sales consulting Archives - Business RadioX ®

How to Fix a Broken Sales Process with Dean Nolley

July 21, 2025 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

How to Fix a Broken Sales Process with Dean Nolley

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How to Fix a Broken Sales Process with Dean Nolley (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 886)

Many business owners know something is off in their sales, but they wait until growth stalls or declines before seeking help. By then, the problems have usually deepened. In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray sits down with Dean Nolley, founder of Sales Growth Imagination, to explore how companies can rebuild their sales process before it’s too late.

Dean shares the patterns he sees across B2B companies of all sizes: missing sales structure, underused CRMs, founder bottlenecks, and a lack of meaningful sales activity tracking. He explains why a solid sales process is not just a set of steps but a system that connects strategy, people, and technology in a way that supports long-term growth.

Dean also breaks down what makes a sales process repeatable, how to make CRM dashboards actually useful, and how to shift from reactive fixes to proactive leadership. Whether you’re doing all the selling yourself or struggling to scale a sales team, Dean offers a roadmap grounded in experience, not theory.

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 is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from this Episode

Most companies wait too long to address sales issues, often after growth has already stalled or reversed.
A missing or undocumented sales process is one of the most common and costly problems.
Founders who stay in the sales role too long become a bottleneck for growth and scalability.
Many businesses have CRMs in place but fail to use them effectively, especially for forecasting and accountability.
The right sales process connects strategy, people, and tools in a way that drives consistent results.
A repeatable sales system makes onboarding new reps faster and reduces dependency on individual talent.
Tracking lead indicators—early-stage activities—is essential for long-term revenue health.
A working CRM should reflect what matters most to owners, whether that’s gross margin, deal velocity, or pipeline strength.
Dean’s approach involves hands-on implementation, not just advice—he builds systems that last beyond his engagement.
Fixing sales is not about chasing quick wins. It’s about laying the groundwork for sustainable, confident growth.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:47 Meet Dean Nolley: Sales Growth Expert
02:48 Dean’s Journey: From Kodak to Sales Consulting
06:27 Common Sales Challenges and Solutions
11:03 The Importance of CRM and Sales Processes
19:53 Hiring and Managing Sales Teams
26:18 Success Stories and Client Testimonials
31:19 Closing Remarks and Additional Resources

Dean Nolley, Sales Growth Imagination

Dean Nolley is a senior sales leader with more than 30 years of experience driving business growth and profitability. He has an impressive record of scaling up sales teams and improving revenue for organizations of all sizes.

With his collaborative approach, Dean structures partnerships for mutual success and a shared sense of accomplishment. His experience includes corporate leadership, a Silicon Valley start-up, and multiple VC/PE-backed portfolio companies, while starting and successfully selling his own company, Digital Imagination.

Thus, Dean is walking down memory lane with supporting small businesses, as he has successfully walked the walk as a small business founder and owner. Dean has certifications in OMG (Objective Management Group), CSL (Certified Sales Leader), and AI Certified (Business Transformation, AI in the Sales Process, and AI Sales Tools).

Website | LinkedIn

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.

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

If you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 880 episodes 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 businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors — **John Ray, host of *North Fulton Business Radio* and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

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, 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.

Leadership Across Generations, with Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

October 2, 2023 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Leadership Across Generations, with Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

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North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 702)

Andy Kalajian, Founder and President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, joined host John Ray on North Fulton Business Radio to share his work in leadership and character development. Andy discussed leadership and workforce challenges businesses face today, the proportion of the workforce millennials comprise, what that proportion suggests about successful leadership, developing a personal and professional development curriculum, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, LLC is a professional education & training company that helps high commission sales professionals, small business owners, and entrepreneurs get the most out of their teams through character development, leadership training, and practical application.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

Andy Kalajian is the Founder and President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting based in Alpharetta, GA. Andy founded Fort Leadership in 2019 after a 33-year career in Medical Device Sales and Marketing Leadership; 25 of those years were with Zimmer (NYSE ZBH) formerly a division of Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE BMY).

