Matt RyderEx-special ops sniper turned CEO revolutionizing sales calls

Top 10 skills of the elite 0.1% sales reps ($40M/year CEO)

17 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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1:21

In this concise coaching monologue, Matt Ryder outlines the ten most critical skill sets that distinguish the top 0.1% of sales professionals who generate $40M‑plus in revenue. He emphasizes that the skills are not ranked except for the final one, which he deems the most vital. The list includes: (1) Listening – truly hearing the prospect without relying on a memorized script; (2) Tonality Control – using precise vocal cues to steer conversations; (3) Objection Handling – presenting a compelling pitch, building urgency, and addressing logistical concerns; (4) Emotional Control – maintaining a steady, guiding presence; (5) Pipeline Discipline – consistently feeding and managing a pipeline, which accounts for roughly 30‑40% of his closes; (6) Storytelling – translating complex ideas into relatable narratives; (7) Pattern Interrupts – breaking a prospect’s autopilot to redirect focus; (8) Speed‑to‑Lead – contacting leads within five minutes to boost conversion odds by 100×; (9) Asking for Referrals – persisting despite low response rates because a single referral can generate many more; and (10) Stacking Questions – sequencing questions strategically at the right moment. Throughout, Ryder delivers the advice with a confident, instructional tone, underscoring the practical, measurable impact of each skill.

Chapters

Skill set number 1, and in no particular order except the last one is the most important, listening. If you haven't memorized your script and you're having to actively think of the next thing that you're going to say, then you are not listening. Number 2, tonality control means that you can be really precise and you can lead a person down a path to answer a question in a highly predictable way. The next one is objection handling. If you have a good pitch, present a good argument, build urgency, build a gap, understand their problem, and present a cogent solution, handle logistical concerns, you will be fine at objection handling. The next one is all about emotional control. Not get too excited, not get too down. You're there to be like their rudder to steer them in the right direction. Number 5 is pipeline discipline. I reckon that over the course of my career, say 15 years, I think about 30 to 40% of my closes have been from pipelines. The next one is storytelling. It's a fantastic way to espouse extraordinarily complex things into very relatable ways. The next one is pattern interrupts. It breaks people out of autopilot mode, and that's what you need to do to redirect people when required. The next one is speed to lead. If you have a less than 5-minute speed to lead, you have a 100x more likelihood in order to actually get that person to Number 9, asking for referrals. If you ask 50 people, maybe only 1 or 2 say yes, but 1 of those people will give you 50 referrals. So you just keep asking until you find it. The last and most important skill set is the ability to stack questions in the right order at the right time.