Andy Paul's Blog, page 24

#623: The Importance of Your Character in Sales w/ Bridget Gleason

 

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Andy introduces the topic: character. How does character relate to knowing, liking, and trusting? Bridget says we are more likely to trust people who are of high character. How do you feel buying from someone of low character?
Andy defines character as the emotional and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, such as empathy, integrity, honesty, and loyalty. Good character is a binary distinction. You have it or you don’t.
Business coach Jim Rohn laid out six traits of good character: integrity, honesty, loyalty, self-sacrifice, accountability, and self-control. Do you need all six? Bridget thinks it is a spectrum, not a binary choice.
Leaders hire people to represent the company. What responsibility do the leaders have to hire people of high character? Should we emphasize it more when we build our teams to fit into our culture? Andy thinks it is ignored.
Andy quotes Vince Lombardi about the progression of thoughts, beliefs, words, actions, habits, and character. Thoughts eventually become your character.
If reps don’t have high character, they won’t be customer-centric. Jim Rohn said integrity is an undivided life. You act the same in all environments. It’s a congruence of behavior, regardless of your audience.
Recognize your choices. Treat your customer as you treat your boss and your family members. Habit changes are choices. We can acknowledge the impulse and replace a bad choice with a good one, making the habit serve us.
Jim Rohn defines honesty as the only policy. This removes the decision from the situation. Even the small things make a difference.
Jim Rohn defines loyalty as sticking with people when they need us most. Don’t always jump to the next job for a few more dollars. If it’s only about the dollar, it’s a red flag for Bridget. Andy agrees.
Self-sacrifice is putting up with a tough circumstance to see something through to the other side. Having patience will tend to accrue to your benefit, in the end. Andy learned this early on, in what turned into an acquisition.

 

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#622: Is Your Sales Process Backwards? w/ Derek Wyszynski

 

Derek Wyszynski, Mentor at GrowthX Academy, Founding Member of Sales Enablement Society, and until recently, Chief Sales Hacker at ZynBit, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Derek says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is selling to the informed customer. When Derek started in sales, the salesperson was the primary engine of information between the customer and the solution.
Today’s customer knows your competitors’ and your solutions. When they talk to you, they don’t want persuasion, they want proof. The internet has been in play for 20 years. Why are we just noticing this issue?
Sales enablement is irrelevant to the end user. Sales enablement serves the salesperson only. The technology is not customer-facing.
Derek asks why prospecting (the most important part of the sales process) is given to the least experienced and least knowledgeable representative (the SDR). The outreach reps should be the most experienced.
The ZynBit sale starts with content to create demand. When people connect to the content, a sales conversation begins. When the prospect shows serious interest, they are transferred to customer experience (CX) ‘concierges.’
The ‘concierge’ walks the customer through the proof process — whether a demo or a trial — and makes it very easy to buy. ZynBit is a SaaS solution charged per user.
ZynBit customers work with the team for the ‘knobs and dials’ of the proof process. When the process is tuned for large enterprise customers, the close rates rise, contracts are written for longer terms, and clients give referrals.
Derek says cold outreach is dead to reps. Getting the right person on the phone and reading the email is where the sales process begins. The ZynBit platform is Salesforce. ZynBit contacts people already in Salesforce user groups.
Derek recommends using the same model for other products, as well. Go into industry user groups and meetings to provide expert advice and content.
How should compensation plans change? ZynBit employees are paid an aggressive base salary and a quarterly bonus on the entire organization’s revenue. Everyone has skin in the game for overall success.
The point of qualification is to qualify people ‘out’ and keep them in some nurturing marketing situation until they are ready. Spend more time with qualified leads.
ZynBit has the right people. The metrics to evaluate salespeople at ZynBit: SQL to a sale is the most important number here. CX team (closers) are judged on conversion from SQL, upsells, and referrals.

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#621: Is Goodness the Key to Success? w/ Tony Tjan

 

Tony Tjan, CEO and Managing Partner of Cueball.com and author of Good People: The Only Leadership Decision That Really Matters, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Tony says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is the recent radical change in organizational structure. Understanding who your real customer is becomes increasingly challenging.
Tony gives an example of trying to find the right department or officer to connect with in regard to employee wellness and engagement.
A rigid sales playbook dictates selling to personas instead of selling to people. This is less effective for selling to a decentralized organization. Andy gives an example of a decisionmaker unexpectedly being the admin to the CEO.
Tony says to separate the hat from the head. After you draw the hat, find which head and heart wear that hat. Tony shares another example of looking in the wrong area for the influencers.
Tony’s book urges leaders to be good people. Only about one-third of employees are happy at work and would recommend their company to a friend. 68% wish to leave. Meanwhile, there is a sharp decline in institutional trust.
Trust in business is under 48%. Leaders are taught competency but not character. “Goodness” is separate from, and more than, competency. True leadership comes from authenticity, values, and character.
Driving toward a common set of values and standards would be a pretty good business strategy. We need the human element in our organizations in spite of AI and automation.
A different way to interview is necessary. We are biased to interview for competency. We need to interview for character-based elements of goodness. Tony suggests activities like cooking a meal together with a candidate.
Frame the type of leader you want to find. Real leaders build other leaders, not followers. Long-term value comes from team building and leaders who bring out the best in others. It’s a virtuous circle.
Cool cultures form when people genuinely care about each other and help each other. Spend time mentoring and developing people. Have openness and transparency.
A better team is more important to success than better ideas. To be ‘people first’ consider how a decision impacts other people. Having an ‘A’ team is more critical to success than having ‘A’ ideas.

