outsourced fractional sales Archives

Unlocking Sales Success with Sean Shannon, Strategic Growth Design

March 3, 2025 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Unlocking Sales Success with Sean Shannon, Strategic Growth Design

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Unlocking Sales Success with Sean Shannon, Strategic Growth Design (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 847)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray interviews Sean Shannon, a fractional chief sales officer and sales expert from Strategic Growth Design. Sean shares his experience and strategies on effectively managing sales teams, establishing documented sales processes, and aligning sales and marketing efforts. He emphasizes the importance of having individual sales quotas, understanding client mixes, and creating sustainable processes. Sean also discusses the complexities of sales compensation plans, the significance of courage and emotional resilience in sales roles, and the intricacies involved in complex sales. With practical anecdotes and actionable insights, Sean provides valuable guidance for business owners looking to enhance their revenue and sales performance.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Sean Shannon, Strategic Growth Design

Sean Shannon loves sales. For the past three decades, he has been leading market-making sales teams in one of the most challenging industries, local broadcasting.

Sean’s teams worked with hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses to create winning sales and marketing campaigns that generated award-winning results. Sean has worked in sales and operations leadership at iHeart, Audacy and Cumulus Media, rising through the ranks as an innovator and thought leader.

As a Senior Vice President of Sales, Sean blazed a trail in training sales leaders and salespeople on the value of diagnosing sales and marketing problems before offering solutions. This approach led to marketing leading returns on advertising investment for the clients. As a Market President, Sean built market-leading brands like Q99.7 and 99x in Atlanta by focusing on the people behind those brands, the culture that underpinned them, and a structure that was responsive to the changing tides in a challenged industry.

Sean is now bringing those three decades of experience in building winning sales teams and winning brands to small and medium-sized businesses in Atlanta. Not simply through consulting, but through a roll your sleeves and up do it approach guided by the wisdom he’s earned in both his successes and, more importantly, in his less than optimal learning experiences (Sean doesn’t believe there’s such a thing as failure if there is learning that is applied the next time around).

Website | LinkedIn | Substack

Topics Discussed in this Interview

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
01:52 Meet Sean Shannon: Sales Expert
02:57 Sean’s Sales Journey
05:54 Challenges in Sales Management
08:30 Ideal Client Profile and Value Proposition
19:49 Complex Sales and Salesperson Traits
24:30 Compensation Plans and Sales Success
29:59 Sean’s Success Stories
33:28 Conclusion and Contact Information

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way to better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 850 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their market, community, and profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

**John Ray, North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Ryan Leo, Big Fish Technology, and Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors and Momentum CPG

April 19, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Studio

Ryan Leo, Big Fish Technology, and Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors and Momentum CPG

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Ryan Leo, Big Fish Technology, and Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors and Momentum CPG (ProfitSense with Bill McDermott, Episode 31)

Ryan Leo, Partner at Big Fish Technology, and Scott Siegel, Founder of Beacon Sales Advisors and Momentum CPG, joined host Bill McDermott on this episode of ProfitSense with Bill McDermott. Ryan discussed managed service providers, how they came about, how to know when you need one, and the background beyond the Big Fish Technology name. Scott discussed his deep experience in sales, how Beacon equips companies to stay competitive through being efficient and effective, creating a roadmap to success, what that success looks like, and much more.

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton Studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Big Fish Technology

Big Fish provides day-to-day Technology and IT support for businesses from keyboard to cloud. Troubleshooting, procurement and installation of solutions, consulting, and next-level thinking to help businesses make technology work for them.

Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook

Ryan Leo, Partner, Big Fish Technology

If Technology is understood, set up properly, and documented well, it can make life in business (and at home) easier, more efficient, even relaxing. Ryan loves to teach and inform. Helping his clients understand how technology works and how to use it is very satisfying to him. Resolving a problem is one thing, but if he can teach someone how the problem occurred and steps to keep the issue from happening – he’s just taught that person to fish. DIY is great – at home! When this is done in a business place, it often ends or limps along in chaos.

