The $100/day burner cold caller AI test
Good morning. Operators are using cheap manual labor to stress-test their AI workflows.
Jordan Crawford is hiring $100-a-day burner cold callers to dial AI-generated account lists immediately. When the script fails or titles are wrong, he feeds the failure reasons back to Claude to regenerate the entire TAM list within 48 hours, yielding up to 50 percent better quality than traditional outbound.
Today's Sales Plays (20)
Tactical moves operators are running right now, with verbatim source.
outbound
Meta cold call opener for sales leaders
Call out the exact cold calling motion their reps do to secure permission for your pitch.
Discussing: Cold calling sales leaders to sell a tool that improves rep productivity or outbound metrics.
“It looks like you're running a sales team over there at [Company]... making calls exactly like this one into their buyer persona. I pause, get a yes.”
MechanismState their role and company, then immediately map your cold call to the exact motion their reps execute. Say: "I'm assuming they're being asked to make calls exactly like this one into [their buyer persona]." Pause for a "yes," then ask for 60 seconds to pitch.
Outcome1 meeting booked out of 5 connects (20% conversion rate)
CounterpointInstead of pitching the product immediately, you force the prospect to acknowledge the shared reality of the cold call itself.
Watch Me Cold Call For A Product I’ve Never Sold · Jun 2, 2026
ai_in_sales
AI agents for low-tier inbound
Deploy AI agents to work the bottom tier of inbound leads that human SDRs lack capacity to touch.
Discussing: High volume of low-scoring inbound leads that human SDRs ignore due to capacity constraints.
“For years, our ranking of one and two, we didn't touch them because we didn't have the human capacity... we're going to assign our engagement agent to follow up with all of these ones and twos...”
MechanismSegment inbound leads by score (e.g., 1-5). Route the top tiers (3-5) to human SDRs. Assign an AI engagement agent to immediately follow up with the bottom tiers (1-2). The agent handles the back-and-forth email qualification and meeting booking, passing the booked meeting to an AE.
OutcomeGenerated over $100M in pipeline in 8 months.
CounterpointInstead of lowering the human threshold or discarding low-tier leads, use agents to create a parallel SDR team for the bottom 75% of volume.
How AI Agents Are Rewriting Sales with Kris Billmaier · Jun 8, 2026
discovery
Proactive competitor advantage pitch
When asked how you compare to a competitor, start by explaining a specific feature they have that you lack.
Discussing: A prospect directly asks how you compare to a specific competitor early in a meeting.
“Instead of going into that speech, I just said, hey, listen, before we get too deep into this, can I tell you how our competitor is better than us?”
MechanismWhen a prospect asks how you are better than a competitor, ask permission to explain how the competitor is better. Detail a specific add-on or feature they have that is not on your roadmap. Ask if that feature is a dealbreaker. If they say no, proceed with the pitch.
OutcomeProspect threw out the RFP process 10 days later and moved forward.
CounterpointInstead of defensive feature-dumping, you proactively concede a non-core feature to build credibility.
#579 - Removing the friction from your sales cycle | Todd Caponi | 30MPC Hall of Fame · Jun 4, 2026
comp_and_quota
Retention Bonus Red Flags
Treat stay bonuses in a compensation plan as a leading indicator of a toxic culture.
Discussing: Auditing a sales compensation plan to identify underlying cultural or retention issues.
“I uncover things like we have a stay bonus. We have retention bonuses. I really start to pull on the thread... That's typically when I see an unhealthy incentive program.”
MechanismReview the incentive program specifically for stay bonuses or retention bonuses. If present, treat them as a red flag that the company is using money to handcuff employees who otherwise want to leave, rather than fixing the root cultural issues driving turnover.
Outcomespeaker's word, identifies unhealthy incentive programs
CounterpointRetention bonuses are often viewed as competitive perks, but they actually signal a broken culture.
EP 134 Human-Centric Selling and Risk-Aware Growth with Jack Haworth · Jun 4, 2026
closing
The Permission to Say No
Give prospects an explicit out during the call to prevent them from saying yes just to end the meeting.
Discussing: Buyer seems agreeable on the call but ghosts the proposal because they were afraid to say no.
“Listen, feel free to say no. If this is not a good fit, let's just call it quits here. And what reps find is that nine times out of 10, the person goes, no, no, I'm good.”
MechanismInstead of pushing for yeses, explicitly offer a back door. Say: "Listen, feel free to say no. If this is not a good fit, let's just call it quits here." This removes the pressure of feeling trapped.
Outcome9 out of 10 prospects stay engaged
CounterpointCounterintuitive to traditional sales training that pushes for four yeses in a row.
The Neuroscience of Closing: How to Read Buyer Signals · Jun 5, 2026
team_and_org
Cross-functional RevOps consolidation
Merge siloed operations teams to eliminate specialized bloat and redirect the savings into profitability or AI experimentation.
Discussing: GTM organization has become bloated with excessive specialization (massive RevOps, Deal Desk, and FinOps teams) built during high-growth periods.
“When you start putting these teams together, what you realize is that all of those operating silos were incredibly inefficient. And if you are willing to allow those teams to get smaller... you have more resource to put into, you can be more profitable.”
MechanismCombine separate operating silos—RevOps, Deal Desk, FinOps, and FP&A—into a single unified operations group. Allow the overall headcount of this combined group to shrink naturally through attrition or targeted cuts, eliminating the inefficiencies of hyper-specialized roles (like teams dedicated solely to maintaining NetSuite).
