WEBVTT

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I think the first thing you have
to do is you've got to keep people

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focused on the main thing, and
let's just call that the why. And

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my experience is that once a why
isn't place, the what and the how

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are easier to address. You're listening
to the Audible Ready Podcast, the show

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that helps you and your teams sell
more faster. We'll feature sales leaders sharing

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their best insights on how to create
a sales engine that helps you fuel repeatable

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revenue growth, presented by the team
aforce management, a leader in B to

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B sales effectiveness. Let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Audible Ready

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Sales Podcast. I'm Racial Clapp Miller. If you are enjoying the content we

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It's really geared towards individual contributors,
some small teams. We have plans if

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you want to get a couple of
your reps which you've just got a small

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team ramped up. There's course is
on there. There's content every day and

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posting content similar to the type of
topics that we are covering on the Audible

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Ready Sales Podcast. And we also
have a great community where you can ask

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your questions to get advice on your
deal. It's a really great value,

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so check it out link in the
show notes. Today, let's get to

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it. We're going to talk about
managing conflicting priorities in your buying organization.

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John Kaplan, how are you doing
today? I'm doing good? Another great

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topic. Yes, we talked so
much about getting multi threaded in your deals.

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You know you need to do it. You get the meetings. Kind

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of an extra step in getting multi
threaded in your deals is getting people to

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agree on a path forward. And
it's not easy to get these different departments,

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different people on the same page.
No, this is definitely not easy.

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And with the nature of buying today, there are more and more people

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involved in the process. So it's
just here to stay, I think for

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at least a while. And I
think we should just assume that there's going

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to be conflict in any buying process
that's attempting to solve real business issues.

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So the silver lining here is those
business issues are causing pains in an organization,

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So don't be afraid of the conflict. It's a sign that you're working

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on something important. I like that. I like that, So let's dive

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into it. You've got multiple influencers
decision makers here, they aren't in agreement.

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How do you circle the wagons to
get them on the same page.

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Well, I think the first thing
you have to do is you've got to

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keep people focused on the main thing, and let's just call that the why.

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And my experience is that once a
why is in place, the what

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and the how are easier to address. So I like to start with this

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question, what's the biggest business issue
facing your company? Shocker? Right,

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If you listen to this podcast,
you're going to hear me talk about that

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all the time. And remember people
are probably going to struggle with this,

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so they're probably going to give you
technical challenges that are more closely related to

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the area of interest that they represent. So keep asking them questions that implicate

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the technical pain to the business pain. Stick to the reasons why people buy,

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solving problems increasing revenue, decreasing costs, or mitigating risk. Just kind

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of have that be your kind of
north star. Don't get caught in the

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weeds of personality conflicts. Keep the
main thing the main thing. Yeah,

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that's a really good point. You
don't want to get in the weeds.

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You need to stick to the point, so I don't think we can talk

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about this topic without bringing up champions. Let's talk about how champions play into

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getting this collective agreement or the collective
yes, as we sometimes call it.

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I'm glad you started here with this
concept because the sales life is so much

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more productive and powerful when we have
a champion. And I'm a stickler for

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the definition, so bear with me
the definition of a champion. They have

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power and influence, They're actively selling
on our behalf, and they have a

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vested interest in our success. And
one of the things I love most about

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the concept of a champion is that
if I truly have one, then I'm

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never alone in an opportunity. There's
always somebody on the inside who needs this

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to happen just as much as I
do if I truly have a champion.

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So you have to utilize your champion
when you see these conflicts. You also

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have to be careful that you don't
let the champion just blow off the conflict.

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I've seen some really strong champions with
great power and influence, and we

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probably all have examples where we've won
a deal, but the solution does not

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thrive because some of the conflicts never
went away. And so there's a simple

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tool that I think you can stay
focused on and we call it the what

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we heard slide. And if you
remember the seller deficit disorder, the data

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says that most buyers don't believe that
sellers understand their business and they don't believe

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that we listen very well. And
in my experience, these are the same

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reasons why conflicts arise in the buying
process. So a big part of human

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nature is the need to be heard
and understood. So I like to build

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what we heard slide with my Champion, which lists out three things, the

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positive business outcomes they're trying to achieve, the technical required capabilities in order to

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achieve those positive business outcomes, and
how they're going to measure success or metrics,

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and then I analyze it with my
Champion to make sure that it's accurate

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and inclusive. So it's also a
great place to spot conflicts, you know,

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where people don't agree. The bottom
line is you'll never get to a

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collective. Yes, if you're what
we heard is not reflective of a collective?

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Yes, yeah, really bulleting out. I'm just gonna say, bulleting

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out. I don't think that's a
word, but I think the listeners don't.

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I mean it works. It works
putting the points on a slide as

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it relates to technical required capabilities,
metrics, positive business outcomes, and using

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that as a tool to say,
hey, what do you think about this?

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What would you add, what would
you change, what would you delete?

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And using that as a working tool
to get to the collective. Yes,

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can be a really powerful asset.
And you mentioned the champion using the

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what we heard concept is great?
With your champion. What advice you have

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for those people listening out there that
are like, that's great, I don't

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have a champion. What am I
supposed to do? Yeah? I know

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a lot of concepts out there like
if you don't have a champion, your

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sol But like most of us,
when we really really look at it,

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we're in the process of building champions. When I look at deals with reps

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on a consistent basis, many times
we don't have champions. We have potential

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champions, but we don't have champions. So it definitely makes selling more difficult,

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but it's not impossible. In fact, sometimes it can elevate you to

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an economic buyer quickly. I'm always
building what we heard with or without a

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champion, and when there's conflict or
lack of alignment with the answers, it

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gives me a reason to engage the
economic buyer and ask for their advice.

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You know, economic buyers are typically
always focused on positive business outcomes and metrics,

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and they should be concerned about a
lack of alignment. So you're in

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pretty warm water there. But don't
make the mistake of trying to sell them

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your solutions. Not yet, explain
your situation and ask for advice. Everybody

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loves to give advice. Also,
don't miss the opportunity to ask the economic

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buyer who might be a good potential
champion for the solution to the business outcome

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that you're addressing. This is what
a lead sellers do. Oh, I

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like that asking economic buyer who would
be a good champion for this does a

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great almost final point, John,
But I'd love for you to give us

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a bottom why here before we wrap. Okay, bottom line, conflict is

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normal, and a collective us focus
on the why the business issues. It'll

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make the what and how easier.
You should never feel alone on an opportunity

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when you have a champion, and
use the what we heard slide to guide

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you to alignment and highlight conflict and
highlight where you need work, where your

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collective yes is in jeopardy. Yeah, thank you, John, You're welcome.

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Go get them, Go get them. Thank you to all of you

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for listening to the Audible Ready Sales
Podcast. At Force Management, we're focused

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on transforming sales organizations into elite teams. Are proven methodologies, deliver programs that

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build company alignment and fuel repeatable revenue
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execute the growth strategy at the point
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The proof is in our results.
Let's get started. Visit us at

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