Ryan enjoys creating a project plan, setting the right resources in place, and ensuring that technology is setup right and working correctly. Stop doing it yourself, you’ll just end up spending more money in the long term! In all of Ryan’s years of working with technology, one thing that stands out as a bane in the eyes of his peers is that of documentation. For some reason, fellow geeks hate to document. Maybe it’s because Ryan’s education was completely essay-based or because he loves to dumb things down; he just doesn’t suffer from this problem. Ryan’s technical writing at NASA has continued to develop in parallel to his technical experience as time has elapsed. Ryan has an innate ability to take technical procedure and put it into written and illustrated material that makes sense – and he doesn’t mind doing it 🙂

Ryan’s company is Big Fish Technology and they understand how businesses work – which is just as important as technical skill. Ryan could be overflowing with technical skill, but if he cannot understand how a business works, especially before he tries to implement technology, he’ll fail. It is the ability to first understand businesses and sit on the business side of the table that makes Big Fish valuable. They have the technical expertise and understand the importance of your business. Specialties: Business Development, Project Management, Technical Writing, Report Development, Networking, System Administration.

Beacon Sales Advisors and Momentum CPG

Beacon Sales Advisors and MomentumCPG are committed to helping Business Owners overcome the barriers that keep them from achieving sales success.

Company website | LinkedIn

Scott Siegel, Founder, Beacon Sales Advisors and Co-Founder, MomentumCPG

Scott Siegel is the founder of Beacon Sales Advisors and Co-Founder of MomentumCPG. He is an Outsourced/Fractional Chief Revenue Officer, who focuses on helping small and mid-size companies optimize their sales strategy, process, and execution. Scott helps companies with hiring and developing the sales force, transforming the companies’ sales culture, implementing new sales processes, and instilling best practices. He focuses on both the strategic and the tactical levels.

About ProfitSense and Your Host, Bill McDermott

ProfitSense with Bill McDermott dives into the stories behind some of Atlanta’s successful businesses and business owners and the professionals that advise them. This show helps local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. The show is presented by McDermott Financial Solutions. McDermott Financial helps business owners improve cash flow and profitability, find financing, break through barriers to expansion, and financially prepare to exit their business. The show archive can be found at profitsenseradio.com.

Bill McDermott is the Founder and CEO of McDermott Financial Solutions. When business owners want to increase their profitability, they don’t have the expertise to know where to start or what to do. Bill leverages his knowledge and relationships from 32 years as a banker to identify the hurdles getting in the way and create a plan to deliver profitability they never thought possible.

Bill currently serves as Treasurer for the Atlanta Executive Forum and has held previous positions as a board member for the Kennesaw State University Entrepreneurship Center and Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity and Treasurer for CEO NetWeavers. Bill is a graduate of Wake Forest University and he and his wife, Martha have called Atlanta home for over 40 years. Outside of work, Bill enjoys golf, traveling, and gardening.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn and Twitter and follow McDermott Financial Solutions on LinkedIn.

Todd Callen, AcSellerate Sales Advisors

December 21, 2021 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Todd Callen, AcSellerate Sales Advisors

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Todd Callen, AcSellerate Sales Advisors (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 425)

Todd Callen, President of AcSellerate Sales Advisors, changes business owners’ lives by building them the best sales teams. His work doesn’t just improve sales, but ultimately relieves business owner stress. He and host John Ray discussed the new remote sales dynamic brought on by the pandemic, how business owners are struggling to adjust, the impact of the labor shortage, and much more. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

AcSellerate Sales Advisors

AcSellerate Sales Advisors is focused on helping companies achieve consistent sales growth through the improvement of all aspects of a sales organization.

They help companies achieve sales targets across a range of industries by building successful sales plans, building a disciplined sales approach, and aligning sales teams. AcSellerate Sales Advisors takes a proven results-oriented strategic and tactical approach to turn underperforming sales teams into revenue-producing market leaders. Their focus is on people, process, systems, and messaging to achieve maximum results.

Many businesses struggle to grow their sales. Sales Xceleration provides business owners with an experienced Sales Consultant to drive sales growth when you need it most.

As your local Advisor utilizing the Sales Xceleration platform, Todd helps clients build a sales engine and create record-breaking growth for their business.

Company Website | LinkedIn

Todd Callen, President, AcSellerate Sales Advisors

Todd Callen’s passion is helping business owners rapidly grow their sales. He is President of AcSellerate Sales Advisors and works with small and mid-sized businesses as a Fractional CRO/VP of Sales.

Todd has over 25 years of Sales and Revenue leadership experience, working with small to mid-size companies to aggressively grow the sales and revenue engine to achieve hypergrowth. He views sales as a blend of the quantitative (the sales numbers, the forecast, the pipeline, the close rates) and the qualitative (how “effective” is our positioning, value proposition, ability to convey and persuade).

