The True Sales Podcast: Selling with Honesty, Consistency & Confidence

Did you know that, by 2050, there will be 2 billion people across the globe over 60 years of age; that's double the current number. In the UK alone, 31 million will be over 50 by 2041 . When you look at the demographics and then consider the workforce challenges we face, we must reconnect the missing link between the workforce over 50 and the potential they offer the workplace. Join host, Pau...

In a new series with a new name and few changes to the format, it's all change for Series 4 of our podcast.  In one of our new 'solo' episodes with host, Paul Owen, you can hear his number 1 tip for motivating teams (and it does NOT involve motivational talks!). This tip came from years of getting it wrong trying to motivate teams, focusing on the wrong things that were hard to do a...

Joining me for Episode 9 to discuss strategic selling is Sarah Downs, Co-Founder and CRO of Doqaru, who works with growth-minded businesses across the Energy & Tech sectors by enabling the B2B Sales Function to drive more predictable sales performance.  As a former Trauma Nurse, Sarah is no stranger to a challenge and is passionate about helping people .  Nursing taught her the value of a prop...

There are still many more men than women in sales so, if we want to attract more women, what changes do we need to make? Taking on board the insights and personal experiences of 7 women so far in this series, Paul Owen shares his personal thoughts in this solo episode on how to go about changing the world of sales into a more inclusive, more balanced workforce .  Key areas covered include:  Percep...

In this series focusing exclusively on Women in Sales, my guest in Episode 7 is Lisa Stead , Head of Franchising at Shuttercraft, the franchise group specialising in plantation shutters. Lisa is our first non-salesperson guest in this series yet, as you might imagine, she regards her sales skills as critical to her success in all her non-sales roles . Having left university with ambitions to becom...

What was it like to be a woman in sales 35 years ago and how have things changed since then? Describing herself as a 'small blonde woman from England making her way in the Italian property market' in the 1980s, my guest in Episode 6 is Linda Travella , founder of Casa Travella, the leading Italian property specialists. From difficult, rather prejudiced, beginnings, Linda has built a grea...

We're focusing exclusively on Women in Sales for this series and my guest in Episode 5 is Alison Rocks , Senior Business Development Manager at Sprint Logistics. What I liked about having Alison on the show is the fact that she remains 100% an active salesperson; ie. her job focuses on sales and sales alone. When she first came into the working world, Alison answered a job advert listed in th...

Women are under-represented in sales so this series focuses exclusively on Women in Sales. My guest in Episode 4 is Caroline Mastoras , Client Director at Salesforce. As well as her day job with the tech giant, she is also Bloom President 2022 and a winner at Women in Sales Awards 2022. Caroline's varied career, from a short stint in teaching to years of sales in both media and tech, has brou...

Women are under-represented in sales so this series focuses exclusively on Women in Sales. My guest in Episode 3 is Nicola Cook , Founder, CEO and Chief Opportunity Officer of Company Shortcuts, a specialist in sales acceleration. As well as running her successful and fast-growing company, Nicola is also an award-winning entrepreneur , a busy (and award-winning) public speaker and the author of 2...

Women are under-represented in sales so this series focuses exclusively on Women in Sales. My guest in Episode 2 is Dr Cindy McGovern , Founder and CEO of Orange Leaf Consulting, bestselling author of 2 books and an inspirational keynote speaker on sales and business growth. After starting her career in academia, Cindy switched to the business world to help people understand that we're all in...

Women are under-represented in sales so this series focuses exclusively on Women in Sales. My guest in Episode 1 is Helga Saraiva-Stewart , a passionate and inspirational sales leader with a successful international sales record. After 2 decades of successful selling in London with Bloomberg, Reuters and HSBC amongst others, Helga is now based in Lisbon wearing 3 hats, each one with sales leadersh...

Host Paul Owen reflects on his interviews with 6 business leaders across Series 2. Each leader was asked 3 core questions: 1. What makes a successful sales team? 2. How to motivate yourself and your teams when growing a business; 3. The role of leadership in company growth. In this episode, Paul shares one or two highlights on each point from each leader to give you a flavour of what they said and...

Host Paul Owen meets John Barrows, Founder and CEO of JB Sales, specialists in sales training and consultancy services. John and his team have worked with the likes of Salesforce, Google and Dropbox as well as many other fast-growing names in the tech world. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, John has helped teams across the USA and around the world, clocking up 2 million air miles as he takes his me...

