Jan 30, 2018
Takeaways
- Frameworks are Better than Scripts: When you try to straight up copy someone else’s style or words, it quickly becomes clear it’s a script and/or inauthentic. You need to develop frameworks of how to handle situations and have the confidence to make it your own. If not, you’re no better than a robot or a recording and I don’t see either of those having much success in sales today.
- Create Check-down Lists: Most of you listening probably have “required fields” or something similar in your company CRM. While they can be valuable, I’d rather focus energy and training on why I need to get certain things out of each stage. Doing that allows me to go back to #1 and create the framework instead of just a black and white requirement.
- Don’t Fear the Next Question: If you find yourself afraid to say certain things because you have no idea what a prospect may ask as the follow-up or if you’ll even be able to answer the question, get over it. They’re going to have a next question whether you say the right thing or the wrong thing. I’ve also found that instead of making a declarative statement, if I can reword it into a question itself, the prospect will often reveal the answer to themselves — while thinking you’re a genius for asking it.
Full Notes
Book Recommendation
- Think Like A Freak by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Sponsor
- Costello-What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do.
Jan 23, 2018
Takeaways
- Get Something in Return: Whether it references, case studies, access to your C-suite, or proof-of-concepts, there are only so many things we have in our bag as sales reps. So, before you give away the farm for customer requests, make sure you’re getting something in return for each ask.
- Overwhelm the Prospect's Request: Once you decide it’s time to send over references, overwhelm them with your approach. If they ask for two, give them four and do it as fast as possible. This shows that not only do you have 100% faith in your product, but your existing customers do too. Bonus tip - this also works in the prospecting stage. Send over testimonial quotes from existing customers who are in a similar industry.
- Leverage as Many People as Possible: James considers himself a resource hog and wants everyone in his company to know about every deal he’s working on. With that, he’s able to align his CEO with his prospect’s CEO, his VP of Technology to his prospect’s VP of Technology, any subject matter experts that are relevant to the opportunity and obviously as many customer references as possible.
Full Notes
Book Recommendation
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Sponsors
- Costello-What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do.
- Pipedrive-The pipeline-centric system is strategically built on a proven selling methodology that keeps teams focused on the only thing they can control in sales – actions that push deals to close.
Jan 16, 2018
Takeaways
- Put in the Work: Trong talked about how he views sales as a craft. As any artist or athlete knows, you have to put in the time to become great. I see too many reps today think that showing up to sales calls is all the practice they need. I hate to tell you this, but you’re not going to rise to the occasion under pressure. If you want to become truly great, you’ve got to put in the work when no one else is looking or expecting you to do it.
- Get Comfortable Sharing Challenging Information: There’s a song that says "It’s not always rainbows and butterflies” — while I don’t think they had sales in mind when they sang it those lyrics, it definitely applies. It’s easy to share positive information, but if you want an executive to actually see value in you, you’ve got to break the internal filter of information they get. Share what’s actually going on, no matter how challenging it may be.
- Take a Portfolio Approach: It would be nice to only spend our time working on enormous deals, but the reality is we have to balance both the long and short-term. Regardless of your average contract value, make sure you identify the acceptable deals you can get done quickly and the typical deals you would expect to close, but also sprinkle in some ideal prospects that you know will take longer to close.
Full Notes
Book Recommendation
- Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience by Laurence Gonzales
Sponsors
-
What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do. 
The pipeline-centric system is strategically built on a proven selling methodology that keeps teams focused on the only thing they can control in sales – actions that push deals to close.
Jan 9, 2018
Takeaways
- Blaze a Different Path: I’m a big proponent of starting outreach as high as you can in an organization. However, when you can’t reach that person, you have to try a different approach. Figure out who the direct reports are for the person you ultimately want to connect with and try to build a relationship with them. Doing this correctly could help you gain valuable insight on initiatives, priorities, communication preferences and even the decision making process.
- Don’t Rely on Others: Your success is just that — your’s. It shouldn’t come from peers, another department, or even your manager, it must come from within you. Having that mentality will help you overcome many obstacles. Don’t have enough data or prospects on your call list? Find it elsewhere. Don’t have all the answers to objections? Research your prospects to understand the root cause of their statement. Don’t have all the tools you need to do your job? Buy them yourself.
- Never Give Up: Unless a prospect tells you they’ve left the company they work for or the company is going out of business, don’t give up on them. Simply hearing “no” today does not mean “no forever.” After six months, figure out what has changed with the person, their company, or the use case you solve for and reach back out.
Full Notes
Book Recommendation
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Sponsors
-
What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do.
The pipeline-centric system is strategically built on a proven selling methodology that keeps teams focused on the only thing they can control in sales – actions that push deals to close.
Jan 2, 2018
Takeaways
- Understand Time to Proficiency: Prior to joining a new sales team, find out the average time it takes a rep there to become proficient. This is usually talked about as time to fully-ramped quota, but whether it’s three, six, or nine months, you need to embrace this time to learn. I know sales people are competitive and typically think they know everything, but make sure you’re using all available resources during this time to map out the sales process.
- Map Out the Sales Process: Sales is not magic. Obviously, you need to know and understand the product you’re selling, but more importantly, you need to master the buyer’s disposition. Who are they? What are they currently using? What are the issues and challenges they are facing? What are the business implications of those challenges. Mapping those considerations to your own training and content development prevents you from needing to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
- Do More, Than Less: As a new rep at any company, you need to do more. You don’t have the experience of everyone else on the team and need those repetitions to get your feet under you. You need to make more calls to get appointments. You need to run more first appointments to figure out how to convert to the next step. Once you’ve established these baselines for yourself, then you should make it a goal to do less activities while maintaining the same or better results.
Full Notes
Book Recommendations
- I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion by Dawna Markova
- Your Brain at Work by David Rock
Sponsors
-
What if every sales rep inherited the habits of your best rep? With Costello, they do.
The pipeline-centric system is strategically built on a proven selling methodology that keeps teams focused on the only thing they can control in sales – actions that push deals to close.
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