Here’s the thing that drives me crazy about the sales training industry – and I mean the entire $400 billion industry that Harvard Business Review and McKinsey have called a massive failure. After two and a half decades in B2B sales, sales management, and leadership, combined with three decades studying psychology and neuroscience, I figured out something that should be obvious but somehow isn’t: the change isn’t in learning more selling skills.

Don’t get me wrong – there are some good, time-tested techniques out there, and they matter. But they’re not the problem. The problem is that we’ve been trying to build a house starting with the roof.

I learned this the hard way, first with myself. No matter what skills I was taught, no matter how many techniques I mastered, I still had these internal conflicts that completely hampered my ability to execute on what I’d learned. I’d walk into a meeting with a CEO, knowing exactly what to do, but my limiting beliefs and fears would take over. Sound familiar?

Then when I became a manager, director, and eventually senior executive, I refused to sit around waiting on lagging indicators. People thought I was nuts – here’s this EVP of Sales and Marketing spending what seemed like inordinate amounts of time with each individual sales rep on a continuous basis. But I knew where real change had to happen: with each individual person, not with “the team.”

And you know what? Those leading indicators I focused on produced the lagging indicators we wanted – increased performance across the board.

Let’s be clear about something upfront. When you hear another training company claim they can “guarantee” results, you should pause. Either they’re redefining success after the fact, or it’s simply not true. I’d love to sit with the CFOs of those “transformed” companies that experienced these gains to see if those numbers line up. My bet? They don’t.

Real transformation demands more than a showboating front man act. You don’t need a rock star who struts for applause. You need an Army Ranger in the trenches who fights alongside your people and never leaves a rep behind.

Here’s the reality: people are complex. Culture, leadership style, market shifts, individual beliefs, ego, confidence, fear—these collide in the real world. Statistically speaking, blanket numbers across the myriads of human behaviors make these statements highly questionable. Anyone telling you they can stamp a neat percentage on guaranteed outcomes is deceitful.

If you paid a million dollars to the best SAT tutor in the world would you expect your child would walk out with a perfect 1600? –Probably not. One can’t guarantee this outcome and anyone saying differently is lying to you. Sales is even more dynamic than test prep.

HBR explicitly states traditional curriculum-based trainees forget 80%+ within ~90 days

At Neural Sales Mastery, we don’t play that game. We don’t sell certainty-in-a-box. We run a science-backed process—grounded in neuroscience, psychology, the most current pedological frameworks, and decades in the field that measures, adapts, and strengthens each person. Because sales isn’t a pep rally; it’s an individual sport. Most reps are alone at a desk, in a car, or on a call, making decisions under pressure. They don’t need slogans. They need transformation.

We start with a baseline of where each individual is today. We track their growth throughout the program, not just at the end. And if an approach isn’t resonating with one person, we adjust — just like a doctor changes medication when the first prescription doesn’t fit. We don’t walk away, and we don’t leave people behind.

It sickens me that companies and our education system don’t address the first and most critical step on the path of knowledge and performance, which is how to learn. If we don’t rely on neuroscience and teach advanced learning skills no sales training in the world will matter.

During our first step of diagnostic discovery, we introduce each rep to the latest in cognitive methods to enhance retention and recall real-world high-pressure applications. We work to rewire neural pathways so what they learn actually sticks when it matters.

We don’t pull people into a classroom, dump information, and expect retention. The science is clear: skills learned and reinforced under real-world pressure are the ones that stick. So we operate in the trenches, on real calls, in real emails, in live meetings because that’s where growth actually happens. Classroom theory creates temporary knowledge; pressure builds permanent skill.

Micromanagement is killing performance. Most companies double down on control: dashboards, rigid scripts, micromanagement, endless meetings. You’ve tried to control your way to growth. What if the real growth comes from unlocking your reps instead of boxing them in?

Our core belief is simple: autonomy drives performance. When individuals get the tools, science-based strategies, and support to own their results, they don’t just sell more—they become more confident, more resilient, and more engaged. Empowered people don’t need micromanagement. When individuals thrive, teams strengthen organically.

Here’s what’s fundamentally broken, and it starts way before anyone gets to sales training. From kindergarten through college and beyond, the first mandatory class should be how to learn. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, we didn’t have neuroscience to the degree we have today. We had psychology, but it wasn’t being implemented in the real world – it was stuck in clinical settings.

But here’s the deal: if you can’t retain information, recall it, and execute on it under pressure, then every course, every training program, every module is worthless. It will be forgotten. Science proves this time and time again.

That’s why we start with advanced learning skills. We’re not working in that 5% of the brain we identify with – we’re going deep into the amygdala, into the mammalian and reptilian brain where behaviors actually exist and can be rewired.

Once you understand how to learn, we transform from the inside out. You have to become interconnected with yourself before you can build human-to-human connections. You can’t authentically connect with others until you’ve dealt with your own limiting beliefs and feel comfortable being your authentic self.

This isn’t touchy-feely stuff – this is competitive advantage. In a world inundated with digital interaction, social media, and AI, that human connection is going to be your biggest differentiator. Science has proven that 90% of our decisions – including buying decisions – are emotion-based. Only 10% are logical. If you don’t have that emotional connection, you’re dead in the water.

Then we go deep into communication – not just communication “skills,” but how to communicate unconsciously, in split seconds, before you even open your mouth. We teach you to read people’s nuances and archetypes immediately, to walk into a room and unconsciously pick up cues and signals from every person you’ll be pitching to, then communicate with each individual on their level.

You know Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research on flow states? He did this incredible longitudinal study over 20 years across multiple countries and cultures. People carried pagers that would go off randomly, and they’d write down what they were doing and how they felt. His conclusion? Reading was the most common way to get into flow state – that peak performance zone where you’re not thinking about past or future, just completely in the moment.

But watching TV or training videos? That doesn’t require enough mental capital to achieve flow. So all those video modules everyone’s pushing? They’re actually working against peak learning and retention.

Rock climbers are in flow – they’re not thinking about anything except where their next grip is and staying roped up so they don’t die. Race car drivers, same thing. That’s the state we need for real transformation.

Here’s something that might surprise you: we promote complete autonomy. Science shows us that micromanagement kills performance – it literally shuts down the frontal lobe and stops dopamine production. Sales reps cannot perform in an environment where they’re being told what to do and having someone look over their shoulder constantly.

That’s why we work with each individual, not teams. People are different. They learn differently, think differently, ARE different. That’s why we want them to be authentic.

Some companies won’t be a good fit if they have a control-and-demand culture. But for companies that embrace this approach? Each salesperson develops their own system and workflow. As long as they’re producing results and staying on brand, why should the company care how they do it?

Here’s something that’ll probably shock you: out of 17 sections in this program, only six are focused on selling – from prospecting to closing to referrals to advocacy. That’s it. That should tell you where the real importance lies.

Before we ever get there, we’re working on learning how to learn, retaining and recalling under pressure, and rewiring the internal framework — the stuff that quietly kills performance: call reluctance, intimidation with executives, imposter syndrome, etc. And we’re doing all of that inside sales scenarios so it sticks where it counts.

Same with social intelligence, dialogue, communication, and negotiation: we teach you to meet each person on their level (no two are the same), run advanced conversations, and apply it in sales environments — so when we reach the selling sections, the mechanics feel natural, not forced.

We also make sure reps know their solution deeply enough to spot needs that don’t fit a neat product box — then assemble new value by piecing together the company’s capabilities. That isn’t order-taking; that’s creating opportunity.

One more thing: while we teach inside a sales environment, the skill set applies anywhere — leadership, cross-functional work, tough stakeholder conversations, life outside the quota — because the operating system is the point.

The balance piece isn’t just lifestyle balance – it goes so much deeper. When people go through this program, they want to stay at their companies longer. They perform better without the stress. They feel empowered. They actually want to come to work because it’s not a grind anymore.

It’s not stressful to talk to senior executives when you’ve connected with yourself and mastered human connection. They don’t have people micromanaging them. They can set their own hours as long as they’re taking care of business at a much higher level.

And we measure everything – but we spend more time on leading indicators than lagging indicators, because we know those leading indicators are the only things that affect the outcomes we want.

This program exists because everything else has failed. You can’t just show up, throw some slides up, and give people video modules. You can’t train a team and expect individual transformation. You can’t teach skills without first addressing the internal framework that either supports or sabotages those skills.

What we’ve created here is a complete system that builds on itself, step by step, creating real behavioral change from the inside out. It’s not just about making better salespeople – it’s about helping people become more effective, more authentic, and more successful in every aspect of their lives.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what actually works.

Here’s the thing that drives me crazy about the sales training industry – and I mean the entire $400 billion industry that Harvard Business Review and McKinsey have called a massive failure. After two and a half decades in B2B sales, sales management, and leadership, combined with three decades studying psychology and neuroscience, I figured out something that should be obvious but somehow isn’t: the change isn’t in learning more selling skills.

Don’t get me wrong – there are some good, time-tested techniques out there, and they matter. But they’re not the problem. The problem is that we’ve been trying to build a house starting with the roof.

I learned this the hard way, first with myself. No matter what skills I was taught, no matter how many techniques I mastered, I still had these internal conflicts that completely hampered my ability to execute on what I’d learned. I’d walk into a meeting with a CEO, knowing exactly what to do, but my limiting beliefs and fears would take over. Sound familiar?

