Naveen Shukla, certified sales coach, marketing consultant, board advisor and India operations partner
Marketing that sells, from someone who has sold on four continents.
For 27 years I have sold, marketed and built teams for companies in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Today, as a certified sales coach and consultant, I advise and train leadership teams to fix lead generation, reach real decision makers, sharpen their positioning, and set up high-performing teams in India.
27 years
in sales, operations and marketing across IT services, software and eLearning
10 to 250
seats in an offshore KPO centre I set up in Pune for an Australian company
10M+
learners reached by a national eLearning programme I helped deliver as Chief Customer Officer
About $1
cost per signup we achieved on Google Ads for an AI video SaaS launch
On stage, in print, on the ground
Two decades of speaking at industry events and award ceremonies, working with clients from London to Sydney, and giving back in Pune. More about me
Most agencies know channels. Few know how a deal actually closes.
I started in 1998 selling web solutions to small businesses, then sold B2B web and ecommerce into North America. I went on to run sales for APAC and the Middle East, serve as COO of an eLearning company, set up offshore delivery centres in Pune, and since 2017 run my own digital marketing agency, Espial Solutions.
That path shapes how I advise. I have carried the quota, run the operation and paid the marketing bills. So when I look at your SEO, Google Ads or LinkedIn programme, I start from what your sales team needs: qualified conversations with the people who sign, a cost per lead the business can live with, and reporting your CFO will believe.
What leaders tell me when they call
If one of these sounds familiar, we should talk. Each is a problem I have faced myself as a sales head, a COO or a founder.
“Our pipeline still depends on referrals and my personal network.”
You need a system that produces conversations every week without you. I help you build it, and train your team to run it.
“Buyers can’t tell us apart, so every deal ends up on price.”
That is a positioning problem, not a pricing one. A short positioning sprint usually fixes more than a discount ever will.
“We rank on Google but ChatGPT recommends our competitors.”
AI answers draw on different signals. We measure where you stand with PetalRank and close the gaps.
“We get leads, but never from people who can actually sign.”
The targeting and the message are aimed at the wrong level. We map who decides, by region, and rebuild outreach around them.
“We spend on Google Ads every month and can’t say what it returns.”
Usually the tracking is broken before the campaigns are. I fix measurement first, then the account.
“We want a team in India, but don’t know where to start.”
I have built them from an empty floor. We plan the location, structure and first hires together, and I can run it until you take over.
Practice areas
Each can be advice and training only, or advice plus my team at Espial Solutions running the work.
An inbound and outbound system that produces sales conversations every week, not a burst of leads after each campaign. SEO captures intent, LinkedIn starts conversations, paid media speeds up the ones that convert. The outbound side runs on LinkSprig, our AI LinkedIn outreach tool.
For B2B companies whose pipeline depends too much on referrals
Technical, on-page and off-page SEO, plus generative engine optimisation so you are named when buyers ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity for a supplier. We track it with PetalRank, a platform we built for exactly this.
For SaaS, manufacturers, IT services and education brands
Search, Performance Max and Display, built on clean conversion tracking first, so Smart Bidding learns from real leads instead of form spam. Google Ads Search certified.
For lead generation and SaaS signups in India, the US and the Gulf
Founder-led content, company pages and outbound that reaches decision makers rather than their assistants. Our LinkedIn outreach product, LinkSprig, grew out of running this for clients every day.
For founders, B2B sales teams and consumer brands
Who you sell to, why you win, and what you say in the first ten seconds. I run workshops with leadership teams to sharpen positioning and pick markets, then train sales teams to carry the message, drawing on what worked and failed for me across four regions.
For founders, CEOs and boards entering a new market
One-to-one and team coaching for sales leaders, founders who still sell, and sales managers stepping up. As a certified sales coach I work on the real deals in your pipeline: discovery, handling objections, reaching the economic buyer and closing without discounting.
For founders, sales heads and teams selling into new markets
A senior voice on sales and marketing at board level, or a part-time marketing head who owns the plan and the numbers while my team executes. Four years on the advisory board of an eLearning company.