Andy’s journey began at 9 years old when he started in Cub Scouts with his dad and his younger brother. His parents constantly reinforced the Scout lessons of Character and Integrity. Andy continued in Scouting and at the age of 16 he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At 17 his mom handed him the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Andy credits that book with igniting his passion for learning how to get along with people. From Hill, to Covey, from Peale to Ziglar and Maxwell, Andy became a voracious reader of books about Leadership, Character, Communication and Teamwork.

After 5 years working as a golf caddie, Andy was the recipient of the prestigious Evans Scholarship Award (www.wgaesf.org). This full academic and housing college scholarship is awarded in recognition of a strong work ethic as a golf caddie, and strength of character, integrity, and leadership. Andy used his scholarship to earn a B.S. in Medical Technology from Michigan State University.

In 1985, Andy loaded up his car with nothing more than his resume, a sport coat and tie, $2500, a big dream and faith that God was going to fill in the gaps. He moved to Atlanta GA in pursuit of a medical sales career where he could leverage his passion for medicine to serve people. Andy grew his medical sales business well into 7 figures by applying the leadership, character, communication, and teamwork lessons he learned from reading books and listening to thought leaders. As Andy continued to advance in his career, he was invited to speak to organizations and train teams on those lessons learned throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Andy founded Fort Leadership to continue speaking, training, and coaching individuals and teams in leadership and character development. These skills foster growth in corporate leadership, communication, and teamwork. His corporate experience and insights train leaders to develop healthy corporate cultures with team members who are motivated, engaged, and purpose-driven, resulting in increased employee retention, team performance, and revenue growth!

Andy and his wife, Sherrie, live in Alpharetta, GA and have four adult children. They are members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church (www.northpoint.org) where Andy is a small group leader in the North Point Men’s Ministry. Andy serves on the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors at Avalon (www.gnfcc.com) where he started the successful Member 2 Member Business Roundtable.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

What is your background and how did you come around to starting Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting?
How does Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting help businesses out there today?
What challenges are you hearing about in the business community?
What’s causing these business challenges?
Why is it so important for business owners today to understand the Millennials?
Can you tell us why it’s so important for Millennials to enroll in a personal and professional development curriculum?
What is the experience like to work with you and Fort Leadership?

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 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.

Since 2000, Office Angels® has been restoring joy to the life of small business owners, enabling them to focus on what they do best. At the same time, we honor and support at-home experts who wish to continue working on an as-needed basis. Not a temp firm or a placement service, Office Angels matches a business owner’s support needs with Angels who have the talent and experience necessary to handle work that is essential to creating and maintaining a successful small business. Need help with administrative tasks, bookkeeping, marketing, presentations, workshops, speaking engagements, and more? Visit us at https://officeangels.us/.

LIVE from the GNFCC Grand Opening Celebration: Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

August 30, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

LIVE from the GNFCC Grand Opening Celebration: Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting

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North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 508)

Andy Kalajian, founder of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting is deeply involved in GNFCC as a Chamber Diplomat, a Chairman’s Circle member, and several other capacities. Andy sat down with host John Ray during the GNFCC Grand Opening Celebration to talk about Fort Leadership, Andy’s approach to sales and relationships, why he’s so involved with GNFCC, and much more.

This show was originally broadcast live from the Grand Opening celebration and ribbon cutting of the new offices of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce at the 10000 Building at Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia, on August 18, 2022.

North Fulton Business Radio is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, LLC is a Professional and Personal Development company that creates healthy corporate cultures by developing the personal and professional leadership capacity of the person. Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, LLC believes that a healthy Corporate Culture benefits the business leader and the employee alike, and it enhances the customer experience.

The culture on the inside of a company is what the customer experiences on the outside of the company. That is the customer experience. But if this is true, why do so many employees feel that their corporate culture is not where it needs to be? Why do some employees describe their corporate culture as dysfunctional or even toxic? How does this dysfunction impact the customer experience? Furthermore, why do some business leaders when asked “how many employees work for you?” respond by saying, “about 1/2”!
Demographic studies indicate that in 5 years up to 75% of the employees will be millennials. That means that for a business leader to be able to attract and retain the best talent from the biggest pool of talent, the business leader must have a healthy corporate culture.