OutcomeSpeaker's word, not measured (drives $100M+ EBITDA at Yext).
CounterpointHigh-growth eras reward hyper-specialization (separate Deal Desk, RevOps, FinOps). Profitability eras require consolidating these functions to eliminate the friction between them.
Exposed: The Big VC Lie of 2026 | Michael Walrath, CEO @ Yext · Jun 7, 2026
team_and_org
Handshake-first channel partnerships
Test new channel partners with a handshake agreement on one or two joint deals before signing heavy partnership paperwork.
Discussing: Wasting months on heavy legal paperwork and process for channel partners who ultimately bring zero deals.
“try to set almost like a handshake agreement as to, hey, look, this is what we should try to put together. Let's see if there's a customer or two with minimal paperwork that we could get”
MechanismBypass the initial heavy partnership agreements. Propose a handshake agreement to collaborate on just one or two specific customers with minimal paperwork. If the partner cannot generate intent or momentum on those initial accounts, cut ties after two or three calls instead of spending months on legal.
OutcomeLimits wasted effort to just 2-3 calls instead of lengthy legal processes.
CounterpointDefault partner motions start with heavy NDAs and referral agreements; this forces the partner to prove pipeline capability first.
430: The Secret to Scaling AI in Financial Services with Ankur Patel · Jun 4, 2026
enablement
Founder-Led Sales Extraction
Document the founder's instinctual sales process into five specific SOPs before bringing on the first sales hire.
Discussing: Transitioning from founder-led sales to a first sales hire when the founder's process is entirely instinctual.
“The entire process took Sally a couple of hours... at the end of month one, in the first 30 days, they'd already hit the quota number for that quarter.”
MechanismBefore hiring, document five areas from the founder's head: 1) ICP (analyze the most profitable and easiest clients from the past five years), 2) Qualification criteria, 3) Sourcing (audit the exact platforms, messages, and titles used to book the last 10 customers), 4) Objections (verbatim prospect complaints and founder responses), and 5) Buyer journey.
OutcomeFirst hire hit quarterly quota in 30 days
CounterpointMost founders just hand over a website link and a CRM login; this forces a forensic audit of the last 10 closed-won deals to build a replicable baseline.
The Trap Small Business Owners Fall Into When Hiring Salespeople · Jun 3, 2026
forecasting
The Day-One Forecast Screenshot Audit
Screenshot your pipeline on day one of the quarter and compare it to actual closed-won deals 90 days later.
Discussing: Reps wasting time on unclosable deals due to happy ears and bloated pipelines.
“Take a look at your forecast at the beginning of the quarter. Take a little screenshot of it so you can save it. And then look at it the first week of the next quarter. What really closed?”
MechanismOn the first day of the quarter, take a screenshot of your forecasted deals. During the first week of the following quarter, pull up that exact screenshot and audit what actually closed. Use the delta to identify the traits of deals that were just optimistic fluff versus actual winnable revenue.
OutcomeEliminated wasting 50% of selling time on unclosable deals.
CounterpointForces a harsh historical lookback instead of relying on CRM reports that constantly overwrite historical pipeline states.
HOW TO MAKE THIS SUPERPOWER YOUR SECRET WEAPON · Jun 8, 2026
outbound
15-Second AI Screener Hook
Treat AI call screeners like a live audition by leading with a 15-second hyper-relevant hook instead of a standard introduction.
Discussing: Hitting an AI call screener (like the iOS update) on a cold call.
“I called the board member and I got the iPhone screener. And in the middle of talking to the screener, he came on and took my call.”
MechanismSkip the standard 'Hi, I'm X from Y' intro. Treat the AI screener like a live voicemail. Deliver a 15-second hook focused entirely on their specific pain or a tangible asset. Example: 'I know you're looking for a [Specialty] physician. I have a candidate in [City] who wants to move to your location.'
OutcomeProspect picked up mid-screening (speaker's word).
CounterpointReps usually default to standard pleasantries with screeners; treating it as a live 15-second pitch forces the prospect to interrupt the screener to take the call.
How to Beat AI Call Screeners & Get More Prospects on the Phone (Ask Jeb) · Jun 3, 2026
demo
Zero-text presentation slides
Strip all paragraphs from your pitch deck to prevent buyers from reading instead of listening.
Discussing: Presenting a pitch deck to a consensus buying committee.
“It cannot listen with comprehension and read with comprehension at the same time. And as a result, if you're throwing text on slides... When I give a presentation, it's always images only, or it's me and a whiteboard.”
MechanismRemove all paragraphs from your slides. Use images only or a whiteboard. Limit text to a single reinforcing word or a direct quote that you read verbatim. Tell a story where the customer is the hero, using the visual to anchor your talk track.
OutcomePrevents cognitive overload and audience disengagement.
CounterpointBuyers cannot read and listen simultaneously; text-heavy slides force them to ignore your talk track.
#579 - Removing the friction from your sales cycle | Todd Caponi | 30MPC Hall of Fame · Jun 4, 2026
comp_and_quota
Cash-heavy compensation shift
Replace forced equity grants with higher cash compensation when your public stock is trading at a depressed multiple.
Discussing: Retaining talent at a public tech company where the stock is trading at a low multiple and equity grants have lost their perceived value.
“I'm increasingly paying people cash... you pay the employee more cash, especially as a public company, and the employee who knows their situation way better... if they think Yext is a great stock to invest in... they can make that choice.”
