The Elite Selling Podcast: Recent Episodes

Frankie Vignone & Griffin Reilly

Griffin & Frankie launched the Elite Selling Podcast with one question in mind: what makes a sales rep ELITE? Inspired by their conversations with top Go to Market leaders at some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, ESP was created to answer this question. Their goal is to uncover actionable insights for sellers who want to hone their craft and strive for greatness. Join Griffin and Frankie for powerful 15-20 minute conversations with change agents across the globe.

Summary

In this episode of the Elite Selling Podcast, Jennifer Chang discusses the importance of leveraging your ecosystem as a seller. She emphasizes the need to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including colleagues, leaders, and customers. Jennifer shares her own experience of winning the prestigious Barbarian Award at Cisco and highlights the role of collaboration and teamwork in achieving success. She also provides insights into the mindset and qualities required to transition from an individual contributor to a sales leader. The conversation concludes with recommendations for resources, including books and podcasts, that can help sellers enhance their skills and mindset.

Takeaways:

Leveraging your ecosystem is crucial for success as a seller.

Building relationships with internal and external stakeholders is essential.

Collaboration and teamwork are key to achieving sales goals.

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a sales leader requires a shift in mindset and the development of leadership qualities.

Seeking advice and learning from experienced sellers and leaders can be valuable.

Recommended resources include 'The Qualified Sales Leader' by John McMahon, 'Dare to Lead' by Brené Brown, and 'The Daily Stoic' by Ryan Holiday.

In this episode, Griffin and Frankie reflect on the first half of 2024 and share their insights and recommendations for the second half.

They discuss the following key themes:

1) Customers know more now than ever before, so sellers need to come prepared with a point of view and the right questions.

2) Customers are pushing for demos and want to see the product faster, but sellers should push back and ensure alignment on challenges and requirements before jumping into a demo.

3) Sellers should arm their champions with a business case to sell internally and guide them in building a compelling case.

4) Customers are getting antsy about pricing, but sellers should push for more discovery and understand the decision criteria before providing pricing.

5) In-person meetings and events are valuable for building relationships and creating opportunities for customers and prospects to connect and learn from each other.

The conversation explores the topic of successfully selling into an existing market versus creating and selling into a new market. Frank Dimina shares his experience and insights on this topic, highlighting the shift in mindset and approach required when selling in a new market. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the customer's problems and offering compelling value that outweighs the inertia of business as usual. The conversation also touches on the recruitment process for building a team that can excel in market creation, the challenges faced in this journey, and the need for customer intimacy and community building. The key takeaways include the importance of curiosity, leveraging the resources available, and having grit and resilience as a seller.

Want to know what it takes tot be a $1M earner in sales?

Check out this episode with Sean Burke!

Connect with Sean: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanhburke/

Summary

In this episode, hosts Frankie and Griffin discuss the importance of empathy in sales. They highlight six reasons why empathy is a superpower in B2B sales: understanding your customer, building relationships, effective communication, problem-solving, employee engagement, and adaptability. They emphasize the need for salespeople to put themselves in their customers' shoes and understand their goals and challenges. The hosts also share personal stories and practical tips for incorporating empathy into sales strategies.

Takeaways

Empathy is crucial in sales as it helps salespeople understand their customers' goals and challenges.

Building relationships with customers, both short-term and long-term, is essential for successful sales.

Effective communication involves tailoring messages to the specific needs and interests of customers.

Problem-solving skills are valuable in sales, as customers are looking for creative solutions to their problems.

Employee engagement and collaboration with colleagues in different departments can lead to better sales outcomes.

Adaptability is key in the ever-changing sales environment, and salespeople should balance the use of AI and technology with deep customer knowledge.

Summary

In this episode, hosts Griffin and Frankie discuss their backgrounds and how they got into sales. They share their motivations for being in sales, such as providing for their families and enjoying the customer-facing aspect of the job. They talk about their early experiences in sales, the lack of training they received, and the importance of strategic selling. They also discuss the value of investing in personal development and the benefits of networking with like-minded individuals. The episode concludes with a reminder to seek out people who will push you to be better in your sales career. In this conversation, Griffin and Frankie discuss why they are still in sales after 10 years and why being an individual contributor (IC) can be a fulfilling career choice. They emphasize the importance of finding purpose and fulfillment in the day-to-day work, rather than solely focusing on promotions and climbing the corporate ladder. They also discuss the need for continuous learning and personal growth in sales, as well as the importance of having a competitive drive and a healthy ego. Overall, they encourage listeners to embrace the journey of sales and prioritize their own development.

Takeaways

Motivations for being in sales can vary, but providing for your family is a common one.
Early experiences in sales may lack proper training, but it's important to invest in personal development and learn strategic selling techniques.
Networking with like-minded individuals can be beneficial for personal and professional growth.
Surround yourself with people who will push you to be better in your sales career. Being an individual contributor (IC) in sales can be a fulfilling career choice, and it's okay to stay in that role for your entire career.
Finding purpose and fulfillment in the day-to-day work is more important than chasing promotions and climbing the corporate ladder.
Continuous learning and personal growth are essential in sales, and it's important to actively seek out opportunities to improve.
Having a competitive drive and a healthy ego can fuel success in sales, but it's important to balance it with humility and giving credit to others.

Summary

In this episode, Billy Bob discusses the importance of playing the long game in sales and differentiating oneself as an elite seller. He emphasizes the need to focus on a 10-year game rather than optimizing for short-term earnings. Billy Bob also highlights the risk of constantly starting over and the value of building strong relationships. He encourages sellers to think about how they can add unique skills to their talent stack and stand out from the competition. Additionally, he shares resources for personal and professional development and defines an elite seller as someone who is obsessed with differentiation and uniqueness.

Takeaways

Play the long game in sales and focus on a 10-year perspective rather than short-term earnings.
Building strong relationships is crucial for success in sales and provides more opportunities than just focusing on one's quota.
Differentiate yourself as a seller by adding unique skills to your talent stack and finding ways to stand out from the competition.
Maximize the opportunity in your current role and focus on winning in the system you're in.
Ask unexpected questions and provide a unique sales experience to differentiate yourself from other vendors.

Summary

In this episode, Jessica Gilmartin, CRO of Calendly, discusses the importance of sales and marketing partnering together. She highlights the misalignment of incentives between the two teams and the challenges in lead routing and scoring. Jessica shares the approach Calendly has taken to improve sales-marketing alignment, including increased communication and collaboration. She emphasizes the value of sales reps bringing marketing into meetings and the importance of reevaluating the value of leads. Jessica also discusses challenges with events and the benefits of targeting key accounts. She concludes by highlighting the results of effective sales-marketing partnership. The conversation covers various topics related to sales and marketing collaboration, effective outreach strategies, and the importance of understanding customer needs. The chapters include Sales Team Feedback, Having a Point of View, Being a Valuable Salesperson, Creating Events and Engaging Customers, Adapting Outreach Strategies, Utilizing Technology and Social Media, Reaching the Right Person, Building Internal Champions, Delivering on Promises, Calendly's Team and Opportunities, Sales and Marketing Partnership, Final Thoughts, and Defining an Elite Seller.

