PIPs & Pivots

In part 2 of my talk with Dustin Brown, he shares that he was let go for performance TWICE! This blew my mind because the Dustin I know closes 7 figure deals with the biggest brands in the world. We talk a lot about mindset and what kept him going when most reps in his shoes would have sought out another line of work. Connect With Dustin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustingbrown/ Downl...

Dustin Brown and I had really similar starts in sales. Dustin was able to go from jamming out 100 dials a day in a boiler room to closing 7 figure deals and earning life changing commissions. I had to get him on to learn how he's been able to put a career like that together. Connect with Dustin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustingbrown/ Hit my website for free resources: www.dankow...

Pt. with Val Walker where we talk more about her pivot from AE to CSM, and also some of the unique challenges of balancing a career in tech with motherhood. She has two boys under 6 and if you know anything about boys that age, you know it's chaos. Val and I worked together as founding AEs at Evernote. After I left there for Outreach, the whole team was RIF'd while she was on maternity leave. She...

Val and I worked together as founding AEs at Evernote. After I left there for Outreach, the whole team was RIF'd while she was on maternity leave. She used that as an opportunity to pivot into Customer Success and hasn't looked back. This is a great episode for anyone considering a move into CS. Connect with Val: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valrwalker/ For my career course, free resources, and to...

In this solo episode I talk about not just the importance of having specific career goals, but also a framework for coming up with one that's sure to propel you towards success. For my career course, free resources, and to work with me, visit www.dankow.ski Connect with me on: Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdankowski/ Twitter - https://x.com/cdankowski

Pt. 2 with Laura Flores Laura and I worked together way back when I first moved to Austin over 11 years ago. She was a freaking blast to work with, and was always someone who I couldn’t help but to root for. I watched her get hired at Oracle, move from BDR to AE, AE to Sales Manager, and then go work at Salesforce as an AE. She went through a debilitating burnout triggered by a loss in her family...

Laura and I worked together way back when I first moved to Austin over 11 years ago. She was a freaking blast to work with, and was always someone who I couldn’t help but to root for. I watched her get hired at Oracle, move from BDR to AE, AE to Sales Manager, and then go work at Salesforce as an AE. She went through a debilitating burnout triggered by a loss in her family that led to her leaving...

Chris Cicconi Pt. 2 Chris and I initially crossed paths while he was leading the BDR org at Visier and I was working at a sales consultancy. I wanted to talk to him to uncover what types of reps make the best BDR Managers, and how an individual contributor can start preparing for a career in management right now. Chris's story is also one of career pivots and entrepreneurship and he shares some gr...

Chris and I initially crossed paths while he was leading the BDR org at Visier and I was working at a sales consultancy. I wanted to talk to him to uncover what types of reps make the best BDR Managers, and how an individual contributor can start preparing for a career in management right now. Chris's story is also one of career pivots and entrepreneurship and he shares some great insights on each...

Pt. 2 with Emily Johnson Emily Johnson has been helping women avoid, treat, and recover from burnout for the past 4+ years. She comes from a sales background and talks about some of the common sales stressors that led to her burnout, how she recovered, and how she came to dedicate her life to helping others. I was really curious to learn WTF burnout is exactly, where it comes from, what it does to...

Scott Leese has promoted more people than he can count from IC to manager, and many of those people are now VPs, CROs, CEOs, and founders. I wanted to know what he would tell a current BDR or AE who wants a career in sales leadership, what they should be doing now to prepare for that move. He shares some great actionable insights that you can implement today to put yourself in a position to elevat...

Emily Johnson has been helping women avoid, treat, and recover from burnout for the past 4+ years. She comes from a sales background and talks about some of the common sales stressors that led to her burnout, how she recovered, and how she came to dedicate her life to helping others. I was really curious to learn WTF burnout is exactly, where it comes from, what it does to us, and how to manage it...

There's this thing in sales where most reps just default to a career strategy of BDR to AE to Manager to Director to VP, without ever stopping to think if that suites them or not. I'm of the opinion that you should figure out your ideal role/segment/buyer persona, etc and go all in on that particular niche. Scott is of the same mindset, and we unpack all that's involved in a career str...

Pt. 2 with Troy Monson, the CEO of Dimmo... Troy Monson has always been a hustler. From selling snacks at construction sites as a kid, to selling side hustle SaaS projects while working as a full-time AE. We talk about what goes into being a high performer from 9-5, while also moonlighting as a founder. We cover time management, work-life balance, and we talk about how Troy knew when it was time t...

Troy Monson has always been a hustler. From selling snacks at construction sites as a kid, to selling side hustle SaaS projects while working as a full-time AE. We talk about what goes into being a high performer from 9-5, while also moonlighting as a founder. We cover time management, work-life balance, and we talk about how Troy knew when it was time to move on from 9-5 work and go all in on Dim...

Pt. 2 of my talk with Fidel Cache Flow. Fidel Cache Flow is a huge influencer on sales Twitter and a real mystery man. He worked his way through school as a BDR and his currently an Enterprise AE at a big F500. His Desperado Sales Group is a wildly successful community that, among other things, enables BDRs to operate as hired guns via contract stacking. Tune in for his story and to learn more abo...

Fidel Cache Flow is a huge influencer on sales Twitter and a real mystery man. He worked his way through school as a BDR and his currently an Enterprise AE at a big F500. His Desperado Sales Group is a wildly successful community that, among other things, enables BDRs to operate as hired guns via contract stacking. Tune in for his story and to learn more about contract stacking. Connect w/ Fidel:...

Pt. 2 with Caroline Maloney Caroline (friends call her Carole) and I are cut from the same cloth in that we’re curious people who go all in on their curiosities. We had a great talk about what led her into BDR leadership, then to Sales Enablement, and back into sales leadership. We chatted about the perception vs. reality of “job hopping” in sales. I have some strong opinions on the matter that I...

Caroline (friends call her Carole) and I are cut from the same cloth in that we’re curious people who go all in on their curiosities. We had a great talk about what led her into BDR leadership, then to Sales Enablement, and back into sales leadership. We chatted about the perception vs. reality of “job hopping” in sales. I have some strong opinions on the matter that I shared. I was very intention...

According to Repvue, most sales reps are falling short of quota. What can you do to mitigate stress when the game is set up for you to fail? That's the topic. Checkout my site for more!

Charlie Cruz is an awesome dude with an awesome career story. He started out selling cell phones in a mall kiosk and worked his way up to becoming an Enterprise AE. How the heck did he do that!?!?! You've got to listen to find out :-) Connect with Charlie on Linkedin Free Resources, etc

Solo episode where I provide a framework you can use to cut through the mass amounts of sales content to determine what's useful to you, and what doesn't apply. https://amzn.to/3LE3gOI

The “unprecedented times” really don’t stop, do they? Does anyone else find it jarring how little major traumatic events are even acknowledged in our 9-5 dealings? Like, we’re all just disassociating from the persistent terror that our country could spontaneously combust at any second. School shootings, political violence, police brutality, class conflict, funding a genocide with our tax dollars,...

AI is going to replace a lot of sales reps. Not all, but a lot. It's going to happen fast, too. Like within 3 years or so, IMO. It's the transactional roles that are going to suffer in SaaS sales. More traditional industries that are slower to adopt new tech will still employ these folks, so it's not like they'll be jobless. However, they won't make the same money they do now. Strategic sellers wi...

Having been out of sales for 3+ years now, I've had space to reflect on what I could've/should've/would've done differently as an AE. That's what I cover in this episode. https://linktr.ee/cdankowski