In this episode of the Sales Readiness Podcast, our host Ray Makela, SBI’s Managing Director of Talent Development, is joined by Annie Stefano, Senior Training Consultant at SBI to continue their conversation on Customer Success. The two tackle what it takes to operationalize CS across the customer journey. 

Key Takeaways:

• How to reduce friction between Sales and Customer Success by establishing shared goals. 

• Metrics that showcase impact, including both leading and lagging indicators.

• The evolving role of AI in Customer Success.

In this Sales Readiness Podcast episode, our host Ray Makela, SBI’s Managing Director of Talent Development, is joined by Annie Stefano, Senior Training Consultant at SBI, to break down how to rethink Customer Success roles, close key skill gaps, and build enablement programs that help CS teams deliver commercial impact. 

Key Takeaways:

• Three foundational skills every CS team needs today.

• The value in defining the CS role to limit friction in the buying process. 

• Ways to say no to a customer that delivers more value.

In this episode of the Sales Readiness Podcast, our host, Ray Makela, SBI’s Managing Director, welcomes back Ethan Radoff, Partner at SBI, to unpack the nuances between sales and account management, and why getting it right matters more than ever. The conversation explores how todays complex customer journey demands clarity of the role, intentional segmentation, and tailored skill sets to drive results.  

Key Talking Points

• The traits and competencies that define top-performing salespeople vs. account managers. 

• How sales leaders can design org structures and success profiles that reflect todays customer expectations. 

• Why it’s increasingly unrealistic for one person to own the entire lead-to-renewal process.   

In this Sales Readiness Podcast episode, our host Ray Makela, SBI’s Managing Director of Talent Development, is joined by Dave Lingebach, SBI’s Senior Research Manager, to break down the findings of SBI’s latest research report, in partnership with the Revenue Enablement Society, Closing the Training Gap for Frontline Sales Managers. In this conversation, they break down the implications of continually investing in the upskilling of frontline sales managers, as this role has the greatest influence on the performance of a sales team.  

Key Takeaways:  

• Organizations with dedicated sales manager training outperformed those without by a 7% increase in quota attainment.  

• The skills required to be a great sales manager or coach are vastly different from the skills that make a great seller.  

• Competing priorities are the number one reason frontline sales manager training is overlooked.