Welcome to Season 3 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest for Episode 69 is Chris Taylor, Founder and President, OneMove Advisory. Before launching his own company, Chris held leadership roles at Databricks, Hortonworks, and TIBCO. He brings more than 30 years of experience to the conversation.
In this episode, Ross and Chris share three tips for achieving execution excellence: structure, champion building, and teamwork.
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
Being structured
In sales, everything rides on reps being able to hit their quarterly targets. The challenge is that in the push to close deals and prepare for the next cycle, it’s all too easy to let important— but less urgent — tasks slide. That might mean failing to support new reps, falling behind on pipeline building, or neglecting consistent prospecting.
“I think sometimes sales may attract people who like a bit of an unstructured world, you know, be your own boss, create your own success,” says Chris. “In reality — especially as an entrepreneur — there’s a structure that’s required to be good. It’s not all creativity and doing it on the fly.”
This is why maintaining a disciplined cadence is so important. When you’re structured, crucial activities won’t slip through the cracks. Whether it’s a standing one-on-one with every rep or personal blocks of time dedicated to outreach, a steady framework keeps you from sacrificing important, long-term goals for short term urgencies.
Chris’ advice? Implement a regular rhythm in your sales process. Schedule weekly check-ins with your team to review progress, brainstorm solutions, and stay on track for both quarterly and annual goals. Set non-negotiable blocks of time to prospect, follow up, and prepare for the next sprint. This consistent structure not only prevents last-minute chaos but also builds a more predictable, successful sales process.
Champion Building
“If you think of a pyramid for having great structure in a deal, probably the single greatest moment of structure you can attain is having a great champion because that champion is the doorway to most of the information you’re going to need to make that deal happen. And not just information, but also assistance,” says Chris.
But before you can start champion building. You need to first define what a champion is. “The definition is so important because champion is a lot like the word love,” explains Chris. “It’s understood differently by everyone, and acted upon differently. It’s easily misused.”
The bottom line is this: A champion isn’t just someone who likes your product — it’s someone with power and influence who actively works on your behalf.
The key to champion building is early, authentic engagement. Champions rarely surface at the end of a deal; they emerge through trust, mutual benefit, and alignment with strategic goals.
To determine if you’re working with a champion, ask yourself:
- Does this person have the authority to move the deal forward?
- Are they providing new intel or opening doors internally?
By answering these questions, you’ll confirm whether the person can genuinely champion your cause — and help drive the deal to the finish line.
Teamwork & Vernacular
Teamwork tends to make or break your ability to win in sales. “I’ve seen some of the best deals of my career pull in a product manager, a product marketer, and multiple SEs,” says Chris. “It’s not because they were huge deals, it’s because they were engaged deals.”
Chris references the saying, ‘You can win alone, but don’t ever get caught losing alone,’ when it comes to closing deals. “If you’re going to have a close loss deal, you should make sure everyone you could have brought to the table was brought to the table.” Too often, sales can become a “lone wolf” pursuit. Yet the most successful and substantial deals emerge through collaborative teamwork that’s woven into the company culture.
But it’s not just about bringing people together; it’s also about creating a shared language — or organizational vernacular — for discussing deals. When everyone from leadership to product teams uses the same terms and frameworks, communication becomes clear and consistent. This alignment helps you assess each opportunity in real time and rally the right people at the right moments. As Chris points out, the word “champion” is a perfect example: everyone should share the same definition, so you can quickly determine whether you have one — or still need to build one.
About Chris
Chris began his career as a U.S. Navy pilot. A chance meeting at the Pentagon with Ross Perot sparked his transition into the technology sector, where he gradually moved from operational roles into sales leadership. Over the years, Chris held key positions at TIBCO, Hortonworks, and Databricks — gaining firsthand experience with investor-driven sales practices and witnessing rapid corporate growth. Drawing on more than 30 years of expertise in sales, strategy, and leadership, Chris eventually founded OneMove Advisory, where he now helps organizations optimize their go-to-market execution.
