Explore every episode of the podcast Untap Your Sales Potential

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:

1. The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more value you give than you take in payment.
2. The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
3. The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first.
4. The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
5. 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/

I want to share how this story ends before I tell you how it begins. 

Christina Godwin had just closed $1.7 million in 36 hours. It was the last stretch of her fiscal year at Workday. She left the Empire State Building, walked out onto the street in New York City, and started crying uncontrollably. 

She was on her way to buy herself a Prada bag because she felt so proud of her accomplishments, yet she couldn’t stop sobbing. 

She had just finished number one globally at Workday, finishing at 375% of quota with 37 transactions closed in a year. She closed more ACV than I did in my biggest year at Salesforce. And her body finally let go of everything it had been carrying all year. 

These weren’t tears of happiness…they were tears of relief because she no longer had put herself under so much pressure to finish #1, and she could finally let go. On the last day of the fiscal year. 

This story tells you everything you need to know about what it actually costs to be the best in the world at sales. It requires showing up every single day, being obsessed with achieving your goal, and overcoming constant roadblocks and obstacles to win. And staying cool, calm, and collected while everybody else around you freaks out or crumbles. 

Christina is one of the top sellers I’ve ever coached. She has been an AE at Workday for seven years, and made President's Club every single year. She’s been  over 150% of plan and does it while managing a family, working only nine to five, and saying no to almost everything that doesn’t create new pipeline or advance her deals forward.

Christina didn’t start in software sales, nor does she have a traditional sales background. 

Before Workday she worked in accounting at Deloitte doing tax work she hated. She got into Workday as a solution consultant because she didn’t have the enterprise sales experience to compete for an AE role directly. She spent three years as an SC, describing herself as “mediocre” at it. 

When she finally got her chance to prove herself in sales, she was determined not to squander it. She quickly became a top workday performer, and invested in coaching to take her sales game to the next level. 

She went ALL IN on herself, attending every weekly call, office hours, and listened to the training videos in the Untap portal on walks or while doing laundry. 

But most importantly, she APPLIED what she learned. One one coaching call I told Christina that the top sellers get 80% of their revenue from 20% of their accounts, and she didn’t believe me at first. But she trusted me, and decided to focus only on her biggest accounts. She joined UYSP in 2023, and her results since joining her program have been jaw-dropping.
 

She’s averaged 223% of quota and $5.52M ACV the past 3 years! 

In this week’s podcast, she shares exactly how she’s been able to achieve these results while only working 9-5 and showing up for her family. 

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

Email Christina at: ckgodwin12 [at] gmail [dot] com

One of the biggest myths in sales is that top performers all look the same.

They're charismatic, extroverted, and natural-born salespeople. They're great at presenting, excellent communicators, and master negotiators. 

But after coaching hundreds of top performers, I've found the opposite is true.

The best sellers win because they lean into their strengths…not because they try to become someone else.

This week on the Untap Your Sales Potential Podcast, I sat down with Ashwin Sirse, a UYSP client who became the #1 Global AE at Mambu, finishing 295% of quota and closing multiple eight-figure deals.

What makes Ashwin's story so compelling isn't the result.

It's how he got there.

When Ashwin entered enterprise software sales, he had no banking experience. He was surrounded by people who had spent 10+ years in the industry.

He struggled with anxiety, imposter syndrome, and questioned whether he belonged in sales.

And yet, a few years later, he was the top performer in the company.

Why?

Because he stopped trying to be a stereotypical salesperson. 

Instead, he leaned into his superpower: Project Management.

Before sales, Ashwin worked in client services managing complex projects. Most people would have viewed that background as irrelevant, but Ashwin turned it into his competitive advantage.

He used his project management skills to build and execute a repeatable sales motion. 

He used his project management skills to build out org charts and empower his champions to multi-thread. 

He used his project management skills to build a comprehensive spreadsheet to map out the exact steps and timeline that clients need to follow for a successful project. 

His philosophy was simple:

"Keep customers so busy they don't have time to look elsewhere."

He introduces mutual action plans in the second or third meeting, not when the deal is ready to close. 

He even introduces himself to clients as the “Project Evaluation Lead,” not an AE. 

Because real deals are not “opportunities,” they are “projects.” 

This approach helped him close an 8 figure deal and convert 40% of initial meetings into qualified projects. 

But this interview isn't just about enterprise sales. It's about building confidence, reducing anxiety, and learning to trust yourself. 

And becoming the person you're capable of becoming.

