Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

Greg Glassman gave CrossFit away for free, turned down every investor, and charged $500 for anyone to put the name on their gym door. It became the most valuable fitness brand on earth.
In this episode, John sits down with Calum Marsh, journalist, New York Times contributor, and author of The Glass Box. They dig into how a personal trainer turned free online workouts into thousands of gyms and $80 to $90 million a year without a single investor. Calum shares how one sales lesson, always chase a no, helped him land Glassman after years of emails. They also break down why CrossFit built super fans while other fitness brands built fads, and why leaders need people who push back.
If you’re a founder building against the playbook, a sales leader trying to turn customers into advocates, or a rep working a prospect who won’t respond, this conversation is for you. You’ll hear why giving away value grows a brand, how persistence earns trust, and why you need to know why a rule exists before you break it.
Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit https://www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.
What You’ll Learn
How “always chase a no” and specific, persistent outreach can earn trust from a prospect who has every reason to ignore you
Why giving away your best content for free can build a bigger business than gating it
How CrossFit turned customers into super fans and grew without ads, commercials, or investors
Why leaders who push out everyone willing to disagree end up surrounded by yes men
Why you should understand why a rule exists before deciding to break it

Calum Marsh is a journalist and the author of The Glass Box: The Shocking True Story of How CrossFit Broke the Rules, Made Millions, and Changed Fitness Forever, released by HarperCollins worldwide on October 27th, 2026. He is a writer, reporter, and editor who specializes in art, culture, and sports, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, with writing that has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Esquire, GQ, and New York Magazine, among others. He is also the author of True Lies: The Art of Reality Television. Born in the UK and raised in Southern Ontario, he worked in B2B sales before building his career as a professional writer.
Connect with Calum Marsh:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calum-marsh-26ba3335/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calummarsh
Email: calummarsh@gmail.com
Learn More About Calum Marsh:
Website: https://www.calummarsh.com/
Get The Glass Box:
HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-glass-box-calum-marsh?variant=44746345906210
John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.
Connect with John Barrows:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows
Check out John’s Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages
Join John’s Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Most reps wait for their company to train them. Justin Jay Johnson paid for his own coaching while broke, $100,000 in debt, and living in his brother’s basement, and that choice has driven every career move since.
In this episode, John sits down with Justin Jay Johnson, Co-Founder & CRO at Synopsis. They talk about grit, betting on yourself, and making career decisions with a clear view of the worst case scenario. Justin shares his path from a blue collar background and a first year with one deal that got clawed back to Salesforce, becoming a CRO at 33, building a coaching business, and co-founding Synopsis. He also breaks down the hard lesson from a $15 million deal with Benioff involved and why everyone, from SDR to CEO, is winging it.
If you’re a rep waiting on someone else to invest in you, a sales leader weighing your next big move, or someone fighting imposter syndrome in rooms that feel too big, this conversation is for you. You’ll hear why owning the deal beats deferring to titles, how to weigh risk against reward, and why AI only amplifies the habits you already have.
Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit https://www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.
What You’ll Learn
Why investing in your own training beats waiting for your company, and what a $20 ChatGPT subscription reveals about a rep’s mindset
How to quarterback big deals as the account owner instead of deferring to executives when the room feels too big
How to make career and deal decisions with the worst case scenario lens and a realistic risk reward ratio
Why everyone from SDR to Fortune 500 CEO is winging it, and how that realization helps you push past imposter syndrome
Why AI makes great reps better and bad reps worse, and why clear messaging and a tight ICP still matter more than the tech

Justin Jay Johnson is the Co-Founder & CRO at Synopsis. Coming from a blue collar background as the youngest of five boys, he was the first in his extended family to graduate from college and started in sales selling knives in college. After a rough first year in sales, he moved into tech, joined Salesforce, and later helped scale the sales team of a competing CRM before it was acquired. He became a CRO at 33, then built a coaching and consulting business helping reps and sales leaders break through, before co-founding Synopsis.
Connect with Justin Jay Johnson:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinjayjohnson/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinjayjohnson/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesoftwaresalescoach/
Learn More at Synopsis:
Website: https://getsynopsis.ai/
John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.
Connect with John Barrows:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows
Check out John’s Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages
Join John’s Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Most forecast calls run on what the rep says, not what the customer said. According to Mark Siciliano, that’s exactly where revenue gets lost, and it has a name: the discipline gap.
In this episode, John sits down with Mark Siciliano, Global VP of Sales Enablement & Productivity at Prometheus Group and author of Working the Gray: Where Revenue Leadership Actually Happens. They talk about the distance between the strategy announced at kickoff and the standards actually enforced week after week. Mark shares his path from CPA at Pricewaterhouse to helping build the Oracle Sales Academy and scaling revenue teams at Marketo, Demandbase, Drift, and Sprinklr. He also explains why the best CROs he worked with always asked the uncomfortable question before week 12.
If you’re a CRO tired of forecast surprises, a first-line manager with no time to coach, or an enablement leader who knows what should happen but can’t make it stick, this conversation is for you. You’ll hear why evidential deal reviews beat story time, how a weekly cadence fills the coaching gap at no cost, and which questions tell you if a deal is real.
Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit https://www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.
What You’ll Learn
What the discipline gap is, and why it shows up in every pipeline review, forecast call, and kickoff that never changes a single behavior two weeks later
Why coaching isn’t what’s broken, and how a weekly deal review cadence gives first-line managers a standard that costs nothing to run
Why “evidential” separates real deals from story time, and why a defined next step on the calendar now matters more than a summary email
How the discipline gap differs from MEDDPICC and BANT, and why CRO-level questions need to be asked in week two, not week 12
Why AI creates time for judgment, and the questions that tell you if a deal is real, from the business problem you’re solving to John’s three go-live questions

