WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:03.439 I don't care if you're in a big company or a startup. You should 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:12.439 always hold yourself accountable for your own development and you own that You're listening to 3 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.879 the audible Ready podcast, The show that helps you and your teams sell more 4 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:21.000 Faster. Will feature sales leaders sharing their best insights on how to create a 5 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.480 sales engine that helps you fuel repeatable revenue growth. Presented by the team at 6 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:29.800 Force Management, a leader in B to B sales effectiveness. Let's get started. 7 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.759 Welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm Rachel kleb Miller. Today 8 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:40.719 we are focusing on making career moves. John Kaplan joins me for the conversation. 9 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.000 Hi John, Hi Rachel John. This topic actually came from and as 10 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:51.799 sender subscriber who I was talking to who had worked at a large company, 11 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:56.719 had a lot of resources, great enablement, but had recently gone to a 12 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:00.600 startup and felt like he was a little bit on an island. And we 13 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.760 work with a lot of people who sell these B to B tech SaaS platforms, 14 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.959 and the benefit of that is you're often working with high growth companies. 15 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.599 You get options, and you really could get on a rocket ship and there's 16 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:18.879 always that idea that maybe you go sell for a smaller company and really get 17 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:23.439 in at the start of something great and growing isn't easy. So when you 18 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:26.560 decide to make these shifts, if you decide to get down to a startup, 19 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:30.519 get more experience, get some equity, you want to make sure that 20 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:36.000 you are selling for a great company that is going to have a great foundation 21 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.159 for you. And a lot of times, if you're good at your job, 22 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.519 you get recruited and there are a lot of promises made sometimes in that 23 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:47.519 interview process. So today we're going to talk about weading through the noise, 24 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.680 making the shift into a smaller company, and some things that you want to 25 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:55.959 think through before you jump. Yeah. I think this is a great topic 26 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:01.159 and timely because there's no shortage of opportunity out there. But I think I'm 27 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:05.680 hearing from a lot of reps that are considering making this move, and my 28 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:09.080 advice is always the same. It's to make sure that you know what you're 29 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:15.520 getting into and to be honest with yourself on an assessment. And so we're 30 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.639 going to talk about some of those things today. Yeah, So let's just 31 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.080 start with some things I need to be assessing if I'm considering making the jump 32 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:28.879 to a startup, I would say, first, right, are those essential 33 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:31.400 questions that we so often talk about? Yeah, we talk about those, 34 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:36.240 and they're incredibly important. I'll just list them really quick. What problems do 35 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.759 you solve, how specifically do you solve them, how do you solve them 36 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:44.280 differently or better than anybody else? And where have you done them before? 37 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:50.840 And ideally you want a clear understanding of those answers. And the product may 38 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:54.439 be cool, but what problem is it solving? How big is that problem? 39 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:59.319 Which means how much money will people spend to solve it? And how 40 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:02.639 many people have that problem? Is it in a growth market? Those are 41 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:07.919 really really important questions to ask. Inside of this, there's two other really 42 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:14.800 important concepts for you to consider. One's called MVP, which is minimum viable 43 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:20.159 product, and that's a version of the product created with the least effort possible 44 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:25.960 to be used for validated learning about potential customers. So the MVP has just 45 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:32.840 enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development. So 46 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:38.280 MVP is critical to understand where are they on that milestone? And then ICP 47 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:44.719 is an ideal customer profile and this is a detailed description of the type of 48 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:49.879 company or customer that would benefit the most from your product or service. So 49 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.719 it's important for you to understand where a startup is on these concepts because it 50 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:59.199 will have a big impact on what you sell and how you sell. So, 51 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.800 for example, if the product's not fully baked, you may be involved 52 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:08.759 in gathering additional technical requirements from customers and bringing them back to your company. 53 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:13.840 Again, could be a cool product, but the problems it solves, you 54 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:16.480 know, could be small, and therefore it's a small market for it, 55 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.040 and that's not going to be a great outcome for you. So it's really 56 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:26.680 really important for you to understand those answers and to understand what it means for 57 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:30.839 you. Right are you going to be able to sell this product, to 58 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.240 get a pipeline together where you can have a great conversation. I've been talking 59 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:40.319 to a couple of AI companies, smaller getting that seed round. They have 60 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:44.480 a great product, it's really cool, but I know they're struggling with finding 61 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:51.600 pain that product solves and an important end and making the customer see the urgency 62 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:57.399 of the purchase, finding urgency to change the way they're doing it right now, 63 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.399 so you want to make sure if you're selling the product, I feel 64 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.959 like you can drive a great value based business conversation around it. So John, 65 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:09.000 let's talk a little bit about the sales motion specifically and what am I 66 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:13.720 looking for at the perspective company. Yeah. I like how you position this 67 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.439 though, once you look into the three whys, which we talk about a 68 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:20.600 lot, why buy anything? Why buy anything now? Which is the urgency 69 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:24.800 you were just talking about, and why buy from me, which is really 70 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.959 kind of the answers to the four essential questions? And really understand what makes 71 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:33.199 you different? So you're looking to have a clear understanding of those, and 72 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:38.920 it's awesome important for you to understand how the buyer buys. We're talking about 73 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:43.040 the motion now, so how do they buy? It's not just who the 74 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.800 buyer is and why they buy? How do they buy? So this is 75 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:50.360 going to have a lot to do with how you generate pipeline. It's going 76 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:57.319 to determine sales cycles, sales strategy, how to build customer relationships, what 77 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.759 resources are required for are engaged agents? And how do I get access to 78 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.279 those resources? And I want you to write this one down because this is 79 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:11.120 really important and startup companies. You'll hear me talk about the term one hundred 80 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:15.720 pound brain effect in startups, and what I mean by that is you want 81 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.439 to take a look at recent sales campaigns and see who in the company has 82 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:24.759 to be on those calls for you to be successful. In many startups, 83 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:30.879 it's often the technical founder. So that technical founder has to be involved or 84 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.199 wants to be involved in every sales call. And that's great if you have 85 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.160 her all to yourself, but if she has to be on every call and 86 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:45.079 also has other responsibilities like the product or even CEO, this typically causes a 87 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.920 lot of problems with scale. So timing has a lot to do with this 88 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:53.839 conversation. So I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but you definitely need 89 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:58.759 to understand the details behind that. In regarding pipeline, again, does the 90 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:01.920 pipeline come from a hunt motion? Does it come from a product led growth 91 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:06.639 motion? Are we just flooding the market with