Joe Arko

Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

@saleskhalifa @collincadmus “I created this problem, now it’s being entirely fixed and I’m explaining how we ended up in the situation to begin with.” Seems like pretty solid leadership IMO

@collincadmus “Startup founders often don’t realize that HR has evolved into liability prevention” Yeah this is entirely the CEO’s fault If any other position in a company fucked up and said “I didn’t realize xyz was a problem” They would be fired, this is poor leadership

Nothing pisses me off in corporate more than poor senior leadership Everything that happens right or wrong is ultimately the CEO / Founders fault If your HR team is going rouge and creating issues in your business that is the CEO’s fault Any layoff announcement that doesn’t include “this is my fault, this is my decision” is not a company you should be working for As you are working for an ego maniac These types think this is the way to lead because Elon, Steve Jobs did it You are not Elon, you are not Steve Jobs You are an imbecile, larping as a leader If you made tough responsible decisions before you wouldn’t have to make really really hard decisions later on HR isn’t the problem, the CEO’s lack of leadership, engagement and decision making absolutely is All of these companies will eventually go to zero

You need to speak less to achieve more optimal outcomes. “Save draft” more often than not. Blabbing during that internal meeting to look smart? Over-explaining after an objection? Sometimes the best strategy is to shut up. Stop talking so much.

Please, God, let this be something other than confirmation bias. “WE will always be indispensable… right?” …right?

In ENT more than half of the sales process happens after your main point of contact has said 'yes.' Approvals, procurement, legal. The more buttoned up your process, the easier and faster these go. Forecasting a deal before you know these details: FAFO

Answer a question with a question. That's what Sandler teaches you. "... why is that important to you?" "... can you give me an example first?" Salespeople who do this well print money. Those who do it poorly are a nightmare to talk to.

Lone wolf remembering the open office plan vibes from back in the day

@thaAdamLittle This practice creates jobs, on the Sales Ops team in particular. Boosts GDP.

Can anyone make an argument why the practice of annual territory/account reassignment is good for the business?

@natolisnuggets 250mg caffeine is for closers

9am. Ice shaken espresso with 4 shots on hand. Few sales calls ahead. Prospecting list ready. Let’s have an absolute day, gents!

One of the real superpowers I've noticed in great sellers is the ability to make problems go away late in the sales cycle. Creative commercial or legal ideas that get you right through the hurdle and into a signed contract. Deals die in procurement all the time.

@thedealdirector They become make-work departments that add endless hours of unpaid labor for salespeople (at a net negative ROI to the business.) I’m impressed by those big boys who maintain the discipline and somehow avoid spirals like this.

What's funny about most big corpos is that once they get at a certain size, their marketing and product enablement starts to slowly drift away from reality. Without periodic internal resets, they end up wasting the time of everybody involved by demanding to run sales strategies that don't make sense, against customers profiles that don't exist.

@johnpmagnor John - I have a few clients who have tried iterations of this ordering… How do you recommend structuring the call so you reveal price the right way? Let’s say I have 30min for someone warm inbound… what happens when?

The dumbest thing a sales team can do is wait until the end of the sales process to tell the prospect the price.  These retarded high ticket coaches don't know shit about business and then have their reps on 10 calls a day with 6 unemployed dudes with a 450 credit score.

I took the day off to go to a field trip with my youngest today. Those emails can wait. I’m selling software, not performing heart surgery. Don’t take your job too seriously. There’s only so many farm trips…

@BrianLaManna_ Especially in Enterprise - you can’t get everything you need in that first call so stop trying. Your goal in that first call is to learn enough to be dangerous and generate excitement. Same reason you can’t demo every feature on call 1. Don’t give it all up on the first date.

I've been trained on MEDDICC, Sandler, BANT, Spin, and others. 5+ years of 'mastery' later - my top takeaway is you should NOT get all of the "criteria" on the 1st call. Unless you want a poor prospect experience, with them left disinterested. My #1 goal on first calls is to show up with a point of view and in-depth research, have a mutual conversation, and learn if they have real business-level pain where we can help. If I don't uncover the "Economic Buyer" or their "Decision Process," that is okay. While discovery might be one of your CRM stages, it's not a one and done. It's a never-ending process to uncover challenges and how you can best support them. Meaning you can build on it, call after call. BUT you can only have call after call if your buyer is getting value along the way. And doesn't feel like you are going down a checklist when asking them questions. Be genuinely curious to learn about your prospect. Good things will happen.

The only antidote to rambling is to ask questions. But if you ask too many it feels off. Good sales is a mix of statements and questions, balancing giving out info with opening up new ideas between you and the prospect. “Does it do ___?” Needs a ‘Why is ___ important to you?’

frog told the LLM "do not hallucinate" "there," he said, "now the LLM will not make mistakes" "but the LLM can still hallucinate" said toad "that is true" said frog

@InnocentXplorer @FidelCacheFlow In addition to Fidel’s comments - you actually need to learn the AE job well enough to demonstrate that in your interviews after this period. That is a determining factor in timing as well.

@FidelCacheFlow Yo Fidel, in an org that promotes aggressively. SDR promos happening at 6-10 months. Problem is salary is below most roles for our AEs. Once in SMB AE, how long should one be staying before jumping to a better paying AE role? @FidelCacheFlow

Rule of thumb for corporate reps - Switching from SDR role to SDR role is a fools errand. Your goal of corporate tech sales is getting to upmarket AE (MM & Enterprise) as fast as possible. Regardless if another offer on table, maybe better pay, better product ect Marginal factors in the scope of a longer 5, 10, 15 year career If ur gonna leave an SDR role, go for AE don’t waste ur time with starting again at zero and restarting the internal promo clock timeline to AE - oh, they said they promote very fast… every company says that and say that to get you to move Don’t step over the dollars to pick up the pennies. Grind out SDR role. Do it for 8-18mo and exit to SMB AE no later than 24mo of experience Trust Fidel

If you (like me) neglected to do the prep work going into this week - do it now. Spend a few minutes being thoughtful about what lies ahead and how to execute. Big week ahead

Ah misread… totally different then Sandler won’t really do anything for you (ancient scripts, 90s tactics) For modern outbound you should focus on newer/younger thinkers. check out @JohnMBarrows , X is also chock full of younger guys with systems how they’re setting meetings in 2026. Fractional guys, outsourced BDR labs have good content as lead magnets. For top of funnel you’ll want to look less time-tested and more timely and innovative.

@joearko33 I don’t think I said I need my sellers better on the already booked calls. That’s not what I need. I need training for my Outbound Specialists to help them boon more sales calls for our clients via X and LI outreach.

What's the best sales training out there? Looking to provide some training for my team.

@LindySalesGuy Jesus Lindy. Hell of a year you’re having.

Finally closing on the sale of our first home. 2 weeks of delays, but signing at 4 pm today. Now, onto the new home. Closing date 5/20. God is good. Let's have a great friday :)