The Unexpected Lever

Vivun

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. Combining vision with execution. Brought to you by Vivun, this show highlights the people and peers behind the brands who understand what it takes to build and lead high-performing sales teams. You’re not just preparing for the sale—you’re unlocking potential. Join us as we share stories of sales leaders who make a difference, their challenges, their wins, and the human connections that drive results, one solution at a time.

  1. 1D AGO

    Sales Benefits of Treating AI Like a Teammate with Chad Sly

    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 issue. Chad also breaks down practical wins, like automating admin work and improving pipeline hygiene, and the risks of treating AI as just another sales tool. If you lead sellers or carry a quota yourself, this is a grounded look at how to move faster with AI without losing the human edge that closes deals. In this episode, you’ll learn: AI as a thinking partner – use AI to pressure test ideas and sharpen deal strategyAdoption is a leadership challenge – change management matters more than trainingAutomate admin, elevate sellers – offload CRM updates and research to focus on selling Things to listen for:(00:00) Introduction (01:23) Most unexpected personal and professional uses of AI (02:26) AI for deep account research and financial analysis (04:30) Chad’s AI origin story and mindset shift (06:21) Where teams start with AI: Efficiency and admin work (07:29) Biggest barriers to AI adoption and implementation (09:00) Top-down mandates vs. bottom-up AI experimentation (11:10) Early AI wins with mini GPTs for account research (12:09) Where AI still falls short in sales communication (13:45) Advice for skeptics and how to get started with AI (17:09) The sales process AI should automate next (18:15) Resources, hype, and where to connect with Chad

    20 min
  2. MAR 4

    How AI Is Raising the Standard for Every Sales Conversation | Darren Brady, Corporate Visions

    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 personalization looks like now, and how sellers can meet higher expectations without losing authenticity. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why AI increases buyer expectations – access to data means no excuse for generic outreachPersonalization is the demand – surface insights that reflect the customer’s businessHuman connection still wins – AI supports preparation, not relationships Things to listen for:(00:00) Introduction (01:09) The unexpected way AI was used to build a full business plan (03:00) Darren’s AI origin story and the first scalable use case he saw (04:21) Turning AI into a team-wide business case engine (05:38) Why AI is raising the bar for seller business acumen (07:54) When buyers use AI to reshape your business case (09:30) The evolution of enablement in an AI-driven world (11:44) The rise of the GTM engineer and AI skill enablement (13:30) AI wins that scaled across teams (17:37) AI missteps, broken automations, and rebuilding trust (20:30) Build, buy, or wait? Navigating AI decisions in uncertain times (23:13) Practical advice for getting started with AI today (27:22) Pricing automation, revenue resources, and where to connect

    29 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

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. Combining vision with execution. Brought to you by Vivun, this show highlights the people and peers behind the brands who understand what it takes to build and lead high-performing sales teams. You’re not just preparing for the sale—you’re unlocking potential. Join us as we share stories of sales leaders who make a difference, their challenges, their wins, and the human connections that drive results, one solution at a time.