In this Fireside Chat, Ashwin shares:

• How he overcame anxiety, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome in sales

• The mindset shifts that helped him build true confidence

• His approach to executive conversations and point-of-view selling

• The exact mutual action plan process that accelerates eight-figure opportunities and a demonstration of the spreadsheet he uses

• Why he took a three-month sabbatical after becoming #1 globally

• The coaching lessons that changed his life forever

The biggest lesson I hope people take away from this interview: You don't need to become someone else to be elite.

Everything you need to succeed is already within you. You just need to trust yourself and lean into the unique abilities that make you great. 

That's exactly what Ashwin did. And it's exactly what every seller can do.

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

When I interviewed Jonathan Samuelson, I knew his numbers were incredible. 248% of quota his first year with Untap Your Sales Potential, 318% the next, and two consecutive years earning over $1,000,000 W2 in tech sales. 

What I didn’t know was his personal story and how much adversity he’d overcome to get here. 

Before joining UYSP, Jonathan had been at Genesys for five years and had nearly lost his job due to poor performance. Then his son Miles was born with a heart condition and couldn’t breathe on his own from the moment he entered the world. They spent 21 days in the pediatric ICU. By God’s grace, his son survived and he’s now a happy and healthy boy. 

When Miles stabilized, something shifted in Jonathan as a father and a man. He had a much deeper purpose in life, and a greater appreciation for how fragile and precious life can be. At that point, he made the decision to invest in himself and go ALL IN on his career, his family, and his future.

The next year he was at Chairman's Club. Then he did it again. In the process, he also runs Ultra-marathons including running a 100-miler. To top it off, he published a children's book called Little Trail Runner to teach kids some of the valuable lessons that he learned from trail running, and is raising two kids under four at home.

Want to know how he does it all? This is exactly what we discussed on the podcast. 

This conversation is one of the most inspiring and energizing ones I’ve had since starting the podcast. Here is what we covered:

• His rock bottom before starting coaching: spending his workdays browsing Zillow, being constantly distracted, and feeling deep anxiety from not performing at his potential
• How Miles being born with a life-threatening heart condition became the moment everything changed
• Going from under $200K to over $1M in his first year in the program, and the exact shifts he made to 5x his income 
• The daily planning system that keeps him focused and intentional despite having ADHD
• How he closed an $8M ACV deal at the director level without ever having true executive access, and what that taught him about champion-building
• The 40X ROI of coaching: investing $20K and earning $800K that year 
• Why he started doing daily affirmations after mocking them for years
• How faith changed his relationship with anxiety and quota pressure
• Running 100 miles in 24 hours and what that taught him about endurance
• Writing a children's book
• The decision to go ALL IN that changed his entire life

If you are sick and tired of getting average results, this conversation will inspire you to make the necessary changes to succeed at the highest level in sales and in life. 

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

When I was at Salesforce, I fiercely competed for the #1 Enterprise AE position against another seller named Mike Brandt. I haven’t spoken to him in 8 years since then, and we recently caught up for this month’s Fireside Chat. 

You may not have heard of Mike Brandt before, but after today’s conversation you won’t forget him. Mike has one of the most impressive track records I’ve ever seen in tech sales: 12 of 13 years over quota, earning 500K to 1M as a top Enterprise AE at Salesforce, before getting promoted to Enterprise RVP and now leading one of Snowflake’s strongest teams. Mike and his teams have personally sold over 87M in net new ACV! 

The most impressive part – he is only 34 years old. 

And he’s achieved this without sacrificing his health or personal life. 

Mike has five kids under eight years old and his family is “screen-free.” He lives on a small hobby farm with goats, sheep, chickens, and a pony. He’s also been sober for three years.

Mike is a force of nature, and this is the first time he has ever gone public with his story.

Here are some of the topics we explored during our conversation: 

1. How he “does it all” The habits, boundaries, and lifestyle choices that enable him to lead at an elite level, finish work by 5pm, and spend quality time with his family. 

2. How he landed a job as an Enterprise AE at Salesforce at just 22 years old. 

3. Why selling like a consultant is key to landing big software contracts, and the exact playbook to sell like a consultant. 

4. How he develops sales superstars with the goal of getting one person on his team promoted every year, and another to pay off their house! 

5. The shift from license to consumption model in software sales, and how to adapt your sales approach to meet the changing market landscape. 

6. Why Mike got sober three years ago, and the impact it’s had on his mind and health. 

I know this conversation will inspire you as much as it inspired me. 

