Revenue Builders

Buyers rarely make decisions on logic alone. In this minisode, Randy Riemersma breaks down the six emotions that influence how deals progress and explains why elite sellers know how to create urgency, build confidence, and sustain momentum throughout the buying journey. Randy shares his perspective on the role of fear, curiosity, hope, desire, confidence, and urgency in complex sales, along with why subject matter expertise and genuine curiosity remain essential for earning trust and guiding decisions. Randy Riemersma is the founder of Sell with Precision, where he helps sales leaders improve execution, leadership effectiveness, and go-to-market performance through battle-tested systems and coaching. With more than 35 years of B2B sales, leadership, and executive development experience, he works with organizations to build more predictable and scalable revenue engines. Connect with Randy: LinkedIn Website Resources mentioned: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - The Hidden Beliefs That Shape Your Happiness with Shawn Achor Listen to the full episode: The Hidden Cost of False Velocity with Randy Riemersma Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Proprietary data, not the software, is the long-term value driver. On this episode, Ann Davis, CRO at Crunchbase, walks through how knowing which customers to pursue drives 2x pipeline growth in six months, why sellers need to stay in control of the conversation, and how she built a headless AI interface that connects Salesforce, Gong, and private market data so reps know exactly what to focus on each day. Ann Davis is Chief Revenue Officer at Crunchbase, where she leads their shift from product-led to enterprise; she spent five years at Google Cloud running data and analytics and led sales at Looker (acquired by Google), and earlier configured camera systems on Sidewinder missiles for the F14 fighter program. Connect with Ann: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: SEC 10-K Search Tool Official Crunchbase MCP Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 – What Ann's path from configuring missile systems to running enterprise sales reveals about building revenue infrastructure 04:33 – Why most CROs invest in the wrong asset when building competitive advantage in an AI-powered sales org 08:04 – A look inside the private market dataset that competitors cannot replicate, no matter how much they spend 09:58 – The concrete business impact when data-driven targeting replaces guesswork in account selection 20:51 – Why the transition from product-led to enterprise motion fails for most organizations, and what changes when it works 32:19 – The five readiness factors that separate companies prepared for enterprise motion from those that aren't 51:52 – Why enterprise sellers are becoming more essential (not obsolete) as AI reshapes sales infrastructure Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Hiring mistakes often happen when leaders focus on capability and experience without understanding whether a candidate is truly energized by the realities of the role. In this clip recorded earlier this year, Jason Forget, then President and CRO of Cockroach Labs, shares the interview question he uses to uncover long-term fit, why startup environments demand a different type of motivation, and how honest self-assessment can help leaders avoid costly hiring mistakes. The discussion offers a practical framework for evaluating energy, adaptability, and alignment before making critical hiring decisions. Jason Forget is President and CRO of Resolve AI, an enterprise AI platform for production operations, and has spent his career building revenue organizations from multiple vantage points, including finance, RevOps, sales, and executive leadership. Previously, he served as President and CRO at Cockroach Labs, where he led the go-to-market organization during a period of hyper-growth. His uncommon path across different functions has shaped his approach to predictable growth, helping companies scale from early-stage startups to enterprise revenue organizations through operational discipline, coaching, and repeatable sales systems. Connect with Jason: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: "The Locker Room is Not for Sale" by Coach Brian White Listen to the full episode: How Revenue Leaders Scale Beyond Hero Sellers with Jason Forget, CRO Behind Multiple Startup-to-Scale Journeys Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

You can have the best product in the world, perfect messaging, and market timing on your side… but if you don't have elite people in your sales organization, none of it matters. Brad Scott has built sales teams at Snowflake, Veza, and now Glean – three of the most different growth trajectories in tech. In this conversation, he breaks down how to hire for the traits that actually predict success: intellectual curiosity, resilience, self-awareness. He also tackles the complexity of selling AI-native products in a market flooded with AI-bolted hype, and why the fundamentals of recruiting, onboarding, and process discipline are your only anchor when everything around you is changing every 90 days. Brad Scott is VP of Worldwide Sales at Glean, where he leads a 350-person sales organization through explosive growth. Before Glean, he built sales teams at Veza from an early stage and at Snowflake during its historic scale-up, giving him rare visibility into what it actually takes to build elite sales organizations across three radically different company sizes and growth phases. Brad also chairs the Work AI Institute at Glean, exploring what future organizational structures look like in an AI-driven world. Connect with Brad: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Atomic Habits by James Clear Work AI Institute Glean:GO 2026 Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 – Why the caliber of people in your sales organization matters more than your product, your messaging, or your market timing. 