The GTMnow Podcast GTM 19: The Art of Sales Leadership with Rick Smolen
In this episode, we are joined by Rick Smolen. Rick is the current Head of Sales at Loopio. He is a results-focused revenue leader with over 20 years of experience in tech and enterprise software sales. Rick used to be the Head of Sales at Greenhouse Software, where he oversaw the company's annual recurring revenue tripling to over $65 million in less than three years. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Interlinks in sales, sales leadership, and international roles, and helped the company grow to over $300 million in annual sales.
What You Will Learn:
- How to transition from a great salesperson to an effective people leader.
- Three sales methodologies, when to use them, and how to teach them.
- How to sell in a different global market.
Highlights:
(1:25) Rick’s background.
(4:13) Rick’s first management role and career journey.
(8:08) His opinion on promoting your top sales rep to leadership.
(11:00) How to foster people management skills.
(11:20) The value of mentorship in developing leadership skills.
(14:20) Why transparency is key in team and leadership building.
(16:40) How to deliver/receive tough feedback constructively.
(18:18) Three different sales methodologies, when to use them, and how to teach them.
(25:40) Rick’s learnings from spending 12½ years at a company.
(29:40) Rick’s experience and learnings from selling in Asia.
(33:52) Comparing doing business in North America and Asia.
(37:37) Strategies to keep your team motivated through tough times in 2023.
(41:28) One actionable strategy Rick has used to increase revenue.
Guest Speaker Link:
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricksmolen/
Host Speaker Links:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
The GTMnow Podcast
The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
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