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In this episode of the Pod podcast, Patrick sits down with Greg Smith, EVP of Technology and Innovation at Janek Performance Group. Greg’s path into sales wasn’t the most conventional—he began in a BD role during the 2008 financial crisis, climbed his way up through partnerships, and ultimately found his place building tech-enabled training products. Today, he works at the intersection of sales, coaching, and product development. In this conversation, Greg unpacks the evolution of sales training, when to bring in external partners, what foundational skills reps are missing, and the role of AI in both enablement and coaching. They also dive into the value of sales education in higher ed—and why curiosity is still one of the most underrated traits in the game.
Here are some of the big themes from the conversation:
Greg’s first sales job at IBM gave him a front-row seat to formal sales training. “They put us through IBM Global Sales School,” he says. “It was my first taste of methodology—spin, BANT, the basics.” Since then, the landscape has changed dramatically. Today’s training is less about one-size-fits-all courses and more about tailoring skills to context: role, company stage, product type, and even the individual rep’s learning style.
Greg breaks down five common triggers for bringing in external sales training partners: role-based development, company-wide transformation (like a shift from services to SaaS), specific skill gaps, in-the-moment needs, and individual curiosity. The best programs now reflect this diversity—not by delivering another monolithic bootcamp, but by offering modular, just-in-time learning. “Enablement should be open,” Greg emphasizes. “Not locked behind stage gates.”
One of Greg’s spiciest takes? Many reps today are missing core selling skills. And ironically, he says, the sales tech boom helped create this problem.
“Salespeople were getting paid huge money just to take orders,” Greg says. “But now, the market has shifted. Enterprises are cutting tools, budgets are tight, and suddenly, win rates matter more than ever.” What does that mean for enablement leaders? It’s time to double down on foundational skills—discovery, objection handling, asking smart questions—not just chasing pipeline velocity or flashy tech.
Greg zeroes in on discovery as the highest-impact coaching opportunity. “It often happens solo,” he explains. “And most reps think they nailed it, when really, they missed something crucial.” The best reps approach discovery like a diagnostic—digging deeper, testing assumptions, and using domain knowledge to ask better follow-ups.
Patrick brings up a common enablement trap: the “one-and-done” training session that reps quickly forget. Greg agrees. “The old model had a huge spike at the start, then tailed off. Now, it’s flipped—we lead with in-the-moment support, and reinforce with theory after.”
Real-time coaching and contextual enablement are becoming table stakes. But Greg is clear: that doesn’t mean tossing traditional programs entirely. Instead, it’s about breaking them into bite-sized modules and delivering them at the right time. “Zap a rep with the right thing when they need it,” he says. “Don’t just hope they remember it from six months ago.”
The difference today is tech can finally deliver on that promise. With AI, training can be personalized to a rep’s deal, role, and even their knowledge gaps. But Greg issues a warning: don’t let tech replace the human stuff. “AI should augment coaching, not automate it,” he says. “We still need reps to work the muscle.”
Coaching has always been hard to scale. “Managers don’t see everything,” Greg points out. “They’ve got eight reps all running in different directions.” AI can help expose coaching opportunities—especially in high-leverage moments like discovery—but it shouldn’t replace the coach.
Greg’s building tools to support this exact use case: surfacing gaps, synthesizing deal insights, and teeing up smarter questions for managers. “Pipeline reviews today aren’t coaching,” Patrick adds. “They’re grilling sessions. Let tech do the grunt work, so managers can actually coach.”
One big mistake? Using AI to do the job for reps. “Let it help you write the email, not write it for you,” Greg says. If you lose the ability to judge what ‘good’ looks like, you lose your edge. Reps still need the fundamentals—empathy, curiosity, and a clear understanding of the problem they’re solving.
Beyond the world of B2B SaaS, Greg is a passionate advocate for sales education in universities. In the U.S., there are now hundreds of schools offering sales degrees—but it’s still surprisingly rare. “Some universities still see sales as beneath them,” he says. “Even though they’ll happily offer a marketing degree with a sales module.”
What blows Greg away is how advanced some of these programs are. Students train in labs, role-play real scenarios, and even track activities in Salesforce. There are national competitions where students perform live sales calls on stage. And they’re good—like, better-than-most-BDRs good.
So why don’t more companies partner with these programs? “It’s cheaper and more effective than your current talent funnel,” Greg says. “These kids are job-ready on day one.”
His advice? If you’re hiring, build relationships with university sales programs. And if you’re designing curriculum, make it practical: role plays, domain knowledge, and yes, classic frameworks like SPIN and MEDDIC still have their place.
In an era where tools are everywhere and skills are often overlooked, Greg’s message is simple: care about what you’re selling, be genuinely curious, and coach reps on what really matters.
As he puts it, “Confidence comes from purpose. If you don’t care, it shows. But if you’re in it for the right reasons, people respond.”
You can find Greg at selfenablement.com, on LinkedIn, or check out his side project MixDeck—a platform for bite-sized, Spotify-style sales training content.
Stay tuned for more episodes with candid, smart takes from people shaping the future of sales.
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