Update: June 26, 2020
This blog post was originally “The 25 Sales Leaders You should Get to Know in 2020.” Initially, the list criteria was based off of the total followers salespeople had on social media, and the level of engagement they had from the community. We realize, after speaking with several sales leaders, that this methodology excluded some of the most impactful sales leaders, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. As a result, our list only reflected a fraction of the sales community–those who have the biggest megaphone.
We are going to work on a new list, later this year, that will focus more on impact and representation across sales, not just the ones with the biggest social media reach.
In the meantime we do want to highlight several sales people that the community called out, through their responses to our original list. These 29 sales leaders are women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and they’ve been recognized by their peers as salespeople you should know.
We also want to express a special thank you to the members of the sales community who spoke up, and volunteered their time to help us as we not only reissue this list, but also think about even more ways we can shine a light on underrepresented groups within sales going forward. Thank you, Kelly Schuur, Nikki Ivey, Chantel George, Stephanie Ciccone, Misha Bartlett, Colin Ajit Rohan Smith, and Steven Boone.
Newly added sales leaders you should follow (in alphabetical order by last name):
1. Jordan Arogeti
Enterprise AE at SalesLoft
Why Jordan should be on your radar:
It’s probably a good idea to get used to seeing Jordan Arogeti on these sales leaders lists. Although she’s spent less than four years at SalesLoft, she has risen through the ranks at an impressive pace. From SDR in 2015, to enterprise AE in 2020–and she’s gathered quite the following on LinkedIn. She also recently joined fellow sales pro John Barrows on the “Make it Happen Mondays” podcast to chat about why the idea of getting into sales scared her at first, and how she set herself up for sales success.
2. Meka Asonye
VP of Sales at Mixpanel
Why Meka should be on your radar:
Meka Asonye is vice president of sales at Mixpanel, where he leads the company’s global sales and professional services teams. Prior to joining Mixpanel he helped build and scale Stripe’s sales organization and served as an adviser to B2B software companies at Bain & Company for over two years. His meteoric rise to VP of sales did not go unnoticed–he’s definitely a sales leader to keep on your radar in the coming years. And if you’re curious about how Stripe developed its go-to-market model and sales motions, Meka led a Hubspot lesson last year that you can still download for free here.
3. Brooke Bachesta
SDR Manager at Outreach.io
Why Brooke should be on your radar:
Brooke Bachesta currently leads the mid-market SDR team at Outreach.io. She is on our radar as an up-and-coming sales leader, and we’re sure we’re not alone in this. She is actively involved in advocacy and conversations about how to combat gender inequality in sales and hire more women, and is currently a mentee at #GirlsClub – we’re certain this is just the beginning for Brooke.
4. Lauren Bailey
Founder and President of Factor 8 and Founder of #GirlsClub
Why Lauren should be on your radar:
Lauren Bailey is no stranger to these top sales leaders lists, probably because she’s also no stranger to what it takes to launch and lead sales organizations. For over 20 years she’s provided smart, actionable advice for sales and business leaders alike, and she’s certainly not slowing down anytime soon. She’s an official contributor to Sales Hacker, and shares her insight and advice with companies across the nation about how to sell over the phone. Lauren is also the mastermind behind #GirlsClub, a program designed to change the face of sales leadership by helping more women gain the skills, confidence, and providing them with encouragement to apply (and she’s gained the support and partnership of a number of women on this list). Want to learn more? Lauren shares 10 things you probably didn’t know about #GirlsClub in this video.
5. Cynthia Barnes
Founder and CEO of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals, Founder and CEO of Barnes Sales Institute
Why Cynthia should be on your radar:
Cynthia Barnes is the definition of a sales leader and champion for women in sales. She’s also the founder and CEO of both the National Association of Women Sales Professionals and the Barnes Sales Institute. Cynthia’s says her goal as the CEO of the Barnes Sales Institute is “helping clients create trailblazing strategies to achieve their Women in Sales initiatives, to make a positive difference in society, and to maximize the success of women sales professionals.” She’s also a LinkedIn Top Sales Influencer, keynote speaker, and avid sharer of all things related to upping your sales game and advocating for women in sales.
