
It Happened on the Sales Floor
100 Sensational Stories About Sales Leadership Screw-Ups and Big Wins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jeff Mar
-
By:
-
Kevin KG Gaither
About this listen
This book is designed to be a collection of short stories, anecdotes and learnings that represent my experience over the last 28 years of sales and sales leadership building teams at tech startups. Most of my learnings come from the mentors and leaders I’ve had the great fortune to work with and the subsequent mistakes that I've made over the years, of which there are countless mistakes. Bouncing back from those mistakes has given me the experience and the expertise that has led me to success at building Sales teams at startups in the subsequent years.
I cover all sorts of topics including
- Hiring and interviewing high performing salespeople and sales leaders
- Training and onboarding
- Coaching
- Firing, Layoffs and Performance management (lots of stories and screw-ups here)
- Building sales processes
- What it’s like to be a leader and the challenges therein
- Being a sales leader at a startup
- And much more....
The book is not meant to be a heavy instruction manual that is to be referenced again and again like a textbook in a business class. It's meant to be an easy-to-listen book that you would pick up in the morning with your cup of coffee or morning dump, read a couple of stories, have a few takeaways for the day and then put it down only to be picked up the next day for a quick listen.
Honestly, I wish I had this book in my hands over 20 years ago to guide me so I could have avoided all the mistakes I made over the years and saw even more success quicker. I hope that this book will serve the reader in that function.
©2023 Kevin Gaither (P)2023 Kevin GaitherListeners also enjoyed...
-
Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes
- How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price
- By: Keenan
- Narrated by: Keenan
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
People don't buy from people they like. No! Your buyer doesn't care about you or your product or service. It's not your job to overcome objections, it's your buyer's. Closing isn't a skill of good salespeople; it's the skill of weak salespeople. Price isn't the main reason salespeople lose the sale. Gap Selling shreds traditional and closely held sales beliefs that have been hurting salespeople for decades. For years, salespeople have embraced a myriad of sales tactics and belief systems that have unknowingly created many of the issues they have been trying to avoid.
-
-
SPIN selling with more EQ mixed in
- By Amazon Customer on 09-28-19
By: Keenan
-
Nonprofit Board Success
- How to Build a Board of Directors So Good That Even the Top CEOs Would Be Jealous
- By: James Ruell
- Narrated by: Robert Grindley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by James Ruell, who has served as director and vice-treasurer of an award-winning charity, Nonprofit Board Success gives practical advice and proven techniques for building a top-notch board of directors—one that will make you the envy of CEOs everywhere.
-
-
Just what I was looking for
- By Jeremy B on 12-11-23
By: James Ruell
-
The First-Time Manager: Sales
- First-Time Manager Series
- By: Mike Weinberg
- Narrated by: Mike Weinberg
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a top-performing sales professional, you know how to own your calendar, focus your energy, create opportunities, navigate the sales process, negotiate, and close deals. Yet, if you are like most new sales managers, there is still so much you don’t know and that can trip you up if you aren’t careful. Luckily, Mike Weinberg knows the pitfalls to avoid and mindset changes needed to successfully make the leap. This powerful new resource contains candid guidance on how to master your expanded responsibilities like a pro.
-
-
So much wisdom in one book!
- By Adam Allen on 09-11-23
By: Mike Weinberg
-
The Challenger Customer
- Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results
- By: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, and others
- Narrated by: Steve Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The authors unveil research that identifies Mobilizers and provide a roadmap for how sales and marketing teams can find them, engage them with disruptive insight, and leverage them to drive consensus across the customer organization. Once you have identified the Mobilizers among your customers, almost any rep, with the right coaching, tools, and marketing support can start a chain reaction that leads to a whole organization getting on board with even the most provocative ideas.
-
-
Love it, invaluable business resource!
- By Marxk Madhavan on 06-25-17
By: Brent Adamson, and others
-
The Challenger Sale
- Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
- By: Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
- Narrated by: Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades.
-
-
Bellow average book
- By Elias Karráa on 08-11-19
By: Matthew Dixon, and others
-
To Sell Is Human
- The Surprising Truth about Moving Others
- By: Daniel H. Pink
- Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than 15 million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase. But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight. Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others.
-
-
Lenghty book with a few solid tips on persuation
- By Gerardo A Dada on 01-21-13
By: Daniel H. Pink
-
Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes
- How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price
- By: Keenan
- Narrated by: Keenan
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
People don't buy from people they like. No! Your buyer doesn't care about you or your product or service. It's not your job to overcome objections, it's your buyer's. Closing isn't a skill of good salespeople; it's the skill of weak salespeople. Price isn't the main reason salespeople lose the sale. Gap Selling shreds traditional and closely held sales beliefs that have been hurting salespeople for decades. For years, salespeople have embraced a myriad of sales tactics and belief systems that have unknowingly created many of the issues they have been trying to avoid.
