The traditional way of selling in B2B businesses no longer works. Win rates are at an all-time low. Sales reps are burning out faster than ever. Quotas are missed quarter after quarter. And so what are teams trying? To just do more. More calls. More demos.

But the solution isn’t more. First, you have to break the cycle you are stuck in.

In today’s episode, Damon is joined by Dave Brock. He’s a legendary sales advisor, executive coach, and author of The Sales Manager Survival Guide. He's here to break down what’s wrong with the way we train sales teams today, and how modern leaders can build cultures that actually drive performance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why most sales teams are stuck and what it really takes to break the cycle
How business acumen and curiosity outperform slide decks and sales pitches
The real reason tenure is shrinking in sales and what to do about it
How to coach your team effectively
What Dave is building with AI and why it might be the future of learning

Timestamps:

00:00 – What’s going wrong in sales today?

02:10 – Why win rates are declining and panic is missing

05:27 – Are people losing their drive to achieve?

07:34 – COVID’s effect on employee disconnection

08:49 – Culture, belonging, and why people leave

10:32 – What great leaders do differently

12:22 – The math doesn’t work: ramp time vs. tenure

15:56 – How short-term thinking hurts everyone

16:36 – Why most sales cycles end in no decision

18:59 – The key to building trust: problem-first conversations

21:23 – The pitch is dead—long live collaboration

23:39 – Why salespeople lack business acumen

24:42 – The real role of subject matter experts

26:20 – The $500k SDR: a credibility case study

29:23 – Where to find your next great SDR

31:15 – Brand damage from bad conversations

33:56 – One-size-fits-all coaching doesn't work

34:55 – What frontline managers get wrong

36:58 – Directive vs. non-directive coaching

38:56 – Coaching inside every conversation

42:32 – Using improv to teach collaborative coaching

44:59 – Coaching in “cracks of time”

45:54 – What’s changed since The Sales Manager Survival Guide

47:52 – Preview of Dave’s next book: Sales Executive Survival Guide

49:05 – Using AI as a debate partner, not a crutch

51:25 – Learning faster through collaborative AI tools

53:59 – Dave’s master prompt strategy for ChatGPT and Claude

54:18 – What keeps Dave curious after decades of success

56:35 – What extreme sports and Wu-Tang taught him about innovation

59:28 – Why mentoring high schoolers keeps him sharp

Resources Mentioned:

Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog
Follow Dave Brock on LinkedIn
Sales Manager Survival Guide by Dave Brock
AI Driven Leader by Jeff Woods

About the Guest:

Dave Brock is the author of Sales Manager Survival Guide. He leads Partners in EXCELLENCE, which helps sales leaders rethink coaching, culture, and customer engagement. Dave’s recent work includes AI-powered sales learning tools based on curiosity, problem solving, and trust-building.

Connect With Us:

Level up your sales team at Learnit.com

Email us: podcast@learnit.com

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