6. Belal Batrawy
Startup and sales adviser, fractional VP of Sales for StratiFi
Why Belal should be on your radar:
On his LinkedIn page, Belal Batrawy invites sales professionals to “follow for legit sales advice” and he is certainly true to his word. Batrawy consistently delivers actionable insights and advice to his nearly 15,000 LinkedIn followers and earns impressive engagement on just about every post. He’s worked his way through the ranks, from SDR to VP, to adviser and sales community leader. He’s also a 7X founding sales team member, an AngelList A-Lister (top 1% of startup talent), and a Salesloft REVstar award winner for sales thought leadership.
7. Trish Bertuzzi
Founder and CEO of The Bridge Group
Why Trish should be on your radar:
Trish Bertuzzi is a sales powerhouse, a bestselling author and founder of The Bridge Group, an organization dedicated to helping B2B technology companies build world-class inside sales teams. With close to 300,000 LinkedIn followers, affiliations with numerous boards and a plethora of industry knowledge, she’s a leader that’s sure to continue sharing her insight with the sales community. If you’re looking for insight from Trish on sales development, she recently chatted with Dan Hersch on the Engaged Prospect podcast.
8. Jamie (Crosbie) Bisson
Founder and CEO of ProActivate
Why Jamie should be on your radar:
Fifteen years of success as the founder and CEO of ProActivate, a leading-edge provider of highly qualified, fully vetted sales professionals and leaders, tells us Jamie Bisson not only knows a thing or two about business, but is highly qualified when it comes to knowing what makes a successful salesperson. She’s leveraged her experience to create an entirely new talent acquisition model (ProActivate) and helps professionals maximize their potential in measurable ways (called the Peak Performance Mindset), and shares her expertise globally as a national and global public speaker for Mindset Science for over five years. Jamie also serves as a sponsor for #GirlsClub, an organization that is changing the face of sales leadership by helping more women gain the skills, confidence, and providing them with encouragement to apply.
9. Nancy Bleeke, MBA
President and Chief Sales Officer at Sales Pro Insider
Why Nancy should be on your radar:
Ready to have conversations that sell? If so, Nancy Bleeke’s book, coincidentally titled “Conversations That Sell,” might be a good place to start. As the president and chief sales officer at Sales Pro Insider, where she has been a sales trainer and coach for over 22 years, she’s dedicated her career to helping small business owners grow their companies and help more clients. In light of recent events, she’s also dedicated her time to providing helpful content and advice for salespeople navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
10. Tiffani Bova
Global growth evangelist at Salesforce
Why Tiffani should be on your radar:
Tiffani Bova is the global growth evangelist at Salesforce where she helps drive customer success within the Salesforce customer and partner ecosystem. She’s a podcast host who has interviewed the likes of Soledad O’Brien, Kara Swisher, Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Arianna Huffington, Tom Peters, Guy Kawasaki, Naomi Simson, Gretchen Carlson, and Nancy Duarte, just to name a few Her first book “Growth IQ” earned her the title of WSJ bestselling author, and she continues to share her insight as a keynote speaker, adviser, and all-around inspiration. Her clout is truly admirable, and her channels are filled with thought leadership content and helpful advice.
11. Megan Bowen
VP of Customer Success at Platterz
Why Megan should be on your radar:
Megan Bowen began her career in sales and has since held positions in operations; managing sales teams, directing sales and client teams, and is now the vice president of customer success at Platterz. Although she’s not directly in sales anymore, she is a demonstrated business thought leader who often shares her experience via LinkedIn, and as a guest on influential podcasts, and recently sat down with Refine Labs CEO Chris Walker to discuss the benefits of employing a customer-centric marketing approach. Megan is also a member of Chief, a private network designed for senior women leaders to strengthen their journey into the C-suite, cross-pollinate power across industries, and effect change from the top-down.
12. Stephanie Chung
Keynote speaker at Stephanie Chung and Associates, Inc.