MechanismStop mandating that a fixed percentage of an employee's compensation (e.g., 20%) be paid in company stock. Instead, increase their base salary and cash compensation. Let the employee decide whether to use that extra cash to invest in the company's stock based on their own financial situation.
OutcomeSpeaker's word, not measured.
CounterpointStandard tech comp forces equity to align incentives. When stock prices tank, forced equity breeds resentment; cash gives employees agency.
Exposed: The Big VC Lie of 2026 | Michael Walrath, CEO @ Yext · Jun 7, 2026
team_and_org
The Vulnerability Interview Question
Ask candidates what they are hiding to test their authenticity and self-awareness.
Discussing: Interviewing candidates who are giving highly rehearsed, superficial answers.
“What don't you want me to know? Like, what haven't we talked about that you don't want me to know? And when I say it with a smile and energy, a lot of times people will tell me what I'm probably going to find in a reference check.”
MechanismAsk, "What haven't we talked about that you don't want me to know?" Deliver it with a smile and positive energy so it feels like an invitation to be open, not an interrogation trap.
OutcomeSpeaker notes it builds a strong bond and uncovers issues before reference checks.
CounterpointAsking for weaknesses yields rehearsed answers; asking what they don't want you to know forces genuine vulnerability.
How Saturday Night Live Builds Teams That Perform Under Pressure with Lindsay Shookus · Jun 4, 2026
outbound
Sub-Segment Social Proofing
Match social proof to the exact sub-segment to avoid alienating prospects who feel their situation is uniquely difficult.
Discussing: Prospecting into a fragmented industry where different tiers of buyers face opposite problems.
“social proofing a Catholic school with an elite independent school, it just doesn't, they're going to be like, we're not like that. We don't have a wait list.”
MechanismAudit your social proof for sub-segment mismatch. If pitching a school struggling with enrollment, do not reference an elite school with a waitlist. Instead, reference a direct peer in their specific tier, or ask a successful customer in that tier if a specific neighboring peer needs help.
Outcome40% close rate for the best in the business.
CounterpointGeneric industry case studies backfire if the prospect perceives the featured company as having structural advantages they lack.
HOW TO LEVERAGE YOUR UNIQUE STRENGTHS TO BECOME GREAT AT SALES · Jun 3, 2026
outbound
Burner Cold Callers For AI List Validation
Hire a $100-per-day cold caller to test AI-generated account lists and feed the errors back to the LLM within 48 hours.
Discussing: You used an LLM to build a new target account list, but you need to know if the AI hallucinated the targeting or context.
“I usually bring on a cold collar... my guy will reliably make $100 to $200 a day. And I'll know if I'm wrong by day two. So the cost of getting it wrong is so low.”
MechanismGive the AI-generated list to a dedicated cold caller making $100 to $200 a day. Have them dial the list immediately. If the script fails or the titles are wrong, collect the specific failure reasons (e.g., "found better context searching the web at these 50 URLs"). Feed those URLs back to Claude to regenerate the entire TAM list for day three.
OutcomeRun 100 experiments at 30 to 50% better quality than traditional outbound.
CounterpointTreat AI-generated lists as disposable hypotheses to be broken by cheap manual dials, rather than treating the list as ground truth.
How AI Natives Are Using Claude Code to Rewrite GTM — with Jordan Crawford (Uncut in the Desert) · Jun 2, 2026
closing
The Value-Only Ghosting Follow-Up
Send ghosting prospects relevant content without asking for an update or a meeting.
Discussing: A prospect goes completely dark after receiving a proposal.
“I am selling without selling, but more importantly, I'm giving to you. I'm not asking for anything in return. There's no better way to get someone to respond than not pressuring them.”
MechanismStop asking "where are you?" or "was the cost too high?". Send a message with zero asks. Example: "Here's an article about your competitor," or "Thought you might find this review useful." Hit send. You trigger the social obligation to reply without applying sales pressure.
Outcomespeaker's word, triggers a response via social obligation
CounterpointReplaces the standard "bumping this to the top of your inbox" guilt trip with a pure value deposit.
The Neuroscience of Closing: How to Read Buyer Signals · Jun 5, 2026
outbound
Placeholder calendar invite for email brush-offs
When a prospect asks for an email to review with a colleague, secure a tentative calendar hold before hanging up.
Discussing: Prospect asks for an email breakdown to review with another stakeholder before committing to a meeting.
“I'll send that email over if I put a hold maybe on the calendar for next Tuesday... and you just cancel it if you guys don't like what you see.”
MechanismAgree to send the requested email, but immediately propose a low-friction calendar hold. Say: "I'll send that email over if I put a hold on the calendar for next Tuesday... and you just cancel it if you guys don't like what you see."
OutcomeProspect agreed to the calendar hold and the meeting was booked.
CounterpointGives the prospect an easy out while securing the time block, preventing the deal from stalling in the inbox.
Watch Me Cold Call For A Product I’ve Never Sold · Jun 2, 2026
ai_in_sales
Cross-functional AI agent onboarding
Treat new AI agents like human hires by assigning a dedicated cross-functional team to train and measure them.
Discussing: Deploying a new AI sales agent without falling into the trap of set-it-and-forget-it failure.
