<p>I sit down with Sean Gannon, founder of GTMPPL (GTM People), to answer the &quot;unanswerable&quot; question: <em>Who is Sean Gannon?</em>. We dive into a refreshing take on sales leadership—why the best managers strive to make themselves obsolete—and explore the often friction-filled relationship between sales and marketing.</p><p>From the trenches of EdTech to the nuances of Sandler training, Sean shares candid stories about the transition from &quot;spreadsheet inspection&quot; to true coaching. We also discuss why &quot;everyone sells&quot; (even if they don&#39;t have a quota) and share a hilarious cautionary tale about what happens when a salesperson sticks to the script even after the customer has said &quot;yes.&quot;</p><p><strong>Key Highlights &amp; Takeaways:</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>The &quot;Obsolete&quot; Manager:</strong> Sean argues that a manager’s ultimate goal is to make themselves invisible and obsolete; if the team can&#39;t function without you, you aren&#39;t doing your job.</p></li><li><p><strong>Everyone is in Sales:</strong> Whether you are an SDR, a CSM, or pitching a project to your boss, everyone in the organization is selling something.</p></li><li><p><strong>Marketing vs. Sales:</strong> We dismantle the old school &quot;throw it over the wall&quot; mentality regarding leads. Sean emphasizes that while marketing provides air cover, they must care about close rates, not just lead volume.</p></li><li><p><strong>Coaching vs. Inspection:</strong> Sean opens up about his evolution from a manager who managed by spreadsheet to a leader who focused on coaching, which drastically improved his team&#39;s retention from 18 to 36 months.</p></li><li><p><strong>The Danger of the Script:</strong> A great lesson on reading the room—Sean shares a story where a salesperson kept taking him through the Sandler &quot;pain funnel&quot; even though Sean was already sold and ready to buy.</p></li><li><p><strong>Authenticity Wins:</strong> Why &quot;I don&#39;t know&quot; is a perfectly acceptable answer that builds more rapport than faking it.</p><p><br></p></li></ul><p><strong>Memorable Quotes:</strong></p><ul><li><p><em>&quot;I view my role as an executive or a sales manager... to make myself obsolete. Like, I should be relatively invisible as your manager.&quot;</em> — Sean Gannon </p></li><li><p><em>&quot;Your job is to sell the meeting... not to sell the company, isn&#39;t to sell the solution.&quot;</em> — Sean Gannon </p></li></ul><li><p><em>&quot;The best sales enablement, you don&#39;t know what&#39;s being done to you. You don&#39;t know what&#39;s being done for you.&quot;</em> — Lee Levitt </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Closing Thought:</strong>As Sean pointed out, the ultimate goal of a leader is to become &quot;invisible&quot;—building a team so competent and well-coached that they no longer need you to intervene. Are you managing by &quot;inspection,&quot; looking for mistakes in a spreadsheet, or are you coaching for longevity?. This episode challenges us to stop hovering and start empowering</p></li><li><p><strong>Next Steps:</strong>If you are ready to build a revenue engine that scales (and maybe finally make yourself obsolete), go say hello to Sean.</p><ul><li><p><strong>Visit:</strong> <a href="http://gtmppl.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">GTMPPL.com</a> </p></li><li><p><strong>Connect:</strong> Find <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanpgannon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Sean Gannon</a> on LinkedIn for his latest observations on the industry.</p></li><li><p><strong>Listen &amp; Subscribe:</strong> Don’t miss an episode of <em>Thoughts on Selling</em>. Hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!</p></li></ul></li>