Ryan Voeltz

I have had just about every type of sales job there is.

In college I sold menswear at Nordstrom. In my first job out of college I sold copy machines. I have sold litigation support services, newswire distribution and web services, financial products and services, and driving range golf tees.

I have worked for large corporations and small businesses. I have led the sales effort for a start-up. I have sold products and services, small-ticket and large-ticket items, B2C and B2B, to c-suite executives in high-rise conference rooms and middle managers in nondescript cubicles. I have sold directly to customers and as an internal product partner. You’d be hard-pressed to find a type of sales job that I have not done.

20 years of experience holding a wide variety of types of sales jobs gives me deep insight into what it takes to succeed as a salesperson, as well as the many difficulties and challenges that come with a sales career. I combine my firsthand experience with insights from behavioral science to present novel approaches to sales that compliment and enhance existing go to market strategies.

In Ghosts in the Machine (published 9/15/21), I argue that the impact of human irrationality on decision-making is the most under appreciated aspect of the sales cycle. By outlining a behavioral approach that covers the entirety of the sales cycle, I hope to help salespeople of all stripes better understand and manage those irrationalities that have the greatest impact on the sales cycle, and sell more effectively in doing so.