Ryan McBride

Sr. Partner Business Manager

The Breakthrough Sales Conversation workshop was an incredible learning experience. Chris Duprey and The Question First Group led us through practical and actionable methodologies that transformed how we approach sales conversations.

Two key takeaways—leveraging ‘Yes, and…’ for smoother communication and the ‘Law of 3’ framework—helped us refine dialogue, improve precision, and bring authenticity to our sales interactions.

This training not only sharpened our skills but also strengthened connections within our team.

Highly recommend for any sales professional looking to strengthen their approach!

Close

Mike Rhea

Chief Revenue Officer

Working with The Question First Group has been an incredible experience. As the Chief Revenue Officer at Intelligent Technical Solutions, I’ve worked with many sales training companies, but this has been, without a doubt, the best.

When we first engaged with The Question First Group, we started with a workshop that brought our entire sales team together. That session was eye-opening. We uncovered major gaps in our sales process—our reps were making assumptions, jumping to solutions too quickly, and engaging in pricing discussions too early. Most importantly, we realized we weren’t conducting deep enough discovery.

But the real game-changer wasn’t just a one-time workshop—it was the ongoing coaching. Unlike other programs that offer a multi-day bootcamp with no follow-through, The Question First Group embedded continuous learning into our culture. Every other week, our team works with an instructor, receiving real-time coaching, structured lessons, and even homework to reinforce their skills. This consistent engagement is what has truly transformed our sales approach.

The results speak for themselves:

✅ Close rate increased by 80% – from 23% to 41.5%, and still climbing.

✅ Better sales conversations – We now set clear agendas, handle objections proactively, and guide buyers through the discovery process.

✅ Fewer stalled deals and ghosted prospects – Our team maintains control throughout the sales cycle, ensuring clear next steps after every call.

✅ Stronger leadership – As a leader, I’ve shifted from giving my sales reps answers to coaching them toward self-discovery—empowering them to be independent and scalable as we grow.

A more confident sales team – While there was a learning curve, our reps are now closing more deals with fewer people—creating efficiency and momentum.

If you’re considering working with The Question First Group, my advice is simple: do it. The return on investment has been massive—not just in revenue, but in the personal and professional growth of my team.

I’ve worked with many sales training companies, but none compare. This isn’t just another training program—it’s a system that embeds world-class sales skills into your organization. I’m borderline obsessed with it, and if you give it an honest shot, I’m confident it will transform your team too.

Close

McCall Lownsbury

Senior Account Manager

We’re an ad agency that serves real estate agents across the US and Canada. Right now, we work with around 300 agents and have a team of 17 account managers.

What made us decide to invest in this training was our growth. Over the last five years, we’ve scaled quickly and built an incredible account management team. But one challenge kept coming up: making sure our account managers showed up to client calls providing real value — not just reporting on ads or reacting to client demands. We needed a framework that was teachable, repeatable, and scalable. Something we could use from day one with new hires, rather than having people figure things out through trial and error.

Before joining the program, one of our biggest frustrations was clients trying to control the conversation. Account managers were constantly having to rein clients back in, trying to keep calls on track and follow a system we knew worked. We have plenty of proof that if clients follow our process, they get results — but there are always clients who think they know better.

We also struggled with “yes-man” behaviour. Account managers doing whatever it took to keep clients happy. Babysitting clients. Chasing content. Texting constantly. It’s exhausting, and it creates a dynamic where the account manager feels powerless.

Through this program, I’ve been able to coach myself and my team out of that mentality. These are adults. You are the authority. You set expectations. If a client doesn’t show up prepared for a call, that’s something they need to answer for — not something the account manager should be chasing all week. When account managers show up with authority, clients respect their time more, honour commitments, and stop trying to run the relationship. The difference is night and day.

Personally, I now feel far more confident in my ability to solve client problems and ask the questions that need to be asked. It’s been amazing to watch our account management team feel empowered in their roles — and realise they don’t need to have all the answers. They just need to know how to ask the right questions. That shift alone has completely changed how they show up: more like coaches, less like consultants.