Then when I became a manager, director, and eventually senior executive, I refused to sit around waiting on lagging indicators. People thought I was nuts – here’s this EVP of Sales and Marketing spending what seemed like inordinate amounts of time with each individual sales rep on a continuous basis. But I knew where real change had to happen: with each individual person, not with “the team.”

And you know what? Those leading indicators I focused on produced the lagging indicators we wanted – increased performance across the board.

Here’s what’s fundamentally broken, and it starts way before anyone gets to sales training. From kindergarten through college and beyond, the first mandatory class should be how to learn. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, we didn’t have neuroscience to the degree we have today. We had psychology, but it wasn’t being implemented in the real world – it was stuck in clinical settings.

But here’s the deal: if you can’t retain information, recall it, and execute on it under pressure, then every course, every training program, every module is worthless. It will be forgotten. Science proves this time and time again.

That’s why we start with advanced learning skills. We’re not working in that 5% of the brain we identify with – we’re going deep into the amygdala, into the mammalian and reptilian brain where behaviors actually exist and can be rewired.

Once you understand how to learn, we transform from the inside out. You have to become interconnected with yourself before you can build human-to-human connections. You can’t authentically connect with others until you’ve dealt with your own limiting beliefs and feel comfortable being your authentic self.

This isn’t touchy-feely stuff – this is competitive advantage. In a world inundated with digital interaction, social media, and AI, that human connection is going to be your biggest differentiator. Science has proven that 90% of our decisions – including buying decisions – are emotion-based. Only 10% are logical. If you don’t have that emotional connection, you’re dead in the water.

Then we go deep into communication – not just communication “skills,” but how to communicate unconsciously, in split seconds, before you even open your mouth. We teach you to read people’s nuances and archetypes immediately, to walk into a room and unconsciously pick up cues and signals from every person you’ll be pitching to, then communicate with each individual on their level.

You know Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research on flow states? He did this incredible longitudinal study over 20 years across multiple countries and cultures. People carried pagers that would go off randomly, and they’d write down what they were doing and how they felt. His conclusion? Reading was the most common way to get into flow state – that peak performance zone where you’re not thinking about past or future, just completely in the moment.

But watching TV or training videos? That doesn’t require enough mental capital to achieve flow. So all those video modules everyone’s pushing? They’re actually working against peak learning and retention.

Rock climbers are in flow – they’re not thinking about anything except where their next grip is and staying roped up so they don’t die. Race car drivers, same thing. That’s the state we need for real transformation.

Here’s something that might surprise you: we promote complete autonomy. Science shows us that micromanagement kills performance – it literally shuts down the frontal lobe and stops dopamine production. Sales reps cannot perform in an environment where they’re being told what to do and having someone look over their shoulder constantly.

That’s why we work with each individual, not teams. People are different. They learn differently, think differently, ARE different. That’s why we want them to be authentic.

Some companies won’t be a good fit if they have a control-and-demand culture. But for companies that embrace this approach? Each salesperson develops their own system and workflow. As long as they’re producing results and staying on brand, why should the company care how they do it?

Here’s something that’ll probably shock you: out of 17 sections in this program, only three are about traditional selling – from prospecting to closing to referrals to advocacy. That’s it. That should tell you where the real importance lies.

By the time we get to those sections, people have already transformed their internal framework, mastered human connection, learned to communicate at an unconscious level, and understand negotiation (which pulls together everything they’ve learned so far). The selling part becomes natural.

We also make sure they know their solution so deeply that they can identify client needs that don’t fit the standard product mix, then create new solutions by piecing together company capabilities. They’re not just taking orders – they’re adding real value and creating new opportunities.

The balance piece isn’t just lifestyle balance – it goes so much deeper. When people go through this program, they want to stay at their companies longer. They perform better without the stress. They feel empowered. They actually want to come to work because it’s not a grind anymore.

It’s not stressful to talk to senior executives when you’ve connected with yourself and mastered human connection. They don’t have people micromanaging them. They can set their own hours as long as they’re taking care of business at a much higher level.

And we measure everything – but we spend more time on leading indicators than lagging indicators, because we know those leading indicators are the only things that affect the outcomes we want.

This program exists because everything else has failed. You can’t just show up, throw some slides up, and give people video modules. You can’t train a team and expect individual transformation. You can’t teach skills without first addressing the internal framework that either supports or sabotages those skills.

What we’ve created here is a complete system that builds on itself, step by step, creating real behavioral change from the inside out. It’s not just about making better salespeople – it’s about helping people become more effective, more authentic, and more successful in every aspect of their lives.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what actually works.