Working in sales leadership is like running up the down escalator – there’s no such thing as standing still. If you don’t keep moving forwards, you’ll be going backward. That’s why we’re thankful to keep up with top influencers in the world of sales leadership and sales excellence, who share the latest innovations, trends, and ideas around sales, prospecting, and relationship-building. We don’t know what we’d do without these sales gurus around! We’ve put together a list of 7 of our top sales thought leaders that we love to follow, and we’re sure you will too. Is your favorite sales influencer missing from the list? Comment below, we’re eager to keep adding to the list.

John Barrows

John is top of our list not just because it’s alphabetical, but because he’s laser-focused on getting sales done right. Like this observation about sellers who can still sell in a recession: “They stop “selling” and focus on helping. They double down on helping their clients through tough times with no hidden agenda or expectations of the client spending any money with them.” If you want practical guidance about connecting with prospects, holding meaningful sales conversations, and applying the science of sales success, you’ll want to check out his YouTube channel and of course his LinkedIn profile.

Gabrielle Blackwell

We love Gabrielle for the fresh, passionate, straight-to-the-point voice she brings to sales leadership. With a wealth of experience crafting top sales teams, Gabrielle shares punchy thoughts like “Don’t hate, emulate,” and short videos to help sales leaders inspire and encourage their sellers.

Alice Heiman

Alice is possibly our favorite sales guru when it comes to complex sales and CEO sales guidance. We love her insights into building a powerful sales team, sales training, and sales strategies, like this advice: “Adding more salespeople, in most cases, is not the way to get more sales (unless all of your current sellers are at peak productivity). Relieving sellers of non-sales activities would be smarter and more cost-effective.” In addition to writing frequent blog posts, Alice hosts the podcast Sales Talk for CEOs (which is valuable for people who aren’t CEOs too!), talking to CEOs from a massive variety of verticals about their growth strategies and sales successes.

Morgan J. Ingram

An energetic and engaging voice in sales success, Morgan is advisor to several sales-focused enterprises, founder of the non-profit Sales for Culture to encourage Black tech sellers, and host of the fascinating podcast The SDR Chronicles. We love Morgan for his honesty, commitment to mental health, and creative tips about sales excellence, like “Sending videos during the sales cycle is underrated.”

Jed Mahrle

Like thousands of others who subscribe to his newsletter “Practical Prospecting,” we love Jed for useful tips based on his experience breaking sales records for new startups, like changing his mindset from “email first” to “call first” – “Instead of taking 10min to write the perfect email, I’m gonna call them first. If they pick up, great. I don’t have to waste 10min writing that email.” Within just a few years (he started in 2019!), Jed has built a reputation as a young, fast-moving sales expert.

Alexine Mudawar

We’re Alexine fans because of her positive advice, like “I encourage sales folks to think and learn outside of the box,” her concern for helping keep women in sales, and encouragement to keep breaking sales records. A LinkedIn Top Sales Voice, Salesforce Top Sales Influencer, CEO and co-founder of the Women in Sales Club, and currently a Strategic Account Executive at Alyce, Alexine is a guru well worth following.

Lori Richardson

We stand in awe of the way that Lori pulled herself up by her bootstraps to become an outstanding sales master, sales leader, and sales coach, and we hope to pick up some of her determination and persistence. One of the things we love about Lori is that she often gives advice specifically for people in sales leadership positions, like “Find out what you are walking into by getting your new leadership to agree to evaluate the team for core sales competencies – will versus skill, coachability, AND use that data to help you right out of the gate to speed up your knowledge and insight.” Tune into her podcast, Conversations with Women in Sales, for more valuable discussions about the path to sales success.