Chris Orlob

Grew Gong from $200k to $200M+ | Online Courses for SaaS Sellers (pclub.io) | Solving Revenue Hiring (QuotaSignal)

"You can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling." My mentor told me that over a burger when I was 22 years old. Having only $40 to my name, along with a wife and my first child to support, I took that seriously. I made a commitment to master every aspect of selling, and to earn more money than I could imagine. And I was going to do it in SaaS.

When I first became an account executive, I struggled to find repeatable, consistent success. Some months I did well. Some I missed by a mile. After reading hundreds of books (literally) and debriefing every one of my sales calls (thousands) in a journal, I started to crack the code, little by little. 

Soon, things started to go incredibly well. I started to earn multiple six figures a year, which helped me launch my first business. Not too long later (after plenty of mistakes!), I joined forces with a little company called Gong.io, while they were doing less than $200,000 a year in ARR. Figured I'd help them grow to $10M and be done.

5.5 years later, we grew from $200k to $200 million in ARR and a $7.2 billion valuation. I was fortunate enough to earn my first seven-figure income. A decade pursuit of mastering every aspect of sales had come to fruition (though I'm still not done). That felt amazing. 

I kept finding myself telling people, "You can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling," just like my mentor had told me all those years ago. Because I experienced it first-hand.

My passion for mastering every aspect of selling started to extend to helping OTHER people do it. Soon, I started pclub.io - a business dedicated to helping B2B tech salespeople master every aspect of selling (and earn more money than they've ever dreamed of). 

Since starting, I've helped over 11,000 sales professionals and leaders. Many of which have gone on to turbo charge their sales success:

“Exceeded 245% of my target." -Christian Allen, AE at ZoomInfo

"CLOSED the most ARR in company history” -Marshall Weil, AE at Freewill

"Made 152% of my number” -Jasi Johnson, AE at Gartner

"I made it to Club One - the new program rolled out for the top 1%. -David Rosenstein, AE at LinkedIn


Many of these stories included people who started out thinking, "Maybe this is possible for other talented people, but not for me." But selling is nothing more than a series of skills. Anyone can master it, and I can teach you how.

Like I always tell people, "you can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling."

Begin writing YOUR success story by visiting www.pclub.io

Co-Founder & CEO

pclub.io is the #1 skill transformation platform for revenue teams. We work with the top 0.01% of sales earners, practitioners, and leaders to create top-rated online courses that help you grow your sales skills to life-altering levels. Instead of spending years mastering sales through trial and error or going through stodgy ‘one size fits all’ sales training, you’ll get to the steal the playbooks, frameworks, and skills of the top 0.01% sales earners on the planet, accelerating your mastery curve, income, and revenue to unrecognizable levels.

I watched a rep lose a $400K deal in 30 seconds. Not because of price. Because of one sentence: "So, uh, what do you think we should do next?"

The buyer paused.

Then said: "Let me think about it and get back to you."

That deal never closed.

Here's what happened:

The rep gave away all their power by asking the buyer to lead.

I see this constantly.

AEs end calls with:

- "What are your thoughts on next steps?"

- "Where do you want to go from here?"

- "What makes sense to you?"

They think they're being collaborative.

But they're actually communicating:

"I don't know what we should do. You figure it out."

The best AEs?

They ALWAYS know the next step.

Before the call even starts.

They end calls with:

"Based on what we discussed, here's what I recommend we do next. We should schedule 45 minutes next Thursday with you and your VP of Sales to walk through how this impacts your Q2 plan. I'll also bring my CRO to speak to the executive-level implications. Does that feel like the right next step?"

Notice the difference?

One is asking.

One is leading.

Here's the truth:

You've sold your product 100+ times.

Your buyer has bought it 0-1 times.

Who should be leading?

You.

Selling is an act of leadership.

If you don't know the WHAT (next step), WHO (involved), and WHY (reasoning), you're not leading.

You're following.

And followers don't close deals.

Leaders do.

The question:

Are you leading your deals or following your buyers?

P.S. We’re opening an “early access” VIP list to our coming Black Friday annual enrollment event to get in before the rush crowd. Join here: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

JSESSIONID

li_at

CEO at pclub.io - helped grow Gong from $200K ARR to $200M+ ARR, now building the platform to uplevel the global revenue workforce. 50-year time horizon.

Sales leaders: After working with 5,000 revenue orgs, I've seen 5 patterns in every great sales team.

From InsideSales, to Gong, to pclub.io – my career has been in the walls of revenue teams.

5 things the best do:


1. They know where they win.

They don’t chase the market.

They chase the segment where they have unfair advantage.

They define a surgical ICP and stop wasting cycles on deals that never close.

They’re obsessed with:

• Where they win
• Where they lose
• Where win-rate is too low

Then they operationalize it.

They don’t just "know" where they win.

They run the business around it.

One CRO I talked to said this:

“If you want higher close rates, stop chasing bad deals.”


2. They’re obsessed with narrative.

Once they know the territory, they design the narrative that unlocks it.

They refine messaging until buyers think:

“They understand my world better than I do.”

Narrative isn’t a marketing exercise.

It’s fuel that drives revenue.

When you nail it, everything is easier.

Whether it’s the CMO, CRO, or even CEO, someone holds this job:

“Chief Narrative Officer.”


3. They build a performance culture.

The best sales teams take a page from Netflix:

“We’re not a family. We’re a pro sports team.”

