top of page

The Experience Behind the Operation: John Sterling

John Sterling is a seasoned sales professional who has spent over 10,000 hours reviewing, optimizing, and running sales teams. His career began by investing in Datastream, a company that he helped grow from a team of 4 to over 1,000 employees as the VP of Sales. 

John helped take Datastream public in 1996, managing 100+ sales reps globally (inside and outside sales), and achieving over $120M in revenue. He led 5 international acquisitions and managed sales offices in multiple countries, including the USA, Germany, Holland, France, UK, Argentina, Australia, Singapore, and China.

In 2006, John was instrumental in the successful sale of Datastream to Infor for $200M+ and ever since has dedicated his time to helping Noobs find success in their own sales careers. He is also an accomplished author, having written the book "Sales Noobs: Everything You Need to Know to Get Promoted" and hosts the Noob School Podcast on sales strategies and leadership.

As an avid saxophonist, you can often find John in the local live music joints around Greenville and outside, in front of downtown popular attractions. You can even catch his saxy skills as the intro to the podcast!   

John-Sterling-Web-Quality-33.webp

Our Mission Is to Empower Sales Leaders to Reach their Full Potential

10k+

Hours of Training

200+

Career Dreams Landed

90%

Success Rate of Sales Leaders

300+

Hours of On-Demand Content

John's specialties include sales operations, sales process optimization, business reviews and assessments, sales plan development, sales team management, consulting, and advising. He has a wealth of experience in the field of sales and has worked with a wide range of clients across various industries.

In addition to his professional achievements, John has some interesting personal experiences as well, including playing basketball against Michael Jordan in college and working for one of Nolan Bushnell's companies, the founder of Atari. 

Our Students Have Landed Some Kick A$$ Careers 

Clemson logo.png
sap-logo-png_2285421.png
Salesforce.com_logo.svg.png
Pfizer_(2021).svg.png
Johnson-Johnson-Logo.png
Hitachi-Logo.png
infor-twitter-default.png
yesflow.png
ibm-logo.png

Our Core Values

We practice what we preach

Be Passionate

We have a deep passion for sales and sharing our knowledge and expertise to help our students find their own.

Stay Committed

We are committed to ensuring that our students and companies achieve their full potential.

Keep it Fun

We believe that life is too short to be anything but fun. You should love what you do and we're here to make that dream a reality. 

As Seen On

Check out some articles featuring John, his work and travels below!

Noob School with John Sterling: Want to be a better sales person? Take a trip around the world.

Here are my top six reasons why you should book a trip around the world to prepare you for your first sales gig.

Tips for Noobs: Get a real job?

After 50 interviews, John Sterling wants to share a surprising theme.

A Sterling Example: Veteran entrepreneur’s new book tells ‘noobs’ what not to do

John Sterling began what would become a storied sales career in the mid-’70s, selling bumper stickers while attending Christ Church Episcopal School.

Tips for Noobs: How to go from startup to $100M in sales in six ‘easy’ steps

John Sterling shares his six top sales tips for skyrocketing your startup.

Read More
Tips for Noobs: Six things I wish I’d known before launching my sales career

Here are the six tips John Sterling wishes he knew when he first started out in sales.

bottom of page