On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2019. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Jeff ↗
In their words
Somebody asked me today, do you ever get to go out west and snowboard and feel the mountains again? I'm like, no, but I'm in sales. I feel adrenaline every day when I'm selling and when I'm in front of customers, so it's kind of a nice trade-off.
Every day is contest day for me. Every night is strategy and figuring out how I'm going to win on contest day.
The point being is we have to learn to leave the past behind us and leave the future in front of us in order to perform in the now.
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
Who is Jeff Batchelor?
A Canadian halfpipe snowboarder from Oakville, Ontario. He won silver in the halfpipe at the 2009 FIS Snowboarding World Championships in Gangwon and competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (Wikipedia, checked September 24, 2026).
How did he get into sales?
On the 2019 SalesTO panel (20:50) he said he finished his Queen's commerce degree without a job, met someone in Toronto who needed a sales rep, and started the next Monday selling job-ad space. He later sold mutual funds, and tech startups told him to go through Salesforce before joining them (41:33).
What did snowboarding teach him about selling?
On the same panel (66:23) he described a fall at the 2009 Olympic test event at Cypress Mountain, then landing his last run at the next contest, the world championships, and missing gold by about half a point. His lesson: leave the past behind so you can perform now.
What was hardest about joining Salesforce?
He told the panel (58:22) that team selling was one of his biggest challenges, because as a snowboarder everything had been up to him. At Salesforce he had to learn to delegate and use other people's expertise.