Takeaways

Sales and marketing teams rely on each other and should approach their partnership with empathy and understanding.
Misalignment of incentives can lead to finger-pointing between sales and marketing teams.
Effective lead routing and scoring are crucial for improving sales-marketing alignment.
Sales reps should actively involve marketing in meetings and collaborate on targeting key accounts. Sales and marketing should collaborate closely, with sales providing specific and actionable feedback to marketing.
Having a point of view about internal processes and needs can help salespeople stand out and improve their partnerships with other teams.
Being a valuable salesperson involves being proactive, giving good advice, and actively engaging with marketing and other teams.
Creating events and engaging customers can be an effective way to build relationships and drive revenue.
Outreach strategies should focus on getting prospects to raise their hands and show interest, rather than relying on cold outreach.
Utilizing technology and social media, particularly LinkedIn, can be valuable for sales and marketing efforts.
It is important to reach the right person within an organization, rather than targeting high-level executives who may not have decision-making power.
Building internal champions who advocate for your product or service is crucial for long-term success.
Delivering on promises and providing value to customers after the sale is essential for maintaining strong relationships.
Calendly's team is focused on meeting customer needs and creating a successful sales process.
Sales and marketing should work together as partners, with regular check-ins and shared goals.
An elite seller deeply understands their customers' needs and provides tailored solutions throughout the entire sales journey.

Summary

In this episode, Andy discusses the importance of prescriptive proof of values (POVs) in accelerating sales cycles and improving conversion rates. He shares his experience implementing prescriptive POVs at Splunk and the positive impact they had on the sales process. Andy emphasizes the need for qualification and discovery before introducing a POV and highlights the importance of leveraging customer data to drive sales. He also recommends the resource Pavilion for sales professionals looking to enhance their skills and knowledge.

Takeaways

Prescriptive proof of values (POVs) can accelerate sales cycles and improve conversion rates.
Qualification and discovery are crucial before introducing a POV to ensure it is the right fit for the customer.
Leveraging customer data in the sales process can provide valuable insights and drive decision-making.
Confidence and the ability to push back on customers when necessary are key traits of elite sellers.

Chapters

00:00

Introduction and Focus on Prescriptive Proof of Values

01:07

The Aha Moment for Prescriptive Proof of Values

11:34

Introducing Proof of Value in the Sales Process

12:25

Qualification and Discovery for Proof of Value

25:45

Leveraging Customer Data in the Sales Process

31:37

Recommended Resource: Pavilion

33:35

Defining an Elite Seller

Summary

In this episode, Frankie and Griffin share their recommendations for landing the perfect sales job. They emphasize the importance of doing thorough research on the company and understanding the products, training, culture, pay, and personas involved. They also discuss the significance of cleaning up your resume and LinkedIn profile, focusing on key achievements and data. The hosts stress the need to treat the interview process as a sales campaign, reaching out to potential hiring managers and conducting backchanneling. They provide tips for standing out in interviews, including asking thoughtful questions and demonstrating preparedness. Finally, they emphasize the importance of following up promptly and professionally.

Takeaways

Do thorough research on the company and understand the products, training, culture, pay, and personas involved.

Clean up your resume and LinkedIn profile, focusing on key achievements and data.

Treat the interview process as a sales campaign, reaching out to potential hiring managers and conducting backchanneling.

Stand out in interviews by asking thoughtful questions and demonstrating preparedness.

Follow up promptly and professionally after interviews.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:44 Step 1: Know Where You Want to End Up

03:30 Step 2: Clean Up Your Resume and LinkedIn

07:36 Step 3: Stand Out in the Interview Process

13:22 Step 4: Prepare for the Interview

19:24 Step 5: Follow Up

22:14 Conclusion

Summary

In this episode, Paul discusses the power of frameworks in sales. He shares his favorite frameworks in the areas of people, sales excellence, business management, and personal development. Paul emphasizes the importance of being a student of the profession and recommends that listeners choose a few frameworks that resonate with them and become proficient in using them. He also highlights the characteristics of an elite seller, including being a student of the game, having the right mix of technical and art skills, and being brave and creative.

Takeaways

Frameworks in sales provide a simple, standard, and proven way of preparing and tackling key challenges in sales.

Being a student of the profession and continuously learning about different frameworks is crucial for success in sales.

Choose a few frameworks that resonate with you and become proficient in using them.

An elite seller is someone who is a student of the game, has the right mix of technical and art skills, and is brave and creative.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:02 Definition of Frameworks in Sales

05:19 Favorite Frameworks: People, Sales Excellence, Business Management, and Personal Development

21:19 Balanced Organizations and High Performance Framework

28:36 Personal Frameworks: Brand and Storytelling

32:34 Advice for Listeners

34:26 Definition of an Elite Seller

Summary

In this episode, Doug discusses the exciting developments in AI and how it can be leveraged to improve sales conversations. He emphasizes the importance of building a point of view and hypothesis for each conversation, as well as using AI to gather insights and research about the industry and company. Doug also highlights the need for sellers to get back to the fundamentals of selling and the value of time in sales. Lastly, he provides advice for sellers joining startups, emphasizing the need for grit, transparency, and the ability to wear multiple hats. The conversation covers the challenges and statistics of startup success rates, the difficulties in scaling a company, the importance of the early stage, building a point of view, understanding customers, and the definition of an elite seller.

Takeaways

Leverage AI capabilities to gather insights and research about the industry and company before sales conversations.

Build a point of view and hypothesis for each conversation to demonstrate that you have done your homework and add value to the buyer.

Focus on the fundamentals of selling, including thorough preparation, following a process, and adding value to the buyer from the start.

Understand the strategic initiatives of the company and the persona you are selling to in order to align your point of view and recommendations.

When joining a startup, be prepared for the challenges and uncertainties, and be willing to test, track, and adapt your approach. Only 10% of technology startups that have raised three million or more in capital make it to 30 million in revenue.

Only 1% of technology startups make it to 100 million in revenue or a billion dollar valuation.

Challenges in scaling include market conditions, execution, leadership, bad hiring, and pipeline requirements.

Early stage is where companies face the most challenges but also have the opportunity for growth and learning.

Building a point of view involves challenging the customer and leveraging insights from similar customers.