05:15 – How the questions you ask during recruiting reveal whether someone will actually stay curious about customers – or just go through the motions. 06:36 – Why salespeople who've faced real hardship or adversity early in their careers tend to outperform everyone else when things get hard. 24:34 – How to educate prospects on the difference between AI-native and AI-bolted products (and why it matters for their ROI). 36:57 – Why your proof-of-value process must map customer workflows and business outcomes before diving into technical integrations. 45:25 – Why automating your daily drudgery is the one move that separates future-proofed salespeople from ones who'll get left behind by AI. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Most first-line managers are trying to do everything at once – recruit, develop, forecast, and hit their number – all in 62 working days. But Scott Rudy has learned through building teams at high-growth companies that what separates managers who make their number from those who don't isn't effort; it's operating rhythm. In this clip, Scott breaks down how second-line managers should coach first-line managers on weekly accountability, how to set clear expectations that cascade through the organization, and why most companies misalign their manager responsibilities. If your managers don't have clarity on how to execute week to week, your reps won't either. Scott Rudy is the Founder of Rudy Advisory, bringing extensive sales and leadership experience from high-profile tech companies including Zywave, PTC, Salesforce, SAP, and Paycor. He's led sales organizations through explosive growth, taking companies from 80 sales reps to 400 over eight-year periods, and is known for building championship sales cultures and creating scalable leadership frameworks, including the Frontline Sales Leadership Playbook developed with Force Management. Connect with Scott: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Watch Force Management’s Panel Discussion on AI in Sales Leadership Download the CRO Strategy Checklist Listen to the full episode: The Critical Role of Sales Managers in Driving Growth with Scott Rudy Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Most companies spend September and October planning for 2027, but they skip the part that actually matters: figuring out how their teams will execute on it. That's why we're revisiting this episode with Dr. Chuck Bamford, who walks through how to align strategy from the boardroom all the way down to compensation plans, daily activities, and the conversations your reps have with customers. He covers what separates strategy that gets executed from strategy that sits on a shelf, and why most execution failures have nothing to do with the strategy itself. If you're mapping out your revenue goals for next year, this episode is a must-listen before you finalize your plan. Dr. Chuck Bamford is the Managing Partner at Bamford Associates and an adjunct professor of strategy at both Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. He's worked with more than 170 organizations to design and implement strategy that actually drives behavior, and he's the author of many books, including The Strategy Mindset 2.0 . Connect with Chuck: LinkedIn Website Resources mentioned: The Strategy Mindset 2.0: A Practical Guide to the Design and Implementation of Strategy Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 – What it really takes to build strategy that doesn't fall apart the moment it hits the sales floor. 05:01 – Why most CROs treat strategy like a one-time event instead of the ongoing discipline it needs to be. 16:02 – What leaders often overlook when converting corporate KPIs into the specific daily activities their people actually execute. 18:40 – The mistake many CROs make when compensation plans quietly undermine everything their strategy is designed to accomplish. 54:43 – Why narrowing your competitive set to 3-5 competitors dramatically changes how your teams sell. 01:00:52 – A look inside how differentiation dies in strategy decks but comes alive in the three-foot conversation between your rep and a customer. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Winning complex deals requires more than executive sponsorship. The strongest business cases are built by connecting value across the organization. Daniel Simon shares how he worked with stakeholders across product, engineering, finance, HR, and legal teams to uncover specific use cases, quantify time savings, and build an ROI story that resonated from end users to the executive team. The result was a business case that transformed AI from a technology investment into a measurable business outcome. Daniel Simon is an Enterprise Account Executive at Glean, where he helps large enterprises deploy AI solutions that improve knowledge discovery, productivity, and decision-making across the organization. He brings experience selling complex technology solutions into Fortune 500 companies and navigating multi-stakeholder enterprise buying processes. Connect with Dan: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: The Qualified Sales Leader by by John McMahon The Go-Giver by by Bob Burg Listen to the full episode: Selling Enterprise AI with Context, Adoption, and Measurable ROI with Daniel Simon Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