Todd lives in Roswell, GA with his wife Kelly, and his two children Dillon and Presley.

Questions and Topics Discussed in this Episode

How has COVID and the pandemic changed the way businesses interact?
How has this changed the dynamic of the sales function and how salespeople interact with customers and prospects?
So how can sales teams adjust to this new remote dynamic?
What should sales teams be focused on?
Does more virtual selling and managing create challenges for business owners as it relates to managing and tracking their sales teams?
Have you seen the labor and talent shortage impact the sales function in companies, and what can business owners do about it?
If the world has shifted, what should business owners be thinking about as it relates to growing their sales going forward?
Many business owners know their business and industry but struggle with managing other functions of their business, such as sales. What message do you have for these business owners?
What exactly does a “Fractional Sales VP” do and why is it valuable given everything we just discussed?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray, and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.

Meg Levene and Scott Siegel, MomentumCPG

January 14, 2021 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Meg Levene and Scott Siegel, MomentumCPG

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Meg Levene and Scott Siegel, MomentumCPG (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 321)

Sometimes emerging and even high-growth consumer packaged goods companies have product lines with lackluster sales. That’s where MomentumCPG comes in. MomentumCPG Founding Partners Meg Levene and Scott Siegel join host John Ray to discuss reasons why this occurs for even the best companies, and the experience and strategies they bring to the table to jumpstart sales. “North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Meg Levene and Scott Siegel, Founding Partners, MomentumCPG

Meg Levene and Scott Siegel are two of the four founding partners of MomentumCPG. The other two are Tim Byrd and Chris Cocca. MomentumCPG creates momentum for CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) companies to reach next level sales.

They are Outsourced/Fractional Vice Presidents of Sales working with emerging and high-growth CPG companies. They help companies that are struggling to scale or grow in a competitive environment.

With over 120 years of sales and leadership experience, managing every channel, retailer, market, and category—they have worked with both the industry’s largest companies and small emerging brands.

Working with the leadership and sales teams, they create expansion strategies, new growth opportunities, and capabilities that focus on strategy, process, people, and partnerships.

Providing trusted leadership and industry experience, they help companies work smarter by developing a customized strategy and plan that will position companies to own their future.

To learn more please contact:

Meg Levine – 215-450-8612 or meg@momentumcpg.com
Scott Siegel – 978-881-4069 or scott@momentumcpg.com

Company website

Meg Levene

Meg spent her 25+ year career as a passionate sales leader and business builder in the consumer products industry. As an executive at P&G, Nielsen, Gillette, and J&J, she leveraged consumer and business insights to launch and build brands like Mach3, Tylenol, and Listerine worldwide. She led sales teams from 5 people to 500 people in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Meg also managed significant channels, including Food, Drug, Mass, and Club, and strategic customers, including Costco, Target, Meijer, CVS, and Ahold. In 2012, she joined Advantage Sales and Marketing, the largest outsourced sales agency in the U.S. where she helped over 100+ clients achieve double-digit growth. In 2019, Meg became a Certified Sales Consultant with Sales Xceleration, the pioneer in outsourced sales leadership.

Meg brings the experience of a Fortune 50 leader with the passion and resourcefulness of an entrepreneur. Today, she is focused on working alongside entrepreneurs to help scale the next generation of differentiated and high growth CPG businesses. When I am not helping my clients achieve breakthrough sales growth; she enjoys spending time with her husband and three teenagers, exploring the world from Salmon fishing in Alaska to Surf Camp in Costa Rica. These days, she spends my free time on my Peloton, cycling the hills and valleys of Vermont, and, when winter comes skiing the steeps.

Scott Siegel

Scott Siegel, MomentumCPG

Scott is a successful consumer products leader with broad experience that spans Fortune 500 to developing smaller brands and working with private equity backed small and mid-size organizations. As an executive at PepsiCo, Welch’s, and Keurig Green Mountain he leveraged his cross-functional experience to bring innovative solutions to brands, customers and building sales teams. Today, he is working with emerging brands creating winning sales strategies, sustainable sales processes, building teams and selling capabilities that allows entrepreneurs, owners, and leaders to focus on what they love most about their business.