• Camaraderie? Yes.
• Psychological safety? Yes.

But also:

We’re here to perform.

If someone isn’t pulling their weight, the culture addresses it.

Elite teams balance two forces:

A) High standards
B) High safety

The paradox:

The more transparent you are about:

• Performance expectations
• PIP criteria

…the less fear exists.

Performance expectations create short-term fear.

But ambiguity creates permanent fear.

Open expectations remove "wondering."

Reps know where they stand.

That frees them.


4. They build rock-solid stages & exit criteria.

Great teams don’t use vague stages like Discovery → Demo → Proposal.

They design a sales process that exposes the reality of a deal.

• Clear stage definition
• Binary exit criteria
• Aging discipline

This clarity drives predictability:

• Reps stop guessing
• Managers coach w/precision
• Forecasts stop lying

Process definition is the compass.

But here’s the trap:

Having a clean process still isn't enough for consistency.

Sales stages and exit criteria only define what to do.

They do not equip reps with how to do it.


5. They treat skills like a performance system.

Strong leaders don’t just tell reps what to do.

They build the skill capacity to do it.

Once you define a great process, a hard truth emerges:

Many reps don’t have enough skill capacity to do it.

Great teams systematize skill excellence.

They treat skill capacity like a monetizeable asset.

These teams don’t view skills as “our people should already have these.”

They design skill profiles, measure them, train them.

Process without skill is academically strong, commercially weak.

Skill without process is chaos.

Do both?

You unlock revenue excellence.

Which of these 5 stood out most?

If you work in sales and you're not locked in, focused, maximizing your productivity during working hours? You're wasting the reason to be in the profession.

Sales is the highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work.

You can half-ass your way to a decent living in sales.

But $300K? $500K? Seven figures?

That game only rewards the serious.

A multimillionaire once told me: "Rule #1: Thou shalt not f*** around."

He smiled when he said it. 

But I could tell he wasn't joking.

Here's what I see most reps doing:

They show up. 

They take calls. 

They send emails.

But they're not locked in.

They're distracted. 

They're coasting. 

They're treating it casually.

And then they wonder why they're stuck at $150K while their peers are clearing $400K.

The difference?

The top reps treat sales like a performance job.

Because it is.

They manage their time like a CEO.

They manage their energy like an athlete.

They invest in their skills like their income depends on it because it does.

If you're in sales for the money, act like it.

Lock in. 

Focus. 

Maximize every hour.

Or get out and do something easier.

Because if you're going to treat it casually, you're in the wrong profession.

P.S. If you want the exact 50 questions I use to build pain, urgency, and desire in deals, grab the full list here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g2giY-ab

The BEST sales lesson I ever got came from a billionaire's head of sales: "Are we lying, cheating, or stealing? I've never seen growth this fast."

That was Charlie Munger asking Chet Holmes.

Chet had just taken a magazine from dead last (15th out of 15) to #1 in market share.

In 3 years.

Here's what he did:

He identified 167 accounts that represented 95% of industry revenue.

Then he STOPPED pursuing the other 1,833 accounts.

Completely.

Cold turkey.

Instead, he focused 100% of his energy on those 167.

Mailed them every 2 weeks.

Called them every 2 weeks.

Faxed them every 2 weeks.

For 4 months: Zero responses.

But he didn't quit.

Month 5: Landed Xerox (biggest deal in company history).

Month 6: Had 28 of the 167.

3 years later: Had all 167.

Every. Single. One.

Here's what this taught me:

Most AEs spread themselves too thin.

They chase every lead.

They respond to every inbound.

They try to close everyone.

And they end up closing no one.

The best AEs?

They identify their top 20% of accounts.

Then they ignore the rest.

They run a relentless, multi-month campaign on their dream accounts.

Not one email.

Not one call.

A drumbeat.

I did this at Gong:

We had Tier 1 accounts.

Every rep could answer: "What are you doing to break into [Tier 1 account]?"

Not "I sent an email last week."

But "I've been running a 6-month campaign with executive outreach, direct mail, and strategic touches."

The lesson:

Stop chasing everyone.

Start obsessing over the accounts that matter.

Then run a campaign so persistent they can't ignore you.

That's how you go from 15th to 1st.

P.S. Are you a seller who refuses to be average? We’re opening an “early access” VIP list to our coming Black Friday annual enrollment event to get in before the rush crowd. Secure first-access here: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

The biggest shift in B2B sales that no one is talking about:

Sales is becoming PROFESSIONALIZED.

The old era was simple:
• Charisma
• Dinners
• Being good with people

That era is fading fast.

The new era is different:
• Precision
• Strategy
• Engineered deal process
• Skill depth

The old era was revenue backslappers.

The new era is revenue athletes.

The teams who embrace this shift will dominate the next decade.

Buyers who decline calendar invites... but then offer up several available times to reschedule... You are a hero to salespeople everywhere.

Tech sales is one of those rare careers that breaks social classes, fast.

People in lower class backgrounds can quickly break into the upper class.

And with a much lower barrier to entry than other careers.

I've seen people go from $40k to $200k in about 18-24 months.

I've seen people in their mid 30s become seven-figure earners.

Tech sales is truly an economic equalizer. 

#techsalesforpresident

"You have no ****ing idea what my day looks like."

The VP Sales practically YELLED that at me.

Spiraling me into a 37 minute depression.

I was running a sales demo early in my sales career.