Understanding customers and their customers' needs is crucial for successful selling.

An elite seller always puts the customer at the forefront of their thinking and focuses on helping them.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Exciting Developments in AI

03:21 The Importance of Building a Point of View and Hypothesis

08:12 Developing a Hypothesis and Point of View for Each Conversation

14:23 Using AI to Drive Hypotheses and Better Conversations

19:18 The Fundamentals of Selling and the Value of Time

25:02 Advice for Sellers Joining Startups

33:38 Startup Success Rates

34:09 Challenges in Scaling

35:08 The Importance of Early Stage

35:59 Building a Point of View

38:39 Understanding Customers

39:15 Definition of an Elite Seller

Highlights from the show:

The 6 Keys to Being an Elite Seller
How much pipeline do you really need?
The Three P's (Purpose, Process, Payoff)

Links to follow John, Force Management, and Revenue Builders:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkaplanfm/

https://www.forcemanagement.com/

https://www.ascender.co/

https://www.forcemanagement.com/resources/revenue-builders-podcast

Free Guide: 7 Steps to 7 Figures CLICK HERE:

https://the-elite-selling-podcast.ck.page/53b7f15864

Summary:

Doug May - Selling on Value
Value is something you do every step of the way
Importance of asking the second and third layer questions
Quantify pain

Follow Doug on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougmay/

Free guide: 7 Steps to 7 Figures 💰 click here:

https://the-elite-selling-podcast.ck.page/53b7f15864

Summary:

-How to master your sales habits

-What to do if you fall off and need motivation

-The parallels between athletics and sales

-How to identify the most important revenue-generating activities

-How to create your perfect day

-How to block off time to ensure productivity and mental wellbeing

-How to have a difficult conversation with your leadership

Free guide: 7 Steps to 7 Figures 💰 click here:

https://the-elite-selling-podcast.ck.page/53b7f15864

Summary:

Career patience and opportunities with Jeff Perry. 0:00
The importance of patience in a sales career. 1:29
Sales process, storytelling, and career patience. 6:27
Career growth and opportunities at Oracle. 10:09
Evaluating job opportunities and prioritizing internal support. 16:37
Career growth and leadership development. 20:15
Career development, networking, and personal growth in sales. 25:55

Free guide: 7 Steps to 7 Figures 💰 click here:

https://the-elite-selling-podcast.ck.page/53b7f15864

Summary

The importance of shifting mindset from getting to giving in sales and business
Shifting mindset from getting to giving in sales
Sales strategies and language.
Sales mindset and language to build relationships and close deals.
Authenticity, mental health, and sales strategies in challenging times. 20:14
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of authenticity in sales, suggesting that taking a deep breath and being yourself can help build human connections.
- Stating that authenticity is key to making a connection and that salespeople should be passionate and genuine in their interactions.
- Expert shares tips for coping with mental health issues during challenging economic times.
- Personal growth and its impact on business success.
- Vulnerability and leadership in sales.

Personal philosophy on connecting with people, starting with a human connection and building trust. * Sales mindset and operational excellence with an elite seller.

+ Tony Robbins' business mastery course and podcasts for business and personal development.
+ Books on the art of selling and noble selling purpose, and watching TEDx talks for inspiration.
+ Elite seller as someone focused on the customer and operational excellence, with a common language and repeatable process.
+ Importance of mindset and sales chops, while still prioritizing operational rhythm and measurable results.

Sylvain Tremblay - CRO @ Uniphore

Summary

Qualitative vs quantitative selling in 2023 with sales legend Sylvain Tremblay. 0:00
- Sylvain Tremblay shares insights on qualitative vs quantitative selling in 2023.
- Sales vs. quantity in B2B sales, with a focus on emotional intelligence. 1:12
- Frankie discusses the importance of emotional intelligence in sales today, arguing that quantity is no longer the key to success.
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of qualitative aspects of sales, such as relationship building and well-written emails, to drive pipeline progression and closed deals
- Engaged buyers are 83% more likely to make a purchase, while disengaged buyers are 100% less likely to buy.
- Unifor's emotional intelligence platform uses AI to measure engagement and sentiment in real-time, coaching participants for better human interactions.
- Sales strategies and customer engagement. 9:57
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of sparking engagement and building rapport with customers through presentations, rather than solely focusing on personal objectives.
- Vendors must prioritize understanding buyers' business challenges and articulating relevant use cases to build trust and close deals
- Sales strategies and emotional intelligence. 15:53
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in sales, suggesting that sellers should put themselves in their customers' shoes and ask what they would expect from a sales rep.
- emotional intelligence (EQ) can be learned, consisting of four dimensions: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management.
- Emotional intelligence in sales with EQ platform insights. 20:52
- highlights the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ) in sales, citing research that shows sellers with high EQ can identify customer problems more accurately and close deals faster.
- shares a personal anecdote about their experience at Florida State University, where they majored in sales and knew Dr. Left, one of the researchers who helped validate the claims of the emotional intelligence platform used by Speaker 2's company.
- Speaker 3 notes the pendulum swinging back towards human connection in B2B sales, with more emphasis on face-to-face interactions and personal relationships.
- Speaker 2 highlights the importance of monitoring sentiment and engagement throughout the sales cycle, both during and after the initial sale.
- Emotional intelligence in sales with industry experts. 28:01
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence in hiring sales representatives, citing it as a key factor in fostering relationships and success in the role.
- "likability" to describe the quality of being able to connect with others, and highlights the importance of relating to and articulating one's experiences and achievements in an interview setting.
- An elite seller as someone who can engage customers emotionally and rationally, and deliver on their promises.
- Emotional intelligence is crucial in virtual sales, as it helps sellers understand their buyers and build personal connections.