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

What does it take to go from 38% quota attainment to closing $14 million in a single year, landing one of only 20 elite sales roles in all of SAP, and doing it all as the youngest person on her team (and the only Latina woman in the room)?

For Carolina Chavez, it started with facing herself.

Carolina is now an Account Executive in SAP's Strategic Customer Program, where she manages one of SAP's global strategic accounts. She spent two years in Untap Your Sales Potential and during that time tripled her sales production, closed $14 million on a $5 million annual quota, and earned a promotion that only 20 people in the entire company hold. 

She is also a certified hypnotherapist with over 250 hours of training, a co-founder of the Latinas in Tech Denver chapter, and one of the most self-aware sellers I’ve ever coached.

But the version of Carolina who walked into our first coaching call was a completely different person.

She had hit only 38% of quota in her first year at SAP. She was the youngest on her team, one of the only women, and had zero enterprise sales experience. She was operating from a place of fear and proving herself to others. 

She questioned herself constantly and wondered “why would anyone listen to me?”  She was in hustle mode, pouring from an empty cup, and had no idea that the real problem was not her skills. It was what she believed about herself.

And underneath all of that was something even deeper. In 2020, she had been through a traumatic personal event that shook her sense of confidence and safety to its foundation. She eventually had to get a restraining order. She tried traditional talk therapy and it didn’t work.

Then she tried hypnotherapy for the first time and was shocked by how much it helped. That experience started a years-long personal healing journey that would eventually transform the way she showed up in every room she walked into.

Here is what we covered on my latest podcast episode:

• How to go from a new Enterprise Seller with zero experience to closing $14 million on a $5 million quota and earning one of only 20 strategic customer roles at SAP by age 30
• Going from hustle mode and proving worthiness to showing up calm and authentic 
• The deep multi-threading playbook she used to break through IT and build C-suite relationships at a 20-year customer who had never once responded to outreach
• How she went back to a prospect's college years on LinkedIn to find a warm path to a chief accounting officer and what happened when she finally got the meeting
• Her morning routine: hypnotherapy, movement, visualization, and why she calls it non-negotiable
• Why investing $18,000 in coaching transformed her sales and life
• How she was able to rise above a traumatic experience through hypnotherapy, and her powerful advice for anybody who remains stuck because of their trauma 
• What she would tell anyone sitting at 38% quota right now who feels like the role is beyond them
  

Carolina's story is proof that the inner work is not separate from the results. When you do the work on yourself, your results skyrocket. 

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

Most people never come close to achieving their full potential.

Not because they lack talent.

Because they never fully commit.

This week on the Untap Your Sales Potential Podcast, I sat down live with one of the most intense, disciplined, and inspiring sellers I’ve ever coached: Mikhail Avant.

It was one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve ever had. 

Mikhail was born in a homeless shelter.

He grew up in violence, chaos, poverty, and instability.

By age 10, he was helping raise his younger brothers while his mother worked to survive.

He became obsessed with discipline through basketball and hardship.

Then life humbled him.

He dropped out of college and worked as a janitor.
Lived in a tiny apartment with cracked walls.

He had no mentors, degree, or roadmap to follow. 

But he refused to accept his current life. 

He started working as a trainer and found out he was really good at sales. 

If only somebody would give him a shot in corporate sales, he would take care of the rest. 

Eventually, he broke into tech sales and got his opportunity. He became a high performer and continued to put himself in bigger opportunities, finding his way to ServiceNow. 

That’s when he decided to level up and coach with me. 

When Mikhail joined my coaching program in 2023, his biggest year ever was around $200K.

The next year he made over $500K.

The following year, he made $1M.

But the most powerful part of his story isn’t the money.

It’s HOW he transformed.

He made a decision to go ALL IN and become the very best in sales. 

In this conversation, we go deep on:

• The mindset shift that completely changed his life
• Why champions don’t “set goals”, they make decisions
• What “ALL IN” actually looks like in practice
• Executive selling and how to get access to power
• How he sold massive enterprise logos like Snowflake, Microsoft, and Lyft at a startup
• Why most people never reach their potential
• The role spirituality, purpose, and identity play in elite performance
• Why he left SaaS for AI and where he sees the future going
• The mentality required to become truly world-class

This was one of the most emotional, raw, and powerful interviews I’ve ever done.

If you know you’re capable of more…
If you’re tired of playing small…
If you’re ready to stop making excuses and fully commit to your potential…

There are nuggets in this conversation that can genuinely change your life - but only if you make a decision to take action afterwards.