“Treating these agents differently, like a new employee... it was somebody's job to make sure this thing was learning, was understanding, was writing better emails, was being measured against itself, but against humans”
MechanismForm a deployment group with reps from sales, marketing, product, and IT. Define a narrow, specific use case and segment. Assign one person the explicit job of continually training the agent, reviewing its emails, and measuring its performance against human baselines.
OutcomeSpeaker's word on successful deployment of Salesforce's first sales agent.
CounterpointAI isn't plug-and-play software; it requires a dedicated manager to review its output and coach it like a human rep.
How AI Agents Are Rewriting Sales with Kris Billmaier · Jun 8, 2026
ai_in_sales
Agentic AI Compliance Routing
Use AI to flag out-of-policy loans, then route to humans to restructure them.
Discussing: Speeding up commercial loan decisions that are bottlenecked by manual compliance checks.
“in a commercial loan perspective, you can turn a decision around in a day versus 90 days... it will give you your out of compliance... That's what the human still has to do, right? You try to find a way to put the customer in the middle”
MechanismDeploy an agentic AI framework to automatically run compliance checks on commercial loan applications. Let the AI instantly flag out-of-policy items, then route only those flagged deals to human reps whose sole job is to creatively restructure the deal to fit within policy.
Outcometurn a decision around in 1 day versus 90 days
CounterpointAI shouldn't reject the loan; it should just flag the policy violation so a human can fix it.
EP 134 Human-Centric Selling and Risk-Aware Growth with Jack Haworth · Jun 4, 2026
outbound
Mobile-First Spam Bypass
Stop calls from being marked as spam by having reps dial from individual mobile phones instead of a centralized office dialer.
Discussing: Outbound calls are being flagged as 'Spam Risk' due to high volume from a centralized provider.
“The easiest way to get around that is don't call on your office phone, call on your mobile phone. And in our business, that's what we do.”
MechanismMove reps off the centralized auto-dialer or office phone system for outbound dials. Issue individual mobile phones for outbound calling to distribute the call volume across different numbers, while keeping a centralized inbound routing number for callbacks.
OutcomeAvoids carrier spam algorithms (speaker's word).
CounterpointCentralized dialers trigger spam algorithms due to volume; distributing calls across individual mobile numbers bypasses these carrier flags.
How to Beat AI Call Screeners & Get More Prospects on the Phone (Ask Jeb) · Jun 3, 2026
From the Conversations
30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales
Meta cold call opener for sales leaders
Watch Me Cold Call For A Product I’ve Never Sold
Jun 2, 2026 · 19m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“It looks like you're running a sales team over there at [Company]... making calls exactly like this one into their buyer persona. I pause, get a yes.”
Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows
AI agents for low-tier inbound
How AI Agents Are Rewriting Sales with Kris Billmaier
Jun 8, 2026 · 55m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“For years, our ranking of one and two, we didn't touch them because we didn't have the human capacity... we're going to assign our engagement agent to follow up with all of these ones and twos...”
30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales
Proactive competitor advantage pitch
#579 - Removing the friction from your sales cycle | Todd Caponi | 30MPC Hall of Fame
Jun 4, 2026 · 27m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“Instead of going into that speech, I just said, hey, listen, before we get too deep into this, can I tell you how our competitor is better than us?”
Sources
▶ Listen30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales
Watch Me Cold Call For A Product I’ve Never SoldGetting hung up on by any leader hurts, but it's the grind. Jason Bay flips the script and shows you how to bounce back and book meetings. In this episode you’ll learn: 🎯 How to force a 20% conversion rate and lock high-ICP meetings on the books. 🤖 How to maintain high intent when buyers scramble your pitch 👔 Why analyzing 85 million cold emails will entirely transform your outbound strategy. – You're one step closer to President's Club! 📞 Buy 5000 TitanX Credits Get 5000 Free (Mention "30MPC"): https://titanx.io?fpr=30mpc 📈 Cold Calling Course: https://hubs.li/Q04jpPSm0 🛠 Weekly Tactical Breakdowns: https://hubs.li/Q02NJQ8p0 📚 Things you can steal and use today: https://linktr.ee/30mpc_youtube
▶ ListenMake It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows
How AI Agents Are Rewriting Sales with Kris Billmaier<p>AI agents are not just changing sales tools. They are changing the job of the seller.</p><p>In this episode, John sits down with Kris Billmaier, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Agentforce Sales and Growth Products at Salesforce, to talk about Agentforce, headless software, AI-native sales workflows, and what happens when sellers start managing teams of agents.</p><p>If you are in sales, sales leadership, enablement, or GTM strategy, this episode gives you a practical look at where humans still matter, how agents can support pipeline and qualification, and why AI adoption needs clear use cases, measurement, and training.</p><p>Want to stay ahead of where sales are heading next? Visit<a href="http://www.jbarrows.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><u><a href="http://www.jbarrows.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.jbarrows.com</a></u> and learn how you can Make It Happen.