinking a beer and watching his son's baseball game on his phone.

He looked around and saw two other dads doing the exact same thing.

Three fathers sitting at a bar, thousands of miles from home, watching their kids as dots on a screen while chasing business success.

That moment changed everything and he quit drinking on the spot.

In this week's podcast, Ed shares exactly how he got sober and changed his life.

We discuss:

• The moment he knew he needed to change
• The habits and routines he used to replace alcohol
• Why changing your environment is critical
• How sobriety has made him a better husband and father
• The importance of honesty, discipline, and community

This episode isn't just about alcohol.

It's about identifying ANYTHING in your life that is holding you back and having the courage to CHANGE IT.

Bad habits, addictions, or unhealthy behaviors and vices.

We all have something we can work on.

If you know there's something in your life that needs to change but aren’t quite sure how to do it, I strongly encourage you to watch this entire episode.

If you tried getting sober on your own and failed in the past, this might be the exact story you need to hear today.

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

Imagine working an 8.5M deal for an entire year, and still having the paperwork unsigned going into the last day of the fiscal year!

That would rattle anybody, but Rob O’Keefe fully trusted that the deal would close on Friday January 30th, and that’s exactly what happened.

He knew this because he had personally brokered 18 meetings between Senior Executives at his company (Docusign) and his customer, and he had a direct line to all key decision makers to ensure it would close on time.

This deal was the largest net new revenue deal of the year at Docusign, and helped Rob nearly triple his earnings from $350,000 to $970,000 W2 his second year in our coaching program, finishing at 248% of quota!

But Rob’s story isn’t just how he closed the big deal. It’s a story of persistence, determination, and resilience.

Before he “boomeranged” back to Docusign, Rob struggled with three and a half years of underperformance at startups. Then he decided to go back to Docusign, and didn’t sell anything for two quarters straight before landing his biggest deal on the last day of the fiscal year.

Most Enterprise reps would have called it quits during that “valley of despair.”

But not Rob.

He kept walking the hallways and building relationships with executives at an account which had been neglected for years.

He kept meditating twice a day and fully trusting himself and the process.

And when the deal finally closed, he could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing he had made the right decision returning to Docusign.

On the latest episode of the Untap Your Sales Potential podcast, I sat down with Rob to discuss how he closed one of the biggest deals in Docusign’s history. He gave a Masterclass on how to quarterback and close a massive Enterprise deal, crack into the C-suite, and fully leverage his executive team to win.

Here is what we covered:

• How he brokered eighteen C-level meetings for a single deal, and why that level of multi-threading protects a deal when things get shaky at the end
• His advice on how to quickly connect with Executives and be seen as a peer at that level
• How to use the org chart as a “treasure map”
• The two quarters of goose eggs, and exactly how Rob kept faith without the results.
• The value of meditation, breath work, and simplifying his morning routine
• The handwritten thank you note and small gift habit that sets him apart from others
• What happened behind the scenes as the $8.5 million deal came down to the wire

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

$200,000,000. That's how much Crystal Ives has sold in her career against all odds.

Her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent 7 years in and out of mental hospitals starting when she was 5 years old.

Her father murdered two people and served time in prison.

At 7, her grandfather went bankrupt and gave her up for adoption for a month because he couldn't afford to keep her.

Read that again.

I recently sat down with Crystal for one of the most powerful Fireside Chats we’ve done.

And what struck me wasn’t just what she accomplished. It was how she responded to what happened to her.

She refused to let her circumstances define her future. Instead, she decided to break the cycle.

As Crystal told me:

“My children will have the life I did not have.”

One of the things I love most about sales is that it’s a true meritocracy. Anybody can succeed at the highest level, despite the hardships or obstacles they may face growing up.

In fact, many top sellers use those hardships as fuel to move away from a life they don’t want which they experienced firsthand growing up.

A few of my biggest takeaways from our conversation:

1. Nothing replaces hard work. Pay the price required today for the life you want tomorrow.

2. Find people who can accelerate your growth. Crystal learned from great sellers, mentors, coaches and executives throughout her career. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own.

3. Your energy is your superpower. Crystal shared that what makes her successful is not sales tactics, but her energy and positivity. The best sellers don’t become someone else. They maximize who they already are.