Host Paul Owen meets Julie Rodilosso, insurance entrepreneur and now Global Sales Director at 360Globalnet. In 1995, Julie founded Rarrigini & Rosso, building it from scratch to a leading name in the insurance industry with 200+ employees. In 2003, it was sold for £12 million. Having worked since age 14, I'm not sure Julie will ever stop and she is now using her expertise to help 360Globa...

Host Paul Owen meets Royston Guest, Founder and CEO of Pathways Global. A fast growth consultancy and technology business, Pathways Global helps business owners avoid costly trial and error in growing and scaling their business. As well as running the company and working with clients, Royston is also a best selling author, a sought-after conference speaker and executive coach. Since selling his fi...

Host Paul Owen meets Michael Tobin OBE, CEO of Telecity from 2002 to 2014, a company he took from £6 million to £1.7 billion market cap during his tenure. Now wearing many hats as entrepreneur, investor, mentor and philanthropist, Mike focuses much of his fund-raising efforts on children's charities.  In 2016, Mike ran 40 marathons in 40 days to raise money for the Prince's Trust and, in...

Host Paul Owen meets Chris Brindley MBE, former MD of Metro Bank, who stepped away from the corporate world to undertake a portfolio career as NED, International Speaker, Executive Coach and Consultant in business and sport. Chris's current roles include Chair of Rugby League World Cup 2021 and, in the football world, Business Mentor to the Premier League. He was awarded an MBE for services t...

Host Paul Owen meets Nicola Cook, Founder and CEO of Company Shortcuts, a consultancy that specialises in helping companies achieve rapid growth. As well as training and consulting on all things sales, Nicola is the author of 2 bestselling books and a highly respected international speaker on sales and business growth.  3 key areas are discussed in each episode with an experienced business leader:...

Series 2 of our podcast takes us in a new direction and with a new name. SECRET SKILL. HIDDEN CAREER: The Truth About Sales is being re-branded: The Sales Talent Podcast: GROWTH. PROFIT. VALUE . The new series will focus on those 3 words. Host Paul Owen will welcome guests with proven track records of success in scaling teams through the improvement of the sales function. His questions will unlock...

Dominic Cotton , former BBC broadcast journalist and now co-founder of fast-growing start-up Cyclo Technology, hosts this final episode of Series 1 to ask Paul Owen to review the ups and downs of 24 episodes of the first series. What went well? Best guest? Who turned down an invitation to appear? Has the podcast gone global and has it changed negative perceptions around sales? Finally, Dom asks Pa...

Our first guest from the USA, Dr Cindy McGovern joins host, Paul Owen, to talk about her journey from academia to sales and why she believes Every Job is a Sales Job (the title of her book, a Wall Street Journal bestseller). Based in San Francisco and working with clients across the world, Cindy now specialises in helping companies grow their business through the improvement of their sales perform...

50 years of sales experience is shared in this episode as host Paul Owen explores the art of closing with guests, Maz Ahmad and Angus Buckle . (NB. Recorded online during the Coronavirus pandemic, the sound in this episode is occasionally less clear than usual but please stick with us – 99% of the content is loud and clear, with thanks to our technical team!). Maz, Angus and Paul dedicate a large...

Joining host, Paul Owen, in this episode is Emily Macdonald who started her successful business career in the world of wine in her home city of Auckland before leaving for a 2-year experience of travelling in Europe. A couple of decades later and she’s still here, still selling wine and still having a ball! Having pitched herself into her first job in sales, she faced the old-fashioned world of wi...

Passionate salespeople want to share the wide range of benefits their products or services offer but the danger is that verbal diarrhoea is the result. They talk, they list, they explain and they prove. Or so they think! What actually happens is that they lose their audience and run the risk of losing the deal. In this episode, Paul Owen is joined by successful sales leader, Patricia Tosi , and on...

Having worked for media giants Newsweek, Bloomberg and CNBC, John Pentin has had an amazing career and a fun-filled life. Now Head of Sales at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, he connects the world's most powerful and influential business leaders to share ideas and discuss issues shaping the future. His sales career started at 19 when his father kicked him out of the house, telling him...