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PODCAST

The Unexpected Lever

The secret sauce to your sales success? It’s what happens before the sale. It’s the planning, the strategy, the leadership. And it’s more than demo automation. It’s the thoughtful work that connects people, processes, and performance. If you want strong revenue, high retention, and shorter sales cycles, the pre-work—centered around the human—still makes the dream work. But you already know that. The Unexpected Lever is your partner in growing revenue by doing what great sales leaders do best

business marketing

All Episodes

19:29

How to Use AI to Refine ICP, Positioning, and...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/04/02

AI becomes useful when it helps you focus, not when it adds more noise.Zak Cherif, Head of Product Marketing at KeyShot, joins Jarod Greene to discuss how he is navigating a shift toward product-led growth while maintaining consistent messaging across a complex sales motion. He explains the challenge of supporting multiple sellers, industries, and use cases without losing clarity.Zak explains how AI assists his team in enriching data, validating ideal customer profiles (ICPs), and

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21:09

Stop Building GPT Wrappers, with Martin Gomez, Wing

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/03/26

Most AI strategies fail because they start with the tool instead of the problem.Martin Gomez, COO and Co-Founder of Wing, joins Jarod Greene to share how his team built a global workforce powered by both people and AI. He explains how Wing evolved from a vision of digital assistants into a system that helps companies extend their teams and get real work done.Martin walks through how they use AI to increase productivity, improve customer experience, and anticipate needs before they

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18:47

Stop Switching AI Tools Every Week: A Smarter GTM...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/03/19

Speed is no longer a luxury for revenue teams; it’s a survival requirement.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene is joined by Jamie Walsh, Founder of GTM Factories, to pull back the curtain on how legacy incumbents can outmaneuver nimble startups. Jamie reveals the internal framework he used to dismantle a traditional 15-month product launch cycle and replace it with a high-velocity 90-day sprint.Beyond the strategy, you'll hear the 'messy' side of AI implementation: the

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20:05

Sales Benefits of Treating AI Like a Teammate with...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/03/12

AI in sales is moving fast. Most teams are not.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene sits down with Chad Sly, Vice President of Sales at Braintrust, to talk about what AI adoption actually looks like inside revenue teams. From using AI as a thinking partner for deep account research to diagnosing stalled deals, they dig into why most AI rollouts fail, how old implementation playbooks break in a high-velocity AI world, and why adoption is a human challenge, not a training

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29:18

How AI Is Raising the Standard for Every Sales...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/03/04

Sellers confuse AI as a tool that will replace them, but they fail to see that it is raising the standard.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene sits down with Darren Brady, Vice President of Strategic Accounts at Corporate Visions, to discuss how AI is reshaping buyer expectations. With more data at every seller’s fingertips, buyers assume you know their business before the first call.Darren explains why the appetite for human interaction is actually growing, what true

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17:50

The Right Way to Use AI for Better Sales Outcomes...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/02/19

AI can help you deliver better quality, but it depends on how you use it.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene sits down with Seth Marrs, Chief Strategy Officer at Sandler, to cut through the AI hype and focus on what actually moves revenue.Seth shares why starting with value changes everything, how most teams are sequencing AI incorrectly, and why the real advantage is not speed, but quality.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why value must come before tools – start with the

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16:16

Treating AI Like a Teammate with Bill Balnave, Mezmo

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/02/05

AI promises speed and leverage, but trust is still the missing piece.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene is joined by Bill Balnave, Head of Customer Success at Mezmo. Bill has led post-sale, solutions, and customer teams through real AI adoption under real constraints.Bill shares how necessity forced action, why trust slows teams down, and how leaders should rethink AI as part of their workforce.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why trust breaks AI adoption – Teams hesitate

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18:09

Where Small AI Wins Add Up with Terence Falk, 8am

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/01/29

Is high velocity sales really automatable in the age of AI?In this episode, we discuss how sales teams are using AI without breaking what makes selling work. Jarod Greene sits down with Terence Falk, VP of Sales at 8am, to talk about pipeline generation, qualification, and the risks of over automating human work. Terence shares how his team uses AI to remove friction from research, routing, and prep while keeping judgment, communication, and emotional awareness firmly in the hands of

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18:04

How AI Guides Sales Decisions with Scott Peyser, CBTS

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/01/22

Sales and ops leaders are pressured to adopt AI, but struggle to turn the noise into revenue-driving decisions.In this episode of The Unexpected Lever, Jarod Greene is joined by Scott Peyser, Senior Vice President of Operations at CBTS. Scott brings more than 20 years of experience leading sales operations, forecasting, and go to market strategy across global organizations.Scott shares how leaders should think about AI in practical terms, where insight turns into action, and how to avoid

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0:59

A New Season Of The Unexpected Lever

The Unexpected Lever ·

2026/01/15

AI is no longer an experiment happening on the sidelines of sales. It’s showing up in workflows, conversations, decisions, and forecasts, and teams are figuring it out in real time.Season 2 of The Unexpected Lever explores how sales leaders and technical teams are actually working alongside AI. Not the hype, not the theory, but the honest stories of what’s working, what’s not, and where human judgment still matters most.Join us for real conversations with the people navigating AI inside

