Decoding Sales
A podcast where an engineer (Alex Allain, CTO @ U.S. Digital Response) and salesperson (Peter Ahn, Tech sales coach) demystify what it means to build meaningful business relationships in the modern age.
- Update frequency
- every 28 days
- Average duration
- 35 minutes
- Episodes
- 47
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Episode 27: Virtual sales is here to stay
Virtual-first selling is here to stay--what does the future hold?
- How virtual-first and in-person sales will merge into a hybrid sales process
- When to stay virtual and when and how to lev…
Episode 26: Selling over Zoom
Zoom fatigue, everyone has it because it's taken over our lives. But what makes a seller successful over Zoom?
- Zoom etiquette for dealmakers.
- Peter's stack rank of Zoom backgrounds (i…
Episode 25: Modern outbound sales
If you build it, will they come? Maybe not. How do you build a modern outbound sales motion that brings in new customers?
- Peter's moment of insight about the modern sales motion
- How t…
Episode 24: How to scale your sales org
💸 How do you organize your sales team to scale?
🔗 The importance of aligning your product roadmap and sales org design.
📞 How do you share knowledge across sales teams and offices?
📍 The w…
Episode 23: Accelerating your sales using modern tools
How to navigate the modern sales tools suite to accelerate sales
🛫 What tools do you need beyond your CRM?
🤼 How to close deals faster by bringing data out of Salesforce and into your wor…
Episode 22: Effectively managing a sales team
🛤 Career tracks in sales vs engineering.
🏁 The importance of staying in the trenches to be a sales leader.
💲 Setting and managing the sales team's quota.
💸 How to manage + raise quotas as …
Episode 21: How to debug a broken sales process
What to do when you aren't making the sales.
❓ The first question to ask when debugging the process.
🎎 How to figure out the right buyer persona for your product.
🪓 How to tell you should…
Episode 20: Rookie mistakes
What rookie salespeople get wrong - and how to avoid them.
- Key mindset shifts for new salespeople - and how to know you're making them
- Key rites of passage
- How new salespeople throw away l…
Episode 19: Emails that get results
How to write emails that get results - and when to switch to other channels.
- How do you know when an email you're writing is too long
- How Peter uses the "phone test" to tell i…
Episode 18: Sales myths
Facts and myths about salespeople
- What really motivates salespeople (it's not just the number!)
- What shapes customer perceptions of sales (it's not the average sales person)
- Peter confess…
Episode 17: Sales and legal
Signing a deal is a legally binding agreement - and legal negotiations can kill deals. Learn the ins-and-outs of navigating the landmines separating you from the prize:
- how to avoid com…
Episode 16: End of quarter rush
Peter relives some end of quarter moments and discuss what it's like to experience that final inning rush.
- What does it feel like to manage the end of quarter close?
- How to prepare for t…
Episode 15: Early adopters
Learn to catalyze revenue growth through your early customer community.
- How your first customers differ from later customers
- The formula for finding and winning those customers (and avoi…
Episode 14: Future of sales after COVID
Peter shares his experiences adapting to COVID, and
- How COVID upended and accelerated the traditional sales process
- The new profile of the ideal salesperson
- What happens when things retur…
Episode 13: Peter's journey
- How Peter got his start in sales
- The two key ingredients to advancing to sales leadership
- How Peter thinks about finding the right company
- Overcoming stereotypes and how Peter flipped the…
Episode 12: CRM 101
How to pick and set up your first CRM tool.
- What CRM does Peter recommend?
- How to quickly set up your CRM so you can get back to selling
- Common pitfalls setting up a CRM
- Beyond CRMs - what …
Episode 11: It Takes a village
- How engineering and product contribute to closing deals
- How NBCUniversal took a leap of faith on the Dropbox's team and vision
- How a team-oriented approach build trust when selling a road…
Episode 10: Sales compensation
- How sales comp is structured - including real talk about numbers
- How do you set a quota?
- More sophisticated bonus structures - how to incentivize business value beyond deal price
- How to ch…
Episode 9: The first sales hire
📅 When to hire your first salesperson - and how to find them.
❗ Mistakes technical founders make in hiring and evaluation.
⚙ Why your first sales hire need to think like a technologist.…
Episode 8: Effective demos
Find out how CEOs blow their demos - while thinking the call went great.
How to prepare for a demo without sounding scripted.
How Peter handles curveball questions during a demo.
Why featu…