4. Make it easy for customers to buy. Her formula for enterprise sales is simple: make the buying process easy, build widespread organizational support, and minimize friction with the customer during the sales process so they enjoy working with you.

But the biggest lesson had nothing to do with sales. It has to do with resilience.

You don’t get to choose the life you are born into. But you absolutely get to decide what you want to build from it.

Crystal chose to build a life of financial security, success, and safety because that’s what she didn’t have growing up.

And because of her choices, her children will never experience the pain she went through.

“It ran in my family until it ran into me…”

If you've ever told yourself your circumstance and background is the reason you can't win, this one’s for you.

Connect with Crystal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalives/

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

In this episode, I sat down with Bob Koviak, who sold 1.2B in his career while maintaining a 90% win rate! In his own words, “I don’t lose deals.”

Bob has crossed 7 figures multiple times in his career, and In his last year at Microsoft, he finished at 345% of quota selling Agentic AI solutions.

His previous nickname was “Big Deal Bob,” but during our conversation we all agreed that “Billionaire Bob” was more appropriate based on his insane results.

This was one of the most powerful, inspiring conversations I’ve had with any guest. Bob shared his full playbook for finding big deals, gaining access to the C-suite, and selling large transformational deals year after year.

Here’s what we covered in detail:

• The 3 non-negotiable things you need in place to win every big deal
• How to easily identify “change agents” in a large organization
• How to empower your champions to sell when you’re not in the room
• Why selling outcomes is much more effective than selling software
• How to get your customers promoted after they do a large deal with you
• Why “joint action plans” are more powerful than close plans
• How sellers can stay relevant in the Age of AI
• The downsides of being extremely successful, and the sacrifices Bob made
• Why Bob got sober 7 years ago, and how his life has changed since.

And SO MUCH MORE!

If you are serious about your career and want to know EXACTLY what it takes to become a top software seller, this one’s for you!

Learn more at: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

Miriam John (MJ) had $27,000 left in her savings account, and took the bold move of spending half of it on coaching.

She had recently moved from India to the UK with her husband and was working in a difficult environment where she was being criticized constantly with no real feedback on how to improve. She was crying herself to sleep most nights. Making the decision meant a hard conversation with her husband, and then with her parents to get their support.

That kind of decision takes real courage. For MJ, it paid off completely.

Three years later, she has averaged 189% of quota every single year at Mailchimp, where she was the founding EMEA account executive brought in to lead the company's move from mid-market into enterprise. She has landed massive logos including Dyson and Mercedes. She has spoken on stages across Europe, including OMR Hamburg and Mailchimp Connect events in Madrid and London. And she has invested over $30,000 total in her own development between our coaching program and leadership coaching with Kevin Dorsey.

But the numbers are not really what this conversation is about.

This conversation is about what it actually takes to go from a person who cries every night after work to someone who walks on stage in front of hundreds of people and trains them. It is about the specific, practical tools MJ uses to manage anxiety, protect her relationship, and hit her number every single quarter without burning herself into the ground.

Here is what we covered:

• Leaving a well-established career and reputation in India to move to the UK for her husband's opportunity, and starting over completely
• The toxic work environment at her first UK role, where she was criticized constantly without ever being told what to do differently
• The moment she and her husband decided to invest nearly half their savings into coaching, and the conversation it took with her parents
• What it means to be in the valley of despair, and why the breakthrough happens on the other side of the breakdown
• Being vulnerable with a new manager about a bad past experience, and what happened when he actually kept his word
• The exact daily system MJ uses to consistently hit 189% of quota: RGAs, time-blocking, and saying no to distraction
• Her specific prospecting playbook using Gong to mine past conversations for signals, then building hyper-targeted outreach around them
• Why she gets a 10% response rate on cold outreach when the industry average is closer to 1%
• Learning industry-specific jargon and mirroring exact customer language inside every demo
• Her ongoing IVF journey, sharing it publicly for the first time, and the emotional weight of building a family while building a career
• What real anxiety management looks like day to day, and the specific habit of catching herself before she falls into old patterns
• Her advice to anyone hesitant to invest in themselves: find the right person, find the right time, and show up

MJ's story is proof that the biggest results rarely come from a single tactic. They come from a person deciding, at real financial and emotional risk, that she was worth the investment. And then showing up, again and again, even on the days it was hardest to.

