Sales Talk for CEOs

Alice Heiman
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Welcome to Sales Talk for CEOs, a show where Alice Heiman interviews successful CEOs who have successfully scaled their B2B sales organizations. In each episode, we get to know the sales background of each CEO, dig into the strategies they've used to build their sales organization and wrap it up with what the future holds. We cover the good, the bad and the ugly of scaling a sales organization in order to deliver to you: value and insights.

  1. NOV 25

    Ep186 From Cafe Marketplace to Commercial Art Powerhouse, Gavi Wolf’s Sales Journey

    In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Alice Heiman talks with Gavi Wolf, CEO and Founder of IndieWalls, about how he scaled a creative business, turning an art marketplace into a commercial art consultancy serving major brands. Gavi discusses founder‑led sales, when and how he realized it was time to build a sales leadership function, and the hard lesson about motivating and compensating a high‑performing sales team. Rapid‑fire picks Book: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. Podcast: Freakonomics with Stephen Dubner. CEO Advice: If you want top sales talent, they need to see a clear path to earning real money. Show them others are winning, give them a comp plan they can believe in and the right people will come and perform.  Connect With Gavi Wolf: LinkedIn | WebsiteAlice Heiman: LinkedIn | Website

    37 min

  2. NOV 18

    Ep185 Stop Burning Your Budget: Modern Lead Gen Tactics Every CEO Should Know

    Stop wasting money on lead generation that doesn’t work. In this solo episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Alice Heiman delivers a powerful, no-nonsense rant every B2B CEO needs to hear. She challenges the outdated playbook of cold calling and SDR-driven outreach, revealing why it's costing you more than it’s delivering and what to do about it. Alice shares real examples and modern strategies to generate high-quality leads that fill your pipeline without burning out your sales team. From leveraging marketing properly, to holding the right kind of events, to mining your customer base for referrals, this is the wake-up call CEOs need to redesign their go-to-market motions. Connect with Alice Heiman:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman Website: https://aliceheiman.com

    26 min

  3. NOV 11

    Ep184 Cracking the Sales Code: How Ryan Reisert Built a System That Outsells Entire Teams

    What happens when a math major turned cold-caller gets frustrated with broken sales systems? He builds a better one, then builds a company around it. In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Alice Heiman sits down with Ryan Reisert, the co- founder of Outbound Operators and CallBlitz, to trace his journey from burned-out rep to process-driven founder. Ryan reveals how years of trial, error, and dialing taught him that sales doesn’t scale on brute force, it scales with math, process, and precision. This is the inside story of how a rep-turned-CEO rebuilt outbound from the ground up - more than once. Connect With Ryan Reisert: LinkedIn | CallBlitz | Outbound Operators Alice Heiman: LinkedIn | Website

    52 min

  4. NOV 4

    Ep183 When Complex Deals Stall, It’s not What You Think with Brent Adamson & Karl Schmidt

    What if your sales team is focused on the wrong thing? Brent Adamson and Karl Schmidt, co-founders of A to B Insight and co-authors of The FrameMaking Sale, reveal why traditional B2B tactics like BANT are outdated and how to win by building buyer confidence in their own decisions. Connect with: Brent Adamson: LinkedIn | A to B InsightKarl Schmidt: LinkedIn | A to B InsightAlice Heiman: LinkedIn | WebsiteLink to The FrameMaking Sale

    39 min

  5. OCT 28

    Ep182 Hard Lessons in Early Sales: How Collin Stewart Found Real Product-Market Fit

    From hockey stick growth to flat on your face, it hurts and Collin Stewart can tell you firsthand. He had one customer before he left his full-time job, the problem was he still had one customer 18 months later. In his first endeavor this entrepreneur built what he thought everyone needed and kept showing them and expecting them to say how great it was, but they didn’t. “I was building my idea. I wasn’t building what the customer’s wanted.”  The lesson, it’s all about the customer, what they need and want.  Rapid-Fire Mentions Book: Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard RumellPodcast: Acquired FMAdvice to CEOs:  Lead with relationships and real value. Outbound still works, but only if your product-market fit is strong. If you’re early-stage, skip the pitch and focus on helping first. Connect With Collin Stewart: LinkedIn | WebsiteCollin’s book: The Terrifying Art of Finding a CustomerAlice Heiman: LinkedIn | Website

    49 min

  6. OCT 14

    Ep181 From “Disruptive Influence” to CEO Storytelling Coach: How Jeff Abracen Helps Founders Sell with Stories

