Building Your Sales Engine
A show where Mark McGraw, a top Sandler Sales Trainer and David H. Sandler award winner, interviews salespeople and sales managers to discover their successes and how they got to be the people they are today.
We break down the elements of selling success and share mindsets, habits and techniques that help salespeople and managers build a proven, reliable, transferable system for sales.
All Episodes
Inversion Thinking: How to Fail Before You Fail
Inversion thinking helps sales professionals anticipate failure before it happens, creating prevention rules that guarantee goal achievement. What if the secret to hitting your sales goals was visualizing failure instead of success? In this episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford explore inversion thinking, a powerful three-step framework that flips traditional goal-setting on its head. Instead of imagining success, you imagine failing at your goal and work backward to identify what went wrong. The process is simple but transformative: First, set your goal. Second, imagine it is the end of the year and you have failed. Third, create prevention rules that eliminate those failure points before they happen. This pre-mortem approach leverages our natural tendency toward negative thinking and turns it into a strategic advantage. Mark and Josh dive into practical applications, from shortening sales cycles to building prospecting habits. You will learn how to "pre-decide" your actions to remove willpower from the equation and why public accountability can leverage your need for approval to keep you on track. As the Sandler rule states, you have to learn to fail to win, and this episode shows you how to fail before you fail. About Josh Pitchford Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology. 🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/ Host Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine In This Episode The three-step inversion thinking framework for goal achievement Why imagining failure works better than visualizing success How to conduct a pre-mortem before things go wrong The concept of pre-deciding to eliminate willpower in the moment Creating non-negotiable prevention rules Common reasons salespeople fail to hit goals: not prospecting enough, extended sales cycles Getting to the ultimate decision maker to shorten sales cycles Finding the buyer's compelling event instead of relying on your own Why humans are wired for negative thinking and how to leverage it The importance of clear next steps in every sales conversation Bulletproofing your deals to mitigate risk Public accountability and leveraging need for approval Bringing future pain into the present moment to drive action Never let how you feel determine how you act Building rumble strips as guardrails toward your goals Links Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/ Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/
The Six-Point Sales Checklist: Start Your Year Strong w/ Josh Pitchford
<p>Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford reveal the six essential checkpoints every seller needs to crush their goals and start the new year with confidence.</p> <p>Are you ready to hit the ground running in the new year? In this milestone 50th episode, Mark McGraw and Josh Pitchford break down the six critical areas every sales professional must address to start strong and finish stronger.</p> <p>From setting stretch goals you'll only achieve 25% of the time (yes, really) to building your "cookbook" of controllable behaviors, Mark and Josh share the exact framework they use with clients to transform overwhelming annual quotas into manageable, motivating action plans. You'll learn about the KARE model for account segmentation, why your personal goals drive your professional success, and how to identify and crush the self-limiting beliefs holding you back.</p> <p>Whether you're a sales leader preparing your team or an individual contributor mapping out your year, this checklist will help you move from daunting quotas to confident execution. Plus, hear Mark's "star salesman" story and why that's not the compliment you think it is.</p> <p><strong>About Josh Pitchford:</strong> Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology.<br> 🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/</a></p> <p><strong>Host:</strong> Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine</p> <p><strong>In This Episode:</strong></p> <ul> <li>The six-point checklist for starting your sales year strong</li> <li>Why written goals beat goals "in your brain"</li> <li>David Sandler's counterintuitive advice: set goals you'll only hit 25% of the time</li> <li>How to create a quarterly revenue map to make quotas manageable</li> <li>The "cookbook" concept: your recipe for consistent sales success</li> <li>Why personal goals drive professional motivation</li> <li>The KARE model (Keep, Attain, Recapture, Expand) for account segmentation</li> <li>Territory zoning and why being a "star salesman" isn't a compliment</li> <li>Using AI tools like ChatGPT to optimize your territory routes</li> <li>Building strategic plans for your top 10 accounts</li> <li>The three-by-three framework: going wider, higher, and deeper in accounts</li> <li>Skill development priorities for the coming year (including AI)</li> <li>The belief wheel: how beliefs drive actions and results</li> <li>Identifying and crushing self-limiting beliefs</li> <li>Why referral asks belong in every seller's cookbook</li> <li>"It's not how you feel that determines how you act, it's how you act that determines how you feel"</li> </ul> <p><strong>Links:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Sandler Training: <a href="https://www.Sandler.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.Sandler.com</a></li> <li>Episode Page: <a href="https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/</a></li> <li>Show Links: <a href="https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine" rel="nofollow">https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine</a></li> <li>Josh Pitchford LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/</a></li> </ul>
Stop Failing at Goals: The REACH Method w/ Dustin Schadt