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

What if the intense drive that makes you successful in the sales comes at the cost of your family, your peace, and your life? What if you run so hard that you end up in the hospital? 

In our latest podcast episode, our new sales strategist Athina Lampru shares how running from her past fueled elite performance in sales, but nearly cost her everything. 

Athina sat down with me to share her story for the first time publicly. 

Here is what we covered on the podcast:

• Growing up in Venezuela with an alcoholic mother, an absent father, and a childhood defined by survival mode. 
• Why trauma is often the hidden fuel behind high-performing salespeople, and what it costs when you never deal with it
• The birth of her first son and the postpartum spiral that cracked everything open 
• What it actually looks like to miss your child's first year because you cannot stop running
• The panic attack that finally forced her to face herself
• Walking away from millions because the cost to her family was too high
• The integrity gap: why the distance between your values and your actions is directly proportional to the shame you carry every day
• How slowing down at Amazon unlocked a $60 million pipeline and $15 million closed in under 5 months 
• Getting baptized and married on the same weekend, with both parents who hurt her most walking her down the aisle
• Her advice for anybody running so fast they can’t enjoy the life they are already living
  

Ahtina's story is living proof that you can have it all if you are willing to slow down and face yourself. And when you finally slow down to face the person in the mirror and do the deep work on yourself, you come back more powerful than ever.

Book a free discovery call and learn more at untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

What does it take to close a nine‑figure enterprise deal, earn a $4 million commission check, and become one of the most respected sellers in tech sales history?

That is exactly what Alpesh Patel did.

At Salesforce, Alpesh closed one of the largest deals the company had ever seen — a transformative, multi‑year agreement with a Fortune 100 insurance company. A deal so complex and hard‑fought that most sellers would have walked away long before the finish line.

But the size of the deal is not what makes his story remarkable.

Years earlier, this deal started as a failure.

The initial pilot went nowhere. He faced rejection, skepticism, and doors that stayed firmly closed. Instead of moving on, Alpesh made a radical decision: he committed himself fully to understanding the customer’s world. He literally became a licensed insurance agent to earn credibility, uncover the real problem, and align himself with the customer’s mission.

What followed was not a quick win. It was years of persistence, face‑to‑face presence, and value‑first selling that eventually turned doubt into trust, hesitation into urgency, and skepticism into executive alignment.

Here is what we covered:

• The anatomy of a career‑defining deal and why the long road mattered more than the close
• How a failed pilot became the foundation for one of the biggest wins in Salesforce history
• Why Alpesh chose to become an insurance agent — and what that unlocked with senior executives
• How consistent in‑person engagement changed the trajectory of the deal
• What it actually feels like to receive a $4M commission check — and why it was not the most meaningful part

His value selling framework:

• Believable
• Achievable
• Sustainable
• Differentiated

Why these principles work at the highest levels of enterprise sales.

Leadership and culture lessons:

• Why coin‑operated sellers do not scale
• The four traits Alpesh hired for as a sales leader: Trust, Innovation, Conviction, Courage
• How he built teams that felt part of something bigger — and how that culture led to record‑breaking results at Salesforce and DocuSign

Personal growth and authenticity:

• Why vulnerability strengthens trust instead of weakening it
• How to succeed in enterprise sales without being flashy or performative
• Why conviction without vulnerability turns into arrogane

This is not a typical sales interview.

It is a rare look at how world‑class enterprise sellers actually think, operate, and build trust - quietly, patiently, and with purpose.

If you are serious about mastering enterprise sales, earning executive trust, and selling in a way that aligns with who you are, this is 70 minutes worth your time.

Book a free discovery call and learn more at untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

What happens when you reach the top of the mountain you spent your whole life climbing, and you still feel empty?

That is the question at the heart of this conversation with Robby Jones.

Robby is VP of Sales at SAP, running a $200 million ARR enterprise business with a $60 million ACV quota at just 32 years old. He is a member of our seven-figure club, and last year he closed one of the largest deals in SAP's history — a nine-figure deal. By every external measure, he has made it.

But Robby's story did not start anywhere near the top.

He grew up in Vancouver with parents who divorced when he was a baby, a mom who raised him in Canada, and a household shaped by addiction and scarcity for most of his childhood and adolescence. No money for basketball shoes. No vacations. A two-bedroom, one-bathroom ground-level suite with no stairs. He remembers as a kid thinking: when I get older, I am going to have a place with stairs. Grand ones.

