"Best practices" sound smart. Strategic. Safe.

But what if chasing them is exactly why you feel more confused than ever?

Sales has changed. What worked in 2020 or 2021 does not automatically work today. And everywhere you look, someone has a new framework, script, or foolproof playbook.

Here's the problem:

Best practices are context dependent.

What works for one company will not automatically work for yours. What works in one season may fail in the next. And when leaders start collecting tactics instead of standing on principles, sales becomes performative instead of effective.

In this short, impromptu episode, I break down:

• Why more frameworks are not creating more clarity

• How chasing trends reduces ownership

• The difference between copying a strategy and adapting an idea

• The one question to ask before implementing anything new

Before you ask, "Does this work?"
Ask, "Does this fit us?"

Does it fit our team, our clients, our model, our season?

Strong leaders do not chase shiny things.
They adapt them.
They own them.

If what used to work is not working anymore, do not panic. Refine. Lead. Trust your discernment.

Sales are still happening.
It is time to stop chasing and start owning.

Let's chase impact.

Let's go.

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 mandyminitello@gmail.com
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

Chasing Impact, Not Sales Podcast — with guest Kelsey O'Neal

If you've ever hired a salesperson and thought… "Wait. Why is this harder than it should be?" You're going to love this episode.

This week, I'm sitting down with an old friend, Kelsey O'Neal. We worked together about six years ago (which feels like a minute and a lifetime), and since then she has built what I can only describe as a sales empire — not by chasing shiny tactics, but by obsessing over the thing that actually matters: placing the right people in the right rooms so everyone wins.

Kelsey is the founder of a recruiting agency that has placed 485+ sales reps (closers, setters, and high-level sales leadership like VPs and CROs). And what makes her approach different is that it's not "post and pray" hiring. It's not swiping on LinkedIn like Tinder. It's intentional. It's relational. It's what she calls the matchmaker approach.

And then we go even deeper… into the heart of sales, serving, faith, mindset, and why so many service-hearted people struggle to fully own their skill in selling.

This one is rich. Let's go.

• How Kelsey went from ministry → high-ticket sales → recruiting agency owner

• The real difference between hiring for skill vs hiring for culture and retention

• Why Kelsey's agency sweet spot is companies doing $1M–$5M with real infrastructure

• The "matchmaker vs Tinder" analogy for hiring sales talent (iconic, honestly)

• Why sales mastery is both science and art — framework + intuition

• What business owners must have in place before they hire their first rep
  (lead flow, systems, onboarding, expectations… the unsexy stuff that matters)

• What top sales reps should do to protect their career:
  keep call recordings (if allowed), track proof, know your numbers, don't burn bridges

If it's time to hire, it's because you're solving a constraint.
When you have more leads than you can handle and you have the systems to support a rep… then it's time.

And for sales pros: track your data like your future depends on it — because in this industry, it kind of does.

🌐 RemoteSalesCareer.com
(Reach out if you're hiring: setters, closers, client success, or sales leadership)

If you're a founder trying to scale without chaos… or a sales pro trying to grow a real career with integrity… this episode is for you.

As always: we're not chasing sales.
We're chasing impact.

Let's go.

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 mandyminitello@gmail.com
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

The Real Reason Revenue Is Flat**

If your sales team is busy, but revenue is flat or unpredictable...this episode is for you.

In this solo episode of Chasing Impact, Not Sales, Mandy follows up on a recent conversation about KPIs that sparked more discussion than expected. Leaders kept saying the same thing:

👉 "Activity is up. Calendars are full. Slack is buzzing… but revenue isn't moving."

So Mandy breaks it down clearly and honestly:

This is not a motivation problem.
It's not a hustle problem.
And it's not a reflection of broken people or lazy sales reps.

Most of the time, flat revenue is a clarity problem.

In this episode, Mandy unpacks how well-meaning leaders accidentally train teams to equate busyness with effectiveness; and why that creates burnout, pressure, and stalled growth instead of results.

• Why activity metrics are inputs, not proof of effectiveness

• How busyness becomes "safe" because it's visible—but misleading

• The danger of rewarding activity instead of impact

• Why teams can be doing everything right for the wrong audience

• The question every leader should ask:
  If activity doubled tomorrow, would revenue double?
  
