
Sales Game Changers | Tips from Successful Sales Leaders
Institute for Excellence in Sales co-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.
Latest episodes

Mar 18, 2025 • 33min
741: Sales Success, Overcoming Challenges, and Career Growth with Award Winners Jessica Scott & Souror Humpton
This is episode 741. It's a special Women in Sales episode. Read the complete transition on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Souror Humpton from Oracle, the 2025 Jay Nussbaum Rising Sales Star award recipient, and Jessica Scott from Carahsoft, the 2025 IES Partner of the Year. Get your tickets to the 15th Annual Sales Excellence Awards here. They will be on May 1 at the Mclean Hilton in Tysons Corner, VA. IES Women in Sales Program Director Gina Stracuzzi conducted the interview as part of the Women in Sales series of the Sales Game Changers Podcast. SOUROR’S TIP: “Don’t be afraid of rejection. My biggest thing is I pick up the phone and I just make the phone call. Whether it’s your management, whether it’s a customer, whether it’s something that you need from somebody to take that next step. Worst-case scenario, it’s a no, and you move on. But best-case scenario, you get what you had hoped for.” JESSICA’S TIP: “Invest in yourself. Be proactive with getting better at your job by finding a mentor, by attending trainings. They will help with your professional development. Go to the live events, push yourself outside of the comfort zone and just build those connections. That’s how we thrive in this business – off of the connection.”

Mar 12, 2025 • 28min
Greg Clifton’s Journey from 300 Cold Calls a Day to Leading Intel’s Defense Sales
This is episode 740. Read the complete trancription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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! Find out more about the 15th Annual Sales Excellence Awards here. Today’s show featured an interview with Greg Clifton, General Manager – Defense & National Security Group at Intel. Find Greg on LinkedIn. GREG’S TIP: “Show up, add value, and meet somebody new every day. The relationships you build and the trust you establish by being present, engaging in meaningful conversations, and contributing to your industry will set you apart in sales.”

Mar 11, 2025 • 27min
From Autopsies to AI: Randi Deckard on Sales, Strategy, and Scaling Revenue
This is episode 739. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website here. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 is a Women in Sales episode. The interview was conducted by Center for Elevating Women in Sales Leadership director Gina Stracuzzi. The guest, Randi Deckard is the Senior Vice President, Growth at BESLER. RANDI’S TIP: “Sales is a conversation. The key is to simplify the complicated, stay curious, and iterate. Success comes from constantly refining, learning, and being 1% better every day.”

Mar 5, 2025 • 34min
Sales Leadership Redefined: Overcoming the Engagement Challenge with Anne Altman
This is episode 738. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Anne Altman, CEO Everyone Matters, Inc. She was the recipient of the Institute for Excellence in Sales Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. The show was cohosted by IES Women in Sales program director Gina Stracuzzi. Find Anne on LinkedIn. ANNE'S TIP: "Sales leaders must create possibilities for their teams by asking powerful, forward-thinking questions. Inspire your salespeople by asking, ‘What if we could accomplish this?’ and help them bridge the value of what they’re selling to the impact it can have for customers. Engagement starts with envisioning what’s possible.”

Mar 4, 2025 • 21min
How Kristina Bouweiri's Sales-First Mindset Grew Reston Limo into a $40 Million Powerhouse
Thia is episode 737. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Kristina Bouweiri, President & CEO at Reston Limousine Service. She’s the Institute for Excellence in Sales Entrepreneurial Sales Leader of the Year. Find out more about the 15th Annual Sales Excellence Awards here. KRISTINA’S TIP: “Our motto has always been never say no. Say yes to whatever the customers want. Everyone’s a customer. That has been our motto for 35 years and it has served us very well.”

Feb 27, 2025 • 27min
How Sales and Science Align: Briana Horan’s Mission at Galaxy Diagnostics
This is episode 736. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Briana Horan, VP of Clinical Sales for Galaxy Diagnostics. BRIANA’S TIP: “Consistency creates credibility. Whether that’s in developing yourself as a salesperson or in the salesperson of how you show up to your clients, be consistent.”

Feb 25, 2025 • 29min
Relentless Skill Growth: Sales Speaker of the Year Jack Daly’s Blueprint for Sales Success
This is episode 735. Read the complete transcription 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. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Jack Daly, the Institute for Excellence in Sales Sales Speaker of the Year. Find out more about the 15th Annual Sales Excellence Awards here. JACK’S TIP: “Lifelong learning fuels my journey. From paper books to Kindle—and now Audible—I average over 100 books a year by learning on the go. Your degree isn’t the end; it’s just the beginning.”

Feb 19, 2025 • 27min
From Classroom to Quota: How Kansas State University’s Dawn Deeter is Prepping Sales Professionals for Success
This is episode 734. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Dawn Deeter, Director of the National Strategic Selling Institute at Kansas State University. DAWN'S TIP: "Always be honing your skills, because things are always changing. My dad taught math, and sometimes I think, “Boy, wouldn’t that be nice?” Because things don’t change. I’m always every semester updating my notes, because nothing is ever the same. You’ve just constantly got to be honing those skills and staying up to date on what’s happening."

Feb 18, 2025 • 30min
Outbound Sales That Work: AI and Data-Driven Insights from Apollo's Josh Garrison & Samuel Elliott
This is episode 733. Read the complete transcription 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. Subscribe to the Sales Game Changers Podcast now on Apple Podcasts! Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 Josh Garrison, VP of Marketing at Apollo and the author of "Outbound Sales: A data-backed playbook for cold email, cold calling, social selling, and more," and Samuel Elliott, Senior Account Executive. JOSH'S TIP: "Go leave five comments on LinkedIn, and I want you to do it in a way where you’re not selling anything. Give as much as you can in those five comments on five different posts and see what you get. Make that a habit. That’s my number one thing, that even myself, we could all do better and the rewards are going to be there." SAMUEL'S TIP: "Go log into ChatGPT, Perplexity, or any of the AI applications. Before your next call with someone, ask it to summarize what that company does, who they serve, and what their specific role and title cares about. You’ll be amazed at how much it can streamline your pre-call research and information and all of the possibilities beyond it."

Feb 6, 2025 • 35min
Overcoming Stalled Sales: Unsticking Deals with James Muir and Patti Peets
This is episode 732. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Excellence in Sales Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and 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 James Muir, author of “Unsticking Deals,” and his colleague Patti Peets, Chief Revenue Officer, Unislink. JAMES’ TIP: “Be a domain expert in addition to being a sales expert. If you’re a new salesperson, what that means is you need to master your industry so well that if the person that you sell to said, “Hey, I’m going to be gone for a month, could you come in and sit in and do my job for me for a month while I’m on vacation?” If you can say you can do that, then you’ve learned enough about your industry. Until you can say that, you need to keep grinding until you understand that, because what’s going to happen is the credibility that you’ll have with clients when you’re with them will go off the charts.” PATTI’S TIP: “Really go through every deal in your pipeline. If it’s been in that stage for more than 14 days maybe, or 21 days, you should go through that list of questions to really score yourself and be honest with yourself, and then admit this deal is stuck. Then put a plan together, follow some of those methods and techniques that James offers up, and watch what happens. You will have deals that literally unstick, and maybe not every deal, but you will have deals that get unstuck by following this process.”
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