Why Stephanie should be on your radar:
Stephanie Chung is a sales leader in flight (literally). After serving as an aviation executive at JetSuite, vice president of sales at Flexjet, and holding numerous other sales positions, she now offers executive coaching and sales training services nationwide. She’s an advocate for women in the aviation industry and beyond, and an accomplished sales leader. She’s been featured on a dizzying number of well-known media outlets including CBS, NBC, ABC, CNBC, Inc. Magazine, Black Enterprise, and many more, and we’re sure there’s more to come from this high-flying keynote speaker.
13. Kevin “KD” Dorsey
VP of Inside Sales at PatientPop Inc.
Why Kevin should be on your radar:
Kevin “KD” Dorsey is an InsideSales Top 10 Sales Leader, Sales Dev. Exec of the Year, Top 100 Sales Coach, vice president of inside sales at PatientPop, and mentor–and that’s just to name a few of the things he’s currently involved in. He’s a leader who is dedicated to understanding and communicating what drives success via his many channels (social, live presentations, Inside Sales Excellence membership group, etc.) and an advocate for “focusing on the ‘person’ in salesperson” to drive long-term success.
14. Chantel George
Founder of Sistas in Sales
Why Chantel should be on your radar:
Sistas in Sales is a community for women of color in sales to find sisterhood within their career tracks, mentorship from vice presidents/veterans, and education in their fields to reach financial freedom, and Chantel George is the woman behind the vision. George is also an account executive at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions where she leverages her expertise in sales, marketing and communications to help tech clients achieve their goals. She’s consistently sharing helpful and relevant information and insights on her channels (including a feature on the Crunchbase blog) and with the many women who have joined the Sistas in Sales community through events, webinars, and blog posts.
15. Hilary Headlee
Head of Global Sales Ops and Enablement at Zoom
Why Hilary should be on your radar:
Zoom is now a household name. With millions of people sheltered in place and trying to find ways to connect, Zoom has risen to the top as a top choice for virtual conversations. As the head of global sales ops and enablement, Hilary Headlee has taken Zoom’s meteoric rise in popularity in stride. In addition to managing an influx of inbound interest, Headlee is also using Zoom to share tips for those seeking jobs in this challenging time. She was also named a LinkedIn Top Sales Voice in 2019, a Sales Hacker Top 10 Sales Ops/Enablement voice, and a Sales Hacker Top 35 Most Influential Women in Sales. She’s certainly a leader in the space with a long track record of making an impact on the sales community.
16. Dannie Herzberg
Senior Director of Sales at Slack
Why Dannie should be on your radar:
The rate at which Slack has grown is truly remarkable, and Dannie Herzberg has led the company’s sales team through the last three years of this rapid growth. Her following on LinkedIn has similarly expanded, reaching just over 5,000, but she’s no stranger to a steep growth curve. Prior to her position at Slack, she helped lead the Hubspot sales team in multiple roles in enterprise sales from less than 100 employees to a massive IPO, and lead the product team to design and launch Hubspot Connect. She has a wealth of business knowledge, and is all about sharing her experience with the sales community. Check out this Sales Hacker podcast she joined to chat about goal setting, finding the right mentors, redefining sales, and hiring practices that can help create and reinforce diversity in the workplace.
17. Morgan J Ingram
Director of Sales Execution and Evolution at JB Sales Training
Why Morgan should be on your radar:
Podcast host, public speaker, and top sales voice Morgan J Ingram is a sales leader who is well on his way to leaderboard spots for years to come. From SDR to director in less than five years, Ingram’s meteoric rise probably had something to do with his entrepreneurial spirit (he founded a company in college), ability to capture and motivate an audience (he’s a talented public speaker the host of the SDR Chronicles podcast) and involvement in sales coaching and empowering others (he mentored students at the GrowthX academy for nearly two years). Not only that, he’s constantly sharing his insights with the sales community in unique ways – check out his “Muffins with Morgan Saturday Q&A” series where he answers questions live on LinkedIn.
18. Nikki Ivey
Co-founder of SDRDefenders
Why Nikki should be on your radar:
Nikki Ivey is a sales leader with a knack for creating engaging and impactful content (check out this recent LinkedIn Live event with another sales leader on this list, Sahil Mansuri). Ivey isa fierce advocate for women of color, women in sales, and diverse salespeople.She’s also the founder of SDRDefenders, a community built by SDRs, BDRs, ISRs, and sales reps aimed at supporting professionals as they navigate the sales world. She’s used her voice not only to successfully build her brand, but amplify the work and opinions of others through the SDRDefenders community, and is surely making a difference in the sales world and beyond.