But if a healthy corporate culture is what the employer and the employee are looking for, what does a healthy corporate culture look like? How is a healthy corporate culture created? The answer is Leadership! Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting creates healthy corporate cultures through Leadership Development. Leadership development is all about Character. After all, when we talk about corporate culture, what we are really talking about is corporate character. Corporations are made up of people. And people bring their character to work. So, it only stands to reason that when a collection of people brings their collective characters to work, a corporate character or a corporate culture is created.

Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, LLC is creating healthy corporate cultures.

Company website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Andy Kalajian, Founder, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting

Andy Kalajian has been a highly sought-after public speaker for more than 25 years. He has received public acclaim for his brand, EnTheos, Latin for Spirit Within and predecessor to the word Enthusiasm. Andy enthusiastically delivers powerful talks and lessons steeped in wisdom literature and their practical application to busy lifestyles. His tagline, transformational thought in action, serves as a reminder to the participant that one can, indeed, permanently change the destiny of their life by changing the nature of their thoughts and actions.

Andy was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. As a young boy he discovered his passion for serving others in medicine and his gift for public speaking. At the age of 12, Andy, at the urging of his father, began to earn his own way as a Golf Caddy. His sense of adventure also led him, along with his father, to the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved the Rank of Eagle Scout. In High School, Andy was fed books from his mother, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

As a young professional, Andy’s Mom continued to fuel his desire for wisdom literature from authors/speakers Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Les Brown, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell. Andy applied the character traits instilled in him from the Boy Scouts and the leadership skills taught to him by John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, and others to enjoy over 30 years in an award-winning medical sales career. It was during this time that Andy was asked to speak to groups as small as 4 or 5 and as large as 500+ all over the US and Puerto Rico.

Andy is very involved in the lives of his two children, Mallory and Drew. For 12 years they were engaging in monthly adventures with the YMCA Adventure Guides program where Andy volunteered in several leadership positions including Nation Chief. Andy and his wife, Sherrie, have four adult children and are active members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s congregation at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Andy enjoys time invested with his wife Sherrie, his family, and his friends. He still has a voracious appetite for reading the wisdom literature and the biographies of the American Founders. He enjoys weightlifting, aerobics, golf, and hiking the outdoors. Andy continues to have a passion for speaking, coaching, and training others to lead a life of significance.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

How Fort Leadership got its name
Andy’s path to leadership
Andy’s sales career
How he motivates sales professionals
Andy’s involvement with GNFCC
Advice for engaging in groups like GNFCC

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.

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.

Jim Kerlin, Blackwood Impact Group

August 20, 2021 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Jim Kerlin, Blackwood Impact Group

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Jim Kerlin, Blackwood Impact Group (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 380)

Jim Kerlin with Blackwood Impact Group joined host John Ray to discuss why small and medium-sized businesses benefit from consulting, the mistakes businesses make in sales implementation, why a service mentality is vital in effective selling, and more. Jim also explained the business lessons one can take from the Alabama-Auburn rivalry. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Blackwood Impact Group

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) Consultancy Helping You Align Sales, Marketing, and Operations To Maximize Revenue Growth.

Founded in 2018, Blackwood Impact Group has one mission, to help businesses achieve success. That mission is fueled by a passion to serve, a passion to solve, and a passion to systematize.

Their entrepreneurial leaders understand the hindrances of inefficient processes, the devastating effects of poor communication, and what a lack of collaboration between departments can do to a small business.

With proven, strategic steps, Blackwood Impact Group guides organizations on the path of implementing solid procedures and resolving performance pitfalls. Blackwood helps small businesses develop processes and personnel shifts that not only drive the bottom line but further develop the purpose and the passion of the business itself.

By creating a seamless synergy between strategy and execution, they empower small business owners to take their business to a new level without the stresses of hiring an entire C-Suite. When you work with Blackwood Impact Group, you get the benefit of having a Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) on your team for a fraction of the cost.

Blackwood provides more than a plan on paper. What makes Blackwood Impact Group different is their as-needed consulting, solution-focused phases of implementation, and holistic, organization-wide results.

Blackwood Impact Group was founded on the principle of understanding the struggles in business and how to implement resolutions to those issues. Their bottom line is simple: we help businesses make the right sales and marketing decisions, improve efficiency, and increase revenue.

