Revenue Builders

Carl Cross has an established career transforming and leading superior teams resulting in high performance and vibrant revenue growth. Carl has advanced through multiple leadership roles and has consistently been asked to lead key projects that drive corporate strategy. Currently, Carl is the Chief Revenue Officer of Alkami, a SaaS based digital banking platform. He started his career at Peoplesoft where he climbed into the sales leadership ranks before moving to SAP. After SAP he moved to BMC where he was responsible for the company's global outsourcing business and after a two year stint with HP, Carl headed up worldwide sales at AppSense and helped lead the company through its acquisition by ThomaBravo. He then held the position of Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Workfront and remained in that role leading the go to market integration after the acquisition by Adobe.

In this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, Carl Cross, the Chief Revenue Officer at Alkami, shares his insights on sales leadership and scaling a sales organization. He emphasizes the importance of effective leadership, creating a strong sales culture, and aligning sales and marketing efforts. Carl also highlights the significance of understanding the buyer's journey and conducting thorough discovery in the sales process. When it comes to scaling a sales force, Carl discusses the need for a sales capacity plan and the importance of staying ahead in recruiting to avoid falling behind in sales goals.
Tune in to this conversation with John McMahon and John Kaplan on the Revenue Builders podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT

[00:05:20] Lesson learned as a first line manager: it's not about you
[00:09:59] Challenges of transitioning to a second line manager
[00:12:24] Transition from tactical to strategic thinking
[00:17:16] Importance of skills and pipeline in sales
[00:19:27] Accountability for recruitment and development of reps
[00:23:11] Importance of understanding and motivating individual team members
[00:27:08] Living by the culture and taking responsibility for it as a leader
[00:32:08] Challenges of being a CRO and the need for alignment
[00:41:27] Motivation and individual differences in sales
[00:51:14] Lessons on scaling a sales force

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about Carl Cross and about their company:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/crosscarl/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/alkamitech/

Download our Sales Transformation Guide for Leaders:

https://forc.mx/3sdtEZJ

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:52:48] "But for me, scaling is really it's, you know, do you have a sales capacity plan? Right? And I'm not talking about like we're getting ready to come into a new year. We already know the sales capacity plan. We know what we're hiring to, but the most effective CROs, most every SAS company is going to have a 3, 4, 5 year plan, right?"
[00:53:28] "But have the plan higher to it, hold the leadership accountable to it and that's how I think about scaling it. There's a lot of things in it, but your sales capacity plan and your average productivity per head is probably the biggest driver in that well."

In this episode, John Kaplan and John McMahon welcome Jake Zweig, a former Navy SEAL, college football coach, and leadership development expert. Jake shares his inspiring journey from his formative years in Washington State to his achievements at the U.S. Naval Academy and beyond. The discussion covers his unyielding drive to win, lessons in leadership, and the significance of mentorship. Jake also explains his approach to identifying and developing leaders, which involves a deep understanding of their capabilities and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Tune in to hear Jake's valuable insights and powerful, real-life anecdotes on resilience and leadership.

Tune in and learn more on this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Connect and learn more about Jake Zweig:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakezweig/

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT

[00:03:36] Jake's Upbringing and Early Influences
[00:06:22] Academic Achievements and Early Leadership
[00:11:48] Journey to the Naval Academy
[00:20:41] Challenges and Lessons at the Naval Academy
[00:22:17] Transition to SEAL Training
[00:25:41] Athletic Pursuits and Wrestling at Navy
[00:30:49] Leadership Lessons from Bad Examples
[00:32:42] Current Endeavors and Leadership Philosophy
[00:35:22] The Importance of Hard Work and Dedication
[00:36:07] Developing Leadership Skills
[00:38:07] Characteristics of Successful Leaders
[00:40:22] Emotional Intelligence and Intuition
[00:41:53] The Role of Upbringing in Success
[00:45:08] The How: Teaching and Mentorship
[00:46:25] Real-Life Mentorship Success Stories
[00:52:57] The Blueprint to Success
[00:54:46] The Importance of Execution and Adaptability

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:32:30] "I'm about leadership and results. My job is to make sure those freshmen get grounded, have a great foundation for the rest of the time at the Naval Academy, and they learn good leadership. Screaming at people is not good leadership. That's bad leadership."
[00:35:14] "They got to be a capable person. If you're not a capable person, I can't put you in charge. The next thing I look for is, do you want to be good? Because there's a lot of people out there that are super capable and they don't want to do the work to be great."
[00:40:22] "Yeah, all of the things you said play into EQ, right? Like your emotional intelligence, your ability to talk to somebody and understand where they came from and who they are and how you can relate to them."

In this curated episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan dive into when to focus on product-led growth. John McMahon and John Kaplan discuss product-led growth (PLG) with Alex Bilmes, the founder and CEO of Endgame. They explore the types of products that are well-suited for PLG and those that may not be a good fit. Alex explains that products that are easy to use, provide immediate value to the user, have a short time to value, and have a low price are ideal for PLG. However, more transformative products that require organizational change and have larger deal sizes may require a sales process to facilitate adoption. Alex also shares insights on how to determine if PLG is a good fit for a product and the questions to ask before implementing a PLG strategy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Transformative products that require organizational change and have larger deal sizes may not be a good fit for PLG.
• When considering PLG, it is important to assess the product's interface with different disciplines and other products, as well as its impact on user behavior.
• Endgame focuses on the sales side of PLG and helps companies integrate sales efforts with product data to accelerate revenue growth.
• Understanding the ideal customer profile (ICP) from a product-led perspective and using data to create behavioral-based ICPs are crucial for successful PLG implementation.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

