Sales development is an essential function for addressing pipeline challenges and driving business growth. However, CSOs are struggling to evolve the function and maximize SDRs’ impact on revenue. Gartner expert Shiela Rahimian joins the podcast to discuss the best practices sales leaders should consider when assessing and optimizing their sales development function, and how to measure that function’s impact.

Shiela Rahimian is a Director Analyst in the Gartner for Sales Practice, where she covers all aspects of sales execution with an emphasis on pipeline generation and development, optimizing inside sales roles, launching key account programs, account planning, evolving sales processes, methodologies and playbooks within sales enablement functions. As a former Director of Sales Enablement and Sales Consultant, Mrs. Rahimian provides sales leaders with practical guidance on how to improve performance and results.

The role of the chief sales officer (CSO) is evolving. The drive to align commercial functions is sparking growth and transformation in the CSO role itself. Podcast host Betsy Gregory-Hosler speaks with Graham Stringer, head of customer markets for Fujitsu North America, to discuss his commercial organization’s transformation, how his role has changed and what it’s like to be in a growing leadership position.

“Even if you’re not in a position as a sales leader to drive a greater level of convergence, at least see how you can lean in and be closer to those parts of the business. Don’t just shrug your shoulders and say, well, that’s just the way we’re organized. And hey, best-case scenario, perhaps you can move the needle.”

Graham Stringer is the head of customer markets for Fujitsu’s North America Region, where he oversees all sales of Fujitsu’s digital technology solutions and services. With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, Graham has held key roles at DXC Technology, Oracle, Software AG, IBM and a global startup, managing teams across the U.S., Canada and Latin America. He holds a Bachelor of Math in computer science from the University of Waterloo and has completed management programs at Wharton and Queen’s University.

Sales leaders prioritize meeting buyer expectations but often fail to account for the underlying element affecting most major purchases: emotions. In this episode, hosts Billy Luckey and Betsy Gregory-Hosler sit down with Gartner experts to discuss the B2B buyer experience, how buyers balance logic and emotion and what sales leaders can do about it.

Alexandra Bellis, who has a doctorate in psychology, is a director of quantitative analytics and data science for Gartner for Marketers. She is responsible for survey data collection and analysis across a wide range of marketing and communications research, including marketing data and analytics, talent and collaboration, B2B buying behaviors, and communications leadership and strategy.

Rick LaFond is a senior director analyst for Gartner for Marketers, based in Baltimore. He leads Gartner’s B2B customer acquisition and account growth research. As an analyst, he supports Gartner clients with insights and guidance on various marketing topics, including demand generation, digital marketing strategy, sales enablement, content marketing and account-based marketing. He is the lead analyst for Gartner research on marketing best practices in the manufacturing industry, as well as ongoing primary research studies on cross-industry B2B buying behaviors. Rick also serves as lead author for Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms.