I started my career on the phones. I logged 75,000 cold calls before I ever moved into leadership.

The lesson that followed me out of that cubicle was simple: Volume creates activity. It doesn’t create influence.

For 15 years across Revenue.io, Inside Real Estate, and BoomTown, I watched the same pattern play out. We optimized for coverage. We treated "The Account" like a single entity. But buyers punished us for sounding like everyone else.

The market has shifted. You can no longer spam your way to a number.Real buying decisions happen in a messy group.

• The CFO feels the problem in budget bleed.
• The Ops lead feels it in the workaround eating their Tuesday.
• The VP feels it when the board asks why the number is off.

If you treat them all the same, you lose.

My work sits where Sales Development, Ops, and Enablement meet. I build systems that stop reps from guessing and start helping them shape consensus.

That is why I am at Influ2.

It is the first time I’ve seen a way to shape the narrative for the specific humans inside a buying group, before the cold call even happens. We don't wait for demand; we build the context that creates it.

The results of shifting from "spray" to "shape":

• 376% pipeline per rep growth
• 55% of new ARR from signal-based outbound
• 48% faster ramp

Based in Charleston, SC. Toddler mom x2. Terrible at unmuting on Zoom. Great at destroying waste ($, effort, time). 

Curious how contact-level signals can help your ABM motion? Happy to share what we're seeing! 

💌m.bross@influ2.com

Maria Bross

📣 It’s official: you can now find me at Influ2!

The exact problem I’ve been duct-taping solutions for over 15 years finally has a real home.

Our CRM said “Meta has engaged.”
Our reps: Sweet...what do I do with this?

The "signal" never told me or my team who to call.
What the human who engaged actually cared about.
And why us contacting was relevant to them.

So we compensated....

I rebuilt outbound plays.
I rewrote MQL criteria with marketing.
I built signal-based sequences that drove 376% more pipeline per rep.
I built 19 sequences that sourced 55% of new ARR.
I built a custom GPT because “engaged” didn’t mean “ready,” and reps were wasting good leads.

It worked.

But it required constant stitching across Salesforce, Outreach, intent tools, call data, and enablement. And burnt me out. 

And the core mismatch stayed the same:

We organized around accounts.
Buyers made decisions as individuals.
Most research happened before we were invited in.
Most of it never showed up as a click.

If we waited for visible intent, we were ghosted. 

Influ2 works at the level the decision actually happens...the human level. 

You can see which named individual was exposed to what.
You can see influence even if they never filled out a form.
You can see buying-group coverage, not just logo activity.

That matters because I care about two things as an enablement leader:
Reps walking into conversations prepared.
Buyers feeling understood instead of chased.

The culture sealed it.

In interviews, I pushed back directly on a few assumptions. I’ve learned that not every company actually wants that. S/O den kozlov 🇺🇦 for being the real deal - seeing this as a feature not a bug. 

💓 Katie Penner for making the intro and supporting me throughout. 

🤍 Hamish Stephenson 🦘for taking my call in the uber ride to meet my future leader. 

Sean Frazer for teaching me so much in such a short amount of time. ("Girl dad" energy meets AI business acumen.) 

If you’ve ever rebuilt your outbound motion because “account engagement” wasn’t enough, we should talk.

My DMs are open.

PS: Olympic Ice Technician, Mark Keown is my supporting role inspo in this new chapter (Making the sheet perfect for GTM teams with a "little rizz and a little style") 😂

Influ2 Enablement + RevOps | Destroyer of GTM waste| Toddler mom x2

"Employee Appreciation Day" got me thinking.

Past roles? Might as well have been National Grilled Cheese Day.

Pre-Influ2, I'd either miss it or spot some sappy LinkedIn post about it. 

(Like this one.) 

But a month in at Influ2? Different story.

Katie Penner (VP) is proactively Slacking me + Carlie Vollert for ideas on appreciating our SDR team.

Unreal.

Not because SDRs don't deserve it - they 10000% do.

But this level of intention by a leader to see the humans keeping lights on? 

Rare as hell.

Okay, now to the real MVPs of this post. 

Influ2 SDRs, I See You. 

You're: 
✅ asking for feedback
✅ roleplaying with zero ego
✅ testing out new approaches in live calls 
✅ building on your already impressive knowledge 

Wins/Rejection, y'all come back every day with professionalism, a growth-mindset and positivity. 

 I have so much respect for what you all do because it's flipping tough. But the ROI? Bigger than a commission check. 

The skills you build subtly trickle into real life: 

- Negotiating with your toddler at bed time
- Making a spouse sharing a concern feel heard 
- Prepping for an interview in a completely different industry and role 
- Working backwards from running a marathon 

 I'm pumped to be your teammate, a coach and appreciate each of you!

PS: Marketing/ABM leaders: If you're at all focused on influencing real *full cycle* revenue, efficiency metrics... and proving it at the named contact level. 
We should talk precision. (and possibly get my team a win today!)

Bout to hit the phones and fingers crossed land this group some meetings toward March target. 

Expecting to eat giant slice of humble pie 👀 . Wish me luck. 