Data-driven selling, KPIs, and risk management. 0:00
- Leslie emphasizes a data-driven approach to inform conversations and drive business growth.
- Importance of people and process in sales, specifically the need to remove risk from the forecasting and pipeline management process.
- KPIs and data analysis in sales meetings. 3:45
- KPIs in tracking business performance and providing valuable insights
- KPI meetings to be actionable and provide hypotheses for improvement
- Speaker 1 discusses their experience with KPIs, mentioning how they used data to inform their work and make progress in their business.
- Pioritizing meetings and executing deals, highlighting the importance of having decision-makers and influencers in the room.
- Managing sales teams and tracking KPIs. 8:45
- Salesforce for capturing interactions, but challenging to see AES business health.
- Importance of armoring frontline managers with tools to facilitate productive one-on-one conversations with AEs.
- Consistent KPIs across mid-market and enterprise teams include pipeline health, with pipelines serving as a lifeline for success.
- Sales pipeline management and optimization. 12:39
- Importance of pipeline generation and progression, particularly in the enterprise segment, where deals can take months to close.
- Challenges of asking SMB sellers to develop pipeline, including the need for technology and resources to help progress deals.
- Importance of understanding the velocity of the sales process and setting KPIs accordingly for their segment.
- Need to engage with customer success to increase lifetime value and generate new business opportunities.
- Sales planning and strategy for success. 17:33
- Importance of account and territory planning, highlighting the need for a detailed hypothesis for revenue growth.
- Have a plan to achieve sales goals, citing the need to track progress and make adjustments as necessary.
- "path to cash plan" that was helpful in their previous role at ppl AI, which every rep should already be doing.
- Frankie emphasizes the importance of sales reps taking their businesses seriously and coming to QBRs with a point of view, rather than just hoping to avoid criticism.
- QBRs should be a collaborative session where reps can get input and ideas on their plans, rather than a time for management to "beat up" on them.
- Sales data analysis and its impact on business success. 24:14
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of using data and KPIs to understand where improvements are needed in a QBR.
- importance of accountability in sales, citing the need to be intellectually honest with oneself and to take action based on data insights.
- value of sales ops in providing data and insights to sales teams, allowing them to focus on improving their processes and closing deals.
- partnering with rev ops to get a formula for deals, conversion rate, ACV, sales cycle time, and book of business.
- partnering with customer success to identify opportunities for growth in accounts.
- Sales strategies and elite seller characteristics. 31:27
- "The Sales Acceleration Formula" by Mark Robear and "Qualified Sales Leader" by John McMahon for sales leaders looking to improve their skills.
- team, company, and customer interests over personal gain, seeking elite sellers who share this mindset.
- looks for daily practice of the sales craft, including qualifying and developing hypotheses for delivering value to customers.
- Leslie's definition of an elite seller is a partnership where both parties win in the long term.

Customer-centric selling strategies with Keith Rabkin. 0:00
- Keith Rabkin joins the podcast to discuss customer-focused selling strategies.
- Customer-focused selling and its key elements. 1:09
- Elite sellers prioritize customer focus, understanding their needs and pain points to find mutually beneficial solutions.
- Personal pain points of potential customers, such as fear of looking bad in front of their boss or wasting time moving data between systems.
- Tapping into these intrinsic motivations can move beyond a rational sale and tap into what the person truly wants and cares about.
- Customer focus in sales, including empathy and problem-solving. 5:04
- Griffin Reilly emphasizes the importance of empathizing with customers and understanding their pain points to build trust and credibility.
- Go with thea "tease and anchor" approach to get deeper into customers' pain points, while maintaining a positive and solution-focused tone.
- Importance of building trust with customers by being honest and transparent about what they need, rather than trying to make a sale.
- Sometimes the best salespeople are the ones who can say "no" or "you don't need that" in a way that makes the customer feel trusted and valued.
- Customer focus in sales leadership. 9:33
- Make things easy for customers, such as customizing information and using software to streamline the process.
- Deal rooms or mutual action plans to build trust and make the sales process more efficient.
- Importance of customer focus, citing their experience at Google where they learned to "follow the user" and prioritize their needs.
- Importance of customer centricity, and they have carried this principle with them in every job since.
- Customer-centric sales strategies and authenticity. 15:02
- Amazon's user-friendly interface and convenience as a key factor in their success, citing the ease of returning a pair of shoes as an example.
- Amazon's focus on customer centricity and streamlining the sales process has led to increased sales and brand loyalty.
- Importance of authenticity in customer interactions, advising sellers to be themselves and let their genuine personality shine through.
- Authenticity in sales and doing homework. 20:25
- Griffin Reilly shares a lightbulb moment where he realized it's okay to say "I don't know" and be honest about it, leading to a more authentic and customer-centric approach in sales.
- Do your homework on a potential customer, including reading their 10K and researching the economic buyer, to better understand their needs and be more customer-centric in sales.
- Elite selling strategies with industry experts. 23:20
- Griffin Reilly recommends reading the Google IPO letter for insights on serving users as the focus of a company.
- Joe Lee's book "The Heart of Business" provides a framework for solving problems for users, which is rewarding for employees and drives profit for the business.
- Elite seller as someone who is customer-focused, understands their needs, and is willing to go the extra mile to solve problems (tenacity/grit).
- Key highlights the importance of authenticity, homework, and making it easy for customers to buy from the seller.

Summary

How sales reps can stand out in new roles. 0:00
- Heidi Smith shares insights on how sales reps can stand out in a new role at a new company.
- Sales strategies and networking in the current market. 1:02
- Heidi is a super fan of the podcast and met one of the hosts at an event.
- Importance of referrals and personal connections in the hiring process, as sales leaders are more likely to take a call from someone they know and trust.
- Focus on building strong relationships with sales leaders and industry professionals, rather than solely relying on LinkedIn messages.
- Omportance of personalized outreach and research when connecting with potential employers or partners on LinkedIn.
- Building a personal brand and networking at conferences can lead to job opportunities and help you stand out in your industry.
- Resume and LinkedIn tips for sales professionals. 7:48
- Griffin Reilly agrees that cold outreach can be ineffective and suggests focusing on referrals instead.
- Highlight achievements on LinkedIn and resume, such as awards, quota attainment, and overachievement.
- Showcase entrepreneurial experience and leadership roles on a resume, as these demonstrate an ability to influence people and bring teams together.
- Resumes are typically limited to 2 pages, and recruiters and hiring managers will quickly scan them to determine if the candidate is a good fit
- Sales hiring strategies and follow-up techniques. 14:37
- Sales manager seeks candidate with intangible skills, despite lack of experience.
- Reach out to sales team members for introductions and insights into the company culture.
Importance of follow-up communication within 24 hours of interviews to demonstrate enthusiasm and professionalism. * Sales skills, company evaluation, and red flags in job interviews. 19:22

Ask the right questions during the onboarding process, such as "Why are you looking to leave your current role?" and "Can you articulate how you built your business?" (20 words)

+ Importance of being a good human being, being coachable, and being hungry in order to be a successful salesperson (19 words)
+ Research a company's earnings and culture before evaluating their health and potential for sales opportunities.
+ Backdoor references and evaluating a company's product or service, including downloading the product and interviewing current or former employees.

Sales strategies and elite performance. 25:02
- Researching the company and its leaders, as well as talking to salespeople for an honest assessment of the opportunity.
- Sales rep's following and reputation can be a major factor in their success at a company.
- Heidi recommends starting a podcast to learn and grow as a sales professional.
- She suggests looking for elite sellers in industries like NBA, NFL, and tennis to learn from their successes and failures.
- Heidi shared insights on what it takes to stand out in the job market, emphasizing the importance of networking, research, and follow-up.
- Elite performers like Tom Brady, Serena Williams, and Steph Curry have a strong work ethic and are constantly improving, even after achieving great success.

