Welcome to the “Great Sales Awakening.” In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, host Betsy Gregory-Hosler and Dan Gottlieb explore this uniquely transformative era in B2B sales. Changes in labor, economics, resources and technology are driving a unique opportunity to chase a new revenue productivity frontier. Join us for a conversation about the three "big bets" sales leaders can take to lead this transformation: redefining leadership in the AI era, building the agentic sales organization ...
Jun 04, 2025•34 min•Ep. 57
In the latest episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, host Betsy Gregory Hosler talks with Gartner experts Kevin Hooper and Andy Clement to explore sales leadership in uncertain times. These seasoned executives share strategies for navigating volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments, drawing lessons from their own leadership roles during past crises like the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic. Andy Clement is an Executive Partner with Gartner's Chief Sales Officer program...
May 02, 2025•29 min•Ep. 56
CSOs grapple with two challenges: the relentless pressure to hit quarterly targets and the need to sustain competitiveness in the long term. Research shows that only 11% of organizations successfully do both. In this installment of the Gartner Sales Podcast, Gartner expert Greg Hessong takes us through recent research into what those organizations do differently in order to thrive in turbulent times. Greg Hessong is a Sr. Director, Analyst in the Gartner sales practice, where he studies the driv...
Mar 25, 2025•23 min•Ep. 55
In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, host Betsy Gregory-Hosler interviews Nacho Castroverde from Cisco about a groundbreaking AI-powered prospecting tool that is transforming their sales process. The discussion delves into how Cisco's virtual sales organization, managing over 100 customers per seller, leverages AI to prioritize customer interactions and enhance sales efficiency. Nacho shares insights into the development and implementation of this AI assistant, highlighting its impact o...
Feb 26, 2025•23 min•Ep. 54
As challenges arise, chief sales officers (CSOs) are often trapped between their desire to take action and the fear of hurting revenue growth. In this episode, Gartner Sales Podcast host, Betsy Gregory-Hosler, interviews Gartner expert and former chief revenue officer (CRO), Brendan Condon, to discuss the changes that CSOs can confidently make in 2025. Brendan Condon is a senior director analyst within Gartner’s CSO Strategy team covering go-to-market (GTM) strategy and CSO effectiveness. Prior ...
Jan 29, 2025•19 min•Ep. 53
In this episode, we explore the Gartner Leadership Visions for 2025, highlighting recommendations tailored to chief sales officers, sales enablement leaders and sales operations leaders. Gartner experts Robert Blaisdell, Tyler Huguley and Shayne Jackson guide us through the trends, challenges and priorities for each sales leadership role. Robert Blaisdell is a vice president, analyst and chief of research in the Gartner Sales Research and Advisory practice. He covers all aspects of sales but wit...
Jan 08, 2025•25 min•Ep. 52
Sales development is an essential function for addressing pipeline challenges and driving business growth. However, CSOs are struggling to evolve the function and maximize SDRs’ impact on revenue. Gartner expert Shiela Rahimian joins the podcast to discuss the best practices sales leaders should consider when assessing and optimizing their sales development function, and how to measure that function’s impact. Shiela Rahimian is a Director Analyst in the Gartner for Sales Practice, where she cove...
Nov 21, 2024•19 min•Ep. 51
The role of the chief sales officer (CSO) is evolving. The drive to align commercial functions is sparking growth and transformation in the CSO role itself. Podcast host Betsy Gregory-Hosler speaks with Graham Stringer, head of customer markets for Fujitsu North America, to discuss his commercial organization’s transformation, how his role has changed and what it’s like to be in a growing leadership position. “Even if you’re not in a position as a sales leader to drive a greater level of converg...
Oct 22, 2024•26 min•Ep. 50
Sales leaders prioritize meeting buyer expectations but often fail to account for the underlying element affecting most major purchases: emotions. In this episode, hosts Billy Luckey and Betsy Gregory-Hosler sit down with Gartner experts to discuss the B2B buyer experience, how buyers balance logic and emotion and what sales leaders can do about it. Alexandra Bellis, who has a doctorate in psychology, is a director of quantitative analytics and data science for Gartner for Marketers. She is resp...
Sep 25, 2024•19 min•Ep. 49
Chief sales officers expect their enablement teams to drive seller productivity. Yet, sales enablement leaders struggle to demonstrate their influence on sellers and overall performance. In this episode, co-hosts Betsy Gregory-Hosler and Billy Luckey talk with Gartner expert Shayne Jackson about why enablement leaders struggle to show impact, why “random acts of enablement” are a problem and how a new approach can connect enablement to results. Shayne Jackson covers enablement and talent managem...