CROs who chase pipeline numbers miss what really matters. Sam Costello's path from sub-$1M to $100M at Harness taught him to stop managing revenue and start building the machine that produces it, which means recruiting elite, coachable talent, running a champion-first sales process with discipline, and building a culture of radical candor where MEDDPIC reviews are hunts, not compliance exercises. If you're spending more time managing numbers than building people and process, this conversation reveals where that shift starts – and what it costs to miss it. Sam Costello is CRO at Harness, where he's spent 7.5 years scaling the platform from sub-$1M to $100M ARR. He interviews ~400 candidates annually and partners closely with co-leader Carlos to build what he calls an 'execution machine', recruiting elite talent, running disciplined sales processes, and developing a culture of radical candor and coachability. Connect with Sam: LinkedIn Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 – Why most CROs get the job fundamentally wrong 06:00 – Why your team is building champions in the wrong order 13:40 – Why POV processes fail before they even start 31:41 – Why MEDDPIC reviews are failing in most organizations 40:43 – Why the question most hiring leaders should ask (but don't) 46:12 – Why OTE isn't your real competition in the war on talent 53:00 – What separates great companies from the rest Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

AI adoption has changed the standard for go-to-market execution. Seong Park, SVP of Customer Support & Services at Cursor, explains why the old model of selling certainty is giving way to curiosity, experimentation, and workflow discovery. He breaks down why the real work starts after signature, why pilots only matter if they lead to business-critical adoption, and how revenue leaders can guide customers from AI exploration to measurable impact. Seong Park is the Senior Vice President of Customer Support and Services at Cursor. His background spans pre-sales, customer success, and go-to-market leadership across companies including MongoDB, ThoughtSpot, and now Cursor. Connect with Seong: LinkedIn Listen to the full episode: The Real Sale Starts After Signature | Proving Value in AI and Consumption Models with Seong Park Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Michelle Bove didn't start in enterprise software – she started as a soccer referee in seventh grade, hustling for an extra $10 per game, then moved into door-to-door sales at a three-person startup where she learned rejection quickly and loved it even more. That hunger never left. Today, as an AVP of East Sales at Wiz, she's built her career at some of the sharpest sales cultures in software history (PTC, AppDynamics, Zscaler), closed deals nobody else could get into, and turned around entire teams by replacing broken managers instead of blaming reps. In this conversation, she breaks down the real mechanics of winning: why likability is underrated, how to hire people better than you, why skip levels work when done transparently, and what it actually costs to prove yourself as a young female leader in cybersecurity. Her philosophy is simple: science plus art. Discipline and processes without human connection will only get you halfway there. Michelle Bove is an AVP of East Sales at Wiz and has built her career at PTC, AppDynamics, and Zscaler – some of the sharpest sales cultures in enterprise software. She's known for closing deals nobody else could get into and turning underperforming teams into world-class organizations. Connect with Michelle: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Profession Profiles International assessments Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 – Introduction and Michelle's origin story from soccer referee to enterprise sales leader 06:44 – Why likability is the most underrated sales competency and directly impacts your ability to build champions and close deals 20:00 – Why tailored coaching based on individual strengths and weaknesses beats cookie-cutter management 36:30 – How to run skip levels the right way: prep, conduct, document, share back with managers, and follow up without alienating people 47:50 – Operating rhythms in practice: daily prospecting, 15-question deal reviews, and deep customer research that actually moves deals 51:00 – Why in-person customer engagement beats remote-only selling for strategic accounts and mega-deals, even in the AI era 59:45 – The hardest part of her job: being a young female leader in a male-dominated space and proving herself every room she walks into Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