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7:20

No One Cares About Your Slides

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/12/11

Marketers are wasting time on decks.In this episode of V5, Jarod Greene, CMO at Vivun, explains why marketing should step away from slide creation and focus on owning the message. After two decades of building decks for every sales moment, Jarod realized the problem wasn’t about how decks looked or how long they were; it was about who controlled the story.He discusses how giving reps ownership of the story, supported by strong positioning and AI-powered tools, creates faster, more effective

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7:26

The Four Things Every Great Seller Does with Ryan...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/12/04

Great selling starts with simplicity.In this episode of V5, Jarod Greene sits down with Ryan Heinig, CRO at 2X, to talk about the fundamentals that separate top sellers from everyone else. Ryan discusses the four things every great seller does, and why mastering the basics is what drives consistent wins.Ryan also explains the real role of sales enablement, the power of coaching within teams, and how community-driven relationships keep buyers engaged long before they enter a sales cycle.In

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6:30

Value Is Earned, Not Explained with Em Daigle,...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/11/27

Most teams talk about value without ever earning the right to use that word. In this episode of V5, Jarod Greene sits down with Em Daigle, Founder and Chief Automation Officer at OTTO-MATES, to discuss how to really build trust with buyers and how “value” has become a buzzword in sales, often used without any real connection to what customers actually care about.Em explains why enablement misses the mark when it skips the human side of discovery, and shares how better questions (not just

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8:17

Why Forecasting Is the New Closing with Ann Davis,...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/11/20

Forecasting isn’t just for finance anymore. Ann Davis, SVP of Sales at Crunchbase, says it’s the edge every seller needs to stay ahead.On this episode of V5, Jarod Greene chats with Ann about why top-performing reps are rethinking how they prioritize accounts and spend their time.Ann explains that selling today is more about spotting signals early, sometimes before buyers even realize a need exists. She discusses the role of predictive intelligence, why historical data is insufficient, and

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5:12

How Risk, Not ROI, Closes Deals with Daryl Weldon,...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/11/13

The best sellers don’t just sell value, they sell peace of mind.In this episode of V5, we talk about why risk mitigation, not ROI, is what actually unlocks budgets and moves deals forward. Jarod Greene chats with Daryl Weldon, VP of Sales at Verisys, about why so many deals stall at the procurement stage and how to address this issue.Daryl shares what sellers miss when they push growth over protection, and explains how compliance, legal, and brand concerns influence decisions long before

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6:08

Why Knowing the Product Isn’t Selling the Product...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/11/06

Are reps who lead with product knowledge killing their own deals?In this episode of V5, we look at why curiosity, not memorization, is the skill top sellers rely on to win today.Jarod Greene sits down with Tim O’Neil, Chief Sales Officer at 6sense, to talk about how sales has evolved and why old habits are no longer effective. Tim explains how low-interest markets rewarded feature-heavy pitches, but today’s buyers expect reps to ask sharper questions, address real business pain, and connect

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6:15

Why Face-to-Face Selling Still Wins with Wendy Petty,...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/10/23

Why do so many sellers miss the mark in enterprise deals without realizing it?In this episode, Jarod Greene talks with Wendy Petty, CRO at WorkFusion, about the lost skill that still drives the biggest wins in sales: meeting face-to-face.Wendy explains why sellers who rely on video calls are often leaving trust, nuance, and real connection on the table. She makes the case that younger reps, shaped by Zoom culture, need coaching to develop the in-person skills that build long-term

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8:08

Is the SDR Role Still Relevant as AI Transforms Sales?

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/10/16

Should the SDR role still exist in today’s sales environment?In this episode, Jarod Greene talks with Kate VanLue, VP of Revenue at AudiencePlus, about why she believes AEs should own the full journey from meeting booked to closed revenue.Kate shares how the traditional SDR model has shifted into pure volume work that adds little value for sellers or prospects. She explains why compensation plans should reward AEs for carrying opportunities end-to-end, and how AI, events, and human

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7:44

Why 'Proven VPs' Fail in Startup Sales — with Lindsay...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/10/09

Is hiring someone who’s “done it before” actually the safer bet?In this episode of V5, Jarod Greene sits down with Lindsay Rios, Fractional CRO of PowerChord, Inc., to question the logic behind experience-based executive hiring.Lindsay challenges the assumption that startup success requires a leader who’s already taken a company from $10M to $50M ARR. She points out how this mindset leads to overpaying for familiarity while overlooking talented operators who already match the company's

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7:52

AI Exposes the Gap Between Good and Great Reps, with...

The Unexpected Lever ·

2025/10/02

Most reps won’t get better with AI. They’ll just get lazy.That’s what Mike Head, CRO at PartnerStack, tells Jarod Greene in this episode of V5, as he shares his two bold takes on the future of sales teams.Mike argues that AI is creating a wider gap between top sellers and everyone else. With prep work and research now outsourced to tools, many reps are starting to lean too hard on automation and skipping the fundamentals. This results in many people doing just enough to get by, but those

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63 results

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