In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, host Mark Edwards sits down with Steve Dawes, Chief Growth Officer at syclonX, for a conversation that spans nearly five decades of enterprise sales evolution.

Steve shares insights from his early career at Mars, where discipline, structure, and relentless activity defined success—22 calls a day, strict processes, and constant accountability. From there, the discussion moves into the legendary Rank Xerox era, widely regarded as the birthplace of modern solution selling. Steve reveals the intensity of Xerox’s training programs, the power of role play, and how sales excellence was built through immersion, coaching, and real-world experience—not dashboards or digital tools.

The conversation highlights a stark contrast between past and present selling environments. Steve and Mark explore how face-to-face selling, team camaraderie, and “learning by doing” created stronger salespeople—and question whether today’s reliance on Zoom and remote selling has weakened those fundamentals.

Steve also reflects on his time at Wang, one of the pioneers of word processing, and how simplifying technology for users became a powerful sales advantage. Along the way, he shares memorable stories—from managing a misfit team into top performers through energy, culture, and belief, to selling high-value systems through live demonstration and customer engagement.

The episode closes with hard-earned lessons from a 50-year career in sales, including the importance of showing up, building real relationships, and maintaining emotional connection within teams. It’s a rich, nostalgic, and highly practical discussion for anyone interested in how great salespeople are truly developed.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards sits down with Donna Joyce, Public Sector Account Director at Okta (specialising in Auth0), to explore a career shaped by an unexpected beginning: elite three-day eventing.

Donna shares what it was really like working as a groom for an Olympic rider—6am starts, half a day off per week, and two years with no pay—and how that environment hard-wired principles she still relies on today: discipline, routine, resourcefulness, teamwork, and accountability. The stakes in that world were real, and “doing what you said you’d do” wasn’t a motivational quote… it was safety.

From there, the conversation moves into Donna’s work in identity and cybersecurity, including a simple, human explanation of what Okta does: helping people safely use any technology, anywhere—often invisibly behind the apps we use every day.

Donna also breaks down what’s different about selling into the UK public sector: longer buying cycles, heavy procurement constraints, shifting priorities, and a complex web of stakeholders. Finally, Mark and Donna discuss AI adoption in government—the tension between innovation and guardrails—and why identity becomes even more critical as AI tools and agentic systems spread.

They finish with a brilliant (and chaotic) corporate hospitality story: a Dell Euro Disney trip to Paris where the Eurostar allegedly had to stop to restock the bar before even leaving the UK.

Mark Edwards speaks with Shannon Muller, a Cybersecurity Specialist at Microsoft, about her 20-year journey through the evolution of cyber — from early antivirus days to today’s AI-driven security landscape. Shannon explains why she approaches customers as an advisor first, how the role of security leadership has changed, and what she’s learning through her Master’s in Cyber Law as regulation and cybersecurity collide. Plus: moving from South Africa to the UK, authenticity, impostor syndrome, and a standout sales reward — VIP Beyoncé.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Marcus Davidson, Director of Field Enablement at Mimecast, for a wide-ranging conversation on what great enablement really looks like—today, and in any era.

Marcus unpacks why he prefers the term “talent enablement” (toolset, skillset, mindset) and shares the core idea that selling is less about “selling” and more about helping customers make better buying decisions. They dive into the Command of the Message framework—before state, consequences of staying put, future state, benefits, then (only then) the solution—plus the discipline it takes to avoid “opening the back of the truck” too early.

The conversation also explores the psychology of confidence, how small shifts in language can change buyer perception, why coaching is hard to scale but too valuable to ignore, and how AI is becoming a core competency—not to replace fundamentals, but to support research, analysis, and communication. Finally, they discuss why in-person presence still matters for high-value deals, and how lockdown shaped confidence and connection, particularly for young new starters entering the workforce.

A smart, practical, and surprisingly human episode about messaging, mindset, and the future of sales performance.

Work From Home Is Killing Opportunity (Return to Customers)

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Mark Sumner, CEO of Robertson Sumner and host of the Channel Chat podcast, to unpack how podcasting, community, and in-person relationships are shaping the UK channel.

Mark shares the candid story behind Channel Chat — launched in 2019 as a business development tool, then accelerated dramatically during lockdown into a major industry platform. The conversation explores why Mark believes “return to office” is less important than “return to customers,” and how proximity to people and conversations creates opportunity that remote working often misses.