Why you should treat your sales "job" as a career instead.

Bart shares life lessons from his time at Splunk, BMC, and OutSystems about the importance of coaching, feedback, and going all in.

This is an episode you WILL NOT WANT TO MISS!

How to Avoid "Mid-Funnel Fallout"

Why your deals are dropping and not moving
5 key things these enterprise deals are falling out
You’re a business person, not a seller
your role is a consultant and go in and solve problems
remove yourself/your product from the equation

Summary:

Mid-Funnel Fallout and its Causes with Nigel Burns. 0:00
- Five reasons why deals are getting stuck in the middle of the sales process.
- North Stars are important for setting direction and aligning the organization, but they can be lost in the shuffle if not big enough or compelling enough.
- Sales strategies for successful deals. 3:47
- Focus on linking opportunities to strategic initiatives for faster approval.
- Developing relationships across departments is crucial for project success, especially with existing clients.
Red Flags in dealing with champions: hesitance to involve other stakeholders in the business. + Understand how the business evaluates and acquires new technology, as champions may not know the full process. * Sales strategies for IT deals. 10:07
- Sellers should help buyers understand the process of buying technology by providing a map or checklist of steps, ensuring a smooth and successful purchase.
- Sellers are afraid to lead in this area due to a misconception that it's not their job or that they're just facilitating the buyer's purchase, but it's important to help buyers understand the process to build trust and ensure a successful outcome.
- IT departments prioritize projects based on organizational goals, slowing down non-prioritized initiatives.
- Difficulty aligning sales efforts with IT group's strategic initiatives, leading to lost deals.
- Sales strategies for closing deals and improving forecasting accuracy. 17:06
- The importance of addressing five key challenges in enterprise deals, including aligning with a North Star and understanding how the technology will be used.
- The biggest challenge people miss is not making the vision for the deal compelling enough, leading to confusion and overwhelm.
- Accurate forecasting helps sales teams close deals, gain strategic influence, and secure new resources.
Prioritizing deals six months out allows for better forecasting accuracy, improved communication with leadership, and increased credibility. * Sales strategies and techniques for moving deals forward. 22:17
- Mid-funnel fallout by following a rigorous process in initial meetings.
- "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek for sales teams to build trust and frame conversations.
- An elite seller as someone who understands their client's business operations and can articulate how their product addresses specific business needs.
- Importance of being a consultant and building trusted relationships with clients.

Summary

Team selling in sales with a focus on partnership with marketing and other departments. 0:02
- The importance of team selling in email marketing sales.
- Team selling and collaboration in sales. 1:26
- Team Selling is when sales engineers and BDRs work together to focus messaging and solve client problems, rather than relying on a single top-performing sales rep.
- Sales reps should own some of the responsibility for ensuring the organization is working together effectively, rather than relying solely on management.
Taking time to understand the perspectives of other departments, such as marketing and product, can help sales reps identify areas for improvement and close deals more effectively. * Sales skills, weaknesses, and delegation. 7:00
- The importance of sales and marketing alignment, citing the need to address discrepancies in messaging and lead handoff at trade shows.
- Both honing one's strengths and delegating tasks to other functions (e.g., marketing, technical) is crucial for success in sales.
- Per discusses their journey from college to software sales, highlighting the lack of vocational training in sales and marketing.
- Sales strategies and career aspirations. 13:27
- The importance of being introspective about one's career aspirations in sales, considering both big and small company environments.
- Advises sellers to be aware of their career goals and whether they want to work for a big company or a small one, as this can impact their experience and expertise within an organization.
- The pros and cons of working at a large company versus a smaller one, emphasizing the importance of understanding the company's direction and culture.
- "How to Make Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, highlighting the book's practical advice on asking questions and showing genuine interest in others.
- Big companies have more resources, but smaller companies have more agility and personalized support.
- IBM had an interesting approach to sellers, where they gave autonomy and incentivized collaboration.
- Sales strategies and LinkedIn usage. 22:25
- Importance of being close to clients in sales, citing an example from his experience at Barracuda.
- The importance of using LinkedIn to generate content and connect with others in the industry, as it can help establish credibility and lead to job opportunities.
- Defines an elite seller as someone who consistently hits their numbers, even if they don't hit every number every month.
- Be cognizant of their surroundings in their organization and to reach out to others for help, rather than being a lone wolf.

Summary

Sales and marketing alignment for revenue growth. 0:03
- Sales and marketing alignment means aligning around impacting the revenue number, starting from the top down.
- Asks for specifics on what sales and marketing need to be aligned on, such as communication and shared criteria for success.
- Aligning marketing and sales teams for growth. 4:13
- Marketing teams should have a pipeline number and report on it regularly to align with sales goals.Standardized qualification processes and weekly pipeline forecast meetings can help marketing and sales teams row in the same direction.Clarity in roles and responsibilities is crucial for successful sales and marketing alignment.
- Lack of documentation and agreement on processes can lead to confusion and poor collaboration.
- Marketing and sales alignment in a small company. 10:13
- Marketing and sales alignment is key to successful customer engagement, with clear communication and feedback loops between teams.
- Important to form relationships with people on different teams, even if not directly responsible for marketing, to better understand their process and cross-share insights
- Reach out to marketing leader to start the conversation if you want to know more about marketing trends in 2023
- Marketing and sales strategies for a software company. 14:47
- Work ramp is focused on generating pipeline and building brand through content, including a podcast, customer highlights, and a virtual conference.
- The company is optimizing its marketing spend to maximize efficiency and establish itself as a credible and top brand in the LMS space.
- Unknown Speaker: Sellers should leverage marketing team's efforts by using events as momentum for outbound prospecting.
- Unknown Speaker: Sales teams can provide feedback on marketing materials, such as slide requests, to help position the company's value to CFOs.
- Leveraging customer stories for sales and marketing success. 20:42
- Importance of customer stories as pipeline-generating tools for sellers.
- Work Ramp's marketing team has a customer marketer on staff to gather and share compelling customer stories.
- Customers want to be highlighted and have their brands promoted, creating excitement and natural inflow of participation.
Sales and customer success teams should collaborate with marketing to bring customers' stories and help marketing facilitate customer advocacy. * Marketing and sales alignment, customer insights, and elite selling. 25:57
- Importance of aligning sales and marketing teams by sharing the same goals and language, and having open communication and feedback loops to hold each other accountable.
Use LinkedIn as a valuable resource for marketing and sales professionals to share information, inspiration, and examples of what's working or not working for specific teams. + Get to know your product and the sales team to be a better marketer.Elite sellers build trust by being genuinely curious and transparent about how they can solve buyers' challenges. + Jack shared valuable insights on how sales and marketing teams can work together more effectively, including the importance of speaking a common language and taking advantage of marketing's momentum.