19. Jill Konrath
International keynote speaker and bestselling author, B2B sales expert at Jill Konrath
Why Jill should be on your radar:
Jill Konrath is an international keynote speaker, bestselling author, and all around B2B sales expert with a client list that includes big names like IBM, GE, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, and Staples. It’s safe to say her impressive LinkedIn following of 380,000 would agree–she’s a force to be reckoned with in the world of sales. She uses her platform to not only share sales strategies, but stories of personal successes and failures that we can all learn from and relate to (check out this article about one of the first experiences she had in sales). If you’re interested in learning more from Jill, you can also sign up for her weekly newsletter.
20. Larry Long Jr.
Director of Collegiate Sales at Teamworks
Why Larry should be on your radar:
Sales expert Larry Long Jr. currently heads up the sales team at Teamworks, a provider of collaboration software for athletic organizations based in Durham, North Carolina. He is also a mastermind/brand ambassador/adviser behind RepVue, a resource that allows salespeople to see behind the curtain before joining an organization. If you’re in the market for some uplifting and inspiring content we highly recommend checking out Larry’s “Midweek, Midday Motivational Minute” short video series, in which he’s covered learning from your own mistakes and those of your mentors, the stories we all tell ourselves, and the importance of turning key learnings into action, among other important and relevant topics in today’s world.
21. Nathalie Marchino
Enterprise Sales Manager at Figma
Why Nathalie should be on your radar:
Former Olympic rugby player Nathalie Marchino is an insanely accomplished sales leader on the rise. She moved up the sales ladder at top tech companies including Twitter and LinkedIn, before making the jump to Figma, where she’s been promoted twice in less than two years and now serves as enterprise sales manager. She’s also an up-and-coming Broadway star, as evidenced by her appearance in “Figma in Quarantine,” a hilarious and entertaining take on the current quarantine situation, and truly an epic feat by the Figma team – give it a watch!
22. Alyssa Merwin
Vice President, Sales Solutions Americas at LinkedIn
Why Alyssa should be on your radar:
LinkedIn sales leader Alyssa Merwin began her career at CEB (now Gartner) as a sales associate where she worked her way up to senior director of sales and account management before making the jump to LinkedIn in 2011 – where she’s currently managing and growing LinkedIn’s sales solutions as VP. Her expertise is highly valued in the sales world and beyond, and she’s all about leveraging data for sales and non-sales teams. A frequent contributor and expert panel guest, Alyssa’s insights can be found across top sales outlets including Sales Hacker, Harvard Business Review, and many more.
23. Anita Nielsen
President and owner of LDK Advisory Services, advisory board member of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals, founding member of the Sales Enablement Society
Why Anita should be on your radar:
Anita Nielsen is a sales enablement coach, founding member of the Sales Enablement Society, an advisory board member of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals and, on top of all of that, the president and owner of LDK Advisory Services–AND author of the book, “Beat the Bots.” Talk about an impressive elevator pitch, Anita does it all. Her channels are chalked full of helpful sales content and she’s a frequent podcast guest (stay tuned for an upcoming appearance from Anita on “The Sales Vitamin Podcast”). She also recently hosted a webinar addressing “Leading Your Sales Team to the New Normal.” Check it out!
24. Ernest Owusu
Senior Director of Sales Development at 6sense
Why Ernest should be on your radar:
After nearly four years in the NFL, Ernert Owusu joined the sales world and worked his way from SDR to sales director in record time. From SDR to director of sales development at Persado in less than four years, to serving as senior director of sales development at 6sense, Ernest is well on his way to becoming an influential sales leader and top voice in the industry. He also serves as a mentor with the SV Academy where he dedicates one hour per week to coaching business development fellows to help underrepresented talent enter Silicon Valley’s leading SaaS companies.