For growing companies without a full-time marketing leader
How I work with a leadership team
The goal is not a report. It is a team that can run the system without me. Every engagement follows the same five steps, whatever its size.
- DiagnoseInterviews with leadership and sales, a look at the numbers, the website and the ad accounts.
- PlanA 90-day plan with one target everyone agrees on: qualified conversations per week.
- BuildYour team or mine sets up the pages, campaigns, outreach and tracking.
- TrainHands-on workshops so your marketing and sales people can run it themselves.
- ReviewA monthly review of five numbers, and the decisions that follow from them.
Workshops and training for your team
Practical sessions built from 27 years of selling and running teams, delivered in person in India or online anywhere. Every workshop uses your own accounts, pages and pipeline, not textbook examples.
Building a pipeline system
Join SEO, LinkedIn and paid media into one weekly engine, with targets everyone signs.
Positioning sprint
Leave with a one-sentence position your buyers can repeat, and a sales sheet to match.
Google Ads for business owners
How to read your account, question your agency, and know what every rupee or dollar returns.
Reaching decision makers
Account mapping, signal-based outreach and messages senior buyers actually answer.
LinkedIn for leaders
A profile that sells, a posting rhythm you can keep, and 20 minutes a day of social selling.
Selling into new regions
How buying differs across the US, Europe, the Gulf and APAC, and how to adapt the pitch.
Build your India team with someone who has done it from an empty floor.
For an Australian company I set up a knowledge process outsourcing centre in Pune that grew from 10 seats to 250 in six years. I have also built digital marketing, eLearning content and software delivery teams, including operations inside a Special Economic Zone.
As COO of an eLearning company I ran sales, finance, HR, IT, quality and development under one roof. I know what goes wrong in month three, and how to prevent it.
- Knowledge process outsourcingResearch, data and back-office teams
- Digital marketing teamsSEO, paid media, content and social
- eLearning content productionInstructional design, development, QA
- Software and AI deliveryOffshore development centres
- PlanCity, SEZ or non-SEZ, entity structure, budget and a hiring curve you can hold to.
- BuildPremises, IT, security, compliance and the handful of vendors you actually need.
- OperateHire leads first, train on your process, then run delivery, quality and reporting.
- TransferHand over to your own leadership when you are ready, or keep me on as India head.
Selected work
Client names are kept private. Details and references are shared on request. All case studies
AI video SaaS, US and global
Early users at about $1 per signup
Challenge. A new product needed its first wave of users quickly, on a startup budget.
What we did. Tight Google Ads search campaigns on problem-led keywords, with conversion tracking set up before launch so bidding learned from real signups.
Packaging manufacturer, India to US
Winning US buyers without trade shows
Challenge. An Indian manufacturer wanted direct enquiries from American produce growers and distributors.
What we did. US-targeted Google Ads and landing pages built around the buyer’s product specs.
Australian company, offshore operations
A Pune KPO from 10 seats to 250
Challenge. Build a reliable offshore team for knowledge work, with quality the parent company could trust.
What we did. Set up the centre, hired team leads first, trained on the client’s own process, and reported the same KPIs every week as it grew over six years.
eLearning, enterprise and government
A programme that reached 10 million learners
Challenge. Deliver custom eLearning at national scale for BFSI, telecom, IT and government clients across APAC.
What we did. As Chief Customer Officer, led the client side of more than 10,000 hours of delivered training, including a flagship programme that reached 10 million+ learners.
Ways to work together
Most clients start small and grow the engagement once they have seen results.
Strategy session
A working session on one problem: pipeline, positioning, a Google Ads account or an India plan. You get a written action list the same week.
Team workshop
Any of the workshops above, adapted to your company, in person or online, with a follow-up review 30 days later.
Growth programme
I own the marketing plan and the numbers. My team at Espial Solutions runs SEO, Google Ads and LinkedIn. Monthly review with your leadership.
Advisory or India build
A board or advisory seat, or a build-operate-transfer engagement to set up and run your team in India.