High-performing teams create the conditions for talent to succeed. In this Revenue Builders segment, Lindsay Shookus shares lessons from Saturday Night Live on cultural fit, team buy-in, trust, and performance under pressure. Drawing from examples of SNL talent who found success in different environments, Lindsay explains why fit often determines whether strong people can thrive inside a specific team rhythm. She also shares how leaders can create safety for risk-taking, give teams ownership in new hires, and reduce the pressure on individuals by helping them trust the room around them. Lindsay Shookus spent 20 years at Saturday Night Live, including 10 years as a producer, where she led talent booking, worked with celebrity hosts and musical guests, and helped scout and recruit cast members. She is a four-time Emmy Award winner, a former producer on 30 Rock, and the co-founder of Women Work Hard, a community supporting female entrepreneurs and leaders. Connect with Lindsay: Website Resources mentioned: Women Work Hard on IG Women Work Hard Website Rethinking Success by J. Douglas Holladay Listen to the full episode: How Saturday Night Live Builds Teams That Perform Under Pressure with Lindsay Shookus Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Most sales conversations still lean on product specs, and most leadership still gets reduced to quota math, until the market gets hard and both approaches break down. Rob Potter, CEO of Oomnitza, joins John Kaplan and John McMahon to argue that revenue and retention run on the same fuel: story, evidence, and belief rather than pressure. Shaped by three decades under RSA and EMC leaders like Art Coviello and Mark Thurman, Potter explains why technical credibility alone creates gaps in a sales motion, how staged delegation and reverse-timeline planning scale a team without inflating cost, and why transformative leaders keep people through a missed quarter while transactional leaders lose them the moment the number slips. Rob Potter is CEO of Oomnitza, an enterprise technology management platform, and a venture partner at SYN Ventures. His path to the corner office ran through engineering and sales leadership roles at IBM, WRQ, Symantec, and RSA/EMC, where he worked alongside leaders including Art Coviello and Joe Tucci before running revenue organizations of his own. Connect with Rob: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Force Management's Command of the Message® Force Management's Conversation Guide Key takeaways from this episode: 04:06 - How a mentor redirected Potter from veterinary school to engineering, and how an IBM customer engagement pulled him out of coding and into sales. 14:15 - Why staged delegation, bringing team members in at the right sales-cycle phase rather than all at once, is what separates scalable sales leaders from expensive ones. 19:29 - The single metric Mark Thurman drilled into him: growth rate quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year matters more than revenue alone. 20:41 - What RSA and EMC's top leaders had in common: honesty, transparency, and empathy, especially when navigating layoffs. 27:48 - Why passion is contagious in an organization, and why it only exists downstream of belief built on evidence. 31:37 - The storytelling framework Potter coaches into every rep: journey, problem, outcome, not product spec. 38:22 - Why AI guardrails have to differ by function, and the hidden long-term cost of building AI in-house instead of buying it. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Enterprise sellers often lose deal quality by moving too quickly from customer pain to product answers. In this Revenue Builders minisode, Stuart Gwynn of MongoDB explains why the best sellers slow down in discovery, hold the line with the customer, and use disciplined qualification to determine whether a problem is real, urgent, and worth solving. Stuart shares how pipeline creates the courage to qualify out, why team preparation matters before strategic customer conversations, and how trust is built when sellers demonstrate that they understand the customer’s business before prescribing a solution. Stuart Gwynn is an enterprise sales leader at MongoDB who has exceeded goal every year since joining the company in 2019. Before MongoDB, he spent seven years at Pure Storage, rising from SDR to named account rep and finishing as one of the company’s top performers before moving into strategic enterprise selling. Connect with Stuart: LinkedIn Episodes mentioned: The Discipline Behind Scaling from PLG to Enterprise with Sahir Azam Why Sales Execution Wins in an AI-First World with Brian McCarthy, President of Global Revenue and Field Operations at Cursor Listen to the full episode: The Discipline Behind Nine-Figure Deals with Stuart Gwynn Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Senior leaders are often judged in moments they could not plan for. Mark Thurmond’s path from sales rep to co-CEO of Tenable was built through consistent execution, difficult operating assignments, and crises that demanded calm before certainty. He explains what the RSA breach taught him about transparency and customer trust, how he and Steve Vintz kept Tenable moving after the death of CEO Amit Yoran, and why the strongest leaders build followership before they need it. The conversation also covers choosing learning over title, using AI to raise seller productivity, and leading a product-to-platform shift as a company-wide operating change. Mark Thurmond is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tenable, where he oversees the company’s go-to-market functions across sales, marketing, customer success, professional services, and technical support. His career includes senior operating and sales leadership roles at EMC, RSA, Qlik, and Turbonomic. Connect with Mark: LinkedIn Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 - What early international experience teaches leaders about operating across markets, cultures, and teams. 04:34 - Why transparency during a crisis can strengthen customer trust instead of weakening it. 10:19 - What leaders must control when uncertainty, emotion, and outside pressure start to take over. 12:22 - Why rigid career planning can distract high performers from the opportunities that actually move them forward. 15:05 - What a leader’s ability to attract former colleagues reveals about their credibility and influence. 17:04 - Why the most valuable career moves often create discomfort before they create advancement. 29:00 - A look inside what leadership demands when personal grief and business continuity collide. 34:08 - What executives often overlook about the connection between proactive health and decision-making capacity. 41:30 - Why a company’s approach to AI partnerships may determine whether it separates or falls behind. 53:00 - What many leaders underestimate about moving from a product business to a platform strategy. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