This hard-nosed VP Sales was my potential buyer.

And that's what he blurted out at the end.

Right after I asked him how the demo was resonating.

No doubt this guy was tough.

You could even call him a jerk.

But sensing he just crushed the soul of a new AE just trying to figure things out, he softened up:

"Look, you didn't do a bad job. You know your product well," he said.

"But you're the one who asked for this meeting. And you showed me 7 or 8 things. Only one of them would even somewhat help me," he went on.

"The rest of them? I'm not even sure what they solve." He said bluntly.

"You could have left those other 7 things out of this demo entirely."

Those words hung in the air like cigar smoke floating out of this mouth.

I stewed on this every night for a few weeks.

Seeing the same thing happen to my peers, I came up with a new rule:

Every feature had to EARN its spot in my demo.

To make the cut, I'd need to be able to finish one of these sentences:

FIRST:

"Earlier, you shared you were struggling with X. Let me show you how we address that."

SECOND:

"Many of our customers struggled with Y. Is that the case with you? [If yes]: Ok. Let me show you how we address that."

If I couldn't finish one of those?

Then that feature was "cut from the team."

At least for THAT particular demo.

The lesson?

Solve your buyers' problem exactly.

No less.

But also: No more.

Ok.

P.S. If you want the exact 50 questions I use to build pain, urgency, and desire in deals, grab the full list here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g2giY-ab

Be the kind of salesperson that it would suck to compete against.

Most AEs get the first 5 minutes of a discovery call wrong. They either don't set the stage at all or they overcomplicate it (and sound weird).

Here's the framework I've used to set up thousands of sales calls and avoid friction with your buyer:

STEP 1: Transition from small talk.

After spending a few minutes on rapport, you need a smooth way to transition to business.

Best phrase I know to do it?

"Mind if we talk through the agenda?"

STEP 2: Set the objective.

This is NOT the agenda.

The agenda is the LINE ITEMS of things you'll discuss.

The objective is the OUTCOME of the meeting.

Complete this sentence:

"Here's what I have in mind for the objective of this meeting. Let me know if you have anything else in mind? This meeting will be successful if _______________."

Notice the 'softening language.'

You're making a firm suggestion wrapped in soft language.

That gives your buyer a sense of control and autonomy.

Plus, it eases any initial 'sales resistance' they have.

STEP 3: Set the agenda.

With the outcome of the meeting defined, NOW you can set the agenda.

Here's the key:

Propose 2-3 topics that SERVE the objective you just established.

"The way we can accomplish the objective is by talking through a couple things. First, _______________. And then, _______________.

Does that feel right?"

STEP 4: Set the DECISION to be made at the END of the call.

Let your buyer know you'll want both of you to be in a position to make some sort of decision at the END of the call.

That makes it FAR easier to secure next steps (or disqualify if it makes sense).

"By the end of the meeting, it would be a win if we're both in a position to decide either it makes sense to schedule a next logical step based on what we learned, or that it doesn't, and we can revisit another time."

STEP 5: Gain alignment with the 'F-Word'

End your talk track with:

"Does that feel like a fair way to approach the call?"

This accomplishes two things:

- They're aligned and feel ownership
- They are likely to agree (hard to disagree with 'fair')

Put all those together in a concise, 30-second sound bite.

You've got a formula for better sales calls.

P.S. Hey AEs — your comp plans isn’t the problem. Your skill gaps are.

Take this 2-minute quiz to see exactly how much income you’re missing out on.

Average results: $39,392 left on the table.

Where do you stack up: https://www.pclub.io/quiz

Being an account executive is better than getting an MBA.

You will become better at:

- Sales
- Writing
- Finance
- Leadership
- Negotiation
- Business acumen
- Time management
- Managing difficult people

It's truly a real-world MBA.

I can't think of any other profession where you can make multiple six-figures in your 20s without an Ivy League degree.

The problem?

Most salespeople "fell into" sales.

They don't take it seriously.

So they squander the opportunity.

And instead use their commissions to live a drunken existence on the weekends.

But if you lean in to this opportunity?

Like... TRULY lean in and master it?

You can write your own check.

And maybe even retire before you're 40.

P.S. If you want the exact 50 questions I use to build pain, urgency, and desire in deals, grab the full list here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g2giY-ab

19 sales cheat codes I wish I knew when I started out:

1. Buyers will spend more to relieve pain than to achieve gain. Stop obsessing about product benefits. Start obsessing about customer problems.

2. The biggest opportunity your competition is probably not leveraging is deep multi-threading.

3. The demo flow your product team teaches you never works. They mean well, but they are too interested in making customers aware of every feature. Only show the features that solve problems. Leave off the rest.

4. One of the best sales hacks is responding fast. Responding fast to inbound leaders. Responding fast to prospect emails. Buyers mirror your speed.

5. Personalization will help you book more outbound meetings. But there are diminishing returns. Adding way too much personalization creates a lot of work and doesn’t add to conversion.

6. Offering an 'end of month' discount only ever works if your buyer has total control over pulling the trigger. If they have to get approval from others, go through legal, procurement, etc. it’s not going to move the needle.

7. Spend more time getting new influencers up to speed on past conversations you’ve had with their colleagues.

8. A great question will always have more influence power than a great statement.

9. People don’t buy because of ROI. ROI doesn’t create demand. It justifies demand. Position your ROI accordingly.

10. Your perfect sales technique will not close the deal if you're talking to the wrong person. I still remember the best discovery call I've ever run. I didn't close the deal. Wrong person.

