I saw a great blog post published on the Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) web site asking why Software as a Service offerings didn’t sell themselves here. A lot of it stems from a misunderstanding what a good salesperson does (and i’ve been blessed to work alongside many good ones throughout my career).
The most successful ones i’ve worked with tend to work there way into an organisation and to suss the challenges that the key executives are driving as key business priorities. To understand how all the levers get pulled from top to bottom of the org chart, and to put themselves in a position of “trusted advisor”. To be able to communicate ideas that align with the strategic intent, to suggest approaches that may assist, and to have references ready that demonstrate how the company the salesperson represents have solved similar challenges for other organisations. At all times, to know who the customer references and respects across their own industry.
Above all, to have a thorough and detailed execution plan (or set of checklists) that they follow to understand the people, their processes and their aspirations. That with enough situational awareness that they know who or what could positively – and negatively – affect the propensity of the customer to spend money. Not least to avoid the biggest competitor of all – an impression that “no decision” or a project stall will leave them in a more comfortable position than enacting a needed change.
When someone reaches board level, then their reference points tend to be folks in the same position at other companies. Knowing the people networks both inside and outside the company are key.
Folks who I regard as the best salespeople i’ve ever worked with tend to be straight forward, honest, well organised, articulate, planned, respectful of competitors and adept at working an org chart. And they also know when to bring in the technical people and senior management to help their engagements along.
The antithesis are the “wham bam thankyou mam”, competitors killed at all costs and incessant quoters of speeds and feeds. For those, i’d recommend reading a copy of “The Trusted Advisor
Trust is a prize asset, and the book describes well how it is obtained and maintained in an Enterprise selling environment. Also useful to folks like me who tend to work behind the scenes to ensure salespeople succeed; it gives some excellent insight into the sort of material that your sales teams can carry into their customers and which is valued by the folks they engage with.
Being trusted and a source of unique, valuable insights is a very strong position for your salespeople to find themselves in. You owe it to them to be a great source of insights and ideas, either from your own work or curated from other sources – and to keep customers informed and happy at all costs. Simplicity sells.