Too many sales reps focus on volume over value. But what if you focused on being more human instead? That’s the core advice from sales leader Leslie Venetz. As the Founder of Sales Team Builder, she helps teams ditch the admin work and have more strategic, intentional conversations. We sat down with Leslie to discuss her approach. She shares her best tips for responding to objections with curiosity, crafting LinkedIn messages that get replies, and the biggest mistakes she’s made in her career. This is a masterclass in modern leslie sales strategy.
Who is Leslie Venetz?
If you’ve spent any time in the B2B sales world, you’ve likely come across Leslie Venetz. She’s not just a sales leader; she’s a force of nature who has built a reputation for cutting through the noise and getting real results. With a career spanning over 15 years in high-stakes enterprise selling, Leslie has mastered the art of opening doors at the world’s biggest companies. She’s the founder of the Sales-Led GTM Agency, where she now channels her extensive experience into helping other companies build winning sales strategies. Leslie’s approach is refreshingly direct and founded on a simple but powerful principle: earn the right to sell.
Her insights aren’t just theoretical. They are forged from years in the trenches, working with and selling to major players like AT&T, Walmart, and JPMorgan. But she’s not just an enterprise expert; she also helped a new business intelligence company grow from zero sales to over $412,000 in just nine months. This blend of big-picture strategy and roll-up-your-sleeves execution makes her one of the most respected voices in the industry today. She understands the daily grind of a sales rep and the strategic imperatives of a sales leader, offering advice that is both practical and transformative for anyone looking to improve their sales game.
A Career Built on High-Stakes Sales
Leslie Venetz’s resume reads like a who’s who of Fortune 500 companies. For 15 years, she navigated the complex world of C-suite enterprise selling, consistently penetrating some of the biggest and most challenging accounts on the planet. We’re talking about industry giants like KraftHeinz, ExxonMobil, Verizon, and Target. This isn't just about making calls; it's about building relationships, understanding intricate business needs, and creating value at the highest level. Her success in these environments proves her ability to craft and execute sophisticated sales strategies that deliver tangible results, making her an invaluable resource for any sales professional aiming to move upmarket or simply close bigger deals.
From C-Suite Deals to The Sales-Led GTM Agency
After a long and successful career opening doors at massive corporations, Leslie founded the Sales-Led GTM Agency to teach others how to do the same. She took the lessons learned from navigating the complex hierarchies of companies like Walmart and JPMorgan and distilled them into actionable frameworks. Her agency is built on the premise that the same principles that work for enterprise deals can be adapted to help businesses of all sizes grow. By focusing on a sales-led approach, she helps companies build go-to-market strategies that are driven by real customer conversations and value creation, not just marketing fluff or product features.
A Recognized Leader and Author in Sales
Leslie’s impact on the sales world extends far beyond her own deal sheet. She is widely recognized as one of the top minds in the industry, earning the title of a "6x Global Top 50 Sales Thought Leader" and being named the "2024 Sales Innovator of the Year." These accolades aren't just for show; they reflect a deep understanding of the sales craft and a commitment to pushing the industry forward. Her book, "Profit-Generating Pipeline," became a USA Today Top 50 bestseller, cementing her status as an author who provides real-world, actionable advice that resonates with sales teams everywhere. Her work consistently challenges outdated sales tactics and encourages a more modern, human-centric approach.
Awards and Publications
Being named a "top 1% B2B sales expert" is no small feat, but it’s just one of many recognitions Leslie has earned. Her book, "Profit-Generating Pipeline," has been celebrated for its practical guidance on building a consistent and predictable sales funnel. The book’s success as a USA Today bestseller highlights a widespread hunger for the kind of no-nonsense, results-oriented advice Leslie provides. These achievements underscore her authority in the space and give weight to her core philosophies. When Leslie talks about sales, people listen because they know her methods are tested, proven, and backed by a track record of incredible success.
Her Core Philosophy: "Earn the Right"
At the heart of Leslie’s teaching is a simple yet profound idea: you must "earn the right" to sell. This philosophy challenges the traditional model of sales, which often prioritizes the pitch over the person. For Leslie, selling isn't about launching into a monologue about your product's features. It's about first building trust and demonstrating value. This means doing your homework, understanding your prospect's world, and showing up with insights that can actually help them. It’s a fundamental shift from a transactional mindset to a relational one, where the goal is to become a trusted advisor, not just another vendor trying to make a sale.
Moving from Talking At Prospects to Talking With Them
To truly "earn the right," you have to stop talking at prospects and start talking with them. This shift from monologue to dialogue is where real connections are made and deals are won. It requires reps to listen more than they talk and to respond with genuine curiosity and helpfulness. This is difficult when you're bogged down with manual tasks and guessing which accounts to focus on. To have these valuable conversations, reps need tools that free them up. Using AI-powered workflows to handle administrative work and surface engagement signals allows reps to focus their energy on the human side of selling—building relationships and having the meaningful conversations that Leslie champions.
What We Learned from Sales Leader Leslie Venetz
Best way to respond to objections
The best way to respond to objections is with curiosity. When your prospects disclose a hurdle with you, see if there's a way you can work together to figure out if you can get to a shared positive outcome.
