Why do the same sales problems show up in every industry, from staffing to steel?
Dennis Sorenson continues with Matt Reubendale, Senior Advisor for Enterprise Growth at Horizons West, for part two of their discussion on execution. Where part one covered Reubendale’s own journey with GOST as a seller, this episode follows his move into sales leadership, learning to win through his people rather than around them. “The wonderful thing about GOST is that it’s insanely simple,” Reubendale says, “but they are the rules.” He unpacks how he taught, coached, and inspected GOST plans across teams managing anywhere from a few accounts to two hundred.
The conversation covers what makes a GOST objective “binary, yes or no,” why the first plan is always wrong yet still directionally useful, and the weekly ghost call that keeps teams accountable. Reubendale shares how leading a team with 50 to 100 accounts each forced him to apply tiering inside GOST, and why Horizons West teaches the same system to every rep regardless of territory size. Why does the system solve the same problems everywhere? “That’s been the biggest lesson,” Sorenson says. This episode closes the three-part execution series.
In This Episode:
(00:00) From individual contributor to leading through your people
(03:00) Understanding what your people actually want before building the plan
(05:45) Where sellers struggle first: making goals and objectives binary
(11:22) Why the first plan is wrong, and still directionally correct
(13:23) Living in the plan: how a leader puts their hands in GOST
(15:23) Build once to use many, and the weekly ghost call
(20:32) What a leader gains from sitting in on ghost calls
(23:45) Managing 50 to 100 accounts with tiered GOST plans
(28:31) Closing the three-part execution series
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About the Show
Think Big. Win Bigger is hosted by Dennis Sorenson, CEO of Cove Group, a strategic partner for companies seeking to optimize sales performance and achieve sustainable growth. With deep expertise in enterprise sales and fractional CRO leadership, Dennis specializes in addressing challenges at the point of friction—where inefficiencies, misalignment, or resistance occur within the sales process.
The podcast is built on Process-Driven Sales and the three pillars of Ambition, Strategy, and Execution. Each episode breaks down the systems and operating rhythms that drive predictable performance, giving leaders and sellers practical insights they can use immediately. This is for professionals who are ready to stop improvising, start operating with intention, and build repeatable success over time.
Resources:
Produced by Castos Productions
Watch Part I with Matt: https://youtu.be/3GP9M2wPJlg
Matt Reubendale LinkedIn
Process-Driven Sales Substack: https://processdrivensales.substack.com/
Dennis Sorenson LinkedIn
Cove Group
Horizons West