  

• How to identify where deals slow down, stall, or quietly die

• Why sales leadership is about focus and refocus—not enforcement

• How one small change can eliminate massive busywork

• Why clarity always comes before scale

Mandy also challenges leaders to stop asking:

"Are they doing enough?"

And instead ask:

"Is what they're doing aligned—with the audience, the outcomes, and the impact we want to create?"

Because flat revenue doesn't mean broken people.
It means unclear systems.

And clarity, when applied thoughtfully, can create seven-figure shifts without burning teams to the ground.

If this episode hits close to home and you're feeling stuck between hustle and burnout, reach out for a deep-dive sales audit to uncover what's actually breaking down—and fix it without overhauling everything.

👉 Book a conversation with Mandy:
https://calendly.com/mandyminitello-consult/30min

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 mandyminitello@gmail.com
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

What actually makes a sales team great?

Is it scripts?
More leads?
Better tech?

In this episode of Chasing Impact, Not Sales, Mandy sits down with Emily Maxie to go behind the scenes of what high-performing sales teams are really built on and ... spoiler alert, it's not ego or hustle culture.

Emily brings the perspective of a true operator: someone who doesn't just talk strategy but builds systems, coaches people, and aligns teams to execute with confidence.

Together, Mandy and Emily unpack what separates average sales teams from elite ones, including:

• Why confidence (not arrogance) is the real sales superpower

• How curiosity and coachability outperform "natural talent" every time

• What weekly call reviews should look like — and why team-wide coaching matters

• The danger of too many good ideas and not enough execution capacity

• Why scripts kill growth and context creates momentum

• How sales, marketing, and product alignment drives real revenue results

This conversation is especially for founders, sales leaders, and growth-minded professionals who are tired of chasing shiny tactics and ready to build teams that win with integrity, confidence, and clarity.

If you've ever felt the tension between swagger and humility, vision and execution, or growth and sustainability, this episode is for you.

Emily Maxie is a revenue-first operator helping B2B SaaS startups use AI to close more deals — not just generate more noise. As Chief Growth Officer at Firm360, she runs the full go-to-market motion, aligning sales, marketing, and product to accelerate pipeline, amplify brand trust, and boost conversion at every stage.

Emily has spent her career inside early-stage and scaling startups, partnering closely with founders to turn vision into execution and build high-performing teams that actually deliver.

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilymaxie/

As always, if this episode resonates, share it with a leader who's building something meaningful — and remember, it's not about chasing sales.

It's about chasing impact. 💥

If this episode resonated and you're ready to lock in your sales systems, leadership approach, or KPI structure and management:

👉 Book a conversation with Mandy:
https://calendly.com/mandyminitello-consult/30min

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 mandyminitello@gmail.com
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

In this solo episode, Mandy breaks down a simple, human-first KPI framework designed to help sales leaders, founders, and service-based business owners stop chasing vanity metrics and start tracking what actually moves the needle.

If KPIs have ever felt overwhelming, misaligned, or disconnected from how your team really sells, this episode is your reset.

This is not about adding more dashboards.
It's about clarity, consistency, and confidence going into your next quarter and beyond.

This episode walks through a practical framework built around:

• Inputs – What your team can control daily and weekly

• Outputs – What indicates progress and effectiveness

• Outcomes – What actually drives revenue, retention, and trust

The goal is to create visibility without micromanagement and accountability without fear.

KPIs should create:

• Better conversations

• Better coaching

• Better decisions

Not anxiety, confusion, or reactive leadership.

This framework is designed to help you lead with intention and build momentum throughout the year instead of constantly "starting over."

DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET

• Sales leaders managing teams

• Founders selling alongside running the business

• Coaches and consultants tracking sales performance

• Anyone who wants a clean, repeatable way to measure progress without overcomplicating it

Audit your current KPIs and ask:

• Which ones actually inform decisions?

• Which ones create clarity?

• Which ones can be eliminated?

Then choose fewer, better metrics and commit to reviewing them consistently.

DOWNLOAD THE CHEAT SHEET

If this episode resonated and you're ready to lock in your sales systems, leadership approach, or KPI structure and management:

👉 Book a conversation with Mandy:
https://calendly.com/mandyminitello-consult/30min

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 mandyminitello@gmail.com
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

🎙️ Episode 19: Where Does AI End?

