Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Breaking the Silos: Aligning Sales and Marketing for Real Revenue Growth – Episode 147

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Breaking the Silos: Aligning Sales and Marketing for Real Revenue Growth – Episode 147

In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey dive deep into one of the most misunderstood dynamics in business: the relationship between sales and marketing. Pulled directly from a thought-provoking question inside the B2B Sales Lab community, this conversation explores how sales teams can contribute meaningfully to marketing efforts and why that collaboration drives better revenue generation. Whether you lead a sales team, run marketing campaigns, or wear both hats in a small business, this episode gives you practical strategies to align your teams, sharpen your messaging, and enhance sales success.

Key Topics Discussed

  • The Role of Sales in Marketing & Content Development (00:00)
    How sales leaders can become strategic contributors to content and campaign direction.
  • Being the Voice of the Customer Across the Business (00:02)
    Why sales must act as a conduit of market intelligence, not just for marketing but across production, delivery, and operations.
  • Sales Behavior That Builds or Breaks Internal Trust (00:04)
    The importance of accountability and humility when offering feedback to other departments.
  • Making Marketing a Regular Part of Sales Meetings (00:08)
    A tactical breakdown of how to engage marketing in the sales rhythm without derailing productivity.
  • Field Collaboration: Invite Your Internal Teams to Ride Along (00:10)
    Why taking engineers or operations managers on customer calls creates stronger cross-functional empathy and better customer experiences.
  • Marketing Assets: Create Them, Use Them, Give Feedback (00:12)
    How to close the feedback loop on content effectiveness and ensure sales uses what marketing builds.

Key Quotes

  • “Sales is accountable for driving the revenue, but sales is also accountable for working with marketing to get to a market-facing message that addresses current needs.”
    — Kevin Lawson (00:00)
  • “Your job in sales is to be the best-run department in the company. If you’re not, your opinion probably doesn’t matter.”
    — Sean O’Shaughnessey (00:08)
  • “Please, oh please, use the tools your marketing team creates for you. If you don’t, that’s on you.”
    — Kevin Lawson (00:12)
  • “There’s no better way to get internal teams aligned with customers than to take them on sales calls. Let them breathe your air and eat at Burger King between meetings.”
    — Sean O’Shaughnessey (00:11)

Additional Resources

  • B2B Sales Lab Community: A peer group for sales professionals focused on sharpening sales processes, messaging, and revenue management. www.b2b-sales-lab.com

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Hold a joint sales-marketing meeting each quarter.

Schedule a dedicated 30-minute session within your sales team’s recurring meeting where your marketing counterpart joins to review current messaging, upcoming campaigns, and voice-of-the-customer insights. Let marketing ask questions, present new content, and gather sales feedback. Use this as a structured loop to align both teams on business acumen, sales strategies, and revenue goals.

Why You Should Listen Now

If you’ve ever wondered why your sales messaging isn’t landing or why marketing feels “out of touch,” this episode is for you. Kevin and Sean pull back the curtain on how high-performing sales organizations dissolve silos, share real-time customer feedback, and co-create assets that drive revenue. Whether you’re a VP of Sales, a marketing leader, or a business owner trying to scale effectively, you’ll walk away with ideas you can implement this week to align your teams for better revenue generation and sales success. Tune in now and start building the team your customers deserve.

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Managing the Maverick: How to Lead Top Sales Performers Without Breaking Team Culture – Episode 146

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Managing the Maverick: How to Lead Top Sales Performers Without Breaking Team Culture – Episode 146

When a top-performing salesperson refuses to follow the rules, tensions flare, and your culture might suffer. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey tackle a question straight from their B2B Sales Lab community: What do you do with a sales rockstar who drives the rest of the team nuts? If you’ve ever struggled with managing high-output, low-alignment team members, this conversation is packed with valuable insights, practical strategies, and real-world advice to help you strike a balance between performance and healthy team dynamics. Tune in for battle-tested tips on sales management, building a high-integrity sales culture, and protecting your company’s long-term revenue generation strategy.