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#620: What do Buyers want from Sellers? w/ Bridget Gleason and Deb Calvert

 

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays. Special guest on this episode is Deb Calvert, President of People First Productivity Solutions and co-author of the new book, Stop Selling and Start Leading: How to Make Extraordinary Sales Happen.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Andy introduces Deb Calvert. Deb has been working on her book for three years, starting with the hypothesis, then research with buyers, and then with sellers. Deb worked with co-authors James Kouzes and‎ Barry Posner.
This book is a behavioral blueprint for sellers of sales behaviors that produce a response in buyers. These are actually the behaviors of exemplary leaders. Kouzes and Posner have been studying leadership for 30 years.
Buyers have been asking for these behaviors from sellers. Buyers want us to guide them to new places and they truly lead them and inspire them.
Deb explains a desired behavior from the study. It involves a needs assessment. Buyers don’t want a diagnostic assessment; they want a ‘dialogic’ needs assessment that becomes a catalyst for them to act.
Your intention is the start. Are you trying to prompt the right answers from the buyer to let you come back with a proposal, or are you listening in to find out what the buyer wants, and asking natural follow-up questions?
Watch for emotional cues, not just content-based answers. Probe to discover the drivers behind what’s being said. Dialog creates a bond that gets the buyer to buy in before you ever ask them to buy.
Empathy is trending downward among college students since 1970. How do we break this trend? Sales managers should look for empathy and curiosity as competencies in the people they hire.
Some people have natural empathy but behaving empathetically is a choice and can be learned. Curiosity and focus can be learned. Nobody will learn them if they don’t first see the importance of them.
Sales job ads should ask for curious, empathetic problem-solvers. Deb coaches organizations to look for that. Deb sets an ideal of the behaviors, skills, and characteristics that top sellers exhibit and hires for them.
Deb recommends using a customized assessment tool as a factor — not the deciding factor — to end the interview. In the interview, ask about past behaviors and consider them as indicative of future behaviors.
B2B sellers should emulate B2C sellers. Create an experience with the buyer. Make it special and unique. Trigger an awesome, euphoric connecting experience.
Deb says buyers want us to do 30 simple things more frequently than we do them now. In every contact, make sure your role is leading and not selling.

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#619: How to Measure Customer Intent to Generate Qualified Sales Leads w/ Steve de Mamiel

 

Steve Mamiel, author of The Mongrel Method: Sales and Marketing for the New Breed of Buyers, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Steve says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is determining who is responsible for the purchasing decision. Today, it is a group of people who make the decision. What matters to them?
The Mongrel Method was written to suggest a blend of sales and marketing. Processes have changed. Today’s procurement group is more educated on solutions.
In the last 10 years, the buyer has turned from using the salesperson to using the internet for their information.
Outbound calling yields single-digit results in leads and sales. It is demoralizing to the rep. Their efforts are better spent attracting customers with inbound marketing.
Steve replaces personas with a customer intent model — those who have shown signs of having researched and invested time to show they are ready to take action. Focus on those who have started the buying journey.
Steve measures intent by looking at resources and time, to see that the customer is invested in getting to a solution. He cites Google’s Beacons and Eddystone to track offline behavior.
If the customer is not investing resources and time, that’s a red flag that they’re not on the buyer journey. Hand it back to marketing to nurture the customer through the process until they’re ready to buy.
It’s important that the salesperson understand what role each particular influencer plays in the buying decision and what benefits them in the purchase.
Ask follow-up questions to each question. The first answer is rarely the whole truth. Other stakeholders may have different factors to consider in the purchase.
Don’t confuse the buyer(s) with the persona(s). There are always individual concerns that motivate a buyer. Sales reps should not go on autopilot. Always listen to the customer. Don’t try to herd them into following the script.
What value can you bring to the customer at each meeting? What insight and experience can you deliver? What information of value do you hold for the customer?
Start with the end in mind and work backward. Help the customer visualize what success looks like. Be clear with the customer what decision you are looking for them to make, and what the benefit is to them.