Mark Siciliano is the Global Vice President of Sales Enablement & Productivity at Prometheus Group and the author of Working the Gray: Where Revenue Leadership Actually Happens. A former CPA at Pricewaterhouse, he moved into tech as a sales engineer at Oracle and helped build the Oracle Sales Academy. He has since helped scale revenue organizations at Marketo, Demandbase, Drift, and Sprinklr, working alongside CROs to build the operating discipline behind consistent sales execution.
Connect with Mark Siciliano:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mksiciliano/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marksiciliano1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mksiciliano/
Learn More at Prometheus Group:
Website: https://www.prometheusgroup.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prometheusgroup/posts/?feedView=all
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrometheusGroup-EAM
John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.
Connect with John Barrows:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows
Check out John’s Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages
Join John’s Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Any buyer can now run a prompt five minutes before your call and walk in knowing almost as much as your rep. That should make the rep less relevant. According to Brian Benfer, it makes them more important than ever.
In this episode, John sits down with Brian Benfer, CRO at Salesloft, to talk about where the sales rep fits in the AI era, why buyers using AI are ending up in analysis paralysis instead of self qualified, and why AI's real step function gain in sales productivity is opportunity volume, not faster cycles. Brian also shares his path from running a competitive swim program to leading 300 reps through the Citrix acquisition, and what coaching taught him about bringing teams together around one outcome.
If you're a sales leader rethinking what to train your reps on, a rep wondering where your value sits now that research is a click of a button, or a CRO leading through mergers and constant AI change, this conversation gives you the three competencies sellers need now, why curious sellers get the truth while scripted sellers lose deals they could have won, and how to build trust in AI recommendations when most leaders don't trust the data underneath them.
Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.
What You'll Learn
Why the sales rep is more important than ever when buyers using AI get lost in analysis paralysis, and why the martini funnel doesn't match what Brian sees in real deals
Why curious sellers who let the conversation wander earn trust and get the truth, while sellers with blinders on lose deals they could have won
The three competencies reps need on top of the fundamentals: business acumen for CFO and CIO conversations, technical acumen, and project management across growing buying committees
Why AI delivers marginal gains on stage velocity and conversion rate, no change to deal size, and a potential doubling of opportunity volume
How Salesloft crowdsources AI wins through its AI Ops Factory, and how logging and measuring AI recommendations builds trust when 67 percent of revenue leaders don't trust their AI data

Brian Benfer is the CRO at Salesloft, where he leads go-to-market for the company's AI revenue orchestration platform. He started his career as a competitive swim coach before moving into sales as an SDR at ShareFile, growing into leading a 300 person sales organization through its acquisition by Citrix. He went on to lead global sales at Dude Solutions, helping transform it into Brightly Software and guiding it through its acquisition by Siemens, before joining Salesloft.
Connect with Brian Benfer:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-benfer-79280b15/
Learn More at Salesloft:
Website: https://www.salesloft.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/salesloft/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salesloft
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/salesloft
John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.
Connect with John Barrows:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows
Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows
TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows
Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages
Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter

Only nine percent of people at your company are excited about AI. Fifty two percent are more anxious about it than excited. If your rollout plan only accounts for the nine percent, you already know how this ends.
In this episode, John sits down with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a behavioral scientist and author of The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work, to talk about why 95 percent of AI pilots fail to scale, the three distinct types of resistance blocking your team from adopting AI, and the leadership policy that lets companies grow revenue and headcount at the same time instead of cutting jobs to pay for efficiency.
If you're in sales leadership, building or rebuilding a team for the AI era, or just trying to get your own reps to actually use the tools you already paid for, this conversation gives you a practical playbook for the two different rollouts your company needs, one for the people already excited about AI, and one for everybody else.
Want to build a sales team that can hold its own in the AI era? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.
Get the Book on Amazon: The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work: From Resistance to Results https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647127491?lv=shuf&channelId=510&plpRedirect=mhFallback
What You'll Learn
Why 95 percent of AI pilots fail to scale, and the three psychographic profiles (AI alarmists, pragmatic resistors, reluctant adopters) blocking adoption long before rollout
Why AI forward companies grow revenue nine percent faster and headcount six percent faster than AI backward competitors, and the leadership policy that makes both true
Why only about ten percent of the old apprenticeship grind was ever formative, and what junior employees need to learn now that AI does the research
Why Gleb tells most people to skip college unless their career requires a licensed degree, and how to use AI as a personalized learning roadmap instead
Why the debate over AI's existential risk isn't a side conversation from adoption strategy, and what Anthropic's own head of research has said about it

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is a behavioral scientist and consultant who has spent over two decades helping companies navigate major shifts in how work gets done. He holds a PhD in the history of behavioral science from UNC Chapel Hill and has taught at Ohio State University. He is the author of eight books, including the global bestsellers Never Go With Your Gut and The Blindspots Between Us, and his newest book, The Psychology of AI Adoption at Work, is available now from Georgetown University Press.
Visit disasteravoidanceexperts.com/aibook for a free sample of the book.
Connect with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky:
Website: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-gleb-tsipursky/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrGlebTsipursky
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_gleb_tsipursky/
John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution, helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today's AI-driven sales environment.
Connect with John Barrows:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows
Instagram: instagram.com/johnmbarrows
TikTok: tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows
Check out John's Membership: https://learn.jbarrows.com/pages/individual-packages
Join John's Newsletter: https://www.jbarrows.com/newsletter