25. Lori Richardson
Founder of Score More Sales
Why Lori should be on your radar:
Lori Richardson is a B2B growth strategist and sales superstar. Her passion is spreading the word about careers in sales to young professionals, especially young women, who may not have considered a sales career otherwise. As an advisor to many, the founder of WOMEN Sales Pro, and a champion for women in sales across the country, Lori is constantly breaking down barriers for women in sales and finding ways to train and consult with companies to hire, retain and promote women. She was recently interviewed by Sam Jacobs on the Sales Hacker podcast – check it out!
26. Kelly Schuur
Head of Sales at Flockjay
Why Kelly should be on your radar:
Flockjay is an online academy that empowers diverse jobseekers with the tools and training they need to break into tech. As head of sales since 2018 (the year Flockjay was founded), Kelly is leading the charge while driving upward mobility through education and access. From spending two years in the Peace Corps as a health education specialist, to holding sales positions at Box and Intercom before becoming the CEO of Misfit Labs and landing her current position at Flockjay, Kelly is not only a sales leader on the rise, but a powerful advocate for underrepresented groups in tech. Her insights have also been featured in a Crunchbase guide to building effective sales teams – check it out!
27. Susan St. Ledger
President, Worldwide Field Operations at Splunk
Why Susan should be on your radar:
Susan St. Ledger is a sales leader with a knack for accelerating growth. After an impressive run at Salesforce, she joined Splunk as chief revenue officer and in less than a year was appointed president of worldwide field operations to oversee global sales, customer success and marketing. She’s an advocate for what she calls a “high-growth mindset,” which she explained as “taking advantage of opportunities that allow an individual to stretch beyond their perceived capabilities” in a speaker series early last year. She’s sure to serve as a leading sales voice as Splunk continues to grow in the coming years.
28. Michael Tuso
Director of Revenue Performance at Chili Piper
Why Michael should be on your radar:
Chili Piper director of revenue performance Michael Tuso’s started his successful career as a young karate instructor, where he “helped anyone from ages 3 to 75 learn how to land a mean kick.” After heading to college at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and winning the race for student body president, Tuso went on to run a statewide political campaign and developed the invaluable networking and sales skills that built the foundation for his incredibly successful sales career. In addition to his role as director of revenue performance, he’s a sales coach and mentor who is dedicated to helping his team learn and grow. He also shares his learnings and tips via LinkedIn, podcasts, has earned a spot on multiple top sales leaders lists, and was named a sales development leader of the year by tenbound.
29. Amy Volas
Founder and CEO Avenue Talent Partners
Why Amy should be on your radar:
Founding member of Sales Hacker, MVP Member of Modern Sales Pros, and frequent podcast guest Amy Volas is a talent and startup sales expert (and you know how much we love our startups). She’s a sales leader out to change the sales recruiting status quo with actionable insights for startup leaders who want to hire salespeople who will not only stick around, but build and lead a team to drive growth.In addition to sharing helpful content for sales job seekers, Amy recently appeared with fellow sales leaders Scott Leese and Justin Welsh in a new “Thursday Night Sales” podcast/live chat series–check it out and sign up for the next one here!
Original list published May 15 (in alphabetical order by last name):
1. Godard Abel
Co-founder and CEO of G2
Why Godard should be on your radar:
G2 has become the leading business-to-business tech review platform with over 800,000 reviews read by over 3 million tech buyers every month. Founded in May 2012, G2 has raised an impressive $108 million in funding under Abel’s leadership.
Abel’s wealth of knowledge in the software as a service space is demonstrated by not only his success at G2, but his previous work; he founded and led BigMachines, a leading SaaS CPQ company, to its acquisition by Oracle in 2013 for over $400 million. Subsequently Abel was the lead investor, chairman and CEO of SteelBrick for which he raised $78 million while rapidly scaling the business, leading to its acquisition by Salesforce in 2016 for over $360 million.
He’s constantly on Twitter (@godardabel) sharing relevant research and interesting findings related to sales, and is definitely someone to follow in order to up your sales game.
2. Max Altschuler
VP of Marketing at Outreach
Why Max should be on your radar:
Don’t be so quick to judge the “marketing” title–founder and former CEO of Sales Hacker, Max Altschuler now heads up Outreach’s marketing team. Outreach is a sales engagement platform that accelerates revenue growth by optimizing every interaction throughout the customer lifecycle.