Company website | LinkedIn

Jim Kerlin, Sales Consultant, Blackwood Impact Group

Jim brings over 30 years of experience in sales, management, and leadership to Blackwood Impact Group in Duluth GA. Over his career, he has been an entrepreneur and worked in privately held and large corporations.

He earned a business degree from Auburn and master’s degree in marketing from The University of Alabama. He serves as adjunct faculty at Troy University where he teaches sales and marketing courses online.

He and his wife Deborah live in south Alabama and have two children and three grandchildren in Georgia.

Questions and Topics in This Interview

Why do small and medium-sized businesses benefit from consulting?
When do most business leaders realize it’s time to invest in SALES consulting?
What factors impact a salesperson’s ability to consistently achieve or exceed sales goals?
What are a few common mistakes businesses make in sales implementation?
Tell me about a success story.
Give some examples of sales offerings you typically provide.

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.

Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting

June 21, 2021 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting

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Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 365)

Andy Kalajian of Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting joined host John Ray to discuss his leadership and sales consulting practice, the one common character trait of all effective leaders, the biggest challenges leaders face today, and much more. North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, LLC

Through Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, Andy Kalajian offers Mastermind Teaching, Speaking and Executive, Individual and Team Coaching.

There is a synergy of energy, commitment, and excitement that participants bring to a mastermind group. Andy’s facilitated John C. Maxwell book study groups offer a combination of masterminding, peer brainstorming, education, accountability, and support in a group setting to sharpen business and personal skills. By bringing fresh ideas and a different perspective, Andy’s masterminds help participants achieve increased success.

As a Certified John Maxwell Coach, Trainer and Speaker, Andy offers customized presentations to fit individual or team needs and budget such as:

10-minute briefing
“Lunch and Learn”
Keynote speech for your company sponsored event
Half-day and full-day workshop/seminar
In-house corporate training
Executive and personal retreat
Partnership Summit

In individual, executive or team coaching, Andy can see what clients are going through now and what is up ahead. Coaching is foreseeing, paving the way, coming alongside a client while helping them achieve goals and overcome limiting paradigms.

Company website

Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership & Sales Consulting, LLC

Andy Kalajian has been a highly sought-after public speaker for more than 25 years. He has received public acclaim for his brand, EnTheos, Latin for Spirit Within and origin to the word Enthusiasm. Andy enthusiastically delivers powerful talks and lessons steeped in the wisdom literature and their practical application into busy lifestyles. His tagline, transformational thought in action, serves as a reminder to the participant that one can, indeed, permanently change the destiny of their life by changing the nature of their thoughts and actions.

Andy was born and raised in Detroit Michigan. As a young boy he discovered his passion for serving others in medicine and his gift for public speaking. At the age of 12, Andy, at the urging of his father, began to earn his own way as a Golf Caddy. His sense of adventure also led him, along with his father, to the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. In High School, Andy’s mother introduced him to the books Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

While a golf caddy, Andy was awarded the prestigious Evans Scholarship, a full academic and leadership scholarship, to study at Michigan State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology. In 1985, he coupled his lifelong passion for medicine and serving people with his gift of enthusiastic speaking and moved to Atlanta to begin his career in Medical Sales. As a young professional, Andy’s mom continued to fuel his desire for wisdom literature from authors/speakers Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Les Brown, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell. Andy applied the character traits instilled in him from the Boy Scouts and the leadership skills taught to him by John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, and others to enjoy over 30 years in an award-winning medical sales career. It was during this time that Andy was asked to speak to groups as small as 4 or 5 and as large as 500+ all over the US and Puerto Rico.

Andy and his wife, Sherrie, have four adult children and are active members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s congregation at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. Andy enjoys time invested with his wife Sherrie, his family, and friends.

Questions and Topics in This Interview

What is Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting?
Your tagline is Transformational Thought in Action. What does that mean?
What distinguishes you from many of the other business curriculums out there in the marketplace?
What makes a good leader?
Character development is an “Inside Out” process.
How does character development manifest itself in a business or professional environment?