11. Social selling isn't better than cold email. Cold email isn't better than cold calling. These channels work together. Leverage them as 'land, sea, and air.' Stop thinking binary.

12. If you can describe your buyer's problem better than they can describe it, their light bulbs will turn on. It's a beautiful thing. Buyers favor the seller that can best articulate their problems.

13. Get to know your market like the back of your hand. If you know your buyers so well that you can peer into their soul, you'll rarely lose.

14. Buyers never reveal the real problem after the 1st or 2nd question. Uncovering the 'need behind the need' is the closest thing to a magic bullet in sales.

15. Executives want to know you've done your homework. If you show up to a sales call with a C-SUITE exec and ask a generic question, you'll lose them forever.

16. Never negotiate price until it's the last open issue. If agreeing on price doesn't close the deal, it's too early to negotiate.

17. Every time you demo a feature, preface it with the problem it solves. You'll double your demo effectiveness with this change alone.

18. Stop blaming buyers for falling short. If they said they were going to sign last month, and they didn’t, that’s your fault. Not theirs.

19. The best product demos are more about the customer than they are about the product.

P.S. Early VIP access: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

The fastest path to time, location, & financial freedom for non-technical people: Remote tech sales.

I’m not sure people realize how wild the moment is.

I know 23–28-year-olds making $200K–$300K a year.
• Working remotely.
• 40 hours a week.
• Sometimes 35.
• No degree.
• No code.
• Just the right role and a dialed-in sales process. 

If you zoom out, it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

For ambitious non-technical people, tech sales is the new American dream.

The fastest way I’ve ever seen someone change their entire socioeconomic trajectory in under 12-24 months.

If tech sales changed your financial life, tell your story in the comments.

PSA for Sales Leaders: MEDDPICC is not a sales methodology. MEDDPICC is a deal health framework.

If you tell your reps "do MEDDPICC" without giving them the skills to do it?

You're destined for some disappointing pipeline reviews.

8 (painful) differences between the best and worst SaaS Sellers ⤵⤵

1. Pricing.

The best salespeople can quote you $350,000 with a straight face. Totally casual. Zero hangups. Calm, cool, collected.

The worst salespeople tremble and shake when they talk big money. They’re uncomfortable talking about price and it shows.

2. Discovery.

The best salespeople uncover the ‘need behind the need.’ They don’t stop with surface level need. They go deep, but in a conversational way.

The worst salespeople show their product at the slightest hint of a need they can solve. Discovery be damned.

3. Prospecting.

The best salespeople know that’s it’s too early to sell the benefits of their product. So they do something different. They agitate the problem. They articulate the buyer’s pain better than the buyer can.

The worst salespeople focus their outreach on the product. It’s benefits. How it works. It’s features. The ROI.

4. Discounts.

The worst salespeople lob huge discounts “if you sign this month.” Even if the buyer is nowhere near a decision.

It’s not that the best salespeople never use discounts. But they only give ‘qualified discounts.’ The ask why the buyer is asking for it. They qualify whether the buyer has the authority to act on it. Only then do they consider it.

5. Next Steps.

The worst salespeople “pencil in” a meaningless calendar invite as a next step. Or worse, they schedule nothing and follow up via email.

The best salespeople know what the next step should be, who should be involved, and why. Plus, they see around corners. They are thinking about the next THREE steps. Not just the next one.

6. Demos.

The worst salespeople show you ever feature. The more they show, the more value they build, they think.

The best salespeople “solve exactly.” They show you exactly what pieces of their product solve your problem. They leave out everything else.

7. Negotiation.

The worst salespeople don’t negotiate. They haggle. The only tool they have in their negotiation kit is to give something away and ask for something in return.

The best salespeople treat negotiation as problem solving. They ask about the buyer’s underlying need behind the concession request. They find creative ways to address it.

8. Skill Acquisition.

The worst salespeople think sales is a born trait. You have it or you don’t.

The best salespeople know that “sales” is just a collection of skills. Each one can be learned, practiced, reinforced, and mastered. So they build their skills accordingly.

These are 8 key differences.

The good news?

You can move from “worst” to “best” with new skills.

You’re not YEARS away from anything you want.

You’re SKILLS away from anything you want.

New skills are how you collapse a decade into a year.

P.S. We’re opening an “early access” VIP list to our coming Black Friday annual enrollment event to get in before the rush crowd. Secure first-access here: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

Hey tech salespeople:  What inspired you to get into tech sales to begin with?

I want to hear your story in the comments!

Here's mine:

I spent 5 years pursuing a dream of being a pro drummer.

But by age 20, I had practiced so much I got tendinitis (and scar tissue) on both elbows, effectively ending that as a career option.

So I made a vow:

"If I can't be a pro drummer, then I'm at least going to find a way to make as much money as possible."

That led to a conversation with my college roommate:

"If you want to do well for yourself economically, focused on becoming great at selling."

He then encouraged me to look into a local SaaS company called InsideSales.com.

I joined as an SDR and the rest was history. 

What's your story?

InsideSales.com

Last year, an AE told me she wanted to earn $350,000 a year.

“Best advice on how to get there?” she asked.

So I told her a story.

Years ago, I had dinner with the CEO of Gong.

I asked him a question no CEO should be able to answer:

“How do you build a billion-dollar company?”

But he had an answer anyway.