Key Topics Discussed

  • Establishing Clear Norms in Sales Teams – Why your “top dog” needs to play by the same rules as everyone else, and how undefined expectations damage sales processes (Approx. 02:00)
  • The Power of Documented Standards and Culture Alignment – How lack of structure in small businesses creates room for chaos—and what to do about it (Approx. 03:30)
  • Tactical Solutions for Managing Lone Wolves – Real examples of how to realign high performers through mentorship and responsibility (Approx. 09:00)
  • Creating a Unified Sales Culture Without Crushing Performance – Why culture eats strategy for breakfast, especially in sales teams (Approx. 04:30)
  • Using Silence, Expectations, and Consistency to Set Boundaries – Kevin shares how saying “no” and standing firm protects team cohesion and customer relationships (Approx. 12:00)

Key Quotes

  • “Culture is probably the most important thing you possibly can have—and it starts with setting clear expectations.”
    — Sean O’Shaughnessey (Approx. 06:05)
  • “Sales culture will eat strategy for breakfast. Culture always wins in the long run.”
    — Kevin Lawson (Approx. 04:39)
  • “Sometimes you have to accept a little current pain to create future gain for your entire organization.”
    — Kevin Lawson (Approx. 13:00)
  • “If you’re the person who colors outside the lines and won’t adjust… maybe you just don’t belong here.”
    — Sean O’Shaughnessey (Approx. 08:30)

Additional Resources

  • Learn more about the B2B Sales Lab community: https://b2b-sales-lab.com

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Assign a High-Performer as a Mentor to Drive Culture Alignment
If you’re dealing with a rule-breaking top performer, try this: assign them as a mentor to a junior rep. This strategic move puts them in a leadership position where they must model the very behavior they’ve been resisting, updating the CRM, following your sales strategies, and representing your company messaging. This peer responsibility often encourages cultural realignment without confrontation.


Why You Should Listen to This Episode

This episode is a must-listen for sales managers, business owners, and team leaders wrestling with the dilemma of performance vs. process. Sean and Kevin don’t just talk theory—they give real, implementable strategies that can help you protect your sales culture, enforce consistent sales management practices, and drive long-term revenue success. If you’re aiming for scalable growth without sacrificing team cohesion, this episode delivers practical wisdom and a few gut-check moments. Hit play and discover how to bring even the most independent salespeople back into the fold—without losing their fire.

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Workflows, Automation, and AI: Building a Smarter Sales Organization – Episode 145

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Workflows, Automation, and AI: Building a Smarter Sales Organization – Episode 145

In this compelling episode, co-hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey delve into the crucial distinctions between workflows, automations, and artificial intelligence (AI), and why understanding these differences isn’t just technical trivia, but foundational to improving sales processes, enhancing sales management, and accelerating revenue generation. If you’re a sales leader, business owner, or B2B rep striving to improve how you use technology to boost sales success, this episode is a must-listen. Packed with real-world examples and expert commentary, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how to integrate automation and AI into your selling environment without losing the human touch that drives value selling.

Key Topics Discussed

  • The Distinction Between Workflow and Automation (approx. 01:00)
    Kevin and Sean explain that workflows are rule-based sequences (what should happen), while automations are system-triggered actions (when they happen).
  • Applying Workflow and Automation to Common Sales Scenarios (approx. 03:00)
    Sean walks through onboarding, fulfillment, and follow-up processes that can be automated to save time and reduce human error.
  • The Role of AI in Enhancing Sales Tasks (approx. 05:00)
    Discover how AI moves beyond automation by adding intelligence and insight, like writing customized thank-you messages or enriching CRM data.
  • What Sales Leaders Should Expect from Modern CRM Systems (approx. 12:00)
    Sean lays out a vision of AI-enabled CRMs that proactively suggest key contacts and actions for deeper account penetration.
  • Creating Sales Infrastructure That Supports Scale (approx. 09:00)
    Kevin emphasizes how business logic, automation, and AI build a more agile, informed sales team that’s prepared for disruption.