Importance of genuine curiosity and authenticity in sales, and how it can lead to more successful outcomes for both the seller and the buyer.

Summary

Coaching in sales leadership with insights from experienced professionals. 0:01
- Ben emphasizes coaching as a crucial aspect of sales leadership, citing personal growth and potential career changes as a result of receiving coaching himself.
- Leaders often mistake talking to reps as coaching, and avoid truly coaching them.
- Coaching in sales, purposeful vs reactive. 3:23
- Coaching is purposeful, intentional time to help someone do better, not just rescuing deals at the
Coaching can be opportunity coaching, career coaching, or helping champions, but it must be intentional and purposeful. + Coaches should prioritize coaching during one-on-ones, focusing on specific deals and career progression. + Griffin Reilly: Agreed upon operational cadence is important for coaching, with set times for coaching conversations and proactive discussion topics. * Sales coaching and opportunity management. 8:15
- Importance of trust and respect in a coaching relationship, emphasizing that it's essential for effective communication and building a strong relationship.
- Griffin Reilly asks how great sales leaders build trust with their team members, given that it's similar to building trust with prospects in sales.
- Sales leader emphasizes opportunity coaching for sellers to close deals before end of year.
- The importance of creating a safe environment for sellers to receive feedback and coaching from their managers.
- Griffin Reilly shares his framework for opportunity coaching, including the use of deal clinics and preparing sellers for coaching sessions.
- Prioritizing coaching sessions for sales teams. 14:11
- Griffin Reilly discusses the importance of role-playing in sales coaching, citing Nathan Jamail's experience with improved skill development.
- Approach to realistic role-playing, incorporating deal clinics and other perspectives to help sellers improve.
- Leaders must prioritize coaching sessions with reps to help them succeed.
- Leaders must be intentional and proactive about scheduling coaching sessions to ensure they happen.
- Sales coaching, leadership, and mindset. 18:57
- Sellers should seek out resources and coaching to improve their skills, while managers should prioritize coaching and provide feedback to help their team succeed.
- "The Five Secrets of a Sales Coach" and the Sales Enablement Society Conference.
- The Sales Enablement Society Conference in San Diego, where they will discuss the importance of sales leadership and coaching.
- Ben: Elite sellers value their time and prospects' time, focusing on solving problems rather than just closing deals.
- Ben: Coaching is key to success, prioritizing it over forecasting and loving the opportunity to share wisdom and impart knowledge.

Podcast Summary

Intro to this episode. 0:00
- Welcome to another episode of the elite selling podcast, breaking down productivity in 2023 and what it means to be a productive sales rep or sales leader in 23.
- Welcome to the episode.
- The importance of productivity in sales. 1:14
- The story of productivity in his past life, when he was doing field sales at Cisco and covering colorado and Wyoming.
- What he could have told his younger self about productivity.
- The importance of being selective about who you spend your time with as a rep and controlling the things that you can control.
- The top KPIs for a rep.
- Step 1: Prioritize the right prospects. 4:17
- The first step in revenue generating activity is planning, and how to avoid analysis paralysis by prioritizing the right prospects and accounts.
- The most important thing a rep can do is prioritize.
- The first step is to know which accounts to go after once you have planned that out.
- The second step is blocking off time for outbound pipeline generation at the beginning of the day, crafting your message the night before and outlining five to 10 objectives.
- How to have productive days. 8:18
- Sales is all about having productive days and stacking those days every single day. The five objectives are the key to success.
- Pipeline is king. It's 10 emails, 10 phone calls and 10 linkedin messages every day. Keep it simple, consistent and beautiful.
- Measuring success with meetings. 10:41
- How many meetings have been booked for the future that week, not just meetings completed, but meetings booked that week.
- The next level of focus is total number of meetings, how many of those meetings are tied to pain, and how many are discovery meetings.
- Time to pain is a good sign of a well-done meeting, but having a champion and a route to revenue is also important.
- Pipeline is crucial to running a successful business and not fluctuating up and down based on not doing all the things discussed.

Mastering the Fundamentals - Dan Cutler

Summary

You can't be a one trick pony. 0:00
- You can't be a one-trick pony. People that are good for 10 years are the people that are malleable and flexible.
- The fundamentals of enterprise selling.
- Why fundamentals are so important? 1:34
- Why fundamentals are so important to him and why they are important to his listeners.
- Why not having a good understanding of the fundamentals or not mastering the fundamentals can negatively impact his career and career.
- The importance of understanding the how. 4:12
- The why is critical, but the how becomes more critical the larger the company you deal with. The first person to talk to is the same person that can make a decision.
- The two reasons that someone would buy something, to save money or to make money.
- He had worked with the pharmaceutical industry in a previous life. He knew that there was a funded initiative to push mobile technology to sellers.
- He latched on to one of the company's largest initiatives, and because he was able to marry it with one of their initiatives, he found success.
- Qualification and qualification of information. 9:36
- Every interaction is an opportunity to qualify and to share information to provide technical resources to share pricing without deeply qualifying why that information is being asked for.
- Pricing is the currency.
- The knee-jerk reaction to asking for a demo, and why it is a waste of time.
- The importance of understanding what the demo would look like to custom tailor it.
- It’s okay to say no when you’re wrong about something. 12:55
- Why it is so hard for sellers to have pushback with their prospects or customers, and why it is okay to say no sometimes.
- Why fundamentals are so important.
- How elite sellers get to the right people, or how an average seller struggles with spending time with the wrong person.
- How the great ones navigate the internal hierarchy and the political structure of who is the right person to make a decision.
- How to become multi-threaded. 18:10
- Becoming multi-threaded is a multi-party game. If you're playing one on one, you should pursue three on three.
- How to navigate through the hundreds of salespeople trying to get time from you.
- The importance of understanding the personal win. 20:13
- Getting to the personal win behind a potential champion and what is driving them to bring you on board.
- The balance of going in with a personal win vs professional win.
- The best sales reps have figured out a way to extract information that they probably shouldn't have, and sometimes they uncover that there is a motivation for that individual.
- What is in it for finance? 23:23
- Finance provides unique discounts, tweaks to the licensing model, understanding things that are scalable or not scalable, and empathy both externally and internally.
- Non-negotiable or things that reps can't do from a fundamental perspective.
- The ones that fail are the ones that sort of give up the goods without getting them in return.
- Every engagement is an opportunity to qualify and leverage in your hands.
- The importance of fundamentals. 27:42
- Fundamentals are like reading a children's book. Listeners can learn a lot from them.
- This is a stressful time for all of us right now in the market.
- How would you define an elite seller? 29:32
- Make sure that you partner with your sales organization and your leadership team and your entire company to help you accomplish your goals.
- What Michael Jordan defines as an elite seller.
- Best sellers are malleable and can keep up with the times, but also not be a one trick pony.
- Focus on the fundamentals, the why, how and the people.