Connect with MJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriamjohn1/
Learn more at: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

In this episode, I interviewed Jamal Reimer, author of Mega Deal Secrets and Founder of Enterprise Sellers.

Jamal sold 160M as an individual contributor at Oracle and now writes, coaches, and consults on how to find and close mega deals.

In this episode, Jamal openly shares his playbook as we cover the following topics in detail:

• Why humility is his secret weapon
• Team selling: how to lead and quarterback your deal team
• Executive Mapping
• Crossing the chasm: going from average AE to top performer
• Keys to powerful executive conversations And much, much more! Enjoy!

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

It’s not the wins in our life that showcase our true strength - it’s how we respond when we get knocked down…badly!

Greg Cummings had just been laid off from a startup after underperforming. He came back to Salesforce, put everything he had into proving he belonged there, and still fell short of where he thought he should be.

When he looked at his territory for the following year, stripped down and reassigned to industries he had no excitement for, he contemplated a decision that a lot of sellers consider but never talk about.

Should I leave sales entirely?

Greg spent six years in the Marine Corps before starting his career in medical device sales, walking into operating rooms at four in the morning to tell neurosurgeons what they were doing wrong.

He transitioned into tech, found his way to Salesforce, and spent years hovering between $100,000-$200,000 W2 income. Good, but not great. Definitely not what he knew he was capable of.

Then came the layoff, the return to Salesforce, another underperforming year, and a moment of real reckoning.

Was he even cut out for this? Was his early success just luck?
Instead of quitting, Greg made a different decision. He decided to invest in himself and get help by enrolling in Untap Your Sales Potential.

His first year, he doubled his income to $360K. His second year, working with me 1:1, he made $970K.
But his income growth is not the most interesting part of our conversation.
What’s most interesting is who he had to become in order to reach that level.

During our interview, Greg talks about how he stopped pitching and became genuinely curious about people's problems. He talks about only working deals with executive engagement, and what it takes to have the courage to bring executives into deals early on or walk away.

We also got super personal and Greg discussed the changes he had to make at home to begin truly enjoying his life outside of work. Prior to coaching, Greg was doing all the cooking, yard work, house projects, and felt constantly depleted and drained.

On our first 1:1 coaching session, the first assignment I had him do was hire somebody to mow his lawn. This first step began the process of outsourcing everything that didn’t bring him joy and robbed his free time, then re-allocating that time to spend with family.

Here is what we covered on the podcast:

• Going from the Marine Corps to medical sales to Salesforce
• The layoff, the underperforming year, and questioning whether he should leave sales
• Why he finally reached out for help when he admitted he couldn’t succeed on his own
• The inward to outward mindset shift
• How to sell to CEO’s
• Why executives are much easier to talk to than mid-level buyers
• The playbook Greg now teaches new hires: spend almost no time learning product, spend all your time learning how to talk to executives
• The mindset shift behind outsourcing: what your time is actually worth, and why doing everything yourself is not a badge of honor
• Clearing mental clutter and why Sunday night no longer feels heavy
• Why he moved from sales coaching into therapy, men's groups, and church involvement

His message to anyone who is stuck: be humble enough to ask for help, because the journey never stops

Greg's story is not just about hitting a number most sellers only dream about. It is about what happens after you hit it, and having the courage to keep growing in the parts of your life that success alone will never fix.

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

Bob Burg is one of the most influential authors in the world of sales and business. His bestselling book, The Go-Giver, has sold more than one million copies and teaches a simple but powerful philosophy: the greatest success comes from creating value, building trust, and serving others first.

His message perfectly aligns with what we teach at Untap Your Sales Potential: shifting from inward-focused selling to outward-focused selling by putting your customer's success ahead of your own.

If I can summarize this philosophy in one sentence: When you help others succeed, your success is guaranteed.

In this Fireside Chat, we discuss:

• How the most successful salespeople shift their focus from getting to giving and why this approach actually leads to greater financial success.

• Why nobody buys because you have a quota to hit. They buy because they believe they'll be better off by working with you.

• Why customers can sense "commission breath" and how genuine curiosity creates trust.

• The importance of authenticity and why Bob defines it as living congruently with your values rather than trying to imitate someone else's personality.