Key Quotes

  • Kevin Lawson (approx. 00:46):
    “Workflows are trigger-based events that tell business logic what to do next… but automation is what makes things happen automatically, without human intervention.”
  • Sean O’Shaughnessey (approx. 05:43):
    “We used to personalize thank-you letters with a person. Now we can automate that process and use AI to generate something that’s still meaningful but takes no time.”
  • Kevin Lawson (approx. 10:00):
    “AI plus workflows plus automation creates the bedrock for a better sales organization… a more nimble organization that can adapt to changes in the environment.”
  • Sean O’Shaughnessey (approx. 13:08):
    “Does your CRM say, ‘Did you know there are three directors of manufacturing at that company?’ That’s where workflows, automation, and AI converge to fuel revenue growth.”

Additional Resources

  • Join the B2B Sales Lab Community – A peer-driven space where sales professionals, managers, and leaders exchange insights, share best practices, and build smarter revenue systems.

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Audit your CRM and lead-handling processes.
Ask yourself: Is my CRM working for me, or am I working for it? Review whether incoming leads are routed automatically, if emails are logged without manual entry, and whether sales leaders receive alerts on stalled opportunities. Implement at least one automation or AI-powered enhancement, such as auto-logging emails or enriching lead data, to eliminate repetitive tasks and enable your team to focus on strategic selling.

Why You Should Listen Now

This episode isn’t just a primer on sales tech buzzwords; it’s a blueprint for operational excellence in B2B sales. Kevin and Sean break down complex topics with clarity and offer practical advice that can immediately improve your sales team’s responsiveness, accountability, and business acumen. If you’re serious about building a scalable sales infrastructure, aligning your team with cutting-edge sales strategies, and using AI as a force multiplier for your messaging and revenue management, then queue up this episode today. You’ll walk away with new ideas, sharper thinking, and a to-do list worth acting on.

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Future-Proofing Your Sales Career with AI, Strategy, and Smarter Workflows – Episode 144

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Future-Proofing Your Sales Career with AI, Strategy, and Smarter Workflows – Episode 144

Is artificial intelligence coming for your sales job? Not if you understand the power of business acumen, value selling, and strategic adoption of tools that amplify, not replace, human expertise. In this high-impact episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin and Sean tackle the loud claims of AI-induced layoffs with a grounded, practical message for salespeople and sales managers: evolve or fall behind. This is not a doomsday episode; it’s a wake-up call, a roadmap, and a motivational boost for anyone in the world of revenue generation, sales processes, and messaging strategy.

Whether you’re a frontline salesperson or a VP of sales leading a team, this conversation will inspire you to rethink how you work, what skills future-proof your career, and how AI can become your competitive advantage instead of your competitor.

Key Topics Discussed

  • The 4 Irreplaceable Skills That Safeguard Sales Careers (01:00)
    Sean breaks down a framework for evaluating whether your job is AI-proof, hint: if you’re in B2B sales and good at it, you’re likely already building a durable edge.
  • How AI Mirrors the Arrival of the Internet in Sales Evolution (04:10)
    Kevin draws a compelling parallel between today’s AI landscape and the early days of the internet, showing why this shift is just as transformative.
  • Sales Management and Strategic Value in an AI World (02:46 & 07:31)
    From leadership and team building to messaging and workflow design, the episode highlights why sales managers need to think beyond quotas and towards long-term enablement.
  • A Personal Story of Old-School Sales and the Power of Adapting Tools (08:00)
    Sean shares a nostalgic (and relevant) story about his father’s sales career before personal computers, offering perspective on how sales adapts across generations.
  • Weaponizing Your Time: Using AI to Amplify Human Strengths (13:00)
    Kevin delivers a call to action on how to audit your own sales day and offload low-value tasks through automation, freeing up more time for high-impact strategy and consultation.