A solid qualification methodology is a cornerstone of your efforts. 0:00
- Why a solid qualification methodology is a cornerstone of efforts to coach and develop talent, and how it creates a peer coaching environment
Have you ever heard of MEDDPICC before? 5:46
- He was referred to Medallia by someone who worked out already and was asked if he had ever used medic before.
- A month into the role, he was able to figure out why he had lost every single deal over the last five or six years in his career.
- Mark shares why he thinks MEDDPICC is the best sales methodology, and why it is the cornerstone of talent development in sales.
- Mark shares what it was like before and after bringing MEDDPICC into his organization, and what it has been like since then.
- Dysfunctions of a team. 10:01
- Five dysfunctions of a team, peak performance as a team when everyone on the team is holding each other accountable vs leadership holding the team accountable.
- The definition of a champion.
- Champion is a hard behavioral shift for people to go from referring to someone as a champion to realizing that they are a coach.
- MEDDPIC has a bad rap in certain instances but is customer-centric and beneficial for customers for three reasons.
- What elite sales looks like in action. 14:18
- If the answer is no, they will just qualify out and they won't waste the customer's time. The second conversation will be rooted in discovery.
- The three steps to creating value.
- Focus on metrics and pain first, then focus on decision criteria, and then champion enablement and build them up to help you.
- Elite reps control the sales process from the very start.
- How do elite sellers differentiate themselves from other sellers? 17:50
- How elite sellers are quick to identify and not wasting cycles, and how it takes time and experience to get that consistent, consistent and quick process done.
- How LinkedIn's enterprise sales are changing.
- The tweak is that certain parts of the framework become more important when there is an established relationship in place.
- Identifying pain points and delivery of business impact is critical.
- Decision criteria and decision process. 21:27
- Decision criteria and decision process are two separate things, but it is more important than ever to drive urgency around priorities.
- The decision making process has probably changed in the current situation, and salespeople need to be deliberate about their discovery.
- How often reps and leaders need to go in and rework their sales skills and make it part of their daily practice and how they think about it.
- Training and enablement every day.
- How to embed med pick into the operating rhythm of the organization? 25:35
- How to embed MEDDPICC in the operating rhythm of the organization, and why the first line of managers need to know it well enough to be able to teach it and get buy-in across the organization.
- How to tweak the hiring profile if you decide to implement medic.
- In organizations or individual sellers, the two pieces reps most often fall short of are the implicate the pain and the champion.
- To be successful, sales reps need to have strong commercial acumen, curiosity and emotional intelligence to understand power and influence in an organization.
- Resources for reps. 30:10
- Two resources mark would recommend to reps and sales leaders to check out, medic, and a new book called champion sell.
- Mark defines an elite seller as one who has commercial acumen, grit, resilience, growth, mindset, and coachability.
- Lead sellers have the ability to get customers excited about the future state of their solution and transmit that confidence and vision to the customer.
- Two key takeaways from today's episode, grab a buddy that you work with and figure out how to qualify your deals.

How to build your brand

-How building your brand in 2023 has changed
-Ways to kill your brand (common mistakes)
-Why networking is so important
-How to build your brand with your customers
-What resources do you recommend
-How do you define an elite seller

Summary:

Introduction to this episode. 0:01
- Welcome to a special episode of the elite-selling podcast.
- What Griff and Frankie wish they had known 10 years ago.
- Systems and habits are more important than goals. 1:06
- Habits are more important than goals.
- Everything is negotiable, internally and externally.
- Be prepared to negotiate internally and externally. 2:36
- Be prepared for negotiation, both internally and externally.
- Everything is negotiable.
- How to challenge your prospects. 4:22
- Don't be afraid to challenge prospects.
- You are more valuable than you think.
- Don’t be afraid to have swagger. 6:39
- Being a walking dream for a sales organization.
- The skill-will matrix.
- Mindset is everything in sales. 8:40
- Mindset is everything in sales, especially in 2023.
- The importance of having a positive mindset.
- Creativity is the most underrated skill in sales.
- Pipeline generation is a creative profession.
- Have a mentor and be a mentor. 13:35
- Have a mentor and be a mentor.
- Always be learning from someone.
- Don’t just ask someone to pick your brain. 15:36
- No 8, genuine curiosity is a superpower in sales.
- Best sellers are genuinely curious.
- Enjoy what you sell who you sell to and who you work for. 17:45
- Enjoy what you sell, who you sell to and who you work for.
- Knowing your value.
- Learn to qualify. 20:22
- Tactical, learn med pick.
- Data-driven sales and strategic selling, and why med pick matters.
- Systems over goals is the number one thing in sales.
- Creativity is an underrated skill.

Show Notes:

Defining the provocative sale. 0:00
- The provocative sale.
- 5% of B2B buyers are in the market for something new this year.
- Introduction to today’s episode. 0:59
- Introduction to Matt Cameron, chief executive officer of sassy sales leadership.
- Emotional intelligence in sales.
- Defining the provocative sale. 3:19
- Defining relevant competencies and the provocative sale.
- Why emotional intelligence is a valuable asset.
- Having confidence in the formula for sales success.
- Having the right to ask for introductions.
- How to stay close to your customer. 8:45
- Three key elements of sales, are optimism, self-regard, and empathy.
- Empathy for the buyer.
- Preparing for a specific call or personal development.
- Breaking out of a sales slump.
- How to get out of the valleys. 14:13
- The importance of journaling and emotional intelligence.
- The four stages of the sales process.
- The importance of empathy and intelligence competency. 16:32
- Empathy is the number one competency in sales.
- Assertiveness is also a competency.
- Reality testing is a key differentiator for elite salespeople.
The ability to be vulnerable. 26:14
Emotional self awareness. 29:03
- Emotional self-awareness, mindfulness and stress tolerance.
- Stress tolerance and how it impacts performance.
- The nine key emotional intelligence competencies needed for elite sellers.
- The sales leader questionnaire-based assessment.
- How do you define an elite seller in sales? 34:11
- The three buckets of salespeople, the engineer, the designer and the architect.
- Transactional sales.
- Resources Matt recommends listeners and listeners to check out.

