Stuff About Sales: Recent Episodes
Hannah Pencek & James Troiano
Stuff about Sales is the self help podcast for salespeople. It's a SMALL time commitment with a goal to help you yield BIG results. Listen in weekly for short, focused coaching tips on specific topics for all sales roles. Brought to you by Hannah Pencek and James Troiano, two sales leaders have years of combined sales experience in many roles.
Solutions Architects are CRUCIAL to the pre-sales process. Having that technical point of contact to solve through complex use cases can be the difference between winning and winning at the highest rate possible. On P-Club series episode 2 we interview Sandy Lukac of Hubspot. Sandy blew it out of the water in 2022 and we talk to her about what made her year a success, how many hours she worked, what she would share with someone starting out the year who hopes to be in P-Club in 2023. Don't want to miss this one.
First episode of our first ever P-Club Series. We interview 2022 P-Club winners and talk to them about what led to their success. But we don't just ask "how did you do it?" We want to go deeper so we ask some questions that you may not be thinking about today & the answers may give you an edge you never knew you needed.
Our first episode starts with Alex Comstock, Senior AE and Sales Lead at Vonage on the SMB team. Alex has been part of James's team for 3 years now and James has seen first hand how Alex has progressed from really good performer to multi-time P-Club winner. In fact he's been a huge part of James's own success.
Alex talks about where he finished all the way back in 2021, how that compared to 2022, what advice he would give to someone who aspires to be a top performing P-Club winner in 2023 and more.
Don't miss this one if you want to start your year armed with knowledge from the best of the best.
What if I told you that there is a lost sales art that outside sellers still use, but all sellers when outside sales was the norm used to close more deals? SMB/transactional route to market sellers already use this and may not even know they are doing it sometimes. They do it when they "one-call close". I'm talking about the sign up call. An extra call added to the calendar when deal velocity is high and you've completed your sales motion and are waiting on a sign up.` Instead of waiting, why not take initiative and schedule a call to complete the order? Address any final concerns, answer any final questions and walk the prospect through the order and watch the sign up in the moment! In this episode James covers the sign up call, why you should use it and the fact that his sales teams are using these tactics to see success today.
Jan 2023. The job market seems tough right now. Tech companies are having mass layoffs and it may be difficult to stand out, not only when submitting resumes but once you finally land that interview. Hannah is here to help. In this solo pod, Hannah gives some tips and insights from her point of view as a sales manager. How to nail your interview.
*Hannah and James are both here to help. Send us your resume if you'd like us to review, we have an extensive network and would be happy to help with referrals or anything for those impacted by the layoffs or seeking work.
Transactional sales environments are all about deal velocity. You may not get multiple bites at the apple and often times the impression you make during that first call or interaction sets you up to win or lose the deal. You may not get back in front of your buyer. This episode is for sellers in that environment. We have tons of experience in a fast paced, transactional selling environment and we share our best practices to make sure you are nailing your discovery call and setting up your deals to close quickly and "closed won".
Ever struggle with consistency in your meetings? Not sure you are maximizing the time in from of your prospects? Not sure if you should approach all of your meetings the same or should different types of meetings be run different? We got some answers for you.
On this solo episode, Hannah runs through 5 key things to keep in mind to run CONSISTENTLY great sales meetings.
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The truth is that AEs spend way too much time working opportunities that have no chance of closing. Those could be for many reasons including no budget, no motivation to buy, lack of seriousness by your POC and just general malaise on the prospect side. If you want to keep lying to yourself about these opportunities be our guest. If you want to use an actionable framework to find out if your prospect is serious and gather the right data to move your sale forward this is the podcast episode for you. We discuss what BANT is & how you can use it to make sure you are spending your time on the highest value opportunities.
You can also check out stuffaboutsales.com for our BANT card which includes a prospect profile.
The bad news is that feature dumping during discovery is widespread and one of the biggest ways to bore your buyer and lose momentum in the sales process. The good news is it's one of the easiest things to fix. We tackle how to identify if you are feature dumping & some things to keep top of mind to help you shift your mindset into curious discovery and away from solutioning and feature dumping too soon.
We reference an article referencing Gong during the episode. Here is a link to that article - https://valueinspiration.com/to-boost-sales-performance-stop-feature-dumping/
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
On this episode we introduce what we are calling the Win More Sales mindset method. Following up from our Thanksgiving week episode where we replayed one of the first podcast's I ever produced, interviewing an AE on my team (Hannah) on her journey to top performer and how she had to overcome some mindset challenges that had creeped during her struggles, returning from maternity and finding her footing again.
You cannot be a successful sales performer without first addressing your mindset we have 4 steps to get you started. - Reflection. Ownership. Eduction. Practice.
This is the next episode in our Sales 101 series. Next Steps. Super crucial to moving your sale forward, but often times we are unsure of what the right message needs to be to make sure we cover our bases and have our customers on the same page as us. On this short episode we will give you the blueprint for how to nail next steps, keep your sales motion moving and win deals faster.