A proven 5-step framework for setting and achieving goals—from removing clutter to celebrating success along the way. Most people fail at goals because they start without a foundation. Dustin Schadt has developed the REACH method—a framework that helped him mentor 18 people, with 16 earning promotions, raises, or recognition as top performers. As a sales leader with 27 years in packaging, Dustin breaks down the REACH framework: Realize greatness and remove clutter, Evaluate your mission and execute your plan, Account for your time and acknowledge failures, Celebrate successes and challenge yourself, and Hone your skills while helping others. You'll learn why physical clutter creates mental clutter, how to use incremental goals, and why helping others achieve their goals makes you better at achieving yours. About Dustin Schadt: Dustin Schadt is a sales leader with 27 years of experience in the packaging industry. He's passionate about mentoring and helping people succeed—considering himself a "dream manager" who helps team members set ambitious goals and achieve the next level of success. Of the 18 people Dustin has mentored, 16 have been promoted, received above-average raises, or been recognized as top performers. 🔗 Dustin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-schadt-3213794/ Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine In This Episode: The REACH framework: 5 steps for achieving goals R: Realize your greatness and remove the clutter (physical and mental) Why you need to remove clutter before setting goals Fear of giving things up: The biggest mental block E: Evaluate your mission and execute the plan Creating a mission statement you say daily Breaking big goals into incremental steps A: Account for your time and acknowledge where you failed Blocking time in your calendar for goal activities Monthly reviews: What did you learn? How did you apply it? C: Celebrate successes and challenge yourself to do better Why high achievers struggle to celebrate wins H: Hone your skills and help others Finding coaches and mentors at every level Why helping others makes you better at achieving your own goals Links: Sandler: https://www.Sandler.com Episode page: https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/ Show links: https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine Dustin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-schadt-3213794/
ReRun: 7 Lies Salespeople Tell Themselves
<p>Summary: The 7 biggest lies that keep salespeople stuck—and how to replace them with a winning mindset that closes more deals.</p> <p>Description: Mark McGraw sits down with Josh Pitchford to break down the 7 biggest lies that keep salespeople from reaching their full potential. From believing your job is to educate prospects to thinking you need to win every deal, these mindset traps are costing you sales—and you might not even realize it.</p> <p>In this episode, Mark and Josh reveal why discounting is lazy selling, how to handle price objections like a pro, and why there's never a bad time to call your prospects. You'll learn why buyers don't need to like you (they need to respect you), how emotions drive every purchase decision, and why chasing unwinnable deals has a massive opportunity cost. If you're struggling with confidence, pricing, or qualifying, this episode delivers the mindset shifts you need to win more deals without working harder.</p> <p>About Josh Pitchford Josh Pitchford is a Sandler trainer and coach at Sales Engine, where he helps sales professionals and teams build predictable revenue systems. With extensive experience in enterprise sales and account management, Josh specializes in teaching relationship-building strategies, account planning, and the Sandler methodology.</p> <p>🔗 Josh on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/</a></p> <p>Host: Mark McGraw — Building Your Sales Engine</p> <p>In This Episode:</p> <ul> <li>Lie #1: My job is to educate the prospect (spoiler: it's not)</li> <li>Why buyers have already done their research before they talk to you</li> <li>Your real job: Qualify first, educate second</li> <li>Lie #2: I have to win every deal</li> <li>Why chasing unwinnable deals wastes your most valuable resource: time</li> <li>How to focus on winnable deals and protect your ammunition</li> <li>Lie #3: I have to discount in order to win</li> <li>The math of discounting: A 10% discount means 50% more sales to break even</li> <li>Why discounting is lazy selling and how to compete on value instead</li> <li>How to handle price objections without caving</li> <li>Lie #4: It's a bad time to call</li> <li>Why there's never a bad time to reach out (yesterday, today, tomorrow)</li> <li>How to stop justifying why you shouldn't pick up the phone</li> <li>Lie #5: I'm not ready</li> <li>The Sandler rule: It's not how I feel that determines how I act—it's how I act that determines how I feel</li> <li>How to build confidence by taking action first</li> <li>Starting small: Tiny goals build unstoppable momentum</li> <li>Lie #6: I have to do everything the buyer asks</li> <li>Why being a "sales golden retriever" kills your credibility</li> <li>Respect trumps likeability: Buyers need value, not a friend</li> <li>Why value triumphs relationships 9 times out of 10</li> <li>Lie #7: People buy on logic, not emotion</li> <li>Every purchase starts with emotion, logic justifies it later</li> <li>How to trigger emotions and close more deals</li> <li>The opportunity cost of chasing every deal</li> <li>Why consistency is the only thing that wins in sales</li> </ul> <p><strong>Links</strong></p> <ul> <li>Sandler: <a href="https://www.sandler.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.Sandler.com</a></li> <li>Episode page: <a href="https://www.buildingyoursalesengine.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.BuildingYourSalesEngine.com/</a></li> <li>Show links: <a href="https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine" rel="nofollow">https://linktr.ee/buildingyoursalesengine</a></li> <li>Josh on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/" rel="nofollow">https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-pitchford-6163274/</a></li> <li>Episode handout: <a href="https://www.buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway14" rel="nofollow">https://www.buildingyoursalesengine.com/giveaway14</a></li> </ul>