The companies behind the work
IMAGE: espial-solutions-logo.png
Espial Solutions LLP
Digital marketing agency in Pune. SEO, GEO, Google Ads, social media and LinkedIn lead generation, with in-house SEO, design, development and AI teams.
IMAGE: espial-infotech-logo.png
Espial Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
AI product engineering from Pune for clients worldwide. More than 20 AI systems shipped across manufacturing, energy, retail and the public sector.
PetalRank Tracks how your brand shows up on Google and in AI answers. petalrank.com
LinkSprig AI LinkedIn outreach that follows up until a meeting is booked. linksprig.com
Sales first, then operations, then my own companies.
I have spent two decades in eLearning and EdTech, which is why so much of my work today is about training people, not just running campaigns for them.
Advisory board member at an eLearning company (2021 to 2025). Co-founder of AdeptPal, serving US small and mid-sized businesses (2022 to 2025). Award for Excellence in eLearning, Global Learn Tech Awards 2015. Certified Sales Coach. Google Ads Search certified.
- 2017 to nowCEO, Espial Solutions LLPDigital marketing agency, around 25 people
- 2026 to nowDirector, Espial Infotech Pvt. Ltd.AI product engineering, PetalRank and LinkSprig
- 2017 to 2020Chief Customer Officer, Multiversity eLearningCustom eLearning across Asia Pacific, 10,000+ hours delivered
- 2011 to 2017Chief Operating Officer, ITAD LearningSales, finance, HR, IT, quality and eLearning development
- 2009 to 2011General Manager, Sales, Harbinger Knowledge ProductsInside and territory sales, APAC and the Middle East
- 2003 to 2009VP Operations and Product Management, Hayagriva SoftwareEducation software, OEM alliances and online sales
- 1998 to 2003Sales, web marketing and independent consultingB2B web solutions in India and North America, then my own practice
Start without a meeting
Check your AI search visibility
See whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention your brand when buyers ask for a supplier.
Try LinkedIn outreach with AI
Find decision makers and send personal messages and follow-ups without the manual work.
Insights
- The Future of Marketing Leadership: Why Fractional CMOs Are on the Rise
- Business Consultant Services: Unlocking Sustainable Business Growth
- Business Growth Consulting: The Ultimate Strategy to Scale Smarter, Not Harder
- Why Choosing a Branding Agency in India Could Transform Your Business?
- Unlocking Business Growth with Marketing Consulting Services
Questions leaders ask me
Who is Naveen Shukla?
A Pune-based certified sales coach, marketing consultant and advisor with 27 years in sales, operations and digital marketing across North America, Europe, APAC and the Middle East. Founder of Espial Solutions LLP and Espial Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
What does a typical engagement look like?
Most start with a 90-minute strategy session. If it makes sense to continue, we agree a 90-day plan with one shared target, and decide whether your team or mine does the work.
Do you offer one-to-one sales coaching?
Yes. I am a certified sales coach and work with founders, sales heads and new sales managers, usually fortnightly over three to six months, on live deals in their pipeline.
Do you run training for sales and marketing teams?
Yes. Workshops on pipeline building, reaching decision makers, positioning, LinkedIn for leaders, Google Ads for owners and selling into new regions, in person in India or online.
Do you work with companies outside India?
Yes. Much of my work is for companies in the US, Europe, Australia and the Gulf, either marketing into those markets or building delivery teams in India.
Can you set up and run an offshore team in India for us?
Yes, on a build-operate-transfer basis: location and SEZ decisions, premises, hiring, process and quality, then handover when your leadership is ready.
Do you only advise, or does your team run campaigns too?
Both. I can advise and train alone, or my team at Espial Solutions can run SEO, Google Ads and LinkedIn for you day to day.
Why don’t you list client names?
Many clients prefer to keep their marketing partners private. I share relevant case details and references once we are in conversation.
Are you open to advisory board roles?
Yes, for B2B, IT services, eLearning and marketing technology companies where growth in sales and marketing is the central question.
Tell me what you’re trying to grow.
A 30-minute call, no pitch deck. You’ll leave with at least one thing you can act on, whether we work together or not.