If you've ever tried to "coach the team" by telling everyone to sell like the top rep, this episode is your reality check. Sean O'Shaughnessey and Kevin Lawson use March Madness, dynasties, and training-room discipline to unpack a serious sales management issue: what kind of coach are you, and are your sales processes actually buildable, or just a personality contest? The conversation lands in a practical place: consistent revenue generation comes from systems, controls, and repeatable sales strategies, not heroics. It also flips the lens to the seller: if you can't explain why you're successful, you can't improve, and you definitely can't teach.

• 01:50 — "What kind of coach are you?" Recruiting stars vs developing talent, and what that means for sales success
  
  

• 03:10 — The "learning manager" model: systems, controls, and building consistency instead of one-and-done wins
  
  

• 04:40 — Sean's coaching philosophy: taking B-players with A-player upside and building a winning system around them
  
  

• 07:00 — Why peer groups accelerate growth: where to workshop messaging, revenue management, and sales processes without doing it in public
  
  

• 10:05 — The seller's responsibility: understand your own value selling motion so you can replicate it (or fix it)
  
  

• Kevin (04:25): "Prospecting needs to be consistent. It can't be something you do and sprint and then stop, and then sprint, and then stop."
  
  

• Sean (06:20): "I don't necessarily try to get the C to a B, I'm more of a B to an A kind of a coach."
  
  

• Sean (11:40): "When you say, 'this is how I would respond,' and somebody says, 'why?'… you should have an answer to that question."
  
  

• B2B Sales Lab: b2b-sales-lab.com
  
  

Write down your personal "sales success recipe" as a simple, teachable sequence: the 5–7 moves you make that reliably create forward motion (your messaging choices, your cadence, how you qualify, how you handle pushback, how you ask for next steps). For each move, add one sentence answering "why this works." If you can't explain the why, you're not managing a sales process—you're relying on instinct. That limits your business acumen as a seller today and blocks sales management effectiveness if you're ever asked to lead tomorrow.

This episode is a straight conversation about what actually drives revenue generation: leaders who know how they coach, and sellers who know how they sell. Sean and Kevin connect sports coaching to real-world sales strategies, systems, consistency, and measurable controls, then bring it home with a challenge most teams avoid: Can you articulate your process well enough to scale it? If you care about revenue management, team performance, and value selling that survives turnover, this one's worth the listen.

B2B Sales Lab is a private, member-led community for sales professionals who want actionable insights, not theory. It's a space to ask real questions, share proven practices, and connect with others who are serious about improving revenue performance. Designed and led by veteran sales leaders, the Lab is where strategy meets execution. Join us at b2b-sales-lab.com

You can reach out to Sean at New Sales Expert, LLC - Sean@NewSales.Expert - https://www.linkedin.com/in/soshaughnessey/

You can reach out to Kevin at Lighthouse Sales Advisors & Sales Xceleration - kevin@lighthousesalesadvisors.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kwlawson/

You can book time on Kevin's calendar at https://lighthousesalesadvisors.pipedrive.com/scheduler/JP7rZXH3/virtual-meeting-booking-time-with-kevin

You can book time on Sean's calendar at http://newsales.expert/sean-oshaughnessey-calendar/