• Why discovery is the most important part of every sales conversation and how understanding the real problem is more important than overcoming objections.

Bob also walks through his Five Laws of Stratospheric Success:

• The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more value you give than you take in payment.
• The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
• The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first.
• The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
• The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

One idea that especially resonated with me was Bob's perspective on authenticity. True confidence doesn't come from being the most skilled. It comes from living your values and showing up consistently as the same person in every interaction.

Another insight I loved was his explanation of the Law of Receptivity. Giving and receiving aren't opposites; they're partners. The more open you are to receiving gratitude, support, opportunities, and success, the greater your capacity becomes to continue serving others.

If you're a sales professional, leader, or entrepreneur who wants to build more trust, create more value, and grow your influence, I think you'll get a tremendous amount from this conversation.

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

When I first started selling software, I would hear about massive deals closing. I always wondered who sold these mega deals, how they actually got done.

Not long ago, I sat down with Brad Harmon, who recently closed a $75M deal and finished AE of the Year at Oracle.

Brad rose the ranks of software from BDR to Strategic Seller, and has earned 7 figures multiple years. He’s also extremely consistent, hitting quota 14 of 15 years in his career.

Brad joined me for a Fireside Chat and broke down exactly how that $75M deal came together, step by step.

He walked through:
• How he quarterbacked this massive deal without losing control
• Why over-communicating internally became his secret weapon
• How to use mutual action plans to create joint accountability with customers
• How to ask for “unnatural acts” without damaging trust
• How to manage immense pressure when your deal has so much visibility with execs.
•How he detaches his self-worth from his quota
• Why being a “good person” and caring about his customers is his superpower

Brad’s journey is the blueprint every AE dreams about – becoming AE of the Year at one of the largest companies in the world while making truly life-changing money.

If you want to see what it actually takes to get there, this conversation will light a fire in you.

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/

What’s the difference between how a consultant sells, and how a typical software AE sells?

In one word: EVERYTHING!

My first four years at Salesforce, I spoke to customers like many AE’s do.

I was friendly, charismatic, and asked a lot of questions about their current situation.

If I thought we could help the client, I shared our value proposition, overview of the software, and asked for next steps, such as a demo or deeper discovery.

I worked hard and considered myself a good “closer,” who could reel in any fish I had on the line using discounts, incentives, and old-fashioned persistence.

Overall, this approach worked okay, and allowed me to make 200K-300K/year on average.

Pretty good living, right?

I thought so too.

But I never BLEW IT OUT of the water.

During my first four years as an Enterprise AE, I hit quota my first year, missed it badly in my second and third years, and finished 95% my fourth year (that one stung the most!)

While my income was decent, I felt like a failure compared to so many reps who were blowing it out of the water, selling over 200% of quota, and making BIG money at Salesforce!

I wanted to know what they were doing differently.

One thing I consistently heard is that the top performers were using a “consultative selling” approach, and many of them engaged a group at Salesforce called “Ignite.”

This group only worked with the most strategic accounts who wanted to transform their business, and their approach centered around design thinking to drive digital transformations.

I was determined to run an Ignite in one of my largest new logos: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.

I engaged my Ignite Partner, a man named Noah Flower.

I was fortunate to book a meeting with the COO of BHHS, and invited Noah to join me.

When I saw how Noah interacted with him, my mind was blown.

It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

He asked strategic questions focused on the COO’s highest priorities, biggest challenges, and long term vision for the company.

He asked about competitive threats, shifting market dynamics, and his personal goals.

He listened attentively, dug deeper to understand everything the COO shared, and was deeply curious and interested in the clients business.

Not once did he mention anything about our Salesforce or our solutions, nor did he try to pitch an Ignite Engagement.

At the very end of the meeting, he said that he believed we could help, and shared a bit more about Ignite.

For this approach to work, we would first need to gain consensus from the entire C-suite, and Noah offered to help our COO prepare for an internal stakeholder meeting.

Within just a month, the COO had arranged for us to have 1:1 interviews with their CEO, CFO, and CIO prior to the Ignite Workshop.

Within 6 months, we had closed the largest deal of my career.

The reason why Noah was so effective in front of customers is because he was not a “seller.”

Learn more at: https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/