</p><p><strong>What You'll Learn</strong></p><ul><li>Why product-led growth is moving toward agent-led growth</li><li>How Salesforce is thinking about headless software and conversation-first AI</li><li>Why AI-first SaaS is not just a front-end feature or branding exercise</li><li>How agents are changing SDR and BDR work at Salesforce</li><li>Why successful AI adoption starts with a narrow use case and a real training plan</li><li>What sellers need to become as agent teams take on more busy work</li></ul><br/><p><strong>Kris Billmaier</strong> is Executive Vice President and General Manager of Agentforce Sales and Growth Products at Salesforce, where he leads the product strategy and vision for Agentforce Sales. With more than 20 years of experience across productivity software, search, and enterprise technology, Kris has launched category-defining products, scaled startups, and is now building a future where agents and sellers work together to grow revenue.</p><p><strong>Connect with Kris Billmaier:</strong></p><p>Website: <u><a href="https://www.salesforce.com/ap/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.salesforce.com/ap/</a></u></p><p>Li: <u><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisbillmaier/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisbillmaier/</a></u></p><p><strong>John Barrows</strong> is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.</p><p><strong>Connect with John Barrows:</strong></p><p>LinkedIn: <u><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/</a></u> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbnBBemdVT2pBZ1dhY0szYzlzOGUzYURaekEtUXxBQ3Jtc0trNkZEWVBuS3dOOWZaZ0pZVFNrOGtNNHpuNjZWdGx0aVBhX2dNODRTdjVKVG1tS0xnRlJXWk5WOUpVdzk1YzQ1R3ZoTFhRZ3pxeFFibXU5WnFlVGJtVXl5dDUzM1JqdnkwRGRMaC05VTZ2YmNFLTFiSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fjohnbarrows%2F&v=bULevYtP1Ds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a></p><p>Instagram: <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/</a></u></p><p>TikTok: <u><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows</a></u></p><p>Check out John's Membership:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGZxSnNVNDNhZU1zTGlfUHNWX19ZemtTLTM3QXxBQ3Jtc0tuY0sxajVtV1ZsdW5TMGtlV2tWTmNDTGVtUUZ6a1J6VmlMVi1DdU5uQ1cwRjRqdjF2ZlVqcXFveUtBWkp1WnZXSEZqQzA1TnJUclAxRVZWNm9fRjFxSlllYjdoTEd1VHFUUEFJbDdCSkR4SEU4TVgzTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.jbarrows.com%2Fpages%2Findividual-membership%3Fref%3D3edab1&v=bULevYtP1Ds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><u><a href="https://go.jbarrows.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://go.jbarrows.com/</a></u></p><p>Join John's Newsletter: <u><a href="https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter</a></u></p>
- ▶ Listen
30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales
#579 - Removing the friction from your sales cycle | Todd Caponi | 30MPC Hall of Fame🛒Pre-Order Todd’s Negotiation Course: https://hubs.li/Q04k0BGj0 In this episode, you can takeaway: 🎯 Acknowledging your competitors’ strengths + highlight where your features match needs 🤖 Getting price out early, and use it to disqualify 👔 Keep negotiation simple by anchoring pricing and trading value for dollars - - You're one step closer to President's Club! 📈 Negotiation Course: https://hubs.li/Q04k0BGj0 🏋 30MPC Training: 30mpc.com/training 🛠 Cold Email Data Report: https://hubs.li/Q04j3GHJ0 🛠 Weekly Tactical Breakdowns: https://hubs.li/Q02NJQ8p0📚 Things you can steal and use today: https://linktr.ee/30mpc_youtube
▶ ListenSales Gravy: Jeb Blount
How to Beat AI Call Screeners & Get More Prospects on the Phone (Ask Jeb)<p>AI call screeners are the new gatekeeper, and most salespeople are failing the relevance test before a human ever hears their voice. In this Ask Jeb episode, Cameron from the Raleigh-Durham area asks Jeb Blount how his healthcare staffing team can break through rising AI screening technology and get more physicians in front of clients who need them.</p><p>Jeb breaks down why AI screeners and human gatekeepers have more in common than you think, and exactly what your team needs to say in 15 seconds to earn the callback.</p><p>In this episode you will learn:</p><ul><li>Why relevance is the only thing that gets you through any gatekeeper, human or AI</li><li>How to use multi-touch prospecting (call, email, LinkedIn, direct mail) to build familiarity before a prospect ever picks up</li><li>What to say in 15 seconds or less when you hit an AI screener</li><li>Why your office phone may be the reason your calls are getting flagged as spam, and what to do about it</li><li>How to craft a relevance-first opening message for your specific industry and buyer</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Whether your calls are being screened, flagged as spam, or going straight to voicemail, this episode gives you a practical framework to improve your connect rate starting today.</p><p>Submit your question: <a href="http://salesgravy.com/ask" rel="nofollow">salesgravy.com/ask</a></p><p>Purchase Jeb Blount's new book, <a href="https://a.co/d/0bFr9xF8" rel="nofollow">90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills</a></p><p>Download our FREE <a href="https://salesgravy.com/resource/dial-sheet/" rel="nofollow">Prospecting Call Tracking Sheet</a></p><p>Follow Jeb Blount on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jebblount" rel="nofollow">LinkedIn</a></p><br/><br/>Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a><br/><br/>Privacy & Opt-Out: <a href='https://redcircle.com/privacy'>https://redcircle.com/privacy</a>
▶ ListenTopline