He said:

“First, build a product so good a weak sales team could sell it.

"Second, build a sales + marketing machine so good it could sell a weak product. Do both and you’re on your way.”

Then I told her:

“Becoming a high-earning salesperson works the exact same way.”

Step 1 → Break into a company with a killer product that practically sells itself.

Step 2 → Build elite-level sales skills so you could sell anything if you had to.

Do both?

You’re unstoppable.

Here’s what most aspiring high-earners get wrong:

They apply to the “hot” companies…

But those companies only hire people with the skills to match their reputation.

Great product + weak skills = no interview.

Great skills + weak company = low ceiling.

You need both:

• The right company
• The right skills

That’s the $300k+/year formula.

That’s how you get your shot at big money.

And that’s how you turn that shot into a career-defining year.

You aren’t “years” away from your dream life.

You’re just a few skills (and maybe the right company) away.

And if you want help with both…

I’m opening Early Access to our Black Friday program next week.

Inside it is our brand-new January training:

BREAK INTO THE BIG TIME

How to land interviews — and offers — at high-earning companies with world-class products. 

The tech companies where sellers routinely earn $300k+.

Plus: the income acceleration platform that helps you capitalize once you’re in.

Bad news? First 200 people only.

Grab your early access spot here and get an enrollment invitation before everyone else here: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

Drop an “IN” in the comments if you're looking forward to hearing the updates about it.

Your dream job + elite skills = a different life.

Making $300,000+ a year in tech sales is dead.

Unless you follow these two rules:

Years ago, I had dinner with the CEO of Gong.

Here’s what I asked him:

“How do you build a billion dollar company?”

What he said has influenced me ever since:

“First, build a product so good a weak sales team could sell it.”

“Second, build a sales team so good they could sell a weak product.”

“Do both, and you re-write history.”

Mic-drop line.

And here’s what I realized:

That’s also the key to making $300k (or more) in tech sales:

First, sell a product so good, you could sell it even if YOU weren’t very good.

Second, become so good at selling that you could sell a weak product.

Do both?

That's your only shot at a 7-figure W2.

This morning, we announced the system that helps you do BOTH.

Our annual Black Friday enrollment event opened.

It’s your path to cracking $300k+ in 2026.

Here’s how:

First, master every aspect of tech sales with the world’s top skill transformation platform.

🔥 Learn from the top 1% revenue experts
🔥 Master skills that impact your income
🔥 Become an elite seller 

As I’ve said:

You’re not years away from everything you want.
You’re skills away from everything you want.

Second, our Black Friday bonus:

🎁 Free admission for our Break Into the Big Time live training in January.

This isn’t a skills training.
This isn't a process training.

This is how to break into companies where earning $300k+ is possible.

You’ll learn to identify, interview with, and join the hottest tech sales teams on the planet.

Because there are only two paths to great money in tech sales:

➡️ Wait for the “perfect” company
➡️ Or become the seller every company fights for

The highest paid salespeople don’t choose.

They insist on both.

They build the fuel reserves (killer skills).

Then they choose the rocketship (killer company).

If you refuse to sit on the sidelines and watch others win in 2026?

👉 Enrollment is open now for Black Friday: https://lnkd.in/gSpnHq7y

Become the most formidable version of yourself.

The outcomes take care of themselves. 

Let me know in the comments if you're in (or if you have questions).

SaaS sellers that will make $300,000+ in 2026 know these 7 things:

1. Their desired W2 (annual income), down to the dollar.

2. Every lever in their comp plan so they know how to get there.

3. How much ARR they need to close to reach their target income, based on their comp plan.

4. Their ACV, and how many deals they need to close to reach their target.

5. Their personal close rate, and how many new opps they need to find to close their target revenue amount.

6. The daily activity they need to execute to find the new opps they need to find to reach their goals.

7. The new skills they need to improve the entire system.

Clarity is power.

After that, it's just about working the system.

P.S. Are you a seller who refuses to be average? We’re opening an “early access” VIP list to our coming Black Friday annual enrollment event to get in before the rush crowd. Secure first-access here: https://lnkd.in/g6ntF9Xb

Last week, I met with the SVP of Sales at a $1B company.

Here's what he said about a "must win" deal they lost:

“Our relationship with this customer was amazing,” he said.

“Our rep even stayed overnight at their house during the sales cycle. They became close friends.”

And yet… they still lost to a competitor.

Why?

Because the competitor simply out-sold them:

• A tighter business case
• Better articulated differentiation
• A sharper understanding of the problem
• They built consensus, not just relationships

Then he said the line that stuck with me:

“We had the relationship acumen. They had the sales acumen.”

3 lessons I took away:


1. In 2025, buying decisions and relationships are decoupled.

Being liked isn’t enough.
Being trusted isn’t enough.
Win­ing and dining isn’t enough.

Not when your competitor has:

• A more formidable skillset
• A winning deal strategy
• A killer sales process

Those beat relationships every day.


2. Sales is becoming professionalized.

Sales used to be the least “professional” profession.

Charisma. Charm. Relationships.

The Wild West. No shared standards of excellence.

That era is dead.

Modern sales cycles are won by teams who run a more skilled, more strategic, more engineered process.

This is no longer about personality.

It’s about precision.


3. Skill capacity is the CRO’s new competitive advantage.

Teams with higher skill IQ win more deals. 

Full stop.

We’re now seeing early data to back this up:

Nine of our business customers in the last 90 days have correlated their pclub.io Skill Adoption in Gong with CRM outcomes.