-
-
SPIN selling with more EQ mixed in
- By Amazon Customer on 09-28-19
By: Keenan
-
Nonprofit Board Success
- How to Build a Board of Directors So Good That Even the Top CEOs Would Be Jealous
- By: James Ruell
- Narrated by: Robert Grindley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by James Ruell, who has served as director and vice-treasurer of an award-winning charity, Nonprofit Board Success gives practical advice and proven techniques for building a top-notch board of directors—one that will make you the envy of CEOs everywhere.
-
-
Just what I was looking for
- By Jeremy B on 12-11-23
By: James Ruell
-
The First-Time Manager: Sales
- First-Time Manager Series
- By: Mike Weinberg
- Narrated by: Mike Weinberg
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a top-performing sales professional, you know how to own your calendar, focus your energy, create opportunities, navigate the sales process, negotiate, and close deals. Yet, if you are like most new sales managers, there is still so much you don’t know and that can trip you up if you aren’t careful. Luckily, Mike Weinberg knows the pitfalls to avoid and mindset changes needed to successfully make the leap. This powerful new resource contains candid guidance on how to master your expanded responsibilities like a pro.
-
-
So much wisdom in one book!
- By Adam Allen on 09-11-23
By: Mike Weinberg
-
The Challenger Customer
- Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results
- By: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, and others
- Narrated by: Steve Kramer
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The authors unveil research that identifies Mobilizers and provide a roadmap for how sales and marketing teams can find them, engage them with disruptive insight, and leverage them to drive consensus across the customer organization. Once you have identified the Mobilizers among your customers, almost any rep, with the right coaching, tools, and marketing support can start a chain reaction that leads to a whole organization getting on board with even the most provocative ideas.
-
-
Love it, invaluable business resource!
- By Marxk Madhavan on 06-25-17
By: Brent Adamson, and others
-
The Challenger Sale
- Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
- By: Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
- Narrated by: Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The need to understand what top-performing reps are doing that their average performing colleagues are not drove Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson, and their colleagues at Corporate Executive Board to investigate the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes that matter most for high performance. And what they discovered may be the biggest shock to conventional sales wisdom in decades.
-
-
Bellow average book
- By Elias Karráa on 08-11-19
By: Matthew Dixon, and others
-
To Sell Is Human
- The Surprising Truth about Moving Others
- By: Daniel H. Pink
- Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans works in sales. Every day more than 15 million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase. But dig deeper and a startling truth emerges: Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight. Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others.
-
-
Lenghty book with a few solid tips on persuation
- By Gerardo A Dada on 01-21-13
By: Daniel H. Pink
-
Sales Management. Simplified
- The Straight Truth About Getting Exceptional Results from Your Sales Team
- By: Mike Weinberg
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why do sales organizations fall short? Every day expert consultants like Mike Weinberg are called on by companies large and small to find the answer - and it's one that may surprise you. Typically the issue lies not with the sales team - but with how it is being led. Through their attitude and actions, senior executives and sales managers unknowingly undermine performance. In Sales Management. Simplified. Weinberg tells it straight, calling out the problems plaguing sales forces and the costly mistakes made by even the best-intentioned sales managers.
-
-
Results over Activity? Results win
- By Amazon Customer on 04-01-16
By: Mike Weinberg
-
Your Next Five Moves
- Master the Art of Business Strategy
- By: Patrick Bet-David
- Narrated by: Patrick Bet-David
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the creator of Valuetainment, the number-one YouTube channel for entrepreneurs, and “one of the most exciting thinkers” (Ray Dalio, author of Principles) in business today, comes a practical and effective guide for thinking more clearly and achieving your most audacious professional goals.
-
-
Mediocre; few actionable take-aways.
- By Michael on 10-31-20
-
The Hard Thing About Hard Things
- Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
- By: Ben Horowitz
- Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ben Horowitz offers essential advice on building and running a startup - practical wisdom for managing the toughest problems business school doesn’t cover, based on his popular ben’s blog. While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one. The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures, drawing from Horowitz’s personal and often humbling experiences.
-
-
For large company managers, not startups
- By Thomas on 03-18-14
By: Ben Horowitz
-
SPIN Selling
- By: Neil Rackham
- Narrated by: Eli Woods
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by Neil Rackham, former president and founder of Huthwaite corporation, SPIN Selling is a must-listen for anyone involved in selling or managing a sales force. Unquestionably the best-documented account of sales success ever collected and the result of the Huthwaite corporation's massive 12-year, one-million-dollar research into effective sales performance, this groundbreaking resource details the revolutionary SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy.