Key Quotes

  • “You won’t lose your job to AI, you’ll lose your job to a better salesperson who uses AI.”
    – Sean O’Shaughnessey (01:02)
  • “If you’re not using AI, or any sales technology, you’re not doing your job. You’re underperforming.”
    – Kevin Lawson (06:11)
  • “Sales worked before computers, and it will work after AI. What changes is how well you adapt the tools available.”
    – Sean O’Shaughnessey (10:04)
  • “Your time is your greatest asset, and your biggest liability, when you’re not using it to its highest utility.”
    – Kevin Lawson (14:00)

Additional Resources

  • Sean’s original blog post on this topic (available in the B2B Sales Lab and LinkedIn) https://newsales.expert/2025/06/b2b-sales-in-the-age-of-ai-why-top-salespeople-will-thrive-while-the-repetitive-roles-disappear/
  • B2B Sales Lab community discussion on sales evolution and AI https://b2b-sales-lab.com/
  • Tools mentioned: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini (as starting points for AI integration)

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Audit your sales day for repeatable, low-value tasks that can be automated.
Pick one of them, like researching prospects, summarizing meeting notes, or drafting follow-ups, and replace it with an AI tool like ChatGPT or Perplexity. You’ll recover time, increase productivity, and move closer to building a modern, AI-augmented sales practice.

Final Summary

This episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales isn’t about fear, it’s about focus. Sales success today requires a sharp blend of strategic thinking, tool adoption, and human skills that are nearly impossible to replicate. Kevin and Sean lay out a blueprint that every sales leader, rep, and business owner should follow to thrive in this new era. If you’re serious about sales management, value selling, messaging clarity, and staying ahead of disruption, this episode will give you the mindset and tactical clarity to act now. Don’t just listen, level up.

B2B Sales in the Age of AI: Why Top Salespeople Will Thrive While the Repetitive Roles Disappear

B2B Sales in the Age of AI: Why Top Salespeople Will Thrive While the Repetitive Roles Disappear

The buzz surrounding artificial intelligence has left many professionals wondering about the future of their careers. For B2B sales professionals, the rise of AI presents a fundamental question: Will AI replace salespeople?

The short answer is no, but it will replace some of their work. More accurately, AI will redefine the B2B sales landscape by eliminating lower-value activities, consolidating support roles, and enhancing the capabilities of top performers. In doing so, it will widen the gap between average and great salespeople.

Several years ago, I wrote a similar explanation about the fear that “the internet” would replace salespeople. That didn’t happen. You can find that article on the blog that supports my first sales book. Are salespeople necessary in the Internet age?

This blog post explores how B2B sales is positioned relative to AI disruption, referencing key insights from Benjamin Todd’s article, “How Not to Lose Your Job to AI” (80,000 Hours, 2025). Todd’s framework on skill types that increase in value in the age of AI helps us understand how high-functioning sales teams should evolve and how sales professionals can future-proof their careers.

Understanding AI’s True Impact: Augmentation, Not Replacement

A common misconception about AI is that it simply replaces humans. This isn’t true. AI devalues tasks it can perform while increasing the importance of the skills it cannot. Todd explains this dynamic through examples like the ATM: while the ATM reduced the need for transactional teller tasks, it actually increased demand for bank branch workers by allowing banks to open more branches. AI follows a similar pattern.

In B2B sales, AI will handle the most automatable tasks, such as data entry, follow-ups, list-building, and basic prospecting emails. However, this doesn’t eliminate the sales role; it sharpens its focus.

Instead of dialing hundreds of prospects daily, sales professionals will focus more on strategic engagement, account planning, and using AI-generated insights to elevate conversations. The result? Sales has become a more thoughtful, human, and strategic discipline for those who can keep up.

Four Categories of Skills That AI Will Make More Valuable

In Todd’s excellent article, he identifies four skill types that increase in value in an AI-enhanced workplace:

  1. Hard-to-automate skills
  2. Deployment-related skills
  3. Scarce, high-utility skills
  4. Skills hard for others to learn or replicate

Each of these aligns tightly with the demands of modern B2B sales.