Podcast Summary:

Seek first to understand your audience. 0:00
- Understanding success and what success looks like.
- Seek first to understand before going into sales.
- Best practices that will last for a long time.
- Seeking first to understand.
- Why is seek first to understand so important? 3:04
- Emotional intelligence and seeking first to understand.
- The seven habits of successful salespeople
- The first meeting might be uncomfortable because its untraditional
- Don’t go down the rabbit hole on one item. 8:24
- Solving specific problems for the customer.
- Starting at c level with a value proposition.
- What else do you need to do to be successful? 11:07
- Keep repeating the list of items to get access to information.
- Being solution resistant.
- How mark trains his team to not go down the rabbit hole.
- The Hans model.
- Seek first to understand before you advocate for your product. 15:44
- Early in the process, understand success.
- Prioritize what's the impact of resolving the problem
- Seek first to understand, scout, soldier mindset
- Building durable champions that will last. 22:31
- The crucible, where things get hot and challenging.
- Prepare yourself for the end when it becomes about risk and cost.
- Building trust.
- Selling to a customer’s intent. 25:50
- Why hope is not a strategy.
- The importance of building a stakeholder base.
- Be solution-resistant, intent-resistant and design thinking.
- How do you measure success? 29:48
- Roses, Buds, Thorns
- How to have hard conversations in a soft way
- Lead with your heart and your heart. 35:21
- Why 30 minutes is the right amount of time for a meeting.
- The importance of intent over everything else.
- Focusing on the roses and thorns. 38:21
- Being 100% focused on their success creates a human conversation.
- Daniel pink, sell as human.
- What the CFO is missing in the list.
- How do you define an elite seller? 42:55
- Tiger woods and tom brady.
- Mark is able to command the resources of the organization.
- Being intentional over technique.

Here's what we will cover today:

How to Navigate The Three Competitive Vectors:

Head to Head Competitors
Cost of Doing Nothing
Alternative Examples (Gravity Winds)

Key Topics:

-Know your customer better than your competition

-Do deep research and get ahead of the competition

-How to get creative in your deals

Connect with Lynn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynncomp/

Griffin and Frankie break down the art vs. science of selling.

Show notes:

-How to build champions

-Top questions to ask CFOs

-Definition of Elite Seller

-How to find the right people and the right accounts

-ROI

Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisorlob/

-Creativity in your deals

-Building Champions

-The importance of capturing your buyer's attention span

-What Makes an Elite Seller

-How to think outside the box

-No Champ, No Deal

-How to build an executive summary for your champion

-Multi-threading

-How to identify your ideal champion

-How to navigate the current macro

-Importance of understanding customer

-How to have a great mindset during this time

The Power of Being an Introvert in Sales (Brandon Fluharty @Founder of BrandonFluharty.com)

Follow Dale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/copierwarrior/

-Importance of Positivity & Optimism in Life & Sales

-What is Elite Selling

-The Good, The Great, and The Wonderful

Enemy of Great..is Good

Less than 4% of sellers scrimmage

Most salespeople aren't good

What defines an elite seller

1 Asset for an Elite Seller: Mindset

"Hire the Person, Teach the Topic"

Simplify Your Life with Systems & Processes

The Life Operating System

Q1, Step 1: Profiling the Territory

Know your Numbers!

Read as Much as You Can!

The Best Leaders Lead with Integrity

Elite Sellers Take Immediate Action

Live from San Francisco, Griff and Frankie sit down in person to recap their key takeaways from their SKO.

Experience --> Diversification

Build Experience & Confidence Before Taking on the Next Challenge

Build Your Side Business - The Blueprint

All Sellers Should Have Their Own Style

Closed/lost deals take 2x as long as closed won

Be selective of who you let into your pipeline

Sell on pain, not annoyance

No Pain, No Deal

"NO" is a good thing

Clean up your pipeline

Show Notes:

Finding & Hiring "A Players"

ICCE: Intelligence, Character, Coachability, Experience,

Elite Sellers Dedicate Time for Self-Reflection

Elite Sellers Align to Business 1) Value & 2) Pain

Building Relationships Creates Opportunities

Meet Your Customers & Prospects Where They Are

"People Buy From People"

"ASK"

Grit Over Experience

Building Relationships Creates Opportunities

Meet Your Customers & Prospects Where They Are

"People Buy From People"

"ASK"

Grit Over Experience

Key Topics:

Grit vs Grind (importance of setting long-term goals)

How to Develop Grit

Key to Elite Selling

Follow the North Star

The joy is in the journey

Podcast Highlights:

-"Intentional Excellence"

-Sellers Need to be Force Multipliers

-Sellers Need a Point of View

-Focus on the Journey, not the Results

-If you're not at the table, you're on the table

-Connect with your community

Podcast Highlights:

-"Intentional Excellence"

-Sellers Need to be Force Multipliers

-Sellers Need a Point of View

-Focus on the Journey, not the Results

-If you're not at the table, you're on the table

-Connect with your community

How consistent physical fitness has the ability to boost your career in sales

Leveraging Data: Elite Selling & Athletic Training

10,000 Steps in your fitness and career

Commitment: Sales & Health

Preparation & Planning

Key Themes:

The beauty of Emotional Intelligence

How to Improve EQ Naturally

Self Awareness

Social Awareness - how to build trust and credibility non verbally

Self-Perception Test

Key Topics:

Traditional Selling vs "Strategic Selling"

The Secret: Elite Sellers go straight to the Top of the Mountain

Elite Sellers are NOT mountain climbers

1 Reason Mega Deals are Lost or Stalled

Top Takeaways

-Time Kills All Deals

-Find Business-Level Pain --> Accelerate Your Deal

-Elite Reps Quantify Business Pain

Key Topics Include:

-Mountains and Boulders -- Setting Goals

-Leading vs. lagging indicators

-Long term bullish

-Make your Goals Simple

Key Topics Include:

-Elite sellers consistently invest in their own skill development

-Elite sellers are always hungry for feedback

-Elite sellers are always searching for new points of view to improve their hypothesis

Key Takeaways:

"Winners Win" Mindset

Elite Reps Learn from Failure

Work Ethic

Elite Reps are Persistent, Especially in Today's Selling Environment

Leverage your Network

Key Topics we review with Ravi:

1) The power of storytelling in sales

2) How to develop your storytelling skills

3) How to build a story - the ACORN Framework

4) 4 key elements of any powerful story

Key topics include:

-Value Pyramids - Structure your accounts / goals

-Command of Plan & Calendar - Learn to Adapt

-Top recommended books

Top Takeaways:

-Executive Presence

-Take Control of Your Career

-Importance of Industry Knowledge & Experience

-Importance of Creativity

Top 3 Takeaways:

-Personalization vs Relevancy

-Build on Value

-Executive Engagement and Owning your Deal