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Welcome to the Placing People First Podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Bridging The Gap Recruitment. BTG offers recruiting and executive search services. Their team of recruiters have decades of experience with thousands of placements. They are always recruiting. If you are an employer they may have qualified candidates ready for placement and if you looking for a position make sure to send them your resume as they will actively market you to potential companies. They also offer a 7 day guarantee. They guarantee to have a qualified candidate to you in 7 days or you save 50% on the placement fee. You can find them at https://bridgingthegapus.com/

This expert interview is with Helen Fanucci, author of best-selling “ Love Your Team: A Survival Guide for Sales Managers in a Hybrid World” and a transformational sales leader at Microsoft. We talk about Helen’s journey into sales, leadership, team management principles, the importance of good communication, and recruitment all while unpacking Helen’s book. There are a lot of nuggets, not only for sales managers but also for salespeople and business leaders.

Here are some of the times & topics covered in case you would like to jump to a specific part:

0:00 – Welcome & Introduction

2:10 – Helen’s journey

3:41 – From engineering to sales

6:20 – The story behind Helen’s book

9:14 – The importance of conversations

12:40 – Team principles

15:13 – The success journey of loving your team

18:45 – Performance improvement strategy

23:18 – Conversations with new team members

27:40 – Helen’s communication cadence

31:23 – Recruitment philosophy

35:13 – Advice to the salesperson

38:45 – Advice to younger self

39:32 – Book recommendations

41:17 – Closing thoughts

42:30 – Last question

Helen’s Bio

Helen Fanucci is the best-selling author of Love Your Team, A Survival Guide for Sales Managers in a Hybrid World who has built her reputation and career managing teams responsible for billions of dollars of quota.  As an MIT-trained engineer she developed the Love Your Team system of management over a 25-year career on the front lines at top tech companies including Apple, Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Microsoft.  Helen currently serves as a Transformational Sales Leader with Microsoft, leading a team of Cloud Solution Architects and Customer Success Managers.

Helen’s Book

Love Your Team: A Survival Guide for Sales Managers in a Hybrid World – https://a.co/d/4rbrPnq

Book summary

The hybrid work revolution has made sales management the most pivotal role in the innovation economy—and simultaneously the most challenging.

The workforce power structure has flipped, putting every top seller in a position to write their own ticket. To succeed now, you must urgently, intentionally, and pragmatically shift your focus from traditional deals and dollars to the ambitions, success, and well-being of each member of your team.

Your top seller just became your number one customer!

Love Your Team is a conversation-by-conversation survival guide for sales managers who want to thrive in a world where their top talent can walk out the door without taking a single step. Helen Fanucci provides detailed instructions on how to shift focus from merely hitting sales goals to putting sellers first—as people and performers—making YOU the reason they join, stay, and win.

Helen’s LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenfanucci/

Book Recommendations:

Mindset by Carol Dweck – https://a.co/d/0L19eWm

The Outsiders by William Thorndike – https://a.co/d/73ZnWBK

The Girl in the Gun Club by Tracy Salzgeber – https://a.co/d/6ujPz7G