The uplift is unmistakable.
• Higher win rates
• Faster cycles
• Bigger ACVs

That data is telling us that skills are money in the bank.

It shouldn’t be surprising:

When products blur, and relationships alone can’t carry you…

Skill becomes the moat.

It’s easy for competitors to copy your features.

It’s hard for them to match a tightly trained revenue team.

The companies who grasp this will dominate the next decade.

P.S. If you're a leader and want to see what the revenue lift can look like when you go all in on this, DM me.

Luke Shalom

CEO @ Grow Solo I help the C-suite turn industry expertise into predictable pipeline

Most founders are stuck in what I call "The Activity Trap".

They’re on LinkedIn every day:

DMing.
Posting.
Commenting.

Trying to be everywhere, still not getting consistent clients.

They’ve been told “show up and it’ll work.” But they’re doing everything and nothing’s compounding.

Instead of building leverage, they’re trapped in a cycle of rented results, ghostwritten content, and cold DMs that never convert.

Eventually they burn out:

- No time to sell
- No energy to market
- No leverage to scale unless they outsource again and hope it works

When you stop feeding the machine, the pipeline dies.

There’s a better way.

We install your Leverage Engine — a Trust-Led Outbound system powered by AI that turns LinkedIn into a client acquisition channel you own.

Everything runs in under 30 minutes a day.

With Atticus, we’ve helped 75+ B2B founders, consultants and experts:

→ Escape the Activity Trap
→ Scale without headcount
→ Drive 5–10 new deals per month from LinkedIn

Over $120M in pipeline booked without ghostwriters, appointment setters, or agency retainers.

Here’s how it works:

1. Attract

We install an AI content agent trained on your voice and expertise, built from 70+ top performers.
No ghostwriters. You own the engine.

2. Convert

A behind-the-scenes system moves prospects from cold to calendar.
By the time they book, they already trust you.

3. Activate

We build and install the full system in 60 days, fully trained, operational, and ready to scale inside your business.

Real wins from the system:

V, agency owner → 5–8 qualified opportunities/month + Forbes feature + six figures closed

B, M&A founder → $750K in sales-qualified pipeline

J, executive coach → 62 calls + $144K pipeline + price increase from $33K to $44K

J, startup consultant → 20 qualified calls in 20 days + $150K pipeline

B, career coach → 12 qualified leads in 8 days post-activation

This is for founders ready to shift from activity-trapped operators to leveraged dealmakers — where every post and DM builds trust, not just traffic.

Want your own AI Demand Engine installed?

Send me a message with “AI” and I’ll walk you through how it works and exactly what it would look like inside your business.

Founder

We help executives to build and monetize their brand on linkedin by scaling your content and turning it into leads, authority and thought leadership.

How?

Engagement + DM flows = Qualified meetings. 

Done with you. Done for you.

Austin Huges, CEO of Unify, is generating multi–8-figure pipeline every month using just three content styles, not an army of sales reps. And those 3 same posts are the reason he has book $120M+ in pipeline in 2025. Here's how: 👇

Most founders think they need a big SDR team to grow.

That’s the old playbook.

But Austin just did something wild:

$120M+ in pipeline in 2025
With a lean team.
With zero SDR bloat
And it’s not a one-off.

Unify has powered $81M+ in pipeline for companies like OpenPhone, Flock Safety, and Justworks.

Here’s what most founders miss:

Austin isn’t scaling headcount.
He’s scaling signal from his content on LinkedIn.

No spam.
No generic templates.
No blasting thousands of emails.

He uses:

• A founder personal brand to drive followers, likes, comments and profile views
• AI agents running SDR workflows towards the intent from content in seconds
• Perfectly timed outbound when the prospect cares

The engine behind it: 

Austin’s LinkedIn personal brand.

I read every post he’s put out. Every teardown and behind-the-scenes thread.

His content is the GTM system.

Here are the 3 content types that power everything:

1️⃣ Challenges outdated beliefs (“SDRs aren’t broken. The playbook is.”)

 Part of the funnel: TOFU or MOFU

Why it works:

He positions Unify in the buyer’s journey long before they’re solution-aware. They feel the pain, even if they don’t know the cause.

How you can use this:

- Take a classic problem.
- Take a strong stance.
- Present the new way.
- Explain how your solution fits as the new way.

2️⃣ Shows the real system (templates, workflows, AI agent use cases)
 
Part of the funnel: MOFU and BOFU

Why it works:

Everyone has similar tools, especially in outreach. The differentiator is your mechanism. Once you sell them on the problem, they look for a system.

This content is simple:

 - Outline a pain of your ICP.
 - Show your solution.
 - Add a CTA.

3️⃣ Makes himself the case study

Part of the funnel: TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU

7-8 figures in pipeline generated per month.
150+ meetings generated a month.
Growth up and to the right.

Why it works:

No pitching.
No hard CTAs.
Simply proof in public.

People buy from those they like, know, and trust. By making himself the case study and showing how he scales Unify with Unify, Austin builds real proof that the tool works. This is the glue that holds the LinkedIn demand engine together.

The result:

Founder-led GTM is outperforming outbound teams because buyers trust founders, not reps.

Timing beats volume.
Every. Single. Time.

Austin isn’t just building Unify.

He’s rewriting modern GTM.

He’s just getting started.

