Why Sales Is Still a Contact Sport with Stuart Miller | The Sales Comp Guy

Sales success still comes down to human connection, disciplined leadership, and honest incentives. No AI shortcut or clone-army hiring strategy can replace them. In this episode, Christopher Goff sits down with Stuart Miller, a 40-year veteran of sales and sales leadership who moved from psychiatric nursing and hospital management in the UK's NHS into a career selling and leading teams across healthcare IT, ERP, and generative AI implementation at the Mayo Clinic. Stuart explains how his background in clinical management gave him a head start on leading people long before he ever carried a sales bag and why he calls himself an "enthusiastic skeptic" when it comes to today's AI hype. The conversation covers why sales is still fundamentally "a contact sport" no matter how much selling has moved virtual, and why AI-generated "ideal customer profiles" are a poor substitute for real client discovery and rapport-building. Stuart shares his train-coach-augment-return framework for managing underperforming reps, why he refuses to build "clone army" sales teams, and the best and worst comp experiences of his career. He and Chris also dig into resilience, from turning around a failing hospital unit in his twenties to bouncing back from a double lung transplant, and why intellectual curiosity is the most underrated skill in selling. What you’ll learn Why AI can't manufacture the trust and rapport that actually closes deals How to manage underperforming reps before you write them off Why comp decisions made in bad faith cost more than the money saved Jump into the conversation (00:00) Meet Stuart Miller (00:52) From NHS nursing to healthcare IT sales (02:42) The pint that led to a sales career (07:37) Building Sunrise's UK expansion (12:49) Facing a life-threatening health crisis (14:46) Rebuilding at Mayo Clinic's Al frontier (22:36) Leadership lessons from the NHS (33:50) People buy from people, not screens (37:28) Cutting through the Al hype (50:55) The toughest moment of his career (58:57) Comp plan wins and betrayals (01:11:27) Life lessons: stay intellectually curious (01:25:16) Matching talent to strategy, not the reverse Connect with Stuart Miller:   / stuart-miller-haverin   Explore Haverin: https://haverin.substack.com/ Connect with Christopher Goff: https://salescompguy.com