

Sales Game Changers | Tips from Successful Sales Leaders
Fred Diamond
Institute for Effective Professional Selling founder Fred Diamond interviews top business-to-business sales leaders from companies such as AWS, AT&T, Oracle, Microsoft, Salesforce, Hilton and others about their sales journey, career highlights, mentors, and lessons learned while asking them to offer tips to help emerging sales professionals and leaders to grow their careers. It's an interview-style podcast that has become even more popular as sales professionals look for solutions in the new world of selling.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 29, 2026 • 37min
The Sales Advantage of Ethical Influence at hear.com with Brian Ahearn
This is episode 810. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! On today's show, Fred discussed influence in the sales process with Cialdini-trained expert Brian Ahearn, author of "Influencing People: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade hat are Lasting and Ethical." He was joined by Veit Albert, VP of Sales at hearing aid company hear.com. Find Veit on LinkedIn. Find Brian on LinkedIn. VEIT'S TIP: "Influence is responsibility. You can use it to push people or to lift them up." BRIAN'S TIP: "Customers won't buy from you just because they like you, but they'll probably never buy from you if they don't."

Jan 22, 2026 • 12min
The Sales Advantage of Paid Referrals with Joe Mindak
This is episode 809. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. This is a Sales Story and a Tip episode! Watch the video of the interview here. Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Read more about the Institute for Effective Professional Selling Emerging Sales Leader Program here. Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show featured an interview with Joe Mindak, Cofounder of Nolodex, an Enterprise SaaS Platform focused on revolutionizing and monetizing B2B referral transactions within communities. Find Joe on LinkedIn. JOE'S TIP: "Sales has always been about who you know. Now it's finally okay to say: if I help you win business, I should get paid for it."

Jan 15, 2026 • 28min
How VCU Is Building the Next Generation of Selling Professionals with Andy McGowan
This is episode 808. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. This is a special episode of the "Office Hours - Sales Professors Unplugged Podcast." The show feature interviews with sales professors at universities with a sales excellence programs. Many of the universities are members of the University Sales Center Alliance. Watch the interview on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show is a special "Office Hours - Sales Professors Unplugged" episode featuring Andy McGowan, Director, Center for Professional Selling at Virginia Commonwealth University. Find Andy on LinkedIn. Andy's TIP: "The best sales professionals never stop training; the moment you think you're done learning is the moment you start falling behind."

12 snips
Jan 13, 2026 • 41min
What Selling Professionals Can Learn from CIA Tradecraft with Craig Bowman
Craig Bowman, former CIA operations and technology professional turned sales leader and author of CRAFT: CIA Tradecraft Meets AI. He explains how intelligence tradecraft maps to enterprise selling. Topics include using research and AI to spot real opportunity, mapping true influence inside organizations, activating partners as allies, and proving value with measurable, risk-reducing plans.

Jan 8, 2026 • 26min
Agentic AI, Observability, and the Future of B2B and B2G Sales from ScienceLogic Sales Leaders
This is episode 806. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. Watch the video of this podcast on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! On today's show, Fred discussed where we are with AI and B2B and B2Government sales with ScienceLogic leaders Wendy Wooley, VP of Customer Advocacy and Strategy, and Lee Koepping, Global Sales Engineering at ScienceLogic. Find Wendy on LinkedIn. Find Lee on LinkedIn. WENDY'S TIP: "You can't replace human relationships in sales, but AI helps you stay proactive when organizations change." LEE'S TIP: "Sales is still very much a human game. AI won't replace that but it can get you to the right people, at the right time, with the right insight."

Jan 6, 2026 • 42min
These AI Skills Will Define Sales Leaders in 2026 According to Jessica Baker
This is episode 805. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! On today's "Women in Sales Leadership," show, Center for Elevating Women in Sales Leadership President Gina Stracuzzi interviewed Jessica Baker from AchieveUnite. AchieveUnite is an Institute for Effective Professional Selling Selling Essentials Marketplace partner. She was a presenter at the October 9 Women in Sales Elevation Conference. Watch the video of this podcast on YouTube here. Find Jessica on LinkedIn. JESSICA'S TIP: "Women are uniquely positioned to help with this because we bring empathy, opportunity, and creativity to thrive in an environment where the shiver of sharks is coming so quickly. Our ability to step into leadership roles with AI is not only unprecedented, it's essential."

Dec 30, 2025 • 31min
What Ohio University's Adam Rapp Teaches About Building Elite Sales Talent
This is episode 804. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. This is a special episode of the "Office Hours - Sales Professors Unplugged Podcast." The show feature interviews with sales professors at universities with a sales excellence programs. Many of the universities are members of the University Sales Center Alliance. Watch the interview on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show is a special "Office Hours - Sales Professors Unplugged" episode featuring Adam Rapp, Academic Director of the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre at Ohio University and Vice President of Research Integration at Tyson Group. Find Adam on LinkedIn. ADAM'S TIP: "Sales talent isn't born. It's built through deliberate development, coaching, and repetition."

Dec 29, 2025 • 30min
What Tim Sullivan Wants Every Sales Professional to Remember as He Enters Retirement
This is episode 803. Read the transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. Watch the video of the podcast here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Read more about the Institute for Effective Professional Selling Emerging Sales Leader Program here. Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show featured an interview with Tim Sullivan, former sales training leader at companies including Richardson and Sales Performance International. He also authored numerous books and worked in technology sales. He was a past speaker at the Institute for Effective Professional Selling. He has trained hundreds of thousands of selling professionals at the world's leading sales organizations. I invited him to share his three tips for selling professionals as he enters retirement. Find Tim on LinkedIn. [Note that he announced he was leaving LinkedIn on December 31, 2025!] TIM'S TIP: "People still buy from people they trust. That was true in 1981, and it's true today."

Dec 22, 2025 • 44min
EPISODE 800: How High Performing Selling Professionals Can Become More Effective in 2026
This is episode 800. Woo hoo! Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. This is the 800th episode of the award-winning Sales Game Changers Podcast! If you're here, send Fred a congratulations message on LinkedIn and he'll send you a special gift. Thanks for everyone who listened to at least one listed of the show! Watch the video of this podcast on YouTube here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! On today's show, Fred and Gina, host of the Women in Sales Leadership sub-brand of the podcast are interviewed by Darryl Peek. VP of Public Sector partnerships at Elastic. Find Gina on LinkedIn. Find Darryl on LinkedIn. FRED'S TIP: "If you want to be successful in sales, you have to be known for something. Sales is hard, and that's why professional selling matters." GINA'S TIP: "If people don't know your aspirations, they can't help you grow. You have to raise your hand." DARRYL'S TIP: "Business is a contact sport. Every handshake, every meeting, every follow-up. That's on you."

Dec 18, 2025 • 27min
Five Imperatives for Selling Successfully to the Federal Government with Rob Efrus
This is episode 802. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Watch the video of the podcast here. The Sales Game Changers Podcast was recognized by YesWare as the top sales podcast. Read the announcement here. FeedSpot named the Sales Game Changers Podcast at a top 20 Sales Podcast and top 8 Sales Leadership Podcast! Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Read more about the Institute for Effective Professional Selling Emerging Sales Leader Program here. Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show featured an interview with Rob Efrus. He presented at the Carahsoft 16th Federal Budget Breakfast on December 13, 2025. Find Rob on LinkedIn. ROB'S TIP: "In federal sales, success doesn't come from chasing budgets. It comes from understanding mission priorities, timing, and where money is actually allowed to move."