Breakthrough the Growth Plateau E52

May 12, 2021 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Breakthrough the Growth Plateau E52

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Breakthrough the Growth Plateau E52

In this episode of Tycoons, tune in to hear Gary give some great advice on how to take your company to the next level. It all starts with an honest performance discussion about your goals, performance history, and applying a proactive approach using a system that brings value.

Having a process is so important to any program that aims to teach value and apply towards breaking through a growth plateau. This is what Pivotal Advisors does by handing you the keys to success: who has the best chance to win, putting in a system that works, and investing in sales leaders.

Pivotal Advisors works with small business that have plateaued and are trying to scale to the next level. Many businesses grow to a certain point through great products and services and a good core group of people who do everything. That growth can take them a long way, but at some point they start to plateau. They try several things to try to reignite growth such as hiring different people, sending their sales team to training and even changing up their compensation strategy to “motivate” people, but results of those efforts are limited.

Pivotal Advisors was founded by partners who both experienced hyper-growth in their respective careers. They learned that the things that you do to manage your sales teams at $5M and $10M are very different than at $25M, $50M or $100M. You need to be more disciplined and intentional and use systems and repeatable process in order to scale.

Pivotal Advisors helps companies not only implement those key components, but they also help the sales leader and CEO drive adoption of them so the company can grow profitably, consistently and predictably. We do this by either inserting our own consultants as Fractional Sales Leaders or by working with your existing sales leader to help them drive the needed change.

Gary Braun is a lifelong salesperson and sales leader. His first job out of college was selling copiers door to door to small businesses. From there, he moved on to working for a manufacturer to sell desktop publishing equipment. Being successful at that, he was promoted to his first sales management position and quickly learned that managing sales and selling are two different skills and there were few resources to learn how to manage performance, coach, hire, train, forecast, etc.

Next, Gary sold high end servers, storage and networking equipment to Fortune 1000 companies and learned selling to large enterprises was very different from selling to small businesses. His next venture was critical in his learning as he took a job selling for an outsourced ecommerce company.

He joined as a salesperson and the 23rd employee of the company that was doing $1M in revenue. He left 11 years later when the company was $400M in revenue and had 1,400 employees across the globe. This is where learned a lot of the concepts about how make the critical changes needed to scale. In 2008, he joined his brother/partner to found Pivotal Advisors to help small business grow.

Gary has been married to his wife, Becky, for 28 years and they have two daughters – one a sophomore in college and one a Marine based in southern CA.

Follow Pivotal Advisors on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

About the Show

Tycoons of Small Biz spotlights the true backbone of the American economy, the true tycoons of business in America… the owners, founders and CEO’s of small businesses. Join hosts, Austin L Peterson, Landon Mance and the featured tycoons LIVE every Tuesday at 1 pm, right here on Business RadioX and your favorite podcast platform.

About Your Hosts

Austin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.

He began his career in financial services in the year 2000 as a personal financial advisor with Independent Capital Management in Santa Ana, CA. Austin then joined Pacific Life Insurance Company as an internal wholesaler for their variable annuity and mutual fund products. After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.

After he completed his MBA, Austin joined Crump Life Insurance where he filled a couple of different sales roles and eventually a management role throughout the five years he was with Crump. Most recently before joining Lincoln Financial Advisors in February 2015, Austin spent 2 years as a life insurance field wholesaler with Symetra Life Insurance Company. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner Professional and Chartered Life Underwriter. In 2021, Austin became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses.

Austin and his wife of 23 years, Robin, have two children, AJ (21) and Ella (18) and they reside in Gilbert, Arizona. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in French and of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sales and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He rebranded his practice in 2020 to focus on serving small business owners after operating as Mance Wealth Management since 2015 when Landon broke off from a major bank and started his own “shop.”

Landon comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has a passion and excitement for serving the business community. This passion is what brought about the growth of Backbone Planning Partners to help business owners and their families. At Backbone Planning, we believe small business owners’ personal and business goals are intertwined, so we work with our clients to design a financial plan to support all aspects of their lives.

In 2019, Landon obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation through the Exit Planning Institute. With this certification, Backbone Planning Partners assists business owners through an ownership transition while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees and meeting the business owner’s goals. Landon is also a member of the Business Intelligence Institute (BII) which is a collaborative group that shares tools, resources and personnel, and offers advanced level training and technical support to specifically serve business owners. In 2021, Landon became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses by counseling owners about exit options, estimating the value of the business, preparing the business for exit and tax considerations.