    When CEOs struggle to connect with customers, teams, or investors, it's rarely a strategy problem, it’s a storytelling problem. In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Alice Heiman sits down with Jeff Abracen, Founder of Disruptive Influence and storytelling coach to tech leaders, to uncover why a great story is a terrible thing to waste. Jeff shares how he turned a high school “disruptive influence” label into a superpower for transforming leaders into magnetic storytellers. With a focus on the Disruptive DNA framework, Jeff teaches CEOs how to own the stage, captivate their audience, and get results, whether it’s on LinkedIn, in a boardroom, or at a major conference. 🔑 What you’ll learn: How to use storytelling to increase sales, alignment, and executive presenceThe Disruptive DNA Framework: Differentiate, Narrate, ActivateWhy preparation, not memorization, is the secret to confidence and clarityJeff doesn’t just talk about storytelling, he lives it. You’ll hear actionable advice and real coaching examples from working with SaaS founders and technical executives. If you’re a CEO or founder who needs to inspire action, this episode will help you turn information into influence. Mentioned in the Rapid-Fire: Book Recommendation: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick RubinPodcast Recommendation: Diary of a CEOAdvice for CEOs: “Facts tell, stories sell. Get into people's hearts before you worry about getting into their minds and their wallets.” Connect with: Jeff Abracen: LinkedIn | Disruptive Influence Request the Disruptive DNA framework: DM Jeff on LinkedIn and mention this podcast Alice Heiman: LinkedIn | Website

    48 min

  7. OCT 7

    Ep180 How to Get in Front of the People Who Can Buy From You

    There are two key ways to get in front of the people most likely to buy from you and Alice believes you may be overlooking them.  The first is something she talks about all the time. So if you haven’t started expecting your team to do it, now is the time.  Referral selling. Yes, you get a few referrals here and there but why not make it a regular occurrence. Alice explains briefly in this episode but for more details listen to episode 147 For more on this listen to episode 147 https://aliceheiman.com/use-the-power-of-referrals-to-close-more-deals/ You must train your team to ask for referrals and then expect them to do it by measuring it and reporting on the results.  But Alice shares another great way to get in front of the right people, one that is tried and true and has been working and continues working, events. And in this episode she talks about a very specific type of online event, a Round Table. You invite your target audience and they reason they attend is because they will get to share and learn. Rather than a webinar with talking heads, you invite your target audience to share about something that is happening in their marketplace. Not only are great ideas shared, they all get to meet each other and network. As Alice exclaims, “It’s a win, win, win, win.”  Win 1 - You win because you get in front of the right people Win 2 - You win again because you have the right people to follow up with Win 3 - They win because they share and hear all the ideas shared Win 4 - They win because they meet people in their industry they might not have otherwise Alice explains that she discovered an unexpected side benefit of holding the round table. She had no idea all of the conversations she would have from responses to the invitations. She had so many conversations with people who couldn’t attend. Just what salespeople want, conversations with people who can buy.  Alice shares the example of a round table she did recently where she invited CEOs to share, “What CEOs need to know to win in this market.” She’s done 2 others since then and shares those below.  You can gather those most likely to buy at a round table and have a win, win, win, win, too.  Here are the insights from 3 of the Round Tables Alice has held recently. CEO to CEO: What You Need to Know to Win in This Market CEO to CEO: What is Actually Working in B2B Lead Generation Now CEO to CEO: How CEOs Are Rethinking Hiring GTM Talent: Insights from the C-Suite Roundtable Connect with Alice Heiman:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman Website: https://aliceheiman.com

    23 min

  8. SEP 30

    Ep179 Turn Sales Training into Strategy with AI-Powered Games

    Imagine if your sales team could rehearse complex deals before ever meeting the buyer, just like elite athletes pre-game. That’s exactly what Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (CEO) and Alix Berry (COO) of ExpertTheory make possible. In this episode, Alice Heiman dives into how ExpertTheory helps companies simulate real-world sales situations through AI-powered, custom-built games. These immersive experiences go far beyond traditional training, replacing static roleplay with dynamic, scenario-based learning that strengthens team performance, decision-making, and competitive strategy. Connect with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: LinkedIn Alix Berry: LinkedInExpertTheory: WebsiteAlice Heiman: LinkedIn | Website

    45 min
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4.8
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Welcome to Sales Talk for CEOs, a show where Alice Heiman interviews successful CEOs who have successfully scaled their B2B sales organizations. In each episode, we get to know the sales background of each CEO, dig into the strategies they've used to build their sales organization and wrap it up with what the future holds. We cover the good, the bad and the ugly of scaling a sales organization in order to deliver to you: value and insights.

Information

  • Creator
    Alice Heiman
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    187
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Sales Talk for CEOs
  • Show Website
    Sales Talk for CEOs