He followed his stepfather into the trades. Got a plumbing apprenticeship. Got laid off on his birthday. Then, inspired by a conversation with his grandfather over coffee, he applied to 50 sales jobs on Craigslist, got into door-to-door sales knocking on residential doors for a Telus contractor, and did it for two years. On the van rides to the territory every morning, they played Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, and Brian Tracy. He had never heard any of it before. It rewired him.

That rocket fuel drove him from door-to-door to tech sales to SAP, where over nine years he built a career that most sellers only dream about.

And then he closed the biggest deal of his life, hung up the phone, and thought: is that it?

This episode is about what happens when achievement stops being enough, and what the real work actually looks like.

Here is what we covered:

• Growing up with scarcity, addiction in the family, and how those have-nots became a relentless drive to succeed
• The birthday he got laid off from his plumbing apprenticeship and why it was the best day of his life
• Two years of door-to-door sales and the positive brainwashing that changed his mindset forever
• The inward to outward shift: how moving from "what can I get" to "how can I help" unlocked his biggest results
• How Robby became so embedded with one enterprise customer that he had a badge, walked the halls, and built relationships that still greet him with hugs at conferences today
• Closing a nine-figure deal and feeling nothing after: the commission hangover nobody talks about
• The dark side of achievement-driven identity: addiction, inability to be present, and projecting onto the people closest to you
• How taking his mom to Italy two years ago was the most sober and present he had ever seen her
• Breaking a generational cycle of addiction before his first child arrives in October
• His north star coming out of coaching and therapy: not fulfillment, not success. Freedom.

Robby's story is proof that you can come from nothing and reach the very top. It is also a reminder that the inner work does not stop when the commission check clears. The goal was never just the deal.

Book a free discovery call and learn more at untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

What does it actually look like to crush your sales career without sacrificing your family, your health, or your sanity?

That is exactly what Kelsie Neibel has done.

In 2025, Kelsie was the number one AE in all of America at SnapLogic, made President's Club, and hit 175% of her quota. The year before that, she was AE of the Year and hit 141% of quota. She has done all of this as a full-time working mom, working strictly nine to five, without burning out.

But that is not the most impressive part of her story.

Two years ago, Kelsie was a completely different person.

She had just pivoted from consulting into enterprise sales at Salesforce with no BDR background, no playbook, and no confidence. She was a brand new mom. She was underperforming, making under $200K, and drowning in imposter syndrome. In her own words, she felt like a "rag doll," showing up reactive every day, constantly in her own head on sales calls, questioning whether she even belonged.

She had the drive. She did not have the tools.

So she made a decision. She invested $45,000 over two years in coaching and community, bet on herself, and what followed was a transformation that touched every part of her life: her income, her mindset, her presence as a mother, and the way she shows up every single day.

Here is what we covered:

• The rock bottom moment that pushed her to finally ask for help
• Why becoming a mom became the fuel, not the obstacle, for her transformation
• The single mindset shift that unlocked everything: detaching from the outcome and selling from service
• How she went from anxious and reactive on every call to calm, confident, and fully present
• The exact daily habits and time management system she uses to work strictly nine to five and still outsell everyone
• Why saying no is one of her most powerful selling tools
• How she rewired her self-talk using catch, own, replace
• What it really means to operate like the CEO of your own territory
• Her direct advice to anyone stuck in imposter syndrome right now

Kelsie's story is proof that you do not have to choose between being a great parent and being a top performer. You do not have to grind 60-hour weeks. You do not have to white-knuckle your way to the top.

You just have to be willing to change.

Book a free discovery call and learn more at untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast

In this trailer, Ian Koniak shares who this podcast is for, why he built it, and what you can expect every week.

Ian is the founder and CEO of Untap Your Sales Potential, the world's fastest growing community of tech sellers. Over the past four years, more than 625 sellers have gone through his program and transformed their results. But Ian did not start at the top.

For three years in a row at Salesforce, he missed his number. He had hit quota twelve consecutive years before that. He thought he could figure it out alone. He could not. 

On the last day of his third missed fiscal year, he looked in the mirror and said never again. He got help, invested in himself, and that year finished number one at Salesforce globally and made a million dollars. He followed it up four years straight.

Now the top sellers from Salesforce, DocuSign, SAP, Workday, and some of the biggest companies in the world are coming through his program and transforming their careers and their lives. This podcast is where their stories live, and it is free for everyone.

If you feel stuck, if you know you are capable of more, if you want to know exactly what the top performers are doing right now, subscribe and listen every week.

Learn more and book your free strategy call: http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast