Home Podcasts Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows
Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

John Barrows 241 Episodes Oct 12, 2026

John Barrows helps sales leaders decide whether to replace or rebuild their teams for the AI era, drawing on 25+ years working with Salesforce, LinkedIn, Google, and Amazon. He advises CROs and VPs of Sales on AI readiness, team structure, and go-to-market strategy. He trains sales teams on the fundamentals that drive consistent performance, with or without AI.

Episodes

Why the Sales Rep Matters More Than Ever in the AI Era with Brian Benfer
Why the Sales Rep Matters More Than Ever in the AI Era with Brian Benfer Oct 12, 2026 55:51 Any buyer can now run a prompt five minutes before your call and walk in knowing almost as much as your rep. That should make the rep less relevant. According to Brian Benfer, it makes them more important than ever.In this episode, John sits down with Brian Benfer, CRO at Salesloft, to talk about where the sales rep fits in the AI era, why buyers using AI are ending up in analysis paralysis instea
The Psychology of AI Adoption: Why 95% of Pilots Fail with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky
The Psychology of AI Adoption: Why 95% of Pilots Fail with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Oct 5, 2026 57:02 Only nine percent of people at your company are excited about AI. Fifty two percent are more anxious about it than excited. If your rollout plan only accounts for the nine percent, you already know how this ends.In this episode, John sits down with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a behavioral scientist and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work, to talk about why 95 percent of AI pilots fail to scale
AI Is Changing Sales How Salespeople Can Stay Valuable in 2026 with Tim Sanders
AI Is Changing Sales How Salespeople Can Stay Valuable in 2026 with Tim Sanders Sep 28, 2026 01:03:14 Half of your buyers already picked their shortlist before your sales team even knew they existed. The only question left is whether your team knows what they typed in to get there.In this episode, John sits down with Tim Sanders, Chief Innovation Officer at G2 and author of five books including Love Is The Killer App, to talk about why half of all software buyers now start their research inside Ch
How Steve Jobs Built the Apple Store: Big Ideas, Innovation & Leadership with Ron Johnson
How Steve Jobs Built the Apple Store: Big Ideas, Innovation & Leadership with Ron Johnson Sep 21, 2026 01:00:50 The Apple Store almost didn't happen. Not because the idea was bad, because it was too big for anyone but Steve Jobs to say yes to.In this episode, John sits down with Ron Johnson, the retail executive who built the original Apple Store and Genius Bar alongside Steve Jobs, led Target's design transformation, and later served as CEO of JC Penney, to talk about why he turned down a scaled down test
AI Is Changing Sales Leadership: The New Skills Every Sales Rep Needs with Kristie Jones
AI Is Changing Sales Leadership: The New Skills Every Sales Rep Needs with Kristie Jones Sep 14, 2026 47:13 AI didn't kill the sales fundamentals. It just made everyone forget what they actually are.In this episode, John sits down with Kristie Jones, Author and Founder of Sales Acceleration Group, to talk about why the buyer now wants to talk to a human 80 to 90 percent of the way through their own research, why the post-mortem meeting needs to be replaced with a pre-call meeting, and why AI is forcing
How Customer Success Drives Retention, Revenue & Growth with Elizabeth Salmoun
How Customer Success Drives Retention, Revenue & Growth with Elizabeth Salmoun Sep 7, 2026 56:32 AI is not replacing customer success. It's turning it into the most important revenue function in the business.In this episode, John sits down with Elizabeth Salmoun, Head of Customer Success at Otter.ai, to talk about why products and tooling have become table stakes in the AI era, why the sales to CS handoff decides whether a client renews inside the first 90 days, and why AI is turning CSMs int
Why AI Will NEVER Replace Real Sales with Jeff Kirchick
Why AI Will NEVER Replace Real Sales with Jeff Kirchick Aug 31, 2026 48:16 AI is not going to replace real sales. It's going to expose who was never really selling in the first place.In this episode, John sits down with Jeff Kirchick, author of Authentic Selling and a sales leader who has closed multi-million dollar contracts without ever going through formal sales training, to talk about why AI made personalization easier to fake and easier for buyers to spot, why authe
Why Platform Sales Are Breaking Traditional B2B Sales with Zachary Gropper
Why Platform Sales Are Breaking Traditional B2B Sales with Zachary Gropper Aug 24, 2026 01:02:26 Buyers have more information than ever, but that does not mean they have more confidence.In this episode, John sits down with Zachary Gropper, Founder and CEO of Insight Revenue, to talk about Challenger, platform sales, AI research, buyer validation, and why old sales motions are breaking under modern buying pressure. Zachary brings a practical lens from his years around CEB, Gartner, Challenger,
Why AI Role-Play Is the Missing Piece in Sales Training with Neha Gupta
Why AI Role-Play Is the Missing Piece in Sales Training with Neha Gupta Aug 17, 2026 54:15 AI role-play is not another tool to dump on your sales team.In this episode, John sits down with Neha Gupta, Founder and CEO of Breakthrough AI, to talk about why traditional role-play fails, why managers are often asked to coach without the tools or time to do it, and how AI can help reps practice hard conversations before the pressure hits. Neha breaks down what makes AI role-play feel realistic
Why Charisma Is a Sales Skill You Can Actually Learn with Olivia Fox Cabane
Why Charisma Is a Sales Skill You Can Actually Learn with Olivia Fox Cabane Aug 10, 2026 58:54 Charisma is not just something you either have or do not have. It is a skill buyers can feel before the pitch even starts.In this episode, John sits down with Olivia Fox Cabane, bestselling author of The Charisma Myth, to talk about the science of charisma, presence, body language, curiosity, manipulation, and why real connection still matters in sales.If you are in sales, leadership, or any role
Why Sales Reps Need Business Acumen Now with Kevin Cope
Why Sales Reps Need Business Acumen Now with Kevin Cope Aug 3, 2026 59:44 Sales reps who cannot speak the language of business are going to get exposed fast.In this episode, John sits down with Kevin Cope, founder of Acumen Learning and co-author of Business Acumen for Sales Success and See the Big Picture, to talk about why business acumen is now one of the most important skills in sales. Kevin shares lessons from his time at the Covey Leadership Center, the start of A
Why Human Connection Still Wins in an AI-Driven GTM World with Katrin Gurvich
Why Human Connection Still Wins in an AI-Driven GTM World with Katrin Gurvich Jul 27, 2026 52:45 AI can speed up the work, but it still cannot replace the human connection that moves trust forward.In this episode, John sits down with Katrin Gurvich, a GTM Strategy & Operations leader at Navan, to talk about networking, referrals, AI, hiring, and what modern sales teams need to protect as the go-to-market world gets more automated. Katrin shares how she built connection as a skill, why ref

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