If you're curious about where AI belongs and where it doesn't, this episode will hit home. We dig into what AI should do in sales, learning, and enablement, and why human judgment, empathy, and strategic thinking still matter.

• How AI can serve as an "assistant" supporting workflows, formatting, and repetitive tasks — without replacing human creativity or strategy

• Why there's value in preserving original thought, human insight, and personal experience in our work even as we lean into powerful AI tools

• The lines between automation and authenticity and how leaning too heavily into AI can erode trust and human connection

• What it looks like to use AI responsibly: letting it enhance productivity, not define the work

• A clear framework for when to rely on AI and when to trust human wisdom and experience

• A sharper sense of how to integrate AI tools without losing your voice or authenticity

• An approach that values strategy, empathy, and impact over flashy automation

• A fresh perspective on how AI and human judgment can complement each other, not compete

Ask yourself: "Is this task I'm giving to AI something that benefits from automation, or does it need my strategic mind, empathy, and experience?"

If you're using AI to polish or structure ideas you've created, that's smart. If you're letting it take over the thinking, you are losing something vital.

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about working with Mandy
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

🎙️ Episode 18: FRACTIONAL LEADERSHIP:THE SECRET WEAPON IN A SKEPTICAL MARKET

In this short, candid episode, Mandy breaks down why fractional leadership has become one of the fastest-growing solutions for modern businesses — and why the real driver isn't budget cuts, it's trust.

From holiday conversations to behind-the-scenes sales strategy, Mandy shares what fractionals actually do, why companies are turning to them, and how this model is reshaping the way founders and CEOs scale in today's market.

• What a fractional officer really is (beyond the buzzword)

• Why so many leaders are "trigger shy" in 2024–2025

• The difference between a trust recession and a financial recession

• Why consumers and CEOs are evaluating ROI differently

• What makes fractional operators uniquely powerful

• The four biggest reasons companies choose fractional leadership

• How fractional roles give organizations high-caliber expertise without long-term commitment

The market isn't slow — it's skeptical. Trust has become the currency, and fractional leadership gives founders access to elite-level strategy without the risk, cost, or permanence of a traditional executive hire.

If your sales system feels stuck, inconsistent, or unclear, Mandy can help you build a high-trust, high-conversion sales engine.

Connect on LinkedIn to explore fractional or project-based support.

If this conversation pushed you, encouraged you, or gave you your fire back… share it with someone who needs it. And as always, thank you for chasing impact with me — not just sales.

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about working with Mandy
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.

🎙️ Episode 17: Sales Start with Vision

If your sales feel scattered, inconsistent, or heavy… this episode is the reset you need. Today, we're breaking down why every powerful sales motion starts with vision. Unpopular opinion, it's not scripts, not tactics, not hustle…Vision.

Because when you're clear on where you're going, the way you sell, lead, and show up becomes intentional. And intentionality creates confidence. Confidence creates consistency. And consistency creates conversions.

Inside this episode, we dig into what it actually looks like to build a vision your team can rally around, how to anchor your daily actions to that vision, and why clarity is the difference between a team that performs and a team that burns out.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why vision is the foundation of every high-performing sales culture
• How to create clarity your team can feel, not just hear
• The link between vision, accountability, and daily habits
• What happens when your onboarding and coaching reinforce the wrong things
• How to course-correct when your team drifts from the mission

Takeaways you'll want to write down:

• Vision isn't a vibe — it's a strategy.
• You cannot ask your team for consistency if you haven't given them clarity.
• The way you onboard people sets the tone for the culture you build.
• When the vision is strong, the tactics become simple.

My challenge to you this week:

Ask yourself, "Is my vision strong enough to hold the goals I keep setting?"
If the answer feels like a maybe, this episode will help you tighten it up.

Ready to align your vision with action, energy, and revenue?

If you're tired of guessing, piecing it together alone, or running a team that feels way busier than it is productive… let's work together. I help leaders build sales systems and learning ecosystems that match the vision they say they want — and generate the revenue to support it.
If you're ready to lead with clarity and sell with confidence, reach out. Your next level starts with vision.

If this conversation pushed you, encouraged you, or gave you your fire back… share it with someone who needs it. And as always, thank you for chasing impact with me — not just sales.

Connect with Mandy:
🔗 Follow Mandy on LinkedIn
🌐 Learn more about working with Mandy
📥 Want a sales system that feels good and works? Let's talk.