Aug 30, 2024•19 min•Ep. 48
As the B2B sales environment has changed, the skills that sellers need to succeed have changed as well. In this episode, hosts Billy Luckey and Betsy Gregory-Hosler speak with Mike Katz, senior director for research at Gartner for Sales Leaders, to explore the latest research on critical seller skills, what has shifted in the B2B seller competency model, and how sales leaders can support these skills moving forward. Mike Katz is a senior director of research in the sales practice at Gartner with...
Aug 02, 2024•19 min•Ep. 47
Despite their insights on buyers, markets and growth, CSOs rarely become CEOs. In this episode, hosts Billy Luckey and Betsy Gregory-Hosler sit down with Heather Combs, a former CSO turned CEO, to discuss her experiences and recommendations for sales leaders who aspire to do the same. Heather Combs, an accomplished leader in the technology sector, is beginning her second turn in the CEO seat, having just taken the helm at Ripple Operations, a newly formed provider of maritime logistics solutions...
Jun 26, 2024•29 min•Ep. 46
Sales expert Lori Richardson joins Betsy and Billy to discuss the state of women in B2B sales, including the opportunities a sales career offers, the barriers women face and the actions you can take to attract and retain top women in the field. Lori Richardson is a top B2B sales influencer and a champion for getting more women into sales and sales leadership in B2B roles. In addition, she has run the data-backed sales strategy firm Score More Sales since 2002, after a career in sales and leaders...
May 31, 2024•26 min•Ep. 45
As your organization’s growth strategy evolves, is your go-to-market strategy keeping up? In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, co-hosts Betsy Gregory-Hosler and Billy Luckey speak with Gartner expert Rachael Buchler to discuss the four types of go-to-market strategies, the symptoms of misalignment, and how sales leaders should approach the challenge. Rachael Buchler is a senior director analyst in Gartner's Sales practice. Rachael has more than 25 years experience in B2B retail energy s...
May 09, 2024•20 min•Ep. 44
After over a year of hype, what is the real state of generative AI (GenAI) in B2B sales? In this episode, Betsy and Billy speak with Gartner expert Adnan Zijadic to discuss how sales leaders and the C-suite are engaging with GenAI, which use cases are gaining ground, and where sales leaders are missing out. Adnan Zijadic is a director analyst in the Sales Technologies team at Gartner for Sales Leaders. His research focuses on sales force automation (SFA/CRM) platforms, evaluations, and strategy,...
Mar 29, 2024•21 min•Ep. 43
In 2024, the most successful CSOs will exert as much influence internally as they do externally, aligning closely with executive peers and championing the commercial organization’s needs. In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, co-hosts Betsy Gregory-Hosler and Billy Luckey speak with Dave Egloff, Gartner Vice President Analyst, to explore how CSOs can build C-suite collaboration and trust. Dave Egloff is a VP Analyst in Gartner’s sales practice. He actively advises and produces research f...
Feb 28, 2024•23 min•Ep. 42
In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, Betsy and Billy sit down with Gartner Chief of Research Robert Blaisdell to discuss our recently published 2024 CSO Leadership Vision. Robert explains the Leadership Vision results, including key trends and recommendations that will help CSOs anticipate and respond to market changes across the coming year. Robert Blaisdell is the Chief of Research for the Gartner Sales Practice. Robert has 20 years of experience in strategic account management, accou...
Jan 24, 2024•21 min•Ep. 41
Sales leaders have great expectations for their key account programs, but they frequently disappoint. Gartner expert Dan Hawkyard joins Betsy and Billy to discuss why key accounts so often underperform and how sales leaders can strengthen them for a fast start in 2024. Dan Hawkyard is a Senior Principal Analyst in the Gartner for Sales Leaders Expert Team. He works with global sales leaders on their journey towards maturing their commercial functions and his expertise include key and account man...
Dec 20, 2023•22 min•Ep. 40
Your sales strategy may be a work of art, but the most brilliant plan means nothing if sellers won’t execute. In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, Betsy and Billy talk to Gartner Sr. Research Specialist Delainey Kirkwood, discussing how CSOs can drive effective seller behavior change and measure enablement’s impact in their organizations. Delainey Kirkwood is a Senior Research Specialist in Gartner's Sales Research Practice. In her current role, Delainey creates and communicates insight...