Happy Thanksgiving Week! Back in 2020 at the start of our podcasting career I had Hannah on as one of the first guests of my Stuff about Sales podcast. This podcast is a REPLAY of that interview. At the time, I was her sales manager and she was finishing her first full year as an AE. We had some major ups and downs. The first half the the year was challenging and Hannah's sales performance struggled. By the time she finished the 2020 she was one of the top performers on our sales team. Hannah discussed how her mindset changed it all and it starts with being grateful.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Job seekers please listen. This is a quick Jimmy riff with 2 pieces of advice for anyone who has been laid off recently and is now in job search mode. It's not enough to just sling resumes cold into organizations, you have to plan and be proactive. No notes, no outline just direct from the brain on this one. Hope this helps.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
The discovery call is arguably the most important part of the entire sales process because it’s your chance to uncover what will influence your customer to buy. Which can be done by asking the right kinds of questions, in the right way and at the right time.
On this episode, Hannah dives into Discovery 101 and walks you back through the basic foundation of what makes a successful discovery and how you can prep for your next call with a plan and a mission to make an impact and connect with your customer.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
You start the month with an idea of what opportunities you are bringing into the month and then what the gap is that you currently don’t see, then you hopefully put together a plan on how to address this gap. As the month goes on, if the gap remains it gets harder and harder to address and eventually you run out of time. But, what if we told you that we have a super impactful trailing pipeline re-engagement message that will allow you to get ahead of the game and find out which trailing pipeline opportunities you may be able to reignite and target to boost your monthly forecast.
As referenced in the show:
Brian Burns - b2brevenue.com - Brutal Truth About Sales and Selling Podcast
Chris Voss - https://www.blackswanltd.com/our-team/chris-voss - Books: Never Split the Difference & Start with No, Beacons of Leadership
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
We have a super high impact question that we’re about to share with you that will help you gain entry into the discovery call and allow you to build trust, credibility and a foundation to get your prospect talking about the thing they care most about.
Listen to find out the key question that you can ask to unlock a great discovery. This question applies to any and all sales roles, no matter what you sell or who you sell to.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Special Episode! Want to impress your sales manager? Look no further. Hannah and I ARE frontline sales managers and we wanted to share some inside information on how you can show out as a go-to on your team in other ways besides just crushing sales performance. If you are an AE that wants some perspective on what your sales manager is looking for, you don't want to miss this one.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Turning your webcam on during a sales meeting creates a better experience for your buyer and leads to more sales. Don't take our word for it though because according to Gong, deals are 127% more likely to close when a webcam is used during any point in the sales process (link below). Get an edge over your competition as we give you some cover WHY a webcam creates a great experience and some tips to maximize your buyer's experience with you once you turn the webcam on.
Links reference during show:
https://www.gong.io/blog/how-video-really-impacts-remote-sales-in-2020-according-to-data/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insights-zoom/2017/10/30/5-reasons-why-your-company-needs-to-embrace-video-conferencing-now/?sh=df3ec8347c4f
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Recap emails can be an effective way to highlight important topics from a recent call to keep them top of mind for your buyer, however when done incorrectly they can be confusing and irrelevant.
On this episode we cover best practices when you're putting together that recap email for the great call you just had. This includes, how to open the email, how to structure the content and then finally how to end the email for maximum impact and no wasted space.
Before your next sales call give this one a listen to arm yourself with a plan to make sure your call recap email provides maximum impact.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Positioning a proof of concept or trial account can be a great way to let a customer test your solution in a hands-on way. It can be particularly useful if they need to test a specific feature or integration that is integral to their business.
However, AEs make some big mistakes when offering a trial account that can sink deal velocity and sometimes even the sale.
In this episode we identify those mistakes and give you some tips on how to position a successful trial to impress your buyer and win the deal.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
The bad news is that feature dumping during discovery is widespread and one of the biggest ways to bore your buyer and lose momentum in the sales process. The good news is it's one of the easiest things to fix. We tackle how to identify if you are feature dumping & some things to keep top of mind to help you shift your mindset into curious discovery and away from solutioning and feature dumping too soon.
We reference an article referencing Gong during the episode. Here is a link to that article - https://valueinspiration.com/to-boost-sales-performance-stop-feature-dumping/
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Listener requested topic! As much as we are told by sales expert that getting access to the decision maker and gaining influence is one of the most important things that sellers needs to do, the practical reality is that it's not always possible. In fact, you may be in a sales job where a high percentage of your opportunities don't allow for this. So what do you do? We break down some tips to gain influence, work through your point of contact to set you up in the best position to win deals without direct access to a DM.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
In this episode, Hannah and James discuss how to address your competition when it comes up during a sale. Do you go right in and lay out all the dirt or is there a more effective way to position yourself against your competitors without needing to do that?
We discuss why going negative is bad, ways to address an incumbent and other competitors without being so direct. Finally if there is no way to get around it, how to address your competition in a positive way that will set you apart.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
In an effort to be agreeable, as salespeople, we do not ask for anything in return.. On this podcast, Hannah and James discuss some ways to keep this top of mind and cover some things that you can ask for in return that aren't monetary to help you win deals.
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
Salespeople...are you just "checking in"? In this episode, Hannah and James identify this habit, discuss why you must break this behavior ASAP and some actionable coaching tips and pointers to make your sales follow ups more meaningful!
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com
According to SalesHacker - "A gatekeeper in sales is someone who intercepts marketing and sales experts before they speak with a company owner or leader. They commonly feature in major firms and corporations, where they listen to a salesperson’s material and determine whether it will benefit the company."
We discuss how to identify a gatekeeper and some some tips on how to get through a gatekeeper to move your sale forward.
Link to Sales Hacker article - https://www.saleshacker.com/getting-past-gatekeeper/
Email us at winmoresalespodcast@gmail.com