Field Notes

Two topics. Against the clock. Rich opens with something he's seeing right across the market — businesses banning AI from their recruitment process without thinking through what they're actually testing for. He gets into why that's the wrong move, what truly AI-enabled candidates look like, and how the smartest companies are already doing this differently. James follows with something most sales l...

One topic. Against the clock. James and Rich dig into something neither host got when they stepped up as leaders: actual training. From the moment a rep gets promoted, they're expected to coach calls, run forecasts, have tough conversations, recruit effectively, and drive team performance — usually without anyone ever showing them how. They get into why this keeps happening, what it costs organisa...

Two topics. Against the clock. Rich opens with something coming up in every conversation he's having right now — what happens to leadership when AGI arrives. He gets into why most managers will struggle, what the ones who won't have in common, and why IQ being democratised by AI makes EQ the most important leadership skill most organisations aren't investing in. James follows with a framework he h...

Two topics. Against the clock. Rich opens with something most businesses aren't tracking — a funnel with no attribution, no visibility, and no data. It's where the best candidates quietly decide they're not interested, before you ever know they existed. James follows with something he sees across almost every sales org he works with: teams loaded with tools, handed a quota and a Salesforce login,...

Two topics. Against the clock. James opens with something he has been testing inside his own business and seeing play out across the sales teams he works with. It comes down to why most outreach doesn't land, why the playbook that worked last time won't save you, and what actually happens when you take a first principles approach to building pipeline. Rich follows with something that frustrates se...

Two topics. Against the clock. James opens with something he sees constantly — deals that look live and aren't. He gets into why champions burn out mid-process, why buyers go dark on the people they like most, and what the research says is the single biggest factor in whether a deal closes or dies. Rich follows with a metric most businesses aren't tracking, even though it takes five minutes to mea...

Welcome to the first episode of Field Notes. Two topics. Against the clock. James opens with something he's seeing across almost every sales org he works with right now — pipelines that look healthy and aren't. He gets into why it keeps happening, and what needs to change before you spend another penny on training. Rich follows with something two of the most elite EMEA Sales VPs he's ever intervie...

Coming soon! James Bissell and Rich Washington bring you real-world insight from the front lines of tech, sales, and growth. Two topics, against the clock. No theory. No fluff. This is Field Notes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.