Exposed: The Big VC Lie of 2026 | Michael Walrath, CEO @ Yext<p>Michael Walrath, Chairman and CEO of Yext, returns to break down why the market has left a profitable, $400 million mid-cap public software company trading at one times revenue, even with over $100 million in EBITDA. He joins AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman to argue that the so-called SaaS apocalypse has almost no data behind it, that most AI layoffs are really a decade of go-to-market overhiring unwinding, and that boring compounders still out-return the hypergrowth darlings. Topics include how venture capital distorts software valuations, why no one is coming to help the 2021 unicorns stuck in broken cap tables, the great GTM despecialization, and the extend-and-pretend game inside venture funds. Plus, a Quiz Pro Quo on new business creation in the US and a Bulls and Bears debate on the future of mid-cap software and the stickiness of the AI platform.</p> <p>Read Michael's essay, No One's Coming to Help You: https://x.com/michaelpwalrath/status/2051364181237010778</p> <p>Key Takeaways:</p> <p>- The market has left profitable mid-cap software for dead in favor of AI-native growth stories, and Michael Walrath, Chairman and CEO at Yext, leaned into how strange that is for a business that still prints cash. As he put it, "who's writing our obituary? It's the venture capitalists who are funding high-growth ARR companies," even as those same firms can't say what that ARR really means.</p> <p>- The loudest voices setting software valuations are venture investors, and Michael argued their certainty is out of step with their actual hit rate. He called them "remarkably sure of themselves for guys whose whole business model is being right 5 to 10% of the time," noting that being right much more often than that would mean a VC is playing it too safe.</p> <p>- Michael's answer to the hypergrowth-or-die mindset is that durable value comes from compounding cash flow, not chasing the next high-growth story. Pointing to a century of market history and operators like Berkshire Hathaway and Liberty Media, he said, "if you compound effectively, you will out-return these super high growth stories, unless those super high growth stories eventually become compounders."</p> <p>- A lot of the layoffs being blamed on AI may be a decade of go-to-market overhiring finally unwinding. Michael framed the skeptic's question directly: "is it really AI? Or is this a choice that you're making because you overhired for 10 years." Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency, agreed, pointing out that even inside the most AI-native companies he visits, the fundamental way the business runs has not really changed.</p> <p>Connect with the Hosts & Guests:</p> <p>Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/<br /> Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/<br /> Guest: Michael Walrath, Chairman & CEO at Yext - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-walrath-b63166/</p> <p>Topline is more than a YouTube Channel:</p> <p>Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/<br /> Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast<br /> Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack</p> <p>Chapters: <br /> 00:00 Cold Open and Intro<br /> 02:33 Dead But We Just Know It<br /> 08:47 Narrative Violations and Hype<br /> 11:00 VCs Right 10% Of The Time<br /> 14:22 Whose Case Are You Making?<br /> 19:20 Why Boring Compounders Win<br /> 24:55 The SaaS Apocalypse Myth<br /> 28:47 Are AI Layoffs Really AI?<br /> 36:16 The Great GTM Despecialization<br /> 39:55 Quiz Pro Quo<br /> 48:54 No One Is Coming To Help You<br /> 55:11 Extend And Pretend<br /> 1:01:41 Doubling Cash Flow In 5 Years<br /> 1:04:17 Bulls and Bears<br /> 1:07:30 What's The AI Moat?</p>
▶ ListenRevenue Builders
How Saturday Night Live Builds Teams That Perform Under Pressure with Lindsay ShookusLindsay Shookus spent 20 years at Saturday Night Live, including 10 years as a producer, where every week required a team of writers, cast members, celebrity hosts, musicians, producers, and crew to create a live show in six days. In this conversation, Lindsay joins John Kaplan and John McMahon to share what SNL taught her about building trust quickly, hiring people who elevate the room, reading talent under pressure, and creating a process that allows strong personalities to perform together.
▶ ListenMental Selling: The Sales Performance Podcast
EP 134 Human-Centric Selling and Risk-Aware Growth with Jack Haworth<p>Knowing the rules and doing the right thing are not the same thing, and that gap is where the real risk lives.</p><p>This is part 2 of a two-part series adapted from a previously recorded webinar, where <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-haworth-iii/">Jack Haworth</a>, financial services executive and bank compliance consultant with over 25 years of experience, picks up where part one left off and gets into the how. Jack and Hayley Parr dig into what it actually takes to move from rule awareness to ethical application, from building a human-centric selling culture to understanding why reinforcement is the step most organizations skip and why that omission is what keeps the compliance loop recurring. Jack makes the case that the institutions closing this gap are not the ones with the most policies on paper, but the ones where customer alignment is so embedded in how people work that it shows up automatically, in loan decisions, in coaching moments, and in the way frontline staff behave when no one is watching.</p><p>This episode looks at the practical side of what risk-aware growth actually requires. Jack walks through the role AI should and should not play in judgment-heavy decisions, the signals leaders need to be looking for every day, and why turnover trends are the indicator regulators are flagging most right now. He shares a real example from his consulting work that week that captures exactly what it means to lead with integrity in a hard moment, and leaves banking leaders with one clear place to start if they want to close the gap between what their culture says it is and what their people actually experience.</p><p><br><strong>In this episode, you’ll learn:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>Human-Centric Selling in Practice:</strong> Why putting the customer in the middle of every decision is not a tagline but the most practical compliance framework a bank can have.</li><li><strong>The Reinforcement Gap:</strong> Why organizations that invest in mindset and skill set still fall short when they skip the reinforcement loop and how that omission keeps the compliance cycle repeating.</li><li><strong>AI as a Thought Partner, Not a Decision Maker:</strong> Where technology genuinely helps in compliance-heavy environments and where human judgment must remain in the driver's seat.