Want to build your own predictable Sales System on LinkedIn? Grab a ticket to my "Leveraged Operator" LinkedIn masterclass from the link in the comments. 

I will be helping 100 founders to scale the NEW WAY on LinkedIn using AI. 

Only 50 tickets left. 

Once they are gone they are gone. 

Grab one here - https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

Founders: Add $100K/Month Using LinkedIn + AI - Free Masterclass Dec 12. Get Your Ticket from “Visit My Website” →

A few crazy things breaking past $50k profit months as a leveraged operator allowed me to do:

- Drive my entire client acquisition funnel on LinkedIn in less than 30 mins a day

- Take afternoons slow again. I finish most days at 3pm because our offers are mostly async delivery (we get paid for our minds and not our time).

- Worked from Colombia for 2 years without the business collapsing every time I travelled.

- Take 4 weeks of holidays this year fully offline (with only a little guilt).

- Be more present with my girl and pup instead of scrolling LinkedIn on the sofa.

- Generate a living income from just my investments > firmly on route to financial freedom.

- Reinvest heavily back into my own skills — I spent $30,000 in my training across mindset + sales this year.

- Perhaps my favorite of all… I finally flew my girl from Colombia to London last year. And this year we will go again to enjoy Christmas with my family (peep the picture of her smile man!).

I built this thing with just my laptop, LinkedIn and AI.

Now it’s put me in a position where I can support myself and the lives of those I love.

That’s what being a leveraged operator is all about.

Get leverage in the places that matter less.

And get more time with the people who matter most.

If you’re still deep in the grind of trying to hit above the $20k profit plateau…
Keep going.

A few simple changes could get you everything you’ve ever wanted.

PS: If you want to add $50k–$100k profit months with 90%+ margins using just LinkedIn, I’m hosting a LinkedIn client acquisition masterclass on the 12th. Smash this link to join biz owners gaining an unfair advantage in 2026 with AI: https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

CEO @ Atticus | AI sales systems for founders | 5–10 deals/month from LinkedIn in <​30 mins/day I $125M+ pipeline generated for 100+ founders

March 2022: I hit 600,000 impressions in 60 days. Guess how much that added to my revenue?...

Exactly $0.

I posted daily.
DM’d like crazy.
My calendar stayed empty.

Back in March 2022, when I went all-in on my business, I had the metrics… not the money:

• 60 posts in 60 days
• 600,000 impressions
• 40 cold DMs per week

And still? Maybe 1 call a week.

That’s when I stopped chasing activity and started building leverage.

Here’s the truth most founders stuck at $20k per month profit don’t want to admit:

Consistency without leverage does not scale growth. It scales exhaustion.

I was doing everything LinkedIn “experts” said to do.

But nothing was translating into predictable deal flow.

So I audited a week of work and realized about 70 percent of my time was non-revenue.

Every morning felt like Day 1.
Staring at LinkedIn.
Anxiety bubbling up.

 “Why is everyone else winning but me?”

 “Another competitor posts a $50k month. Must be nice.”

I didn’t have a content problem.
I had a leverage problem.

Over the next 3 years, I rebuilt my entire client acquisition system around infrastructure, not effort:

- Identified the Rainmaker client persona (the one person I knew who was willing and able to afford me).

- Built an indoctrination strategy for my content—I identified the key ideas my audience needed to believe to buy from me.

- Created an AI content agent in my voice and trained on my brain. I was no longer spending an hour a day writing posts. I could create a week of content in 30 minutes. No AI slop because it’s trained on my library of content.

- Built a team of AI outbound agents that allowed us to scale our outreach to people in our sphere of influence from content and profile views.

Before → After:

- 4 to 8 calls per month → 35 to 50 a month
- $10k profit → $20k to $50k per month
- $270k closed in last 4 months

Try this for 7 days:

 Run an Activity Audit and highlight your activity traps.

- Log everything in 15‑minute blocks
- Tag each block R (revenue‑producing) or NR (non‑revenue)
- Circle your top 3 NR time sinks
- Kill / Automate / Batch anything NR
- Block 1 hour in your calendar for December 12 to join 100 founders building their own AI Demand Engine with LinkedIn on my webinar.

If you’re stuck in the trap, it might be time for a change.

Grab your FREE ticket to my LinkedIn masterclass here: leveragedoperators.com

One founder cut LinkedIn from 6 hours a week to 1. His pipeline still grew to multi 6 figures... 90 days.

He runs a GTM consultancy.
Around 10k followers.
No team. No ghostwriter.

Before we worked together he was:

→ Pulling 2–5 inbounds a month
→ Creating all his content himself
→ Posting randomly, so leads came in lumpy

90 days later:

→ 10–20 sales qualified leads a month across content + outbound
→ Close rate up by 10%
→ New service launched, $30,000 closed in 60 days
→ Multi 6 figures in pipeline
→ Time on LinkedIn down to 1 hour a week

Here is how we did it using our Position → Attract → Convert model.

1) Position

Foundation of everything.

We:

→ Defined his WHO, WHAT and HOW he was serving to make him stand out 
→ Found his Rainmaker ICP (the client he loved who closed fastest)
→ Mapped his Atticus language matrix so posts used words his buyers already say to attract them with content
→ Installed an indoctrination ladder so content moved people from:

 cold → trust → paid

Once he stood out, we moved to:

2) Attract

Goal over 3 months: build brand and demand.

