Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012
January 12, 2012
The research team here at OpenView recently applied their talents toward identifying the most influential sales leaders on the Web today. Browse below for our list of 25 of the most powerful thought leaders in the world of sales management, lead generation, and more.
(Editor’s note: For more details on how this list was compiled, check out this blog post from Brandon Hickie on developing a prioritization scheme for market channel research.)
OpenView’s Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012 are:
Greg Alexander, Sales Benchmark Index
Greg started Sales Benchmark Index to provide sales consulting services to leading organizations across both private and public sectors. He is an active speaker and writer, co-authoring books such as Topgrading for Sales: World Class Methods to Interview, Hire, and Coach Top Sales Representatives.
Follow on Twitter: @GregAlexander
Bob Apollo, Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners
Bob is the Founder and Chief Strategist at Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, a U.K.-based B2B sales and marketing consulting firm. He’s written hundreds of articles on sales and marketing, and contributes regularly to the Inflexion-Point blog and Entrepreneur Country.
Follow on Twitter: @bobapollo
Trish Bertuzzi, The Bridge Group
Trish founded The Bridge Group in 1998 with the goal of helping technology companies build better and more successful inside sales teams. She’s a frequent contributor to the company’s Inside Sales Experts Blog, and was recently named one of the “Top 20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management” by SLMA.
Follow on Twitter: @bridgegroupinc
Ian Brodie, IanBrodie.com
Ian provides “straight talking marketing and sales advice for consultants, coaches and other professionals.” Based in the U.K., he offers coaching, training and consulting to help individuals and organizations reach their goals for business growth.
Follow on Twitter: @ianbrodie
Brian Carroll, MECLABS: B2B Lead Generation
Brian is the executive director of applied research at MECLABS, a science lab and consultancy that helps leaders optimize the financial performance of their sales and marketing programs. He is the CEO of InTouch and author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale.
Follow on Twitter: @brianjcarroll
Paul Castain, Castain Training Systems
This “VP of Jedi Mastery” has trained and mentored sales professionals for over 28 years. He owns the site Paul Castain’s Sales Playbook and hosts the The Sales Playbook Podcast.
Follow on Twitter: @paulcastain
Jonathan Farrington, JF Corporation
Jonathan is a globally recognized business coach, mentor, author and consultant. The Chairman of The JF Corporation and CEO of Top Sales Associates, he also contributes sales tips regularly to his popular blog.
Follow on Twitter: @jonofarrington
Colleen Francis, Engage Selling Solutions
A sales trainer and consultant with over 15 years of experience, Colleen is the founder and president of Engage Selling Solutions. She also writes the blog, Sell More & Work Less, where she contributes frequent tips for sales managers and professionals.
Follow on Twitter: @CFrancisVoice
Gerhard Gschwandtner, Selling Power Magazine
Gerhard is the creator of Selling Power Magazine (and Blog) as well as the Selling Power Sales Leadership Conference. He’s authored 16 books on selling and sales management, and broadcasts a daily video series where he interviews various sales leaders, CEOs and marketing experts.
Follow on Twitter: @gerhard20
Jeffrey Gitomer, Ace of Sales
A founding partner at Ace of Sales, Jeffrey manages the popular Sales Blog and is a renowned speaker and presenter. He’s also the author of such books as The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling.
Follow on Twitter: @gitomer
S. Anthony Iannarino, The Sales Blog
Anthony is the president of SOLUTIONS Staffing and a sales coach at B2BSalesCoach.com. He regularly contributes new tips and ideas for sales managers and professionals on his site, The Sales Blog.
Follow on Twitter: @iannarino
Jill Konrath, JillKonrath.com
Jill is a best-selling author and speaker with a focus on using fresh sales strategies that work in today’s business environment. She writes a popular blog and has authored several books, including SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies.
Follow on Twitter: @jillkonrath
Kendra Lee, KLA Group
As an IT sales and prospect attraction specialist with the Denver-based KLA Group, Kendra has been a featured speaker on selling to SMB companies at various international conferences, events and meetings. Her latest book, The Sales Magnet: How to Get More Customers Without Cold Calling, is available now.
Follow on Twitter: @KendraLeeKLA
Alen Mayer, AlenMajer.com
With over 20 years of experience in international sales and business development, Alen is recognized as a leading expert on B2B sales training. He has authored several books, including Selling Is Better Than Sex and Trigger Events or How to Find Your Next Customer.
Follow on Twitter: @mayeralen
Mac McIntosh, Business-to-Business Sales Lead Experts
Mac is a seasoned consultant and speaker who specializes in helping companies get more high-quality B2B sales leads.
Follow on Twitter: @B2B_Sales_Leads
Sean McPheat, MTD Sales Training Specialists
Sean is the founder and Managing Director of MTD Training, a U.K. company that offers sales training and management solutions for companies of all sizes. He is a popular speaker in the sales training circuit and the author of the best-selling book eselling®.
Follow on Twitter: @SeanMcPheat
Sharon Drew Morgan, SharonDrewMorgan.com
Sharon has worked for over 20 years as a thought leader in the fields of decision making and sales. In addition to her own blog, she also manages the New Sales Paradigm website and has authored the best-selling book Dirty Little Secrets.
Follow on Twitter: @sharondrew
Jeff Ogden, Find New Customers
Jeff is the president of Find New Customers, which focuses on “demand generation made simple.” He writes for the popular blog Fearless Competitor and hosts the B2B marketing show Marketing Made Simple TV.
Follow on Twitter: @fearlesscomp
Lori Richardson, Score More Sales
Lori is a blogger, speaker, inside sales trainer and B2B sales detective for Score More Sales, a sales strategy organization that she founded in 2001. Her motto is, “Keep your focus, keep it simple, track your metrics, and make a 1% improvement every day.”
Follow on Twitter: @scoremoresales
Kelley Robertson, Fearless Selling
As president of The Robertson Training Group, Kelley works to help sales professionals master their conversations and win more business. He’s an accomplished keynote speaker and presenter, and has authored two books, including The Secrets of Power Selling.
Follow on Twitter: @Kel_Robertson
Lee B. Salz, Sales Architects
Lee is a leading Sales Management Strategist and founder of Sales Architects. He specializes in helping companies hire the right sales people, effectively onboard them and align their activities with business objectives.
Follow on Twitter: @SalesArchitects
Tibor Shanto, Renbor Sales Solutions
Tibor is an accomplished sales speaker and author of the award-winning sales book Shift!: Harness The Trigger Events That Turn Prospects Into Customers. You can read his frequent thoughts and musings at The Pipeline, the Renbor sales blog.
Follow on Twitter: @TiborShanto
David Steel, The Steel Method
An expert and motivational speaker in the areas of sales and social media, David manages the Steel on Sales blog and has written the popular book (now a free eBook) The Care and Feeding of Highly Aggressive Sales People.
Follow on Twitter: @dsteel
Elinor Stutz, SmoothSale
Elinor is an international speaker, author and CEO of SmoothSale, LLC, a sales training company based in California. Her site maintains a running blog of sales tips (as of January 10, it was at tip no. 653!), and speaks frequently to help others “fully thrive in business, sales or their next career move.”
Follow on Twitter: @smoothsale
Mike Weinberg, The New Sales Coach
Mike is a coach, consultant, and speaker with a focus on helping organizations generate new sales. He is currently writing a book on prospecting and new business development, due for release in fall 2012.
Follow on Twitter: @mike_weinberg
For more on sales management and business development, check out our Sales topic page.