• "Humans are tricky. Anything that requires interfacing with humans or interacting with people always adds a layer of complexity." - Alex Bilmes
• "If you don't know what harbor you're sailing for, no winds will get you there." - Alex Bilmes
• "A product-led sales orientation lets you validate what the company is doing using empirical data, meaning you can tell how people are already using your product." - Alex Bilmes

Listen to the full episode with Alex Bilmes through these links:

• Leveraging Product-Led Sales for Growth with Alex Bilmes: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/leveraging-product-led-sales-for-growth-with-alex-bilmes/id1610203369?i=1000635042791

Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform here:
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

Dan Barrett is the Senior Vice President of Customer Success at MongoDB. With a background in sales, Dan has held various leadership roles in the technology industry. He started his career at IBM before moving on to Q Associates, Symantec, and ServiceNow. Dan joined MongoDB as a Regional Director for the UK and Ireland and has since been promoted to Vice President of Northern Europe and then to his current role as Senior Vice President of Customer Success.

In this episode, Dan discusses his transition from sales to customer success and the importance of aligning sales and customer success teams. Dan shares insights on reducing churn, proactive customer success strategies, and the changing expectations of customers in a consumption-driven world. He emphasizes the need for measuring and demonstrating the impact of customer success and the role of customer success in driving business outcomes. Dan also highlights the significance of cultivating advocates and engaging economic buyers throughout the customer journey.
Tune in to this conversation with John McMahon and John Kaplan on the Revenue Builders podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT

[00:02:40] Dan's initial thoughts on transitioning from sales to customer success
[00:06:41] Organization structure: customer success, product-led sales, account management, and renewal
[00:09:19] Challenges of silos and lack of alignment between teams
[00:12:18] Building skills, trust, and impact in customer success
[00:15:14] Reviewing and addressing risks on a weekly basis
[00:17:48] Promoting internal talent and maintaining company culture
[00:19:59] Challenges in selecting and developing customer success leaders
[00:22:10] Understanding the complex root causes of churn
[00:26:00] Moving to a consumption-based model is the ultimate test of value
[00:29:47] Customer success is often the first to be cut due to lack of impact measurement
[00:32:00] A good customer success team should be able to pay for itself
[00:36:24] The importance of a positive customer experience and the potential impact on future projects
[00:39:00] Economic buyer engagement and the changing dynamics of the sales process
[00:47:09] The importance of aligning the customer journey with the software development lifecycle
[00:51:53] Being data-driven and analytical

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about aligning customer-facing teams to improve execution:
https://forc.mx/48o1jyP

Learn more about Dan Barrett and about their company.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/newbusinesssales/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mongodbinc/
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:54:26] "If I can't self-identify on how that makes me feel, I call it the indignity of the close. If I'm not understanding what that means, that the sale really begins with probably an objection or a no or somewhere, and I'm not comfortable with that, then I'm probably not gonna do so well in that sales career."
[00:55:41] "I wanna understand someone's character more so than anything. So I think those, As part of our structured interview framework, we're trying to focus more in the early stages of that process of identifying what are the aspects of someone's character and capability that we're looking for."
[01:01:41] "I think if the sales reps need to remember where they came from and help invest in that SDR 'cause it's gonna lead to success for them if they make those investments."

In this short segment of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan dive into the critical role adaptability plays in career success. They explore why some professionals resist change, how coachability and curiosity shape growth, and what leaders should look for when hiring top talent. Through real-world examples and insights, they unpack the psychology behind adaptability, trust, and long-term potential in business and sales leadership.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:00:25] The Misconception About Adaptability – Many professionals mistakenly see adaptability as a weakness rather than a strength.
[00:01:28] The Evolution of Career Mobility – Job-hopping is no longer a red flag but an expectation in today's job market.
[00:02:39] Trust, Micromanagement, and Coaching Resistance – Leaders should examine the deeper reasons behind employee concerns about trust.
[00:03:44] The Fear of Change and Growth – Some individuals resist coaching because they fear exposing what they don’t know.
[00:04:07] The Link Between Coachability and Adaptability – Success depends on both being coachable and having the courage to act on feedback.
[00:04:58] The Ceiling Effect in Performance – Those who resist change often never reach their full potential.
[00:05:25] Curiosity as a Key to Growth – A lack of adaptability often correlates with a lack of curiosity.
[00:06:47] Recognizing and Managing Resistance in Employees – Leaders must understand when an employee’s resistance to change is really about their comfort zone.

QUOTES

[00:02:17] "It’s not a problem not to know, but it is a crime punishable by death not to do anything about it and not to ask."
[00:04:07] "Coachability and adaptability go together—you have to be coachable first, then courageous enough to change."
[00:04:58] "The best performers never protect their current level—they always push for what’s next."
[00:05:25] "Curiosity and adaptability are deeply connected—those unwilling to ask ‘what if’ often resist growth."
[00:06:09] "When employees pull the ‘trust card,’ it’s often their last resort to avoid change."

Listen to the full conversation through the link below.
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/the-importance-of-recruiting-behavioral-traits-with-chaz-maclaughlin

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Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform here:
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

Force Management is hiring for a Sales Director. Apply here: https://hubs.li/Q02Zb8WG0

Read Force Management's eBook: https://www.forcemanagement.com/roi-of-sales-messaging