Scott began his career as a Route Salesman for Frito-Lay. With 30+ years of progressive experience, he has held roles in national sales, field sales, operations, marketing, broker leadership, distributor management, DSD, omni-channel, and corporate strategy. He has proven success across a diverse set of organizations, channels, customers, categories and selling models with revenue responsibility from $5M to $3B.

Scott is a results-oriented, high integrity, creative and authentic leader who is passionate about driving growth, building teams, developing talent, engaging customers, and focusing on the fundamentals. His collaborative leadership style builds and strengthens internal and external partnerships to achieve long term growth and profitability.

Scott is involved in the community serving on the Education Committee for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, the Event Committee for XPX (Exit Planners) and as a Pitch Coach for TiE Atlanta.

He received a B.S. in Marketing from West Virginia Wesleyan and an M.B.A. from the University of New Haven. He is a former college soccer athlete, as the goalie for a nationally ranked team. He is an avid reader, and Yankee and Patriots fan. He enjoys spending time with his wife and four grown children.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

Why did you start MomentumCPG?
When would a company need someone like you?
Who are your clients?
Can you tell me what services you provide to your clients?
What are some common mistakes you see clients making?
How do you engage a Buyer virtually?
What should you do if a Buyer won’t talk to you?

North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Should Your Business Hire a Fractional VP of Sales?, with Greg Harper, SYNCHROSIS Strategic Sales Consulting

November 11, 2020 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Should Your Business Hire a Fractional VP of Sales?, with Greg Harper, SYNCHROSIS Strategic Sales Consulting

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Should Your Business Hire a Fractional VP of Sales?, with Greg Harper, SYNCHROSIS Strategic Sales Consulting (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 307)

Greg Harper acts as a fractional VP of Sales for a variety of companies through his consulting firm, SYNCHROSIS Strategic Sales Consulting. Greg joins host John Ray to explain the role of a fractional VP of Sales and when a business might need to hire one. “North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Greg Harper, Managing Partner, SYNCHROSIS Strategic Sales Consulting

Greg Harper is the Founder of Synchrosis, a company that helps small to midsize businesses build a path to greater sales while helping business owners rediscover the joy of entrepreneurship once again. With over 30 years in sales and sales management Greg has learned that it is not always the newest strategy, buzz word, or book that leads to repeatable sales growth. Successful businesses execute the fundamentals with excellence and having the right sales process built around these fundamentals is crucial now more than ever. rather knows that without a strong foundation understands that building a sales organization.

Company website

Questions/Topics Discussed in this Show

Greg, obviously 2020 has been a challenge for many businesses but has Sales Xceleration seen some concerning trends this year that business owners need to be planning for?
What is a fractional or outsourced VP of Sales?
So, you are a sales consultant?
With a successful career in sales management, why did you decide to make this change?
Why would a company consider using an Outsourced VP of Sales?
What is the typical size of companies where an OSVP makes sense?
So, if I am an owner of a small business what would be good indicators that I might need to consider an OSVP?
How does an Outsourced VP of Sales work?
Are your OVSP services targeted at specific industries?
Is OVSP the only way you can help small businesses?
What are the next steps if someone is interested in learning more about OSVP?

North Fulton Business Radio” is hosted by John Ray and produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show can be found on all the major podcast apps by searching “North Fulton Business Radio.”

Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors

November 26, 2019 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors

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North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 178: Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors

Outsourced, fractional sales and sales management is discussed on this edition of “North Fulton Business Radio” as Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors, joined the show. “North Fulton Business Radio” is hosted by John Ray and is broadcast from inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Scott Siegel, Beacon Sales Advisors

Scott Siegel is the founder of Beacon Sales Advisors. He is an outsourced, fractional Vice President of Sales, who focuses on helping small and mid-size companies optimize their sales strategy, process, and execution. Scott helps companies with hiring and developing the sales force, transforming company sales culture, implementing new sales processes and procedures, and instilling best practices. He focuses not only at the strategic level but also at the tactical level; all to help companies achieve record-breaking sales.

Scott earned his bachelor’s from West Virginia Wesleyan and an MBA from the University of New Haven. He started his career with Frito-Lay and worked for Welch’s, Keurig Green Mountain and good2grow leading sales organizations ranging from $25 million to $3 billion. Scott’s held broad cross-functional leadership roles in national sales, field sales, operations, marketing and corporate strategy.

To learn more, go to the Beacon Sales Advisors website, email Scott, or call directly: 978-881-4069.

North Fulton Business Radio” is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX®, located inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with approximately $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.