In this clip, Alex Bilmes, CEO of Endgame, joins Revenue Builders to share what his team learned from analyzing more than 30,000 real AI workflows across go-to-market teams. The data shows AI gaining traction in account intelligence, conversation readiness, deal acceleration, pipeline inspection, and team enablement. But the larger lesson is that the strongest teams are not just using AI to generate decks, briefs, or follow-ups faster. They are using it to create shared understanding across reps, managers, executives, RevOps, and cross-functional teams. For revenue leaders, the opportunity is not simply more automation. It is connecting the organization around the same account context, methodology, and customer truth. Alex Bilmes is the CEO and founder of Endgame, a revenue intelligence platform built for go-to-market teams. His work focuses on helping revenue organizations centralize customer, methodology, and account knowledge so both humans and AI agents can operate from a consistent foundation. Connect with Alex: LinkedIn Listen to the full episode: Revenue per Employee Is the New Endgame with Alex Bilmes Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

AI partnerships are no longer won by managing a channel or securing a marketplace listing. Leaders must understand how countries, power, cooling, chip fabrication, hyperscalers, model providers, software companies, and enterprise risk fit together before they can build an effective partner strategy. Returning to Revenue Builders, Alan Chhabra explains how Cerebras navigated the technical and political realities of working with AWS, why successful partner leaders need more than relationships, and how sovereignty is changing infrastructure, model selection, and cloud decisions. He also examines why software companies are moving aggressively on AI while traditional enterprises remain more cautious. Alan Chhabra is the Executive Vice President of Worldwide Partnerships at Cerebras Systems, where he leads global partner expansion across hyperscalers and the broader AI ecosystem. He previously spent nearly a decade building MongoDB’s global partner network and held senior leadership roles at BMC Software. Connect with Alan: LinkedIn Other Revenue Builders episodes with Alan: The Ideal Partnership with Alan Chhabra Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 - Why the infrastructure behind AI may matter more than the applications built on top of it. 12:26 - What the shift from data to AI changes about how partner leaders map the market. 16:06 - Why understanding the full AI stack is a prerequisite for building the right partnerships. 27:48 - A look inside what it really takes to navigate the politics of a hyperscaler partnership. 36:00 - The four capabilities CEOs should test before hiring an AI partner leader. 48:34 - What leaders often overlook about the role of sovereignty in shaping AI infrastructure decisions. 56:25 - Why software companies and traditional enterprises are moving at very different speeds on AI adoption. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

High-pressure sales moments test a leader’s ability to stay composed, present, and clear when the outcome matters. In this minisode, Dr. Michael Gervais explains how elite performers manage activation before critical moments, from major buyer meetings to executive presentations. He breaks down the difference between useful nerves and disruptive anxiety, then outlines the mental skills that help leaders regulate pressure: awareness, breathing, and self-talk. For revenue leaders, this conversation offers a practical lens on preparing the mind before the stakes arrive. Dr. Michael Gervais is a performance psychologist, the founder of Finding Mastery, host of the Finding Mastery podcast, co-creator of the Performance Science Institute at the University of Southern California, and author of The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think of You . He has worked with Olympians, world champions, MMA fighters, Fortune 100 CEOs, and elite teams to help them train their minds for high-pressure performance. Connect with Dr. Gervais: Website Podcast IG Facebook LinkedIn Resources mentioned: Dr. Michael Gervais' Morning Mindset Routine The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What Other People Think of You by Michael Gervais, PhD Rethinking Success: Eight Essential Practices for Finding Meaning in Work and Life by J. Douglas Holladay Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella Listen to the full episode: Training the Mind for High-Stakes Sales: How FOPO Hurts Executive Presence with Dr. Michael Gervais Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Pressure does not create a response. It exposes the response that has already been trained. Former professional hockey coach and mental strength coach Greg Poss returns to explain how leaders can recognize fear-driven