Nov 30, 2023•19 min•Ep. 39
What does the future hold for the B2B seller? In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, Betsy and Billy talk to Gartner expert Alice Walmesley, discussing how CSOs can reimagine the seller role for the future.
Oct 25, 2023•26 min•Ep. 38
You may be sold on the value of Generative AI (GenAI), but how do you actually buy it? In this episode, Betsy and Doug continue their conversation with Dan Gottlieb, the lead analyst for GenAI in the Gartner sales practice. Dan discusses what B2B sales leaders should consider when acquiring GenAI capabilities for their sales organizations.
Sep 26, 2023•28 min•Ep. 37
Generative AI (GenAI) offers new and exciting opportunities in B2B sales, if you can harness it. In this episode, Doug and Betsy speak with Dan Gottlieb, the lead analyst for GenAI in the Gartner sales practice. Dan sheds light on how GenAI can be used in B2B sales, ways to address common risk factors and where sales leaders can begin.
Aug 22, 2023•30 min•Ep. 36
Amid economic uncertainty, technology is crucial to revenue growth. However, investments in sales training and enormous amounts of revenue technology are not improving sales effectiveness for most companies. In this episode, Doug and Betsy speak with professor and author Dr. Howard Dover, discussing: How to develop modern sales methods and become a sales disruptor How digital buying has changed traditional sales activity How organizational and environmental obstacles keep the field in a state of...
May 26, 2023•34 min•Ep. 35
Machine customers aren’t just coming — in some places, they are already here. In this episode, Betsy and Doug speak with Don Scheibenreif and Mark Raskino, Gartner experts and authors of “When Machines Become Customers,” to discuss how machine customers are changing B2B sales. Don Scheibenreif is a distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner based in California and a leader of Gartner’s research on customer experience. He works primarily with IT and business leaders on topics at the intersec...
Apr 26, 2023•37 min•Ep. 34
In this episode, Doug and Betsy speak with Steve Rietberg, VP analyst with Gartner’s Sales Research practice, about Gartner’s current sales operations leadership vision and the power of comparative performance metrics. Steve Rietberg is a world-renowned author, speaker and sales operations leader with extensive experience conceiving and implementing methodology and technology solutions to address critical business needs. Steve specializes in mobilizing cross-functional teams to streamline operat...
Mar 22, 2023•18 min•Ep. 33
Women remain underrepresented in B2B sales, comprising 24% of individual seller roles and 21% of sales leadership roles, according to the 2022 Gartner Chief Sales Officer Strategy Survey. In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast with co-hosts Betsy Gregory-Hosler and Doug Bushée, we talk to Cynthia Barnes, author, sales influencer, and founder of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals. Many recruitment strategies that are geared to women don't work; Cynthia helps us unpack why...
Feb 22, 2023•25 min•Ep. 32
In this episode, the team speaks with sales thought leader David Brock. David shares his thoughts on the role of the CSO in 2023, the challenges sales leaders are facing, and key trends that are changing B2B sales.
Jan 25, 2023•31 min•Ep. 31
In this episode of the Gartner Sales Podcast, Betsy and Doug sit down with Gartner Chief of Research Craig Riley to discuss our recently published 2023 Leadership Vision series. Each Leadership Vision is individually tailored for CSOs, sales enablement leaders and sales operations leaders. They are designed to help sales leaders anticipate market changes and necessary responses across the coming year. About The Guest Craig Riley is chief of research for Gartner for Sales Leaders. Craig is focuse...
Dec 15, 2022•23 min•Ep. 30
In this episode, the team speaks with Gartner expert Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone, discussing new research on the successful alignment of sales and marketing. Kristina describes how both digital and human interactions can underperform, where sales leaders are in their alignment journeys, and what smart organizations are doing to get it right. About the Guest Kristina LaRocca-Cerrone is a Sr. Director, Advisory for Gartner and helps enterprise marketers better understand how customers (both B2B and B...
Nov 30, 2022•25 min•Ep. 29
In this episode, Doug sits down with Melissa Hilbert, senior director at Gartner in the Application IT Leaders Group. Melissa discusses her leading work in revenue enablement, including a recent revenue enablement maturity model, revenue enablement Market Guide and key insights for chief sales officers, chief revenue officers and other sales leaders. Melissa Hilbert is a senior director at Gartner in the Application IT Leaders Group, where she is responsible for the revenue (formerly sales) enab...
Oct 26, 2022•16 min•Ep. 28
