In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Yogesh Patel, Chief Growth Officer at Maintel, to discuss his journey from an early career in finance to more than two decades in telecoms, technology and sales leadership.

Yogesh explains what being a Chief Growth Officer really means — and why sustainable growth has to be about much more than simply winning new business. From customer retention and evolving propositions to creating new routes to market, the conversation explores the challenges of keeping a technology business relevant in an increasingly competitive and commoditised market.

Mark and Yogesh also dig into the changing world of B2B selling. They discuss the efficiency of Teams and Zoom, but also why face-to-face interaction remains incredibly powerful for building trust, developing relationships and uncovering the insights that rarely emerge during a scheduled 30-minute video call.

The conversation moves into account development, where Yogesh explains why traditional account plans can easily become little more than an administrative exercise — and how Maintel has reframed them as Growth Acceleration Plans focused on customer objectives, actions and genuine growth.

Yogesh also shares his view of the qualities that consistently distinguish high-performing salespeople: talk less, listen properly, remain curious, follow the sales process with discipline and develop the resilience to recover when a deal you thought was yours goes somewhere else.

Finally, the pair discuss the work they have done together using whiteboards and visual storytelling at Maintel, and the impact it has had not only on customer conversations but on the confidence of the sales team itself.

A wide-ranging conversation about sales, growth, leadership, customer relationships — and why sometimes the smartest thing a salesperson can do is simply stop talking and listen.