All Podcasts

Listen

Podcast: Tech Sales Insights
Date: September 5, 2022
Title: Culture Driven Sales Prioritizes People with Kelly Wright
Length: 19 Minutes
Episode: E92 Part 1
description:

This episode of Tech Sales Insights features Kelly Breslin Wright, President and COO of Gong, as well as Founder and Thought leader at Culture Driven Sales. Seeing a comprehensive view of a salesperson’s reality and taking insights from that is a powerful way to unlock their full potential.

Kelly shares how Gong takes a holistic approach to data and uses AI to glean insights into customer conversations. This has sweeping advantages for salespeople and many other departments which have a stake in understanding what is going on with customer conversations and getting prescriptive guidance on what to do next.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Selling books door to door: Kelly's journey in sales and entrepreneurship

Gong offers a holistic approach to data and insights to create effective sellers

Providing salespeople with actionable insights on what to do next

QUOTES

Grit and resilience are necessary to be successful - Kelly: "So much of being successful in sales and successful in business, it's about grit and learning how to put hard work in, learning how to get knocked down and how you stand back up and you keep on going. Learning how to persevere. And there is no job in the world that is harder than selling something door-to-door because you're sized up in 15 to 30 seconds."

A holistic approach that makes people work more effectively - Kelly: "We capture all of this data and then we're able to provide a lot of diagnosing and understanding of what's happening with that reality so that we can help improve coaching, onboarding of your teams, help to understand what's going on with your competitors, understand what people are saying about your products so all different groups—marketing, sales, CS, product—who are interested in knowing what's going on in our customers conversations, can get that learning from Gong."

Gong takes data from different work streams to produce holistic insights - Kelly: "If you only get a slice of the data, it's only going to tell you a slice of the story. So, first, you have to have a comprehensive view of what's going on with the data, and that's really been Gong's approach. We're going to be much more comprehensive of creating this foundational platform."

Recent Podcast

SASSY TALKS

Transforming Companies through Culture Driven Sales: The Kelly Breslin Wright Effect

May 2024

Length: 52 Minutes

Kelly Breslin Wright has over 30 years of experience in leadership, sales, operations, and strategy. Kelly has served in multiple executive roles, including as President and Chief Operating Officer at Gong and as Executive Vice President (CRO) at Tableau Software. Kelly is currently Founder and CEO of her own thought leadership platform Culture Driven Sales.

Additionally, Kelly has been a Board Director at public and private companies, including Fastly (NYSE:FSLY), Plum (NASDAQ: PLUMIU), Gong, Lucid, Even, and Amperity. She has advised many technology companies, including Dropbox and Asana. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. Earlier in her career, Kelly spent time at Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, Bank of America, Dale Carnegie Training, and AtHoc. She earned her BA from Stanford University and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Episode Summary: In this episode, Kelly Breslin Wright shares her remarkable journey from selling books door-to-door to becoming a key figure at Tableau Software, guiding the company from its inception through to a successful IPO and beyond. With a focus on the critical role of culture in sales and business success, Kelly discusses her transition into board roles and teaching, emphasizing the importance of mission, vision, and alignment in creating effective teams and compelling sales strategies. Highlights include her insights on building a board for startups, prioritizing people in businesses, and her unique perspective on sales as a deeply human and culturally driven process.

Key Takeaways:

Kelly's early experiences in sales and entrepreneurship shaped her passion for helping people and running her own business.

The importance of aligning sales with the overall company strategy and having a clear mission and vision.

The role of culture in driving sales and creating a positive work environment.

The need for companies to rate people and culture as top priorities.

The challenges and considerations in building an effective board and assessing team dynamics during company growth.

Notable Quotes:

“Culture ties back to the overall essence of the company”  - Kelly Breslin Wright

"Every single person in the company is a guardian of the culture." - Kelly Breslin Wright

"The best salespeople have high empathy, are good communicators, and can emotionally connect with others." - Kelly Breslin Wright

“I have always had the same priorities…#1 People, #2 People, #3 People.” - Kelly Breslin Wright

Chapters

00:21 From Selling Books to Executive Roles: Kelly's Career Path

04:50 Teaching the Art of Sales: Kelly's University Course

11:14 The Essence of Company Culture and Its Impact on Sales

14:21 Guardians of Culture: Every Employee's Role

16:27 Balancing Data-Driven Decisions and Maintaining Culture

20:24 Core Values and Operating Principles: The Foundation of Culture

26:25 Mission, Vision, and Values: More Than Just Words

28:24 Navigating Business Challenges and Priorities

28:50 The Three Pillars of Success: People, PIML, and Culture

29:33 The Importance of the Right Team for Growth

31:48 Evaluating Leadership and Team Dynamics for Expansion

34:11 Cultural Fit vs. Experience in Hiring Decisions

39:44 Culture-Driven Sales: Connecting on a Deeper Level

42:46 Effective Board Composition and Its Impact

46:30 Legacy and Personal Reflections

48:25 Quick Fire Round

Click to Listen
Show All