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#618: How to Align Sales and Marketing w/ Jeff Davis

Jeff Davis, sales and marketing alignment expert, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jeff says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is engagement — how to get through the noise to have a compelling and informative conversation with prospects that gets them to want to talk with you.
The subject line of an unopened email can still drive business through awareness. Reps need to prioritize sales activities between calling and emailing to ensure the most effective use of their time.
One outreach method doesn’t work for each situation. Jeff discusses understanding the buyer. Each person responds uniquely and should be approached differently.
How do you scale from talking to individuals to accelerating growth?
Aligning sales and marketing involves implementing business intelligence you have captured. Sales and marketing need to share their information over the fence, iterate, and change to improve performance.
Jeff started the Sales + Marketing Alignment Summit to bridge gaps between the sales and marketing leaders. He wanted to create a space where sales and marketing leaders could share challenges as a unified group.
There are no two more interdependent groups within an organization than sales and marketing. The work they do independently can be leveraged meaningfully for the other group. Some reps do not understand marketing.
The CEO has to be on board for sales and marketing to align. It is not a tech problem but a people issue. In order to close the rift between sales and marketing, the CEO has to lead the way forward with a clear vision message.
To get the CEO on board, the VP of Sales and the CMO need to work together to drive revenue and produce the business case to inform the CEO of the merits of alignment and the lost revenue from misalignment.
The CEO must consider costs to achieve alignment against lost revenue from misalignment. There may be costs to update platforms between groups.
For a major long-term initiative in an organization, you need the CEO to be the sponsor of sales and marketing alignment as it involves the full organization. In the absence of CEO sponsorship use short-term efforts.
Keeping sales and marketing as separate silos is a barrier to empathy and understanding. Rethink the organization in terms of acquisition, retention, and branding. Look at the individual roles and how they overlap.

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#617: What do we want to achieve in 2018? w/ Bridget Gleason

 

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Andy’s resolutions are not specific to the New Year. He’s always focused on fitness and improving his performance. 2018 is a year for product launches and podcast changes. Bridget also has goals for 2018.
Integrate your business, career, income stream, life, and travel so you can intentionally achieve what you plan.
Bridget has been focused on some externals related to work, but she has goals for internal work, too. Sales motivation is an internal game. Drive to achieve the number while knowing you are more than the number.
To have a fulfilling sales career, you have to be resilient, with inner balance. Andy never feels he has reached the best version of himself. He is nowhere near thinking of slowing down. There is so much left to create!
Bridget discusses a focus on connection and community. Our drive to accomplish keeps us connected to others. We don’t achieve in a vacuum. We also connect with our customers. Constantly improve your ability to connect.
Ambition, drive, curiosity, and empathy are all essential characteristics for a sales career. Bridget never wants to ‘call it in.’ She continues to compete with herself.
What should our level of emphasis be on excellence? Does too much emphasis de-motivate? Competent sales reps may not be comfortable being pushed into being sales superstars. You don’t want to need all ‘A’ players.
There will always be a distribution. It is pejorative to refer to good salespeople as ‘B’ players. Just say they are good at what they do. Good means competent, not mediocre. If they make their number, they are good.
It is hard to reach your number consistently. Yes, there are superstars who hit it out of the park, but all can be not the best. Help each rep to be the best they can be.
Andy wants to help executives re-orient their perspective on the tiers of their sales team. The focus should be on predictable productivity. The largest group is made of good players. Bad players need to go do something else.
Treat your good players as good, not as bad. More managers could work on that and allocate training resources to invest in their team. A couple of reps hit it out of the park, but don’t assume everyone can.
Think about this. Are you giving your good players a fair shake with lead distribution and a system that is good for the good reps? Are you rewarding consistency?

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#616: Amp Up Your Sales Performance with a Ritual w/ Daniel McGinn

 

Daniel McGinn, author of Psyched Up: How the Science of Mental Preparation Can Help You Succeed, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Daniel says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is the ‘no-decision.’ Sales are getting stuck in the quicksand of corporate bureaucracy. CEB research shows that corporate decision-making is bogged down.
Daniel wrote his book based on his experience in school athletics and observing rituals business and sports high performers used pre-game. He researched ‘psyching up.’
Daniel’s first concept of psyching up was the adrenaline rush before. Research pointed him more to emotions than adrenaline. Crank down your anxiety; amp up your confidence; calibrate your energy to the activity.
Daniel reported part of the book at the Juilliard Music School. They have a semester course on preparing your emotions for an audition. If you don’t manage the pressure you won’t do your best under the pressure.
One professor had students physically exercise before playing. Andy had a bicycling coach who taught him to “Calm your breathing — control your chaos.” We have stresses we need to control.
A surgeon cited in the book used a five-part ritual before surgery: pause and clear the mind, think of the patient, review the plan, state affirmations, and say a prayer. He also kept his mentor’s surgical instruments in the O.R.
“It’s not weird if it works.” A salesperson wears his prom king crown before making a phone call. Daniel listens to himself giving an interview on NPR. At Westpoint, they listen to personalized audio highlight reels before a game.
Andy tells himself, “Action!” before he goes onstage. It makes him smile. Research shows that people who have a ritual perform better, and people who are taught to do a ritual also perform better after doing the ritual.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law says people perform best when their stress is in the middle — when they’re neither bored not frightened. Focus on excitement (anticipation) rather than nervousness (fear). You will be at your best.
Cold calling is difficult. Finding ways to tweak your emotions and be excited about successful engagement will help. Daniel suggests a playlist. Use what works for you.
Daniel recommends centering. Look for a YouTube video to see how. Whatever psyching up technique you choose, let it build positive emotion, practice it, and make it a ritual.