We:

→ Built an AI content agent in his own voice
→ Posted consistent content that built brand and proof
→ Connected with the right buyers daily
→ Used content that earned trust and inbound, not vanity

Now his audience was warm, we could:

3) Convert

We:

→ Ran a Revenue Speed Run on closed-lost, no-shows and ghosted deals, then built lookalike lists
→ Installed Trust-Led Outbound with an AI sales rep trained on his tone, offer and case studies
→ Turned every like, view and comment into a chance for a real, personal DM

On top of that, I worked with him 1:1 on his sales process.

We used NEPQ to pre-handle objections in his sales cycle so closing felt easy.

When we hit 20 deals in 20 days, we gave him the keys.

Full handoff.

System installed.

Now his LinkedIn works even when he does not.

If you want the same Trust-Led Engine in your business, make sure you are attending my LinkedIn Masterclass this Friday 12th December at 11am EST! 

I'm going to be pulling back the curtain on EVERYTHING. 

(I would usually charge $14,000 for a system set up like this)

Lock in your place here (last few going here): https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

I thought LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads were “just brand.” I was wrong. They’re a sales-meeting machine if you structure them right. I spent $3,000 on ads, $1,000 on consulting, and 100 hours of study so you don’t have to. Here are 3 things we did to get our ads delivering leads in 60 days:

BACKGROUND

I sat in a café in Medellín with my father.

Me: “My LinkedIn reach is down 80%, feels like the end of the party.”

Him: “You always knew it wouldn’t last forever.”

Me: “I’m going to need an ad budget to fill the gap.”

Up to that point, I’d only dabbled with LinkedIn TLAs. Decent brand lift, but no leads. So over the last 60 days, I worked with Tom Casoo and learned a killer approach.

5 things that helped me drive meetings from TLAs

1) Having a founder-led brand helps.

Our content already hits the right eyes 300k–500k monthly reach so any spend pours gasoline on what’s circulating. Higher like counts also improve CTR and trust.

2) Tight targeting = better results.

I used to target every startup in the U.S. But our offer is specific: service business owners under $5M with a tech or service arm. Focusing on this ~2M TAM finally brought the right people in.

3) Having the right strategy.

 I stopped boosting random posts and split ads into:
 • Top + middle of funnel
 • Bottom of funnel

Every 2 weeks, I added top-performing posts to TOF/MOF and ran until we hit 1,000+ accounts reached. That became our retargeting pool. CPM was ~$30.

Then I fed that audience into BOF ads... our highest-converting client wins and framework posts. I track which posts cause Calendly bookings and spend more on those.

Pro tip: Add a direct CTA with your Calendly link or tell people to comment “GROW.” It meaningfully increased attribution.

Fitting engagements into our Atticus AI sales system.

We scrape likes, comments, and profile views, score them, and have our AI agent DM high-fit prospects with personalized context.

Adding ads multiplies your organic footprint. It’s just another way to show up in front of buyers... paid or not.

Stuck at $20K/month? I’m hosting a FREE LinkedIn Client Aquisition Masterclass on the 12th of December (usually $1,000 in consulting fees). 

I’ll show you how to build your own AI sales system to add another $50k a month using LinkedIn.

👉 Smash your revenue ceiling: https://lnkd.in/gkishZ_v

(40% gone. Don’t sleep on it.)

POV: thanksgiving after starting a business 😭 


P.S - Stay delusional, my entrepreneurial friends, and keep your cool as you eat turkey today. Happy thanksgiving!
-

Repost from @jimpapi

Every B2B founder wants to generate qualified sales calls on LinkedIn. 

But 95% have no idea where to start. Here are 5 outbound strategies that helped me generate over $125,000,000 in pipeline across 100+ companies (steal them):

1) Content-led outbound

This is where 99% of your hottest leads hide. If someone engages with your content, they already know who you are. Your cover photo acts as a sales billboard when done right.

Start conversations with this flow: 

Open-ended question > What they have tried > Curiosity gap > Pull to Zoom.

Spend 30 minutes a day on this and you will book an extra 5 to 10 calls a week.

2) Profile views and followers

Check profile views and net new followers (your followers list is arranged by who followed last) daily. When your ICP shows up, reach out and start a conversation using the same framework.

3) Messaging with intent

Cold outbound fails because it is unexpected and unwanted. Use an AI SDR to build lists based on intent events like funding rounds, job changes, new hires or key announcements.

Not all intent works for every industry. Ask what your ICP cares most about. For example, funded companies care more about ramp time than unfunded ones. Context matters.

4) The 800 open InMail hack

Every LinkedIn account has 800 extra free InMails on Sales Navigator. Tools with “open InMail campaigns” help you find these accounts fast. You can also check manually inside Sales Navigator.

5) Scaling outbound with multiple LinkedIn accounts

Get your team on Sales Navigator and use sales automation to multiply outbound across multiple open InMail licences. This loop doubles our monthly LinkedIn meetings.

Only do this once you have message market fit with at least a 20 percent response rate. Otherwise you will burn your total addressable market.
I learned all of this from running outbound for 100+ founders. 

If you want the exact AI outbound flow that books us 30 to 50 sales qualified calls a month in less than 30 minutes a day, join my free LinkedIn masterclass here: https://lnkd.in/gGNvBEfB

taplio

The Battle

Chris Orlob

Luke Shalom

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The Battle

Chris Orlob

Luke Shalom

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Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Chris Orlob's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreChris Orlob's LinkedIn Performance