The training made this feel simple and practical. The one-on-one coaching and role-playing can be uncomfortable at times — and that’s the point. Chris does a great job of letting you sit in the discomfort, think things through, and practice handling real situations before you’re on a live client call. That’s been incredibly valuable for me and for how I now run team meetings. We practice together instead of winging it and hoping it goes well.

Some of the biggest mindset shifts for me were around vanguarding and the honesty agreement. The honesty agreement alone solves so many problems upfront. We’ve improved our onboarding process by setting clearer expectations earlier, shining a light on potential issues before they turn into frustrations. That’s already having a big impact on how smooth the client experience feels.

Another major takeaway for me was the reminder to prepare properly for calls. As a seasoned account manager, it’s easy to slip into autopilot, especially when you’ve worked with clients for years. This program snapped me out of that. My new mantra is simple: failing to prepare is preparing to fail. I now spend far more time preparing for sessions and teaching my team to do the same, so we show up ready to coach, not react.

If I had to name the single biggest lesson, it would be adopting a “question-first” mindset. I used to pride myself on having all the answers. This training broke that habit in the best way. Asking better questions gets to the real root of client problems — and it removes the pressure of needing to know everything. That’s been a huge shift for me.

Whether you’ve been an account manager for one year or five, this program delivers an enormous amount of value if you come in open-minded and ready to learn. The sessions are well structured, the content is practical, and the resources are incredibly useful. This isn’t something you learn once and move on from — it’s a practice. A habit. Something we’ll continue to use for years.

If you want an account management team that’s less stressed, more confident, more efficient, and genuinely authoritative with clients, this system delivers. I’m incredibly grateful for the impact it’s already had on our team — and I know it will continue to improve the quality and retention of our people long-term.

Thank you to Chris, the team, and 7FA for putting this together.

Close

Kenan Porobić

Account Manager

The main reason I decided to join Chris Marr’s Authoritative Coach programme was because I wanted to improve my communication and relationship-building skills with clients. I wanted to get better at overall communication, reading emotional cues, and recognising issues before they arise.

Before joining the programme, my biggest challenges were mostly related to avoiding conflict, or clumsily trying to avoid it, and not being upfront or clear when issues came up. I struggled with how to approach difficult situations where there was potential for conflict, and how to communicate clearly and confidently in those moments. That was the main issue I wanted to address.

Another challenge was having difficult conversations around investment, particularly when it came to asking clients to increase ad spend, and being able to explain that clearly and effectively so it was properly understood. Those were the main frustrations I had before joining the programme.

When it comes to the biggest lessons from the programme, it’s honestly hard to pick just one. The programme is very comprehensive and covers a wide range of situations and scenarios, including a lot of practice and role-playing.

One of the biggest lessons for me was learning how to vanguard and get ahead of problems before they arise. That means being prepared, asking better questions, asking shorter and more direct questions, and guiding clients to reach conclusions themselves rather than spelling everything out for them.

There were many lessons throughout the programme, but those are the ones that stand out most.

Since joining the programme, my authority and my relationships with clients have already changed, and I’m confident they’ll continue to improve. I’ve become much more aware of mistakes I was making before, like jumping to conclusions or leading meetings too quickly. Now I listen more, take on a more supportive role, and ask the right questions at the right time, while still maintaining authority and leadership in conversations.

What I’ve noticed as a result is that clients listen more to my advice. They actively seek my input and ask for my perspective on different situations, whereas before it felt less natural and more implied.

What I enjoyed most about the programme is that Chris genuinely practises what he preaches. During the coaching, he actively demonstrates the techniques he teaches. The course is structured around what you’re learning, and you implement it in real time, followed by practice sessions and role-playing. That hands-on approach made the learning experience both effective and genuinely enjoyable.

I would highly recommend this programme to anyone who wants to improve their communication with clients, get better at account management, and build stronger relationships. It’s particularly valuable for anyone working in account management.

It’s a great programme and a great course. I really enjoyed taking part in it and came out of it a better person first, and hopefully a better account manager as well. Thanks to Chris Marr and his team for creating such an amazing programme. I’ll definitely be recommending it to others.

Thank you.