Haven't cold called in ~6 months... what's the biggest change I should expect?

Most deals I've lost came down to one mistake: 

single-threading.

You find one champion. Hand them the pitch. Cross your fingers they'll sell it internally.  

(Greener reps do this all the time.)

Marketing tries to fix it in the opposite way...

Overnights Yeti tumblers to the entire building because the *account* "showed intent."  

Turns out, just an intern checking where their Bumble date worked.  

Only revenue Marketing can prove they influenced? Yeti's 

Sales takes unnecessary risk.  
Marketing burns budget across an account. 

Neither one matches how real buying groups make decisions.  

It's never one person.  
It's six, eight, sometimes ten.  
Some are deep in the research.  
Some are focused on risk, budget, or technical fit.  
One has final approval.  

Problem is that opinions start forming long before you ever join the conversation...

Group threads. Hallway chats. Shared docs.  

By the time your champion brings you in, half the group has already decided. 

That's when deals are lost.  
Not because your champion failed.  
But because no one else ever heard of you until it was too late.  

Doug Madey and Ed VanderBush from LiveRamp are unpacking this at #B2BMX next week:  

"Orchestrate Your ABM Around the Main Characters, Not the Extras."

March 9th  2:30 PM.  

I won't be there, but I'm living this every day.  

Happy to share my notes on what our brilliant customers (like Ed) are building 💪

Who will be in town?? Katie Penner is hosting what looks like the most fun happy hour in walking distance

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

John Barrows

Elevating The People & Profession of Sales

I have been in sales for over 25 years. I have made 400 cold calls a week, led a startup to acquisition, and trained some of the best-performing teams at Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales I teach practical sales execution rooted in real-world experience.

My work focuses on performance. I deliver live workshops, on-demand training, and coaching to help reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build buyer trust. I created Filling the Funnel and Driving to Close for reps and managers who want systems that convert.

I work with SaaS companies, agencies, and professional services teams that want to scale ethically and efficiently. My podcast Make It Happen Mondays has over 100,000 listeners and brings weekly strategy and tactics for sales pros looking to level up fast.

I speak on stage, coach in the trenches, and push for better execution across the board. Topics I cover include outbound frameworks, sales leadership, pipeline velocity, and GTM enablement in an AI-driven environment. I also share openly about mindset, mental health, and managing pressure in this career.

I live in Boston but work globally. I am here to raise the bar for sales and help professionals build careers they are proud of. If that mission speaks to you, let's connect.

My "Why" is to elevate the people and profession of Sales by sharing my earned experience with anyone willing to put in the work so they can achieve whatever level of freedom and success they want in life.

I've delivered my two Signature training programs (Filling the Funnel and Driving to Close) to thousands of Sales professionals at some of the fastest growing companies in the world like Salesforce, Linkedin, Amazon, Okta, Salesloft and many others. 

My membership provides individuals and teams with live monthly training (delivered by me) along with workshops, AMAs and an OnDemand library filled with actionable tips.

None of us have all the answers and things are moving too fast right now for any of us to try and figure it all out on our own.  We need to get back to fundamentals while learning how to evolve and where to add value in this new world of AI. 

If you're willing to put in the work and want to elevate yourself, along with this profession, come join me on this ride.

I’m excited to share that I’m partnering with Apollo.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I don’t sit still.

Sales is evolving fast. AI is evolving faster. And I make it a priority to constantly test new platforms, workflows, and tools so I can see what actually works in the field.

I don’t partner with companies because they’re popular.

I partner with companies when I see real impact on execution.

Here’s why Apollo earned that spot:

• It connects data, sequencing, dialing, and enrichment in one workflow
• It reduces tool sprawl and simplifies the prospecting stack
• It drives daily activity instead of adding complexity
• It’s powerful enough for growth teams and practical enough for early-stage orgs
 • Reps actually use it

That last one matters most.

The best tech in the world fails if adoption fails.

What also stood out to me is how Apollo is approaching AI.

They’re not slapping AI onto random features and calling it innovation.

They’re integrating it across the workflow.

From their AI Assistant to the new connector with Claude announced yesterday, the focus is clear. AI is being built into the execution layer.

Not to replace reps.

To accelerate them.

That’s the difference.

Technology should reinforce fundamentals like clear ICP, strong messaging. and consistent activity.

AI should make you more effective at those things. Not distract you from them.

When humans stay in control and AI becomes the accelerator, that’s where real leverage happens.

I’ll be using Apollo in my own prospecting and sharing what I learn along the way.

If you’re evaluating your stack and want something that simplifies the execution layer while building AI in the right way, it’s worth a look.

If you sign up for a paid plan with this link you'll get 2500 bonus credits: https://lnkd.in/eEHtj8Cw

What's the biggest bottleneck you have in your outbound process?

Sales Trainer & Coach | Building Sales Skills & Sales Process | Sales Training Courses & Programs That Deliver

Open article: Apollo Sign Up | Free B2B Sales Intelligence Platform | Apollo.io by get.apollo.io

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Maria Bross

John Barrows

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The Battle

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