Read the rest of the article…
Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Building a Sales Powerhouse—The 3 Most Underrated Skills with Jeff Parris – Episode 143

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Building a Sales Powerhouse—The 3 Most Underrated Skills with Jeff Parris – Episode 143

Sales isn’t about persuasion but service, resilience, and growth. In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, co-hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey welcome sales leader and former professional athlete Jeff Parris to explore the fundamental skills that separate elite salespeople from the rest. Drawing on decades of experience, Jeff shares three often-overlooked yet foundational competencies that drive sales success, and they’re not what you’d expect. Whether you’re a VP of Sales building a high-performance team or a seller looking to level up, this episode delivers sharp insights on value selling, business acumen, and sales management excellence.

Key Topics Discussed

  • Why great salespeople see themselves as servants first (approx. 04:00)
    Jeff outlines why a “motivation to serve” mindset creates stronger client relationships and more consistent revenue generation.
  • Ego Drive vs. Ego Trip: Understanding the will to win without arrogance (approx. 07:30)
    Learn how ego drive, a hunger to persuade for the buyer’s benefit, builds durable sales performance.
  • Curiosity as the gateway to sales mastery (approx. 10:15)
    Jeff and Sean dig into why curiosity fuels continuous improvement and business acumen across every sales process.
  • How to coach the “accidental salesperson” into a top performer (approx. 11:45)
    Kevin asks how people without formal sales backgrounds can thrive by developing the right mindset.
  • Sales leaders as talent architects: Building high-performance teams (approx. 02:00)
    Jeff draws on his athletic past to share what makes a sales team championship-worthy.

Key Quotes

  • “Sales isn’t something we do to people, it’s something we do for people.”
    — Jeff Parris (04:00)
  • “The real goal of a great salesperson is: ‘Mr. Prospect, let me help you solve that problem.”
    — Sean O’Shaughnessey (05:55)
  • “Having the right people, with the right skills, in the right seats makes winning so much easier.”
    — Kevin Lawson (03:36)
  • “Curiosity leads to better solutions. Every interaction is a chance to learn and improve your craft.”
    — Jeff Parris (10:50)

Additional Resources

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Evaluate your team (and yourself) on the “Service–Drive–Curiosity” Triad.
Start by asking three questions:

  1. Does this salesperson show a genuine desire to serve the customer’s goals?
  2. Do they take pride in persuading with purpose, not just for commission but impact?
  3. Are they consistently seeking to learn more about the customer, the industry, and their performance?

Use these questions in your next 1-on-1 or team coaching session to align your talent strategy with the kind of sales success that sustains revenue generation.

Why You Should Listen to This Episode

If you’re tired of surface-level sales advice, this conversation will challenge your thinking and expand your toolkit. Jeff Parris brings clarity, conviction, and humility to what it means to lead with purpose in today’s complex B2B landscape. From building elite sales teams to refining your individual sales strategy, this episode is packed with practical wisdom for leaders, sellers, and anyone serious about mastering the craft of sales. Tune in now and discover the underestimated traits that drive extraordinary outcomes.

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Chris Spanier Explains Marketing Professional Services: Sales Strategies That Actually Work – Episode 142

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Chris Spanier Explains Marketing Professional Services: Sales Strategies That Actually Work – Episode 142

When marketing professional services, the playbook isn’t the same as product sales, and today’s episode dives into exactly why. Sean O’Shaughnessey and Kevin Lawson are joined by returning guest Chris Spanier, CEO of Carpe Diem Consulting Group and host of the Practical Actionable Marketing podcast. This conversation tackles the nuances of sales strategies for service-based businesses, blending value selling with measurable marketing and aligning both functions for stronger revenue generation. If you’re a business owner, consultant, or fractional executive trying to sharpen your sales processes and improve messaging, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice.