Close

Kayla Chappell

Director of Strategic Partnerships

We decided to join the program because our company owner, Josh Nelson, works closely with Chris Marr and Marcus Sheridan in other areas. Knowing the value they bring to any team or programme they’re involved in, it was an easy decision for both me and my senior strategic partner to take part.

While my role isn’t entirely client-facing, I work very closely with our team of strategic partners. Before the programme, one of our biggest challenges was gaining fresh perspectives and adding stronger tools to our toolbox for handling client challenges. In particular, managing expectations and clearly communicating roles, responsibilities, and functionality within client partnerships was a recurring issue.

Through the programme, my tool belt is now full of practical, effective techniques that help us stay in control of conversations and manage client relationships with both respect and authority. The biggest breakthrough for us has been removing roadblocks around expectation-setting with clients.

The single most impactful lesson for me has been the honest agreement. I’ve always believed in full transparency, but having a clear structure for it changes everything. The honest agreement sets a strong precedent for openness on both sides and establishes trust and authority right from the start. Perceived indifference is one of the biggest reasons clients leave digital marketing agencies, and this framework directly addresses that. It works just as powerfully when resetting expectations with long-term clients as it does during new client onboarding.

Bringing these tools back to my team was incredibly energising. I already work with a confident, experienced group of strategic partners, but the training reminded us that you never know it all. Using tools like vanguards, FOR (focus, outcome, role), and the honest agreement has reinforced to clients that we are in control, that they can trust us, and that we have the resources and expertise to take care of what they need. More than anything, it refreshed our confidence and renewed our approach at a time when complacency can easily creep in.

Working with Chris has been one of the most impactful professional experiences I’ve had. His level of expertise, particularly his understanding of people and how to navigate different situations, is exceptional and clearly comes from years of deep investment in his craft. In two decades in this role, there are very few coaches who deliver at this level. Chris exceeded our expectations, and I’m genuinely excited to continue learning from him.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Coming into a high-pressure end-of-year period, those 12 weeks with Chris gave us exactly the boost we needed—more confidence, better tools, and practical techniques we could immediately apply.

I would recommend this programme without hesitation to any strategic partner, account manager, or leader of an account management team. Growth requires continuous learning, and it’s easy to think you’ve got nothing left to learn. Spend an hour with Chris, and that belief disappears very quickly.

This programme strengthened our team as a whole and as individuals. We would often leave sessions and immediately reteach the concepts in our L10 meetings, followed by role play—exactly how Chris facilitates the sessions. That’s what really makes the learning stick.

If you’re considering working with Chris, do it. You won’t regret it.

Close

Chad Hamilton

Account Manager

I decided to join the program because I’m a huge fan of Marcus Sheridan. I’d read They Ask, You Answer and Endless Customers, and I’d also attended a webinar with Marcus and Chris Marr. That session laid out a really clear framework for how the program would benefit both me and our wider team, and it immediately felt like the right fit.

Before joining the program, difficult conversations were always a challenge for me and for the rest of the team. Avoiding issues or feeling anxious about raising them was common. The methods we learned throughout the training helped elevate our level of communication, handle difficult conversations properly, and deal with anxiety well before it ever became an issue. That alone made a huge difference.

The single biggest lesson for me was the honest agreement. It’s a framework that completely changed how I set expectations and communicate transparently with clients. Having that structure in place has been incredibly powerful.

Since completing the program, my authority with clients has changed dramatically. I now take complete charge of client sessions. I set the agenda, outline the framework, and establish clear expectations for both sides. I’ve gained a lot of my time back, clients are getting better results, and we’re all operating on the same page.

What I enjoyed most about working with Chris is that he’s a natural teacher. You can tell he genuinely cares. The questions he asks, the way he facilitates discussion, and how he brings everyone into the room makes a real difference. Nobody feels left out, and everyone gets the same value from the experience. He has a strong ability to control the room while making people feel valued and supported, and there’s real accountability built into the process. The homework assignments help turn what you’re learning into tangible action and real-world practice.

If you’re an agency owner, you should absolutely put your account managers through this program. One of the most underrated skills in this space is confident, effective communication. Churn is a major issue, and when account managers aren’t communicating authoritatively, clients don’t develop the trust and respect they need to stay. This program has been a complete game changer in that regard.

Close

Success Stories