I Used To Be Crap At Sales

Most sales leaders think they're coaching their team. A lot of them are managing it and calling it coaching.In this episode, Brett James sits with Mark Ackers to talk about the sales coaching techniques he runs every week and the difference between coaching and managing a sales team - call playback, specific-segment role play, asking questions instead of giving answers, and where the line sits between coaching a deal and hero managing it. He's also honest about what that intensity has cost the people who worked for him, and about the cancer diagnosis that changed how he leads.📥 Download the Modern Revenue Leader's Sales Coaching Manual: https://bit.ly/4nyx5m2Who this episode is for:You lead a sales team and suspect you're doing too much of the selling yourselfYou can't stop taking over your reps' calls and you know it isn't helping themYou want practical sales coaching techniques you can run this week, not theoryYou've been promoted for being the best seller and nobody has taught you how to coachKey takeaways:Managing people and coaching people are two different jobs - Brett ran a sales team for years without realising coaching was even a thingCall playback is the technique that flipped it for him, and he'd been recording calls for years before anyone suggested reviewing one with a repKeep pipeline one-to-ones separate from coaching sessions, because run together the deal always wins and the skill never gets touchedAsk questions rather than hand over answers - Brett makes himself go last, on the basis that a rep who works it out remembers itStop role playing whole calls and role play one specific moment instead, like the close of a demo, and call it practice rather than role playHero managing is stepping in to win the deal for your rep, and Brett is honest that he still does it because he wants the dealAsk people how they are before you open the pipeline - it's the smallest change he made and the one he wishes he'd made years earlier🔗 Connect with Mark Ackers on LinkedIn 🔗 Connect with Brett James on LinkedIn 🔗 Follow MySalesCoach on LinkedInLike, leave a comment and subscribe for more!Brought to you by MySalesCoach. www.mysalescoach.com

Most people get their first sales management role because they were good at selling and good at putting themselves forward. Nobody warns them it's a different job - or that the drive that got them there can be the same thing that burns them out.Callum Mackay moved into management early in his career, building and leading sales teams through startup and scale-up environments. He's honest about the whole arc - the buzz of a first sale with a team he built, the imposter syndrome running at 250%, and the year of stress that ended with him being signed off work.📥 Download the Modern Revenue Leader's Sales Coaching Manual: https://bit.ly/4nyx5m2🎯 Who this episode is for:You've just stepped into your first sales management role and it's harder than you expectedYou're a strong performer thinking about management and want to know what you're walking intoYou lead sales managers and want to understand the pressure they're actually underYou've felt work stress creep into your body and want to hear someone talk about it honestlyIn this episode, Callum sits with Mark Ackers to talk about the first-time sales manager role and why so few people are prepared for it - the shift from selling to leading, being a coach instead of a hero manager, managing up when the numbers are down, and protecting your mental health while still carrying a target. It's an honest conversation about the parts of sales leadership that don't make it into the job description.💡 Key takeaways:Putting yourself forward before you feel ready is a career skill - but without healthy boundaries, that same drive is what burns you outYou can think management is about people and coaching, and be blindsided by the numbers, forecasting and diagnostic side that's actually half the jobFeedback is a gift - avoiding difficult conversations early doesn't protect anyone, it just delays the damageIf you could win every deal yourself you wouldn't need a team - being a coach means letting people make mistakes, even when it costs a dealVisibility is real: in the office people see your effort, and when you're remote you have to deliberately share what you're doing or it doesn't countNo job or career is worth your mental or physical health - Callum was signed off work with stress and is honest about what got him there and what got him outFocusing on what you can control, box breathing, walks and talking to someone are simple things that pulled him back from the edge🔗 Connect with Mark Ackers on LinkedIn 🔗 Connect with Callum Mackay on LinkedIn 🔗 Follow MySalesCoach on LinkedInLike and subscribe for more! www.mysalescoach.com

Episode 27: Why the Best Salespeople Struggle Most When They Become ManagersMost sales managers are promoted because they were great at selling. The problem is that selling and managing are two different jobs - and nobody tells you that before you take the role.📥 Download the Modern Revenue Leader's Sales Coaching Manual: https://bit.ly/4nyx5m2🔗 Connect with Mark Ackers on LinkedIn 🔗 Connect with John Mason on LinkedIn 🔗 Follow MySalesCoach on LinkedIn🎯 Who this episode is for:You've just been promoted into sales management and have no idea what you're doing on a MondayYou're a top performer thinking about going into management and want to know what you're walking intoYou're already in the seat and it's harder than you expectedYou lead or support first-time sales managers and want to understand what they're going through💡 Key takeaways:Imposter syndrome doesn't go away when you get promoted — it resets at the start of every new chapter of your careerTop performers default to "do what I did" when they become managers — it's the only reference point they have, and it rarely worksThe job fundamentally switches from being about you to being about other people — that's a bigger shift than most people are warned about before they say yesMost managers understand their team's motivations at a headline level only — the real motivator is always underneath itThe metrics sales leaders chase most often measure the wrong things — activity numbers don't tell you why someone is strugglingYour first weeks as a manager will involve things nobody put in the job description — and that's normal, not a sign you're failingTraining that feels like a tick-box exercise usually is — real development requires ongoing coaching, not a half-day workshopJohn Mason has been on both sides. He moved from SDR through to heading up business development teams, and he's lived the top performer to manager transition himself — firefighting on day one, carrying a quota while trying to figure out how to interview, forecast, and have conversations he'd never had before.In this episode, John sits with Mark Ackers to dig into the real sales management challenges that come with the first-time sales manager role — and why the sales leadership coaching and development most companies offer doesn't come close to preparing you for it. The sales manager promotion feels like a reward. What it actually is, is a completely different job.Like and subscribe for more!www.mysalescoach.com

Why do top performers consistently close more deals — even when they’re selling the same product, to the same market, with the same tools?In this episode, Scott Cowley breaks down the “3 Whys” Framework — the system elite sellers master that most reps never even think about.Top performers don’t win because they have better personalities, smoother pitches, or clever hacks.They win because they deeply understand the three questions every buyer must answer before they ever commit:1️⃣ Why buy anything?2️⃣ Why buy now?3️⃣ Why buy you?Scott learned this the hard way: after nine months in a sales job without closing a single deal, he realised he didn’t understand any of the real Whys buyers use to make decisions.Today, the 3 Whys form the backbone of how he teaches founders, SDRs, AEs, and revenue leaders to sell in a more predictable, high-impact way.In this episode you’ll learn:🔥 Why deals “stall” (and why that’s just a missing Why Now)🔥 How elite sellers create clarity, not pressure🔥 The seasonality mistakes that cost companies months of pipeline🔥 Why most training focuses on the wrong Why🔥 How to build discovery that uncovers real, actionable change driversIf your pipeline feels unpredictable — this framework will change how you sell.

Most salespeople don’t fail because they can’t sell — they fail because of mindset. In this episode, Jessica A. Williams, Founder of Just Williams, joins Mark Ackers to expose the two silent killers that quietly destroy sales careers: need for approval and impostor syndrome.From being kicked out of school to leading an award-winning B Corp, Jessica shares the raw truth about people-pleasing, burnout, and rebuilding confidence with boundaries, coaching, and self-awareness.🔥 You’ll learn: • Why need for approval in sales kills performance • How impostor syndrome thrives even in top performers • The role of self-awareness and journaling in sustainable success • How to set boundaries and stop people-pleasing • Leadership lessons for building a values-led, resilient sales culture🎧 Listen, reflect, and discover how to silence both killers before they derail your career.⸻👍 Like this episode?Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more sales coaching insights!✅ Book a call to find out how we can support your sales team:https://www.mysalescoach.com/book-a-meeting✅ Connect with Us on Linkedin:- Mark Ackers: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markackers/- MySalesCoach: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mysalescoach-com- Jessica Williams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justjessicawilliams/✅ SUBSCRIBE to the audio podcast — I Used To Be Crap At Sales:Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-used-to-be-crap-at-sales/id1734830248Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/0uhvimbYfGIfr456Az2MW4Amazon Podcasts → https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b85042dd-4d6b-4fbe-9d9e-11dcdbddd20a/i-used-to-be-crap-at-sales#SalesPodcast #SalesMindset #NeedForApproval #ImpostorSyndrome #SalesCoaching #SalesLeadership #SalesTraining #SalesCareer #SalesSelfAwareness #SalesPerformance #SalesDevelopment #B2BSales