With more than 41,000 followers on LinkedIn and 11,000 followers on Twitter, Altschuler has amassed an impressive following with interesting, and sometimes lighthearted, content (something we could all use a little more of these days).
3. Scott Barker
Head of partnerships at Sales Hacker
Why Scott should be on your radar:
Acquired by Outreach in 2018, Sales Hacker is a media company for the next generation of sales. After jumping from his role at Outreach as evangelist and podcast host, Scott Barker now leads Sales Hacker in helping its partners achieve marketing and sales goals. With almost 20,000 followers on LinkedIn, Barker is certainly a leader in the sales world, and someone to follow if you’re in B2B sales or marketing.
4. John Barrows
CEO of JBarrows Sales Training
Why John should be on your radar:
John Barrows is out to change the sales stigma. Just last year he co-wrote a book with his daughter titled “I Want To Be In Sales When I Grow Up.” Not only is that undeniably adorable, Barrows also has an incredible wealth of sales knowledge and he’s all about sharing it. He uses his experience and expertise to train salespeople on cornerstone skills, offering a “Filling the Funnel” course, a “Driving to Close” program with actionable techniques for sales teams, and even team and 1:1 trainings.
You’d be remiss not to keep him on your radar, our sales team certainly does.
5. Jeb Blount
CEO at Sales Gravy
Why Jeb should be on your radar:
Sales Gravy is a global leader in sales acceleration and customer experience enablement solutions. The company offers sales recruitment and staffing, sales on-boarding automation, custom sales training program development and delivery, and sales coaching and leadership training. Blount is the man at the helm of this operation, with an impressive background as VP of sales at Aramark Uniform Services and KGB, just to name a couple. He’s authored a book about getting past the “No” in sales titled “Objections” and is certainly worthy of his close to 50,000 followers on LinkedIn (we’d highly suggest becoming one of them).
6. Josh Braun
Founder of Sales DNA
Why Josh should be on your radar:
With a variety of experience inside and outside of sales, Josh Braun’s winding career path in education, production and sales led him from head of sales at Basecamp, to a podcast host, to founding Sales DNA, an e-learning platform for salespeople, in 2017. Braun frequently offers tips and key learnings to his followers, and appears as an expert and thought leader on various sales podcasts; it would be a shame to miss out (aka follow this guy).
7. Sarah Brazier
SDR at Gong.io
Why Sarah should be on your radar:
Sarah Brazier is an SDR on the rise, with an impressive track record of smashing quotas, making President’s Club and moving up the ladder from SDR, to senior SDR, to mid-market, to enterprise, in ONE YEAR. Essentially crushing it and moving up every quarter. In addition to crushing the sales game, Brazier is a freelance actor and expert public speaker. She’s truly one to keep an eye on, as something tells me this is just the beginning of her already incredibly successful career.
8. Corporate Bro
Professional Sales Entertainer…?
Why Corporate Bro should be on your radar:
Marketers beware, Corporate Bro shows us no mercy. Oh, and queue the sass. If you’re up for getting slapped in the face with sarcasm and a good laugh, Corporate Bro is the way to go. He’s certainly an influencer, churning out relatable content and trolling Twitter on a daily basis. Mix a little humorous real talk with some practical and tactical sales tips, and you’ve stumbled on sales influencer gold.
Following Corporate Bro will certainly bring you comedic relief. He recently moderated a panel with three other sales leaders on this list: Sarah Brazier, and Sahil Mansuri.
If you’re looking for more, he also recently released a TV pilot, in which he again opens with his favorite pastime, dissing on marketers. If you’re reading this, Corporate Bro, maybe one day we can strike up a friendship. But for now, please forgive me for choosing marketing.
9. Jeremy Donovan
SVP of sales strategy and sales operations at SalesLoft
Why Jeremy should be on your radar:
Jeremy Donovan was sure to make this top sales leaders list. After an impressive 16 years at Gartner, Jeremy spread his wings to hold numerous positions as head of marketing, sales enablement and sales strategy. He’s now the SVP of sales strategy at SalesLoft, where he’s been for almost two years. Outside of his day job, he’s also a reader and writer, authoring five books including the international bestseller “How to Deliver a TED Talk.” If you aren’t following him already, now might be a good time to start.