They also dig into the UK tech job market: recent turbulence and leadership churn, the rise of private equity investment in services-led MSPs, and the pressure on businesses overly reliant on hardware and renewals. On hiring, Mark outlines the traits he sees in top sales performers — from growth mindset and communication to discipline — and highlights a newer expectation showing up in job specs: real AI adoption and an AI-first mentality.

The episode closes with a look at why live events work in the channel — bringing competitors and partners into the same room to spark collaboration — plus a memorable nod to corporate hospitality and what makes in-person experiences stick.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Ed Renwick, Head of Strategic Service Provider Acquisition at Acronis—an experienced sales and partner leader whose career spans Oracle, Virgin Media, Exponential-e, and more.

Mark and Ed reconnect (with a bit of humour to kick things off, including the origin story of Ed’s beard) before getting into what really matters: how partner acquisition compares to new business sales, and why relationship-first selling still wins. Ed shares the simple commercial lens he uses in every conversation—revenue growth, cost avoidance, and cost reduction—and explains why product should come last, not first.

The discussion then turns to the role of in-person events in building real partnerships. Ed breaks down the difference between big, transactional exhibitions and smaller, “boutique” experiences that create trust and long-term alignment—complete with stories from Acronis partner events across Europe.

They also explore the post-COVID shift in sales culture: why face-to-face has come roaring back, what’s been lost for early-career sellers who started “virtual-first,” and how leaders are trying to rebuild momentum in the field.

To finish, Ed shares his grounded view on AI in cybersecurity—where it genuinely helps (automation, admin, efficiency) and where it shouldn’t be allowed to go (unchecked decision-making)—before picking his most memorable corporate hospitality experience: a rain-soaked Silverstone F1 race day, complete with pit access, celebrity moments, and partnerships strengthened for the long haul.

Topics covered: MSP partner acquisition • relationship-led selling • events vs experiences • post-COVID field sales revival • sales coaching foundations • AI in cyber & operational efficiency • corporate hospitality done right

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Fiona McKenzie, CEO of digital marketing agency Revere (now part of MarketBridge), to unpack what “digital marketing” really means in the tech channel today—and why it’s become so complex.

Fiona explains how messy the modern buyer journey has become: more channels, more content, bigger buying groups, and more cautious decision-making. We explore how vendors, distributors, and partners each play a different role in reaching the end customer—and why partner marketing can’t be an afterthought when vendors go increasingly route-to-market via ecosystems.

A big theme is AI transformation—but with a reality check: many organisations still haven’t nailed the basics. Fiona shares why MarTech stacks often become “all the gear, no idea,” with tools that don’t connect, aren’t optimised, and fail to produce true attribution. Her message is simple: simplify the engine first, then use AI to accelerate the right outcomes—especially by eliminating “time drains” like endless feedback loops, stakeholder misalignment, and slow content cycles that lose sight of the customer.

We also dig into the classic sales vs marketing divide (yes, it’s still real), why the word “lead” causes chaos, and how leadership teams should rethink KPIs using more meaningful impact measures tied to growth. Fiona argues that marketing is fundamentally commercial—and that alignment works best when the C-suite unites sales and marketing around one shared growth strategy.

To close, Fiona shares a memorable channel hospitality story from her years running events—highlighting that the most powerful moments aren’t the PowerPoints… they’re the human connection, shared laughter, and camaraderie that keep people coming back year after year.

In this episode of The Channel Zone, Mark Edwards is joined by Chris Neal of InfoScale.com, to explore how modern sales organisations actually learn, change, and improve.

Drawing on a career spanning Novell, Symantec, Veritas, Blue Prism, Arctera, and now InfoScale.com, Chris shares practical, real-world insight into what effective enablement looks like today — and why traditional training models often fall short.

In this episode, we cover: The difference between sales training and sales enablement — and why training is only part of the story

The “know, feel, do” framework for designing effective enablement.

Why most training requests fail before delivery even begins.

How to make virtual training engaging and effective using Teams and Zoom.

The role of sales leader sponsorship and continuity in driving change.

How AI is already transforming enablement, from content creation to role-play coaching.

Memorable career moments, events, and lessons learned along the way.

Whether you’re a sales leader, enablement professional, trainer, or vendor working in the channel, this conversation offers practical insight you can apply immediately.

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