-
-
Sales and Science
- By Joe A Snyder III on 10-27-21
By: Neil Rackham
-
Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition
- Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
- By: Kim Scott
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The idea is simple: You don't have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor - avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy - you can be kind and clear at the same time. Kim Scott was a highly successful leader at Google before decamping to Apple, where she developed and taught a management class.
-
-
Odd Beginning in Revised Ed but Stick with it
- By nonscelus on 12-05-19
By: Kim Scott
-
Elevate
- Build a Business Where Everybody Wins
- By: Tommy Mello
- Narrated by: Tommy Mello
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tommy Mello, the Home Service Millionaire, shares what inspired him and how you can learn from his experiences. He quotes from his favorite successful business gurus and explains what it takes to get to the top. He teaches you his method for training and inspiring employees, teaching accountability, and improving performance for any size business. A lively discussion of what it takes to succeed.
-
-
Fun and exciting!
- By clint Mccannon on 04-18-25
By: Tommy Mello
-
No Rules Rules
- Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
- By: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, best-selling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial philosophies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from his own career, No Rules Rules is the full, fascinating, and untold story of a unique company making its mark on the world.
-
-
Infomercial for Netflix
- By Srikanth Raju on 11-01-20
By: Reed Hastings, and others
-
Winning
- By: Jack Welch, Suzy Welch
- Narrated by: Jack Welch
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Welch knows how to win. During his 40-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.
-
-
Jack's Alltime-Best
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-05
By: Jack Welch, and others
-
The Making of a Manager
- What to Do When Everyone Looks to You
- By: Julie Zhuo
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Julie Zhuo
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having managed dozens of teams spanning tens to hundreds of people, Julie Zhuo knows the most important lesson of all: Great managers are made, not born. The Making of a Manager is a modern field guide packed with everyday examples and transformative insights you need to be the kind of manager you wish you had.
-
-
Drink the Facebook Kool Aid
- By Amazon_Customer on 03-29-19
By: Julie Zhuo
-
Who
- The A Method for Hiring
- By: Geoff Smart, Randy Street
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Geoff Smart and Randy Street offer a simple, four-step method for hiring with confidence, designed for everyone from the CEO on down. Who shows you how to avoid the most common pitfalls of hiring, how to identify "A Players" - people who can perform their job better than 90 percent of the candidates in their field - and how to make sure the best candidate will be excited to join your organization.
-
-
Great book but need PDF of Scorecard material
- By Nancy Walsh on 10-17-12
By: Geoff Smart, and others
-
Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
- By: Patty McCord
- Narrated by: Patty McCord, Alex Hyde White
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.
-
-
Good HR criticism - wrong alternative solutions
- By Mauro Locarnini on 02-08-19
By: Patty McCord
-
Business Made Simple
- 60 Days to Master Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Execution, Management, Personal Productivity and More
- By: Donald Miller
- Narrated by: Donald Miller
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s hard to be successful without a clear understanding of how business works. These 60 daily entries from New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller focus on the tangible skills it takes to offer extreme value to your organization while building your company, your career, and your legacy.
-
-
Good content, but hated the constant sell
- By Pablo Alejo on 01-22-21
By: Donald Miller
What listeners say about It Happened on the Sales Floor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- max racey
- 08-26-24
My favorite non dunking KG
This was a nice easy listen that packed a lot of powerful punches and insight into the sales community.
It was targeted for the start up/ saas community but the lessons learned were universal throughout sales environments.
The raw honesty of bonehead moves throughout the years was honestly refreshing.
There are 365 days in a year and over 30 years I’m sure he left some things out!
For anyone looking for a little chuckle while gaining invaluable sales knowledge, this book is for you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- @paulmmcaffrey
- 07-12-23
A must read for founders and Sales Professionals on the path to excellence
If your a founder or a leader of a sales team then this is a must read. KGs experience over the last 28 years provides tidbits with detail that makes them a game changer. This level of detail is precise and very applicable e.g. KG shares the difference between Sales Athletes vs Sales Competitors and it’s not what you think. That alone could change the trajectory of your business.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephanie S.
- 04-25-24
Motivating and inspiring
A straightforward handbook on the do’s and dont’s on how to become a successful sales manager in today’s changing environment.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-29-23
A refreshing take on modern sales leadership
KG delivers a no-nonsense recount of the many facets of sales leadership through personal stories of his.
Humourous, witty, and free of "fluff."
A short listen, packed with a ton of value - you're guaranteed to learn something.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!