reactions, return to a more deliberate state, and build resilience before the stakes rise. Greg, John McMahon, and John Kaplan examine why external achievement delivers only temporary satisfaction, how a leader’s emotional state influences the performance of the team, and why productive discomfort must be paired with a clear path forward. They also discuss practical tools including breathing, visualization, self-awareness, and Greg’s 21-day process for building more consistent responses in high-pressure environments. Greg Poss spent decades coaching professional hockey in the United States and Europe, including leading the Mannheim Eagles to a championship and coaching the German national team. He now works with athletes, coaches, and business leaders to strengthen mental resilience and improve performance under pressure. Connect with Greg: LinkedIn Website Resources mentioned: The Peter Attia Drive Podcast, Ep. #399 ‒ The evolution of Alzheimer's disease and dementia care: how early detection, personalized treatment, new therapies, and a multimodal approach are changing the landscape | Gayatri Devi, M.D. Greg Poss's 21-Day Brain Training Program Other Revenue Builders appearances: ”The Most Important Reward Is The Process” with Greg Poss Key takeaways from this episode: 00:00 - Introduction 03:05 – Why Greg believes the brain must be trained to respond deliberately before pressure arrives. 07:41 – How frustration, anger, and anxiety can signal that fear is beginning to shape a leader’s response. 16:25 – Why external achievements provide temporary satisfaction, while sustained fulfillment comes from the process of learning and mastery. 23:50 – How a leader’s emotional state influences the energy, confidence, and performance of the people around them. 36:04 – Why pushing people outside their comfort zones only produces growth when leaders also provide the tools and path forward. 50:45 – How victim thinking blocks accountability, learning, and the ability to improve after a setback. 57:29 – Why effective visualization includes adversity, friction, and the response required when events do not go according to plan. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Late-stage deals can appear secure once the buyer has accepted the product and the business case, but that is often when the risk feels most personal. In today’s segment, Randy Riemersma explains why deals inside the final 10 yards are won or lost on buyer confidence and how elite sellers remove doubt through executive alignment, credible proof points, consistent communication with the champion, and a clear business-level point of view. The conversation gives revenue leaders a sharper way to evaluate late-stage deal risk and reinforces why belief, preparation, and execution matter when the buyer is preparing to make a high-stakes decision. Randy Riemersma is the founder of Sell with Precision, where he helps sales leaders strengthen go-to-market execution, leadership effectiveness, and sales operating discipline. He has spent decades in B2B sales, leadership, consulting, and executive coaching, with a focus on helping teams sell with greater clarity, precision, and business relevance. Connect with Randy: LinkedIn Website Resources mentioned: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - The Hidden Beliefs That Shape Your Happiness with Shawn Achor Listen to the full episode: The Hidden Cost of False Velocity with Randy Riemersma Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management

Sales organizations stall when knowledge stays trapped in the heads of a few experienced people. In this Revenue Builders replay, Frederik Maris explains how leaders turn field experience into repeatable execution through sharper qualification, stronger frontline management, and deliberate coaching. He shares how conscious competence helps managers teach what top performers do instinctively, why early wins matter for new reps, and where leaders must take accountability when talent fails to develop. The conversation gives CROs a practical view of the systems, behaviors, and management discipline required to build a team that can scale. Frederik Maris is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of EliteGTM, where he helps founders and revenue leaders build more predictable go-to-market organizations through advisory, recruiting, and enablement. His career includes senior leadership roles at Splunk, Zoom, DataRobot, BMC, Veritas, and PTC, giving him firsthand experience building and transforming complex enterprise sales teams. Connect with Frederik: LinkedIn Resources mentioned: The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor Key takeaways from this episode: 08:44 – What it really takes to uncover the customer pain and internal support that move complex deals forward. 04:51 – Why sales leaders need a clear understanding of the methods behind their own success. 26:16 – What CROs often overlook about the frontline manager’s role in seller ramp and retention. 28:13 – Why a new rep’s first deal can shape confidence, momentum, and long-term performance. 40:36 – Frederik Maris’s perspective on the traits that matter most when hiring for growth. 45:06 – A look inside the interview signals that reveal self-awareness and emotional intelligence. 01:01:07 – The leadership question that creates accountability when performance falls short. Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. This show is brought to you by Force Management . We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Connect with Us: LinkedIn YouTube Force Management