 

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#615: Harassment in Sales w/ Bridget Gleason

 

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Andy notes the sexual harassment accusations in the news. Has Bridget ever experienced that in sales? Many times! Bridget is dismayed, but not surprised by the news. The floodgates have opened and people are speaking up.
Bridget had to set a rule where she is not available to meet ‘for drinks.’ Andy’s sister constantly had to fend off inappropriate actions at her first sales job.
Bridget is grateful for customers and coworkers that posed no threats to her, but she just avoids situations where there could be a threat.
When the Uber accusations hit the news in June, Bridget thought, it happens all the time, but she was pleasantly surprised when there were firings. Social media may have made it easier for people to speak up.
Bridget suggests that harassment is one reason why it’s hard to get interested women in sales. How can we create environments where women feel safe and thrive? Sales is a wonderful opportunity, but there is progress to make.
Stop advertising for hunter/closer aggressive extroverts. These traits are meaningless for sales, but they telegraph that a male is wanted for the position. Set the stage for diversity. Advertise for curious intelligent people.
Women are pleased to see other women in leadership positions as that shows there is diversity at the company. The inside sales culture of today is male-oriented. Bridget wants to see more of a mix.
Next topic: what was memorable in 2017; what are you looking forward to in 2018? For Bridget, spending time in Israel at Logz.io, embracing a new city, and all the changes in 2017 were amazing for her.
Andy loves the snow. It snowed yesterday from Third Avenue to Fifth Avenue on his run. 2017 was good for his business, with a new business partnership, and bringing his son into the business.
Andy talks about friends of his age scaling back while Andy is winding up. Andy continues to challenge himself. Bridget notes it would be easier if we didn’t get older!
Andy and Bridget wish you all a Happy New Year!

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#614: Is Your Sales Process Sales Ready? w/ Jim Ninivaggi

 

Jim Ninivaggi, Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark, Inc., joins me on this episode of Accelerate!

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jim says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is not having learned the core basic fundamental skills. Jim learned sales in an era of intensive training. Reps today are expected to know basics — but they don’t.
Having a sales process is not the same as knowing how to engage another human being and connect with them using fundamental behaviors that build relationships. It’s not easy to know the skills required to sell successfully.
Habits precede skills. Demonstrating empathy is a necessary habit. These habits are not being taught. Jim teaches salespeople to open a call as he learned at Xerox.
Recent research says small talk is absolutely an essential part of building a relationship. LinkedIn and Facebook can provide material for conversation. People want to know, like, and trust you. A relationship allows that.
The sales profession has an issue where sellers believe they are selling to personas, not to people. Framing a person as a persona leads to assumptions that may be false. Personas are only outlines. Know the person.
Brainshark is a sales readiness software platform that creates learning content for sales reps so they are ready to articulate the right messages to their customers. Jim’s makes sure his own customer-facing staff is ready to sell.
Jim is sure he’s the first and only Chief Readiness Officer. More should follow. Andy shares an example of the influence of a customer service rep. All customer-facing staff are important to customer acquisition and retention.
Readiness needs to be at the heart of an organization, relating to establishing and deepening customer relationships. Feel urgency at each contact. Maximize the value of each interaction. Ask if you satisfied their needs.
A selling culture is a service culture. How are we connecting with someone to be in a place to help them? A rep who is not ready and does poorly in an interaction hurts the brand and there is a cost to the company.
A rep needs to know how a customer makes a decision. Andy cites Herbert Simon’s work on decision-making with maximizers and satisficers. Jim talks about who drives the sales process with an example.
At each phase of the buying process, ask how you can simplify the decision-making process for the customer to get to the next phase or to buy. What does the buyer need? Can a legal review be initiated earlier, for example?
Andy notes the ‘oral traditions’ of the sales cycle. Don’t assume but ask the customer how much time they need at each phase. Consider when the customer expects and needs to make a decision.

 

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