10. Phil Gerbyshak
VP of Sales Training at Vector Solutions
Why Phil should be on your radar:
If you dream of one day becoming a VP in sales, following Phil Gerbyshak, VP of sales training at Vector Solutions, is a good place to start. He’s a sales and leadership speaker and avid podcaster, who is keen on developing and delivering sales training across the country.
11. Graham Hawkins
Founder and CEO of SalesTribe
Why Graham should be on your radar:
After a successful career heading up sales teams, Graham Hawkins took his talents and created companies of his own: Transform Sales International was the first. Now it’s SalesTribe, which aims to help businesses improve sales through alignment with their target buyers and digital sales transformation. He’s traveled the world, written a book, and earned himself the title of “LinkedIn Top Voice” which is no small feat. He’s certainly someone to follow–and someone who can provide some advice for coping with these crazy times. Check out a recent webinar he participated in with Hubspot.
12. Becc Holland
Head of Sales Development at Chorus.ai
Why Becc should be on your radar:
Becc Holland worked at some of the top sales companies in the Bay Area including Gong.io and G2, before landing a job as head of sales development at Chorus.ai, which offers a conversation intelligence platform for sales teams. When she’s not in the office, she’s churning out insightful, relevant (and funny) content, and has even partnered with a few other sales stars mentioned on this list like Scott Barker and Josh Braun. She’s certainly a sales influencer on the rise.
13. Sam Jacobs
Founder of Revenue Collective, host of the Sales Hacker Podcast
Why Sam should be on your radar:
Sam Jacobs is a man of many talents. His career started in finance as an associate and analyst, while he was running his own record label, The Annex Group. He made a transition to Gerson Lehrman Group where he stayed for seven years and became managing director, helping the company scale from $30 million to $300 million in revenue. His various stints as SVP of sales and marketing at a few other companies, like Axial and Livestream, led him to become CRO at a few more. He then took his talents to Sales Hacker and founded the Revenue Collective, where he offers strategic CRO consulting services to help early- and mid-stage companies scale more effectively. His podcast is full of helpful advice from the best of the best in sales; tune in and you’re sure to better your sales game.
14. Peter Kazanjy
Co-founder of AtriumHQ
Why Peter should be on your radar:
Entrepreneur, author, and early-stage SaaS go-to-market expert Peter Kazanjy has to be included on this list of influential sales leaders. With a multitude of business successes (TalentBin, Honestly.com), his thought leadership content appearing just about everywhere you look (see First Round Capital), and his lectures at Columbia Business School, if you assume Kazanjy knows what he’s talking about, you’re right.
15. Gabe Larsen
VP of Growth at Kustomer
Why Gabe should be on your radar:
Kustomer is an omnichannel SaaS platform specializing in customer service. If its $173.5 million in funding didn’t already give you a hint, it’s an incredibly successful company, and Gabe Larsen, VP of growth, is an expert when it comes to growing a business. From his days as a business analyst at Accenture, to a jaunt at Goldman Sachs as an equity derivative specialist, Larsen transitioned into marketing and then found his way to customer experience and service. He now hosts the Customer Service Podcast at Kustomer, and often shares his wealth of knowledge in webinars with other customer service thought leaders.
16. Scott Leese
CEO Scott Leese Consulting LLC, CEO and Founder of Surf and Sales
Why Scott should be on your radar:
Scott Leese’s consulting business focuses on smaller companies with up to $25 million annual recurring revenue, encompassing anything and everything having to do with sales–from developing sales strategy, to training salespeople and sales leaders alike. In addition to running his own consulting business, Leese is a strategic adviser to a plethora of companies, often responsible for training, recruiting and managing their sales teams. If that doesn’t say enough about his expertise in sales, he also wrote a book called “Addicted to the Process” for new sales professionals. Check it out:
17. Jason Lemkin
Founder/trusted adviser to SaaStr
Why Jason should be on your radar:
SaaStr began as a simple blog about web services and grew into an incredibly well-known social community of 500,000-plus SaaS founders and executives. With over 3 million views a month, the blog is dedicated to sharing the best learnings, insights and practices around building and scaling SaaS businesses. Jason Lemkin is one of the men behind the magic of this immense success story, as evidenced by his impressive 73,300 followers on Twitter and nearly 183,000 followers on LinkedIn. He’s certainly someone to follow for a stream of insightful and actionable content.