</li><li><strong>Turnover as a Culture Signal:</strong> Why regulators are flagging employee turnover trends more than almost anything else right now and what it reveals about the health of your sales culture.</li><li><strong>Start With the Mirror:</strong> Jack's one practical step for any banking leader who wants to close the gap between what their culture claims to be and what their people actually experience every day.<br><strong><br>Resources</strong>:</li><li>Jack Haworth’s LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-haworth-iii/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-haworth-iii/</a><p><strong>Jump into the conversation:</strong><br>(00:00) Meet Jack Haworth<br>(01:41) Why knowing the rules is not the same as doing what is right<br>(06:58) What human-centric selling actually means in banking<br>(08:25) If you put the customer first will you ever make a bad decision<br>(13:53) The reinforcement gap and why the compliance loop keeps repeating<br>(17:55) How AI should and should not be used in judgment-heavy decisions<br>(19:47) What healthy risk-aware growth looks like day to day<br>(21:07) The turnover trend regulators are flagging most right now<br>(26:11) Where to start if you want to close the gap tomorrow</p></li></ul>
▶ ListenThe Best of the Brutal Truth about B2B Sales & Selling - The show focuses on the enterprise Sales Process
HOW TO LEVERAGE YOUR UNIQUE STRENGTHS TO BECOME GREAT AT SALES<p>Here is a FAQ Video on the Courses: <a href= "https://youtu.be/0F7imrzjXWs">https://youtu.be/0F7imrzjXWs</a></p> <p>Here is a deep dive into which course is best for you: <a href= "https://youtu.be/JM_jgS8M-iU">https://youtu.be/JM_jgS8M-iU</a></p> <p><a href= "http://www.b2brevenue.com/">https://www.b2bRevenue.com</a> - Get Your Free E-Book on How Companies make Decisions.</p> <p>FAQ:</p> <ul> <li>1 YEAR ACCESS, PAY MONTHLY OR ANNUALLY NOT A SUBSCRIPTION</li> <li>OFFICE HOURS EVERY<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> OTHER WEEK VIA ZOOM. 1 HOUR GROUP Q&A.</li> <li>UNLIMITED 1-ON-1'S<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> ARE FREE AS LONG AS THEY CAN BE SHARED IN THE COURSE. 1-ON-1 ARE</li> <li>FULL ACCESS ON DAY ONE - NOTHING IS GATED OR TIME RELEASED.</li> <li>ALL CONTENT IS VIDEO BASED AND SELF PACED</li> <li>I RECOMMEND TAKE COURSE ONCE WITHOUT NOTES OR APPLYING IT SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BIG PICTURE FIRST. THEN TAKE AND APPLY IT STEP BY STEP.</li> <li>YOU START WHEN YOU WANT AND GO AS FAST OR SLOW AS NEEDED.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Email me additional questions: <a href= "mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>— SAMPLE EMAIL TO EXPENSE THE COURSE</p> <p>MGR,</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been listening to the brutal truth about sales podcast for X months and it speaks to the issues we face.</p> <p> </p> <p>They currently offer a course that includes video instruction, group Q&A and One-on-One coaching. I'm committed to my own personal development and</p> <p>would like your help in expensing the course.</p> <p> </p> <p>It would pay for itself if I closed only one new deal of $X value.</p> <p> </p> <p>Please let me know by Friday if I can move forward with this 1 year course.</p> <p> </p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>ME</p> <p>Here are some student interviews from the courses:<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p> </p> <p>————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Audible 30 day Free Trial:</p> <p><a href= "http://www.audibletrial.com/BrutalTruth">http://www.audibletrial.com/BrutalTruth</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
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How AI Natives Are Using Claude Code to Rewrite GTM — with Jordan Crawford (Uncut in the Desert)<p>In this episode, recorded out in the New Mexico desert at ChiliPalooza, Jordan Crawford makes a blunt case to B2B SaaS: the methodologies you built your career on are about to age out, and the only way through is to get your hands on Claude Code.</p><p>Jordan's spent his whole job lately doing one thing: teaching clients to work with AI. And what he's found cuts against almost everything sales and marketing teams currently do.</p><p>What this episode covers:</p><ul><li>Why the constraint on building things isn't budget or headcount anymore, it's imagination</li><li>The SDR question every revenue leader is asking today: we went all-in, we see the volume, and we don't know what's working...so now what?</li><li>How Jordan rebuilds prospecting strategies from what customers actually did, not what a rep thinks they want</li><li>Why being wrong fast and cheap beats being right slowly: "you can beat any grandmaster if you get two moves to their one"</li><li>The truth about a sloppier world, and why polish is no longer the point</li><li>Why the gap between people who are great at this and people who are bad at it comes down to how you think, not skill</li><li>Why the "graybeards" built on ten-year-old playbooks are going away, and what replaces them</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The people who get in the tool will build things the graybeards can't imagine. The ones who don't will spend the next few years explaining a methodology nobody's buying.</p><p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p>🔗 MORE FROM JORDAN</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancrawford/"><u>Follow Jordan Crawford on LinkedIn</u></a></p><p><a href="https://edge.blueprintgtm.com/"><u>On the Edge by Blueprint</u></a> (Jordan’s Substack)</p><p><a href="https://www.blueprintgtm.com/"><u>Blueprint</u></a> – AKA the OG GTM Engineer</p><p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p>Marketing has evolved. Measurement hasn't. You're still running on a 20-year-old methodology that can't see most of the value you create.</p><p><a href="https://www.passetto.com/"><u>Passetto’s</u></a> 14-day Sprint fixes that — showing you where you're creating real value, where you're wasting effort, and which levers will actually drive your next stage of growth.</p><p>Your best work shouldn't die in data darkness.</p><p><a href="https://www.passetto.com/book-a-call"><u>[Get your full pipeline & revenue breakdown in 2 weeks]</u></a></p>
