Why Your Sales Rep Needs to Be an Architect, Not Just a Closer with Adam Carr

The sales playbook is being rewritten and product-led growth is at the center of it.

In this episode, John sits down with Adam Carr, CRO at Apollo.io, to dig into how PLG has evolved, what AI is doing to the sales rep's role, and why the best sellers today need to think less like closers and more like go-to-market architects. From hiring smarter to building SDR programs that actually stick, this one's packed with real talk from two people who've lived it.

If you're in sales leadership, trying to figure out how to build and develop a team in this new world, this episode will give you a framework to work with.

Want to level up your team before the market moves on without you? Visit www.jbarrows.com and learn how you can Make It Happen.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why people don't buy from people they like but from people they trust
• How to hire intentionally and slow down when everyone's pushing you to scale fast
• The difference between PLG, product-led sales, and sales-led growth
• What product signals actually matter when deciding when to bring in a sales rep
• The three skills every modern sales rep needs to stay relevant in an AI-first world

Adam Carr is the CRO of Apollo, where he leads the company’s go-to-market strategy and revenue growth initiatives. Since joining in 2025, he has focused on scaling a modern GTM engine that blends product-led and sales-led growth, aligning sales, marketing, product, and customer success into a unified customer journey. Under his leadership, Apollo continues to support millions of users and hundreds of thousands of businesses in accelerating growth through a scalable, customer-centric platform.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhcarr/

John Barrows is a sales trainer, speaker, and founder of JB Sales with over 25 years of experience in the industry. He has made hundreds of cold calls a week, led startups to acquisition, and trained high-performing teams at companies like Salesforce, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Okta. Through JB Sales, John focuses on practical sales execution—helping reps fill pipeline, close deals, and build trust with buyers in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

Connect with John Barrows:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbarrows/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmbarrows/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnmbarrows

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