18. Sahil Mansuri
CEO of Bravado
Why Sahil should be on your radar:
Sahil Mansuri is the CEO of Bravado, a professional network for sales with 60,000-plus B2B sellers. Not only does he have a knack for entrepreneurship, he’s also an investor, adviser and board member for numerous companies. If you didn’t get a chance to tune into a recent “Zinner” he held, we’re sure there are plenty more insightful, and fun, events from Mansuri to come.
19. Dan Martell
Coach at Dan Martell
Why Dan should be on your radar:
Dan Martell is a five-time founder with three exits, so yeah, you can safely say he might know a little bit more about business than most. You can find his podcast, Escape Velocity, on Apple and Spotify and his YouTube channel is bustling with tips to grow your business based on his success. If you’re a sales professional or aspiring entrepreneur, be sure to keep his YouTube channel bookmarked.
20. Nancy Nardin
Founder of Smart Selling Tools
Why Nancy should be on your radar:
We love to see badass women crushing the sales game, and Nancy Nardin surely makes that list. Nardin is the founder of the popular website www.smartsellingtools.com which offers free resources for sellers to learn about sales technology and has been recognized in Forbes as one of the Top 30 Social Sales Influencers in the World. Talk about an influencer you should be sure to follow.
21. Lars Nilsson
Founder and CEO at SaleSource
Why Lars should be on your radar:
Lars Nilsson has taken four companies to IPO as a sales leader, yes, you read that right, FOUR. With over 25 years of sales and operations experience, he’s a must-follow. He also shared his insight in a recent interview with Mayfield’s Navin Chaddha. Check it out on the Crunchbase blog!
22. Devin Reed
Content Strategy Manager at Gong.io
Why Devin should be on your radar:
It’s no surprise that Devin Reed is the second person from Gong on this list. A sales conversion intelligence platform is only as good as its salespeople and its marketing team, and Reed has held both positions at Gong–making the move from a mid-market account executive to a content strategist in 2019. Reed also hosts Reveal: The Revenue Intelligence Podcast at Gong which features sales thought leaders and top talent. He’s certainly an up-and-coming sales influencer to watch!
23. Kelly Riggs
Founder and President, Chief Sales Officer, The Business LockerRoom
Why Kelly should be on your radar:
Kelly Riggs is the founder, president and chief sales officer of The Business LockerRoom, where he teaches companies and individuals how to intentionally create high-performance salespeople, great management leaders, and effective strategic plans. Kelly has been a member of the Forbes coaches council since 2018, is the author of a number of sales books, and often publishes helpful and interesting articles written by himself and guest bloggers on his website. Check it out!
24. Mark Roberge
Managing director at Stage 2 Capital
Why Mark should be on your radar:
Former Hubspot CRO and SVP of worldwide sales and services, Mark Roberge now serves as managing director at Stage 2 Capital, a go-to-market venture capital fund. If his title as senior lecturer at Harvard sounds impressive to you, that’s because it is. Odds are following him will add to your repertoire of sales and business skills.
25. Aaron Ross
Co-CEO of Predictable Revenue
Why Aaron should be on your radar:
What tops the professional wish list of just about every salesperson out there? Predictable revenue. Aaron Ross, Co-CEO of Predictable Revenue seems to know a thing or two about creating sales growth, and might even help you craft the perfect sales email in these crazy times.
He’s also a keynote speaker and avid sharer of knowledge – not following him would most certainly be a mistake.
And there we have it folks. The top 54 sales leaders to know in 2020. If you want a shot at being featured in this list in 2021, know of an incredible sales leader we should connect with, or are interested in contributing content to the Cruchbase blog, feel free to reach out: press@crunchbase.com