🔑 Key Topics Discussed

  • [02:44] Why traditional product marketing doesn’t work for professional services—and how to adapt
  • [03:46] The importance of measuring marketing effectiveness and integrating KPIs into the sales process
  • [07:36] How to position and market services that don’t have tangible “speeds and feeds”
  • [08:28] Letting go of the fear of “giving away your secret sauce” in thought leadership content
  • [10:30] Systemizing stories and messaging to scale sales efforts across a growing team
  • [12:14] How to use lead nurturing email campaigns to drive engagement and trust over time

🗣️ Key Quotes

  • Sean O’Shaughnessey:
    “Sales is a really expensive marketing arm if you’re not doing really good marketing.”
    — [05:59]
  • Kevin Lawson:
    “Tell how you win, how you help others win, and how they win when working with you—this is as key as anything in professional services.”
    — [10:52]
  • Chris Spanier:
    “If you freely share value, people won’t take advantage of you—they’ll start trusting you. That’s the first step in real sales success.”
    — [08:54]
    “Marketing is half magic and half numbers. But the numbers—that’s where the proof comes in.”
    — [04:14]

📚 Additional Resources

✅ A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Systemize your lead nurturing.
Create a recurring, value-focused email campaign to maintain top-of-mind awareness. Whether your cadence is every three or six weeks, focus 80% on providing helpful insights and only 20% on pitching your services. Tracking measures email open rates and clicks, and then the behavior is aligned with site visits or follow-up outreach. This strategy turns occasional touchpoints into consistent momentum, critical for long-cycle sales in professional services.

🎧 Why You Should Listen Now

This episode is packed with strategic clarity and tactical insight for anyone selling invisible services. Whether you’re a fractional executive, consultant, or marketing-savvy sales leader, you’ll leave with a more innovative approach to messaging, a stronger understanding of sales and marketing alignment, and actionable ways to drive revenue generation with business acumen. Tune in now and rethink how you build trust and momentum in your professional services pipeline.

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Elevate Your Sales Game with B2B Sales Lab: A New Resource for Revenue Growth – Episode 141

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Elevate Your Sales Game with B2B Sales Lab: A New Resource for Revenue Growth – Episode 141

When sales professionals hit a roadblock, where do they turn? In this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey unveil an exciting new initiative: B2B Sales Lab, a private peer networking community designed to support salespeople, sales managers, and business owners in their journey toward revenue generation excellence. This isn’t just a conversation; rather, we are offering an invitation to join something powerful. If you’ve ever felt alone in a tough sales challenge or wished for experienced advice on your messaging, sales processes, or strategy, this episode is for you.

Key Topics Discussed

  • (00:00) Why selling isn’t easy and how sales professionals can benefit from a support network
  • (00:39) The creation and mission of the B2B Sales Lab community
  • (01:42) How the platform fosters peer-to-peer learning without judgment or pressure
  • (02:58) The importance of community in developing strong sales strategies and business acumen
  • (03:54) Guardrails that make this space safer and more effective than LinkedIn or Facebook groups
  • (05:00) Why there’s a membership fee—and why the first three months are free

Key Quotes

  • Sean O’Shaughnessey (00:01:00): “We’re creating a community where people can get together, bounce ideas off each other without fear—just designed to help.”
  • Kevin Lawson (00:02:58): “It’s unreasonable to think your small sales team has all the answers. But it’s completely reasonable to find a community that does.”
  • Sean O’Shaughnessey (00:04:16): “If you’re not a salesperson or sales leader, you’re not getting in. This isn’t about selling to each other. It’s about growing together.”

Additional Resources

  • B2B Sales Lab Information & Registration: https://newsales.expert/b2b-sales-lab
    (Free for the first three months with no obligation.)

A Significant Actionable Item from this Podcast

Join the B2B Sales Lab.
If you’ve ever wished you had a sounding board for a tough sales call, a creative partner to work through messaging, or a peer to validate your sales strategy, this is your moment. Visit the link in the show notes and apply to join the B2B Sales Lab. The first three months are free, giving you access to experienced sales minds, curated content on value selling and revenue management, and a judgment-free environment to grow your sales acumen. Don’t wait for your next deal to fall through; build your support system today.

Why You Should Listen

This episode is a call to action for sales professionals serious about growth. If you’re navigating complex sales cycles, seeking stronger messaging, or simply want a community that understands your world, the B2B Sales Lab might be the resource you’ve been missing. Kevin and Sean, both seasoned in sales leadership and sales management, offer not just insights but an entire framework to elevate your career. Listen now to learn how to take the next step toward sustainable sales success—and connect with others on the same journey.