Podcast
Sales Signals
Hosted by Cognism · EN
Sales Signals is a podcast for revenue leaders who don’t just look at data - they act on it.
Each episode breaks down the signals shaping modern sales teams through a simple lens: Data. Insight. Action. From misleading metrics to high-impact indicators, we uncover the stories behind the numbers and what decision-makers should do next. If you’re responsible for revenue and want to move beyond dashboards into decisive execution, this show is for you.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
From Spray and Pray to Strategic: How Ayah Daniel-Rashid Levelled-Up Her SDR Game
Jan 2100:18:05Tap to summarizeWhen Ayah joined Cognism, she didn’t know what an SDR was, but she knew how to hustle. Her first few months were a blur of spray-and-pray dialling: huge lists, minimal research, mass calls… and 400% of target in month one. It worked. Until it really didn’t.In this episode of Why Did It Fail?, Ayah sits down with Shivan to unpack the dark side of spray and pray: the stress, the lack of control, the low-quality pipeline and the moment she realised her “success” wasn’t sustainable. She talks through how reaching out for help changed everything, how she rebuilt her approach around intentional accounts, proper research and multi-channel outreach, and what a genuinely good cold call looks like now.Ayah also shares how this phase shaped her resilience, mindset and confidence, from handling constant objections to nurturing accounts “like little babies” instead of burning through them. If you’re an SDR leaning on spray and pray to hit your number (or managing a team who are), this conversation is a sharp, honest look at why that approach fails long term — and how to replace it with something that actually scales.
Transcribe →The Deal That Shrunk: How Gearóid Cox Lost a Career-Making Opportunity
Jan 700:24:57Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Why Did It Fail?, Gearoid Cox, Founder and CEO of Sales Pipeline, shares the story of a deal that looked like a win on paper, but turned out to be a brutal lesson in discovery. As a young enterprise rep, Gearoid was laser-focused on getting the PO signed. He closed what he thought was a big hardware sale… only to find out later it was the tiniest slice of a huge, multi-layered project. The rest of the business, software, print, additional hardware, went straight to competitors, and he never even knew it was on the table.Shivan and Gearoid unpack exactly how tunnel vision, target pressure and “just be grateful for the deal” thinking can quietly cost reps career-defining opportunities. Gearoid breaks down the difference between perception and perspective, why it never costs you to ask one more question, and how he now coaches sellers to mine existing accounts properly instead of behaving like “new logo magpies.”If you’ve ever chased the close so hard you forgot to understand the customer, this one will sting in all the right ways, and leave you with practical mindset shifts around discovery, attitude and actions that you can take into your next deal.
Transcribe →When Impressing the Buyer Lost the Deal: Bryan Mulry’s Hard Lesson
Dec 1700:24:23Tap to summarizeSales coach Bryan Mulry joins Shivan to break down a failure most sellers secretly recognise: talking too much, listening too little, and trying far too hard to impress. Bryan shares the painful moment he realised he’d spent 87% of a call pitching to a VP of Sales who didn’t even have the team he was selling to, and how that single conversation exposed a habit that had been costing him deals for years.In this episode, Bryan unpacks why sellers default to “show and tell,” how to spot when a buyer has mentally checked out, and the simple mindset shift that transformed how he runs discovery, asks questions and earns trust. It’s a sharp, honest, deeply practical conversation for anyone who knows they slip into feature-dumping mode and wants to break the cycle.A must-listen for reps and leaders who want to sell with curiosity, not ego, and avoid making the same mistake Bryan did.
Transcribe →Hands Shaking on Every Dial: How James Greene Beat Cold-Calling Panic
Dec 1000:24:12Tap to summarizeWhen James Greene first stepped into sales, cold calling hit him harder than he expected. Every dial came with shaking hands, spiralling doubt and the pressure to prove he belonged. Rejection felt personal, missed targets knocked his confidence, and one complaint from a prospect nearly convinced him to walk away from the job entirely.Now Global Business Development Manager at Bounce Insights, James talks to Shivan Pillay about how he rebuilt his mindset, found resilience through Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and learned to separate his self-worth from the outcome of a call. He reflects on the moment things finally clicked, why nurturing early conversations changed everything, and how those difficult months shaped the empathetic leader he is today.A must-listen for anyone who’s ever stared at the phone and wondered whether they’re cut out for sales. James shows exactly how shaky starts can become the making of a great career.
Transcribe →
From Top Seller to Burnout: The TRAP New Sales Leaders Easily Fall Into
Nov 2600:24:51Tap to summarizeWhen Junis Seger stepped into his first Head of Sales role, he thought he was ready for anything.After all, he’d just come off back-to-back President’s Club wins, smashed targets as an AE, and built a reputation as one of the best in the business. But leading a fast-growing startup was different.Suddenly, he was juggling investor targets, founder expectations, team management, and his own impossible standards, all at once.The result? Burnout, blurred boundaries, and a harsh lesson in the difference between pressure management and expectation management.Listen now to learn how Junis turned a crash into a comeback.
Transcribe →The Wake-Up Call That Changed Shiwam Singh’s Sales Career
Nov 1200:17:37Tap to summarizeImagine landing your first sales job and losing it just months later.That was the reality for Shiwam Singh, now an SDR at Cognism. In this episode of Why Did It Fail?, Shiwam opens up about the sting of his first big setback in tech sales, how it shook his confidence, and the lessons he carried into his second chance at Cognism.From rebuilding his mindset to learning the power of listening, discipline, and feedback, Shiwam’s story is a reminder that failure isn’t the end, it’s the reset you sometimes need.If you’ve ever doubted whether you’re cut out for sales, this one’s for you.
Transcribe →The ICP Trap: Why Most Expansion Strategies Fail in Europe With Rick Pizzoli
Oct 2900:27:45Tap to summarizeWhen tech companies expand into Europe, most assume their home-market success will follow them across borders. But for Rick Pizzoli and his team at Sales Force Europe, one lesson has repeated itself over 500 launches, a vague ideal customer profile can quietly derail even the best go-to-market plans.In this episode of Why Did It Fail?, Rick unpacks how unclear ICPs lead to wasted spend, internal misalignment, and slow traction, and how to fix it fast. From building consensus across teams to pivoting by vertical and country, he shares the frameworks that turn expansion plans into scalable revenue engines.If you’ve ever struggled to define your target customer, or you’re planning to take your sales motion international, this conversation is a masterclass in narrowing focus, aligning strategy, and landing faster in new markets.
Transcribe →How To Master Time Management As A Sales Leader with Todd Busler and Morgan J Ingram (Special Episode)
Jul 12, 2023Tap to summarizeYour sales team’s playbook should align with the new era of outbound. And success starts by nailing processes like time management. Learn how to strike the balance, between coaching, training, forecasting, and sitting on deals, in this special episode of Redefining Outbound, with Morgan Ingram and Todd Busler. And grab the slides from the workshop here: https://2340453.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2340453/%5BFINAL%5D%20Leadership%20workshop_%20How%20to%20master%20time%20management%20as%20a%20sales%20leader-2.pdf
Transcribe →