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Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount
The Neuroscience of Closing: How to Read Buyer Signals<p>Most salespeople think they lose deals in the closing conversation. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakestahl/" rel="nofollow">Jake Stahl </a>says they lose them long before that. Jake is a neuro strategist, CEO of Orchestrate, and author of Own the Room, and he has spent his career studying the behavioral signals buyers send before they go dark. In this episode, he joins Jeb Blount Jr. to break down his STRATA framework and show exactly how to read what buyers are really communicating, how to create the psychological conditions that make people want to say yes, and how to follow up in a way that builds obligation without pressure. If you have ever walked out of a meeting convinced you had a deal and then watched it disappear, this conversation will change how you run every sales interaction from the first touchpoint forward.</p><p><br></p><p>Purchase Jeb Blount's new book, <a href="https://a.co/d/0bFr9xF8" rel="nofollow">90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills</a></p><p>Download our FREE <a href="https://salesgravy.com/aced-buyer-style-playbook/" rel="nofollow">A.C.E.D. Buyer's Style Guide</a></p><p><span>🔗 </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/salesgravy/" rel="nofollow">Follow us on LinkedIn!</a></p><br/><br/>Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a><br/><br/>Privacy & Opt-Out: <a href='https://redcircle.com/privacy'>https://redcircle.com/privacy</a>
▶ ListenThe Predictable Revenue Podcast
430: The Secret to Scaling AI in Financial Services with Ankur Patel<p>People can be interested without being ready to buy, they can agree to a proof of concept without having a clear path to production, they can praise the product without becoming the kind of customer who helps the company grow.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That distinction was at the center of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/collinstewart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Collin Stewart</a>'s conversation with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankurpatel9/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Ankur Patel</a>, founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.multimodal.dev/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Multimodal</a>, on the <a href="https://predictable.fm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Predictable Revenue Podcast.</a></span></p> <p>Multimodal builds AI for document-heavy, decision-heavy workflows in financial services, and Ankur's story is useful because it shows how easy it is to mistake activity for traction.</p> <p><strong>Highlights include:</strong> Identifying the Niche (02:01), Customer Development and Validation (04:36), Pricing Strategy and First Customer (10:23), Evolving Market Strategies (17:46), Recognizing Product-Market Fit (22:50), and more...<span class= "MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bodyMedium css-9y6kil"><br /></span></p> <hr /> <p dir="ltr"><a href= "https://predictable.fm/email-newsletter-signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Stay updated</strong></a> with our podcast and the latest insights on Outbound Sales and Go-to-Market Strategies!</p>
▶ ListenThe Salesman.com Podcast
The Trap Small Business Owners Fall Into When Hiring Salespeople- ▶ Listen
The Best of the Brutal Truth about B2B Sales & Selling - The show focuses on the enterprise Sales Process
HOW TO MAKE THIS SUPERPOWER YOUR SECRET WEAPON<p>Here is a FAQ Video on the Courses: <a href= "https://youtu.be/0F7imrzjXWs">https://youtu.be/0F7imrzjXWs</a></p> <p>Here is a deep dive into which course is best for you: <a href= "https://youtu.be/JM_jgS8M-iU">https://youtu.be/JM_jgS8M-iU</a></p> <p><a href= "http://www.b2brevenue.com/">https://www.b2bRevenue.com</a> - Get Your Free E-Book on How Companies make Decisions.</p> <p>FAQ:</p> <ul> <li>1 YEAR ACCESS, PAY MONTHLY OR ANNUALLY NOT A SUBSCRIPTION</li> <li>OFFICE HOURS EVERY<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> OTHER WEEK VIA ZOOM. 1 HOUR GROUP Q&A.</li> <li>UNLIMITED 1-ON-1'S<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> ARE FREE AS LONG AS THEY CAN BE SHARED IN THE COURSE. 1-ON-1 ARE</li> <li>FULL ACCESS ON DAY ONE - NOTHING IS GATED OR TIME RELEASED.</li> <li>ALL CONTENT IS VIDEO BASED AND SELF PACED</li> <li>I RECOMMEND TAKE COURSE ONCE WITHOUT NOTES OR APPLYING IT SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BIG PICTURE FIRST. THEN TAKE AND APPLY IT STEP BY STEP.</li> <li>YOU START WHEN YOU WANT AND GO AS FAST OR SLOW AS NEEDED.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Email me additional questions: <a href= "mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>— SAMPLE EMAIL TO EXPENSE THE COURSE</p> <p>MGR,</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been listening to the brutal truth about sales podcast for X months and it speaks to the issues we face.</p> <p> </p> <p>They currently offer a course that includes video instruction, group Q&A and One-on-One coaching. I'm committed to my own personal development and</p> <p>would like your help in expensing the course.</p> <p> </p> <p>It would pay for itself if I closed only one new deal of $X value.</p> <p> </p> <p>Please let me know by Friday if I can move forward with this 1 year course.</p> <p> </p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>ME</p> <p>Here are some student interviews from the courses:<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p> </p> <p>————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Audible 30 day Free Trial:</p> <p><a href= "http://www.audibletrial.com/BrutalTruth">http://www.audibletrial.com/BrutalTruth</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
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