Smarter LinkedIn Prospecting
Be human. A lot of people are leaning into automation, but in a way that allows them to do the bad stuff at scale. Instead, use automation to free up time to be more human, more intentional, and more strategic, instead of using it to scale stuff that's already not working.
Applying the "Earn the Right" Philosophy to Social Selling
On platforms like LinkedIn, it’s tempting to go straight for the sale. But as Leslie Venetz points out, you have to “earn the right” to sell first. This means your initial goal shouldn’t be to book a meeting, but to build trust and provide value. Instead of sending a generic connection request followed by a pitch, focus on creating a genuine connection. Comment on a post they wrote, share a resource you think they’d find useful, or find a common interest. This approach shifts the dynamic from a cold pitch to a warm conversation, making prospects far more receptive when you eventually do discuss how you can help them.
Mastering Outbound Campaigns
In a world flooded with automated messages, standing out requires a human touch. Many sales teams fall into the trap of using automation to send more bad emails, faster. Leslie’s advice is to flip that script: use automation to free up your time for more human, strategic, and intentional outreach. Instead of spending hours on manual data entry or figuring out who to follow up with, you can use tools to handle the repetitive tasks. This gives you the space to do the high-impact work that actually gets a response, like researching a prospect’s company or personalizing your opening line based on their recent activity.
This is about quality over quantity. A single, well-researched, and personalized message is worth more than a hundred generic blasts. When you show a prospect you’ve done your homework, you demonstrate respect for their time and immediately differentiate yourself from the noise. Platforms with AI-powered workflows can help you identify which accounts to focus on, so you can invest your energy where it matters most. By automating the administrative work, you save hours each day and can focus on crafting messages that lead to real conversations and, ultimately, more deals closed.
Crafting Email Sequences That Get Replies
A successful email sequence is never one-size-fits-all. Drawing from Leslie’s insight that good sales training is hands-on and specific, the same logic applies to your outreach. To get replies, your emails need to feel personal and relevant to the person receiving them. Before you add a prospect to a sequence, ask yourself: What are their specific challenges? What are their company’s goals? Use this context to tailor your messaging. A sequence should be a flexible framework, not a rigid script. A platform that works inside your inbox makes this easy, allowing you to quickly customize a sequence step for a high-value prospect before it sends.
Respect in Sales: Ditch the Pet Names
It is gross and totally inappropriate to call anyone "sweetie," "honey," or "babe" in any setting, but especially in a professional setting. Don't be afraid to call people out on their bad behavior if it makes you feel uncomfortable.
Related: Interview with Belal Batrawy, Founder of Death to Fluff |
Building a High-Performing Sales Team
Make sure you're setting up your team for success. Many people in leadership roles have never been trained as leaders or managers themselves. If this happens to be the case for you, acknowledge that you have not been set up for success yourself, and then get external training and pass on your learnings to your team.
Lessons from a Three-Time Head of Sales
As a three-time Head of Sales, Leslie has a clear, results-driven perspective. She believes that the best teams don't just sell; they earn the right to. This starts with building genuine trust and creating a buyer-centric culture. It’s a philosophy that has consistently helped her teams grow company income and improve customer satisfaction. This approach also means giving reps the right support. Good training should be hands-on and specific, but it also means providing tools that help them focus on the human side of selling. Using AI-powered workflows to handle repetitive tasks, for example, frees up reps to build the real relationships that close deals.
How to Turn Sales Mistakes into Wins
It's ok to test, even if you fail. It's a learning lesson. Particularly in those early startup environments, the only way to figure out what works is by testing it out.
Leslie Venetz's Go-To Hype Song
Sped up version of Collide by Justine Skye 🎧.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Leslie Venetz's core sales philosophy? Her core philosophy is to "earn the right" to sell. This means you should focus on building trust and providing genuine value to a prospect before you ever try to pitch your product. It's about shifting from a transactional mindset to a relational one, where you become a trusted advisor instead of just another vendor.
How does Leslie suggest responding to sales objections? She advises responding with curiosity. Instead of getting defensive or immediately trying to counter the objection, treat it as an opportunity to collaborate. Work with the prospect to understand the hurdle and see if you can find a shared path to a positive outcome together.
What's the biggest mistake reps make with LinkedIn prospecting? The biggest mistake is using automation to send generic, low-quality messages at a larger scale. Leslie suggests flipping this approach. Use automation, like AI-powered workflows, to handle repetitive admin tasks. This frees up your time to be more human, strategic, and intentional with your outreach on platforms like LinkedIn.
How can I apply the "earn the right" idea to my email sequences? Stop using one-size-fits-all templates. Before adding a prospect to a sequence, do your research to understand their specific challenges and goals. Use that context to personalize your messages. A sequence should be a flexible framework that you can easily customize for high-value prospects, not a rigid script that gets sent to everyone.
What is Leslie's advice for new sales managers? She recommends that new managers first acknowledge if they haven't been properly trained for leadership themselves. From there, they should seek external training to build their own skills. The final step is to pass those new learnings on to their team to ensure everyone is set up for success.