Landon enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, stepson, and new baby twins. He grew up in sunny San Diego and loves visiting his family, playing a round of golf with friends, and many other outdoor activities. Landon tries to make a difference in the lives of children in Las Vegas as a part of the leadership team for a local non-profit. He regularly visits the children that we work with to remind himself of why it’s so important to, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.

Austin Peterson and Landon Mance are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (member SIPC) and registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. Backbone Financial and Your Future Planning Partners are marketing names for registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors

CRN-3557507-042021

Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and its representatives do not provide legal or tax advice. You may want to consult a legal or tax advisor regarding any legal or tax information as it relates to your personal circumstances.

The content presented is for informational and educational purposes. The information covered and posted are views and opinions of the guests and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Business RadioX® is a separate entity not affiliated with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

MARKETING MATTERS WITH RYAN SAUERS: Michelle Sutter with World Insurance Association Consulting Group and Rick Sutter with The Agents’ Marketing Group

January 28, 2021 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio

MARKETING MATTERS WITH RYAN SAUERS: Michelle Sutter with World Insurance Association Consulting Group and Rick Sutter with The Agents' Marketing Group

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Jane Bishop, Rick Sutter, Michelle Sutter, Ryan Sauers

Michelle Sutter/World Insurance Association Consulting Group

World Insurance Association Consulting Group is an insurance agency staffed with brokers and consultants. They help you select, manage and navigate the vast array of choices that exist in the world of insurance. But even more important than that, they want to make meaningful connections with the people they partner with.

So, rather than discuss awards or accolades, their years of marketing experience or state-of-the-art office space, they want to show you how partnering with a strategic agency will build the foundation for your business that allows you to focus on your core business needs.

Rick Sutter/The Agents’ Marketing Group

The Agents’ Marketing Group takes pride in serving you with the highest quality of care. From running quotes and assisting in underwriting to crafting business growth strategies, their aim is to be the partner in charge of your success. Over the years, they’ve taught agents the art of selling life insurance, designed marketing collateral for offices, fostered relationships between agents and institutional partners, and worked on countless business plans with producers.

They’re independent, just like you, so their goal is to find the best solution for your clients no matter where it comes from. Let them show you how to take your practice to the next level. Join one of their events or call their Regional Sales Directors for more information about the resources they have to help you succeed. Success is in your future. Let the Agents’ Marketing Group be a part of getting you there.

Ryan Sauers/President of Sauers Consulting Strategies

Ryan T. Sauers has spent 25 years leading and/or consulting with visual communications and marketing related organizations. Ryan is President/Owner of the consulting firm, Sauers Consulting Strategies; Our Town Gwinnett Magazine (2 monthly magazines); and its parent company End Resultz Media.

Key areas of focus of the consulting firm include: sales training, marketing strategy, personal branding, leadership development, and organizational change.

Sauers is a frequent national speaker and columnist. He has been recognized as one of the top 80 CMO’s in the world and achieved the top designation of Certified Marketing Executive through Sales and Marketing Executives International.

Sauers is an adjunct university professor teaching leadership, marketing, and communication courses to current and aspiring leaders. Ryan is a Certified Myers Briggs, DiSC, and Emotional Intelligence Practitioner.

Ryan is working on his Doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership and is host of the radio show Marketing Matters. Sauers is author of the best-selling books Everyone is in Sales and Would You Buy from You? More info at: RyanSauers.com or OurTownGwinnett.com.

Show Overview

Marketing Matters with Ryan Sauers is a radio show presented the Gwinnett Woman’s Small Business Collective. The show discusses topics as they relate to marketing, communications, sales, customer service, leadership and more. Host Ryan Sauers, a best-selling author and national speaker, discusses how these topics play a role in every aspect of our lives. Each episode shares tangible nuggets of information that listeners can easily understand and apply to their everyday life, whether personal or business. The show challenges listeners’ current state of thinking so they can grow to new heights and see new opportunities in business or life: which is rapidly changing, multi-generational, and noisy in nature.

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.