Most people who serve in a marketing or business development function in the legal marketplace know Samantha McKenna for the infectious, can-do, executive style she brought to Enterprise Sales roles she held at ON24 and LinkedIn, two leading BD platforms in legal and professional services.

As it happens, Sam's reputation extends beyond legal, too. Among other plaudits, earlier in 2019 she was recognized as a Top Leader (from among thousands of nominees) in Sales Hacker's list of Top 50 Sales Champions - and two years ago Engagio featured her as one of the Top 50 Women in Revenue You Should Know.

When we heard that Samantha planned to launch her own sales consultancy - organizing her offering around the groundswell of response she's received from her excellent #samsales writing project - we reached out to learn more. Here's what we heard back:

Q: Anyone who meets you immediately feels the passion you exude for the sales profession. Tell us about where that passion comes from?

Helping others is a priority for me, it always has been, and being successful in sales does exactly that.

Any time you buy something, you’re solving a challenge for yourself, a need or a want you have - but I have found this idea of helping others to be especially true in professional service enterprise sales. Essentially, your solutions are helping people, human beings, at various stages of their careers and lives become better at what they do. It’s deeply affirming to witness.

Being in sales also affords you the opportunity to build relationships with hundreds of people. You hear their challenges and you have the chance to either solve them directly or find someone who can - and, in so doing, you turn that person into a client and fan for life. You succeed by helping others succeed. As I often say, when it works best, it is a form of selling without selling.

However, what we all also know is that so many people are in sales, but so few are truly exceptional at it. I love that it’s a discipline which, at its best, arrives from the innate capabilities a person has - encouraged by mentors, guides, or teachers who impact your life - not by degrees and educational credentials. To be in a role where I can scale what’s made me so successful and make impact in people’s lives is truly inspiring.

Q: So you embody the idea of sales as a People Business?

Absolutely! Many who succeed long term do so by being wholly invested in their clients and in maintaining those ongoing relationships.

I love that I can make someone’s life easier through what I know or what product I represent - but, also, while going through any sales process, I can really set myself apart through the hundreds of small things one does to stand out in the sales cycle. This is precisely what runs through the veins of my #samsales project.

I think of how often I’ve written thank you notes after losing (yes, losing) a deal, finding ways to close deals by introducing two CMOs that ended up being of tremendous networking value to each other, sending 2200 M&Ms as a visual to get a client to work with us, or booking an impossible-to-get meeting with a female managing director by offering to get our highlights done together. There are so many ways you can put people first, help them, and still get your deals done at a pace faster than your peers, without being “salesy” and all while building time-tested relationships.

Q: Tell us more about why you’ve decided to launch your own sales consultancy practice at this stage in your career?

As the daughter of two successful entrepreneurs, and after starting a variety of businesses in college, building my own company has always been on my radar.

I started writing and sharing my #samsales pieces online about four years ago, and what stands out for me is the sheer volume of questions I now receive daily from people, including attorneys, at every level imaginable, looking for saleshelp and strategic guidance.

After I left LinkedIn earlier this fall, I signed on to help some friends and former clients solve complex sales, marketing, and financial puzzles that I knew I could unravel and impact quickly. It was quickly rewarding and it occurred to me that I now had the power not only to lead my own internal team, but to work with a wide variety of people, teams, and companies - including lawyers and law firms - by educating them on the critical components of sales and marketing that every sales professional should know and employ.

Q: Tell us a bit more about what you specialize in and how people can benefit from working with you?

So, first and foremost I focus on strategic insight and coaching across two of the most important aspects of business growth – B2B sales (SDRs, reps, leaders, etc.) and marketing (content, demand generation, events, etc.) for organizations of all sizes.

I also help smaller organizations - many who have had some luck growing to a degree - be more intentionally successful, assisting with the implementation of necessary processes to quickly obtain revenue growth, or to set them up for acquisition.

Secondly, and this where I’ve always had a soft spot, I am working with law firms and attorneys on sales and business development. The market for law firms has changed so drastically in the last few years alone that many firms have finally said, “We need to be smarter about how we proactively bring business in the door.” I agree.

So, combine my more than twelve years of experience, my knack for selling without selling, so to speak, and my knowledge of what to do with data and a great tech stack, and you can deploy coaching and a strategy that aligns with the firm’s and partner’s goals.

These missions are about looking for the gaps in process and knowledge, and being able to help individuals see clearer paths to success.

Q: What sets you apart from the rest?

Two things. First, I’ve done this already, for twelve years, across three highly recognizable organizations, and have consistently leaped over the bars set before me. I’ve built a brand that my clients trust and that has led to repeat business across every organization I’ve represented.

Second, I’ve made an impact for nearly four years via my #samsales content, and that content is identical to the expertise I bring forward – tangible and actionable; advice that turns on light bulbs for people who engage with it and that anyone can put into play that day, across all of their initiatives and make impact quickly.