Welcome to Season 3 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest for Episode 56 is Alex Kane, Enterprise Select Account Executive at Samsara. Alex has been with the company for nearly seven years, witnessing and contributing to its growth from a startup to a publicly traded company.
In this episode, Ross and Alex discuss the importance of building and maintaining a winning mindset, motivation, and storytelling in sales.
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
Building and maintaining a winning mindset
Building and maintaining a winning mindset in sales is about more than just showing up — it’s about preparing in advance, being confident, and knowing when to leverage expertise. As Alex puts it, “A lot of people say luck is readiness meeting opportunity. If you have to put yourself in a position to be lucky, you can’t just wait for it and not do the preparation.”
The mindset shift here is crucial: success doesn’t come from luck alone, but from staying prepared and putting in the work before opportunities arise. Sales reps need to adopt this readiness, not only in knowledge of their product but also in how they present it with energy and enthusiasm. “The excitement, that’s what you want your team to be just frothing with. You have to gear them with product knowledge so they’re confident in what they’re talking about,” Alex explains. When reps feel knowledgeable and energized, they sell with conviction — a trait customers can feel. As Alex points out, “If you're not excited about what you're talking about, then why on earth should I be?” This emotional investment makes the difference between average pitches and memorable ones that drive conversions.
While product knowledge and enthusiasm are essential, a winning mindset also requires humility and the ability to recognize personal limitations — something even the most successful leaders embody. Alex highlights the importance of supplementing areas where expertise is lacking: “Take these great leaders, CEOs, and these killer companies. They are the first ones to tell you that they supplement areas of things that are not their expertise with other people who, that is their expertise.” The best reps, like CEOs, know that mastery doesn’t mean doing it all themselves.
“When there is something that is not my expertise, I’m going to bring in someone who is great at that, to supplement the thing that I might not be the best at. I want to be educated, know how to do it, but it's the same thing that the best CEOs do. They’re not trying to be the marketing officer. They’re not trying to be the CFO. They bring someone in to do those pieces so they can focus on what they’re great at.”
Being highly motivated
Highly motivated salespeople are willing to hustle and do what others aren’t. They dive deep into product knowledge, study customer case studies, and log more hours on the road than everyone else. And these actions aren’t easy — if they were, everyone would be doing them. But the top 10% of reps who go the extra mile are the ones who see the biggest successes.
“Real success comes from doing all the things that aren’t on the menu because it doesn’t necessarily equate to more revenue,” says Alex. “Does reading every single customer case study equal revenue? No. It’s a lot of time and effort that might not pay off. Does power using your product for months, pretending you’re a user, and spending your nights and weekends playing with the technology drive pipeline? No, technically it doesn’t. But these are the actions that make the greatest sales reps. These are the people who are willing to do what no one else is.”
Alex believes the key to sustained motivation is adopting an entrepreneurial mindset — one that goes beyond simply meeting quotas or showing up for the expected hours. “Most companies push their people to be good employees but what I want is for you to be so bought in on the idea that you’re an entrepreneur. This product is your product. This company is your company. Go out and evangelize it. The world is your oyster."
This mindset shift, according to Alex, unlocks the motivation to embrace the journey. “That’s what we really need to be pushing — a mindset where they’re bought into the outcome, into where it can go. And that’s no different than what we do with customers. We don’t sell them on pain; we sell them on the outcome, on the Utopia. The same goes for reps — we need to show them that there’s a Utopia in the cards for them and make it clear what it takes to get there.”
The bottom line? There’s no magic email cadence, perfect cold call script, or trial flow. To win, you have to put in the work, understand your audience, and stay motivated regardless of short-term outcomes. Remember, the most successful people in sales aren't waiting for the easy path — they’re committed to doing what others won’t, and that’s what sets them apart.
Mastering storytelling
At the heart of great selling is storytelling. Instead of overwhelming prospects with features or pressuring them into a decision, storytelling allows you to create an emotional connection, painting a picture of what your product or service can do for them.
“I always say if I were to write a book, it’d be called ‘Story Selling,’” shares Alex. “But I’m not selling anyone. I’m just telling stories about what we do, how it works for others, and those stories, in turn, are making people want to buy this product.”
The key to powerful storytelling is making it relatable — which requires knowing your audience inside and out. Alex explains, “If I say, ‘My product is going to save you X amount of dollars, deliver massive ROI, and solve all your problems,’ I just sound like a politician. But when I tell a story about someone in a similar role, at a similar company, dealing with the same issues — and how we’ve helped them — it puts you into their world. Suddenly, I’m not just talking about time or cost savings. I’m helping you see a tangible vision for how your future could change.”
So, how can sales reps master storytelling? Alex recommends these two strategies:
- Master the delivery of your message: Confidence is essential when delivering your story. Your public speaking skills play a huge role in how your message lands. “If you’re not a natural public speaker, there are ways to improve,” says Alex. “You can join Toastmasters, practice in front of peers, or take every opportunity to speak publicly.”
Keep in mind: the more you practice, the more comfortable and natural your delivery becomes. Confidence allows your story to resonate, making your audience believe in the value of what you're offering.
- Be strategic with your use of content: Content can add emotional weight to your stories when used thoughtfully. Alex shares his process:
“Every time I prospect a new company, I print out all of their customer stories. I read them and highlight the most important parts. Then, I go back and reread only the highlighted sections, this time underlining key impact statements. I do a third pass, rereading just the underlined sections. What I’m doing is building a mental Rolodex of stories I can easily recall and share.”
Alex emphasizes that storytelling in sales isn’t just about reciting case studies — those can be found on a one-pager. Instead, it’s about grounding your conversation in real experiences, showing your prospects that you truly understand their world. “The goal,” Alex explains, “is to help them see that we’ve worked with others facing the same challenges — and we can help them, too.”
Alex’s key takeaway: Choose a lane & stick to it
A hard lesson Alex learned in his career is the importance of committing fully to one path, rather than trying to balance multiple roles. “In my career, I’ve been very drawn to people leadership — I absolutely love it,” he explains.
“There’s a big difference between leadership and management. They’re not the same thing. So I was always one foot in that world and one foot in the other world, and I never gave myself the opportunity to be all in on either.”
For a while, Alex was balancing the responsibilities of an individual contributor with the expectations of management — leading trainings, mentoring new hires, and being a resource to the team. “I was doing all the things that leadership should be, but doing it in the lens of an individual contributor.”
This hands-on approach allowed him to lead by example, being “the tip of the spear, right there on the battlefield with everyone else, showing them the example of greatness.” But, living with one foot in each world left him stretched thin. “It wasn't until I finally said, Alex, you got to pick a lane. Which one of these things are you? You're either following this management career, or you're following this individual contributor career to the highest levels.” In choosing to let go of the management track and focus entirely on individual contribution, everything changed. “I went all in on being the best salesperson I can be. And I saw my earnings triple, quadruple. Everything changed for me the moment that I put both feet in the same pool and stopped being one foot in this world and one foot in that world.”
Alex’s main takeaway? Whether you aim to be the best in sales or want to climb the management ladder, success requires your full commitment.
About Alex
Alex is a top enterprise AE with a passion for storytelling. He has a knack for breaking down complex information and delivering it in a way that emotionally connects with customers. With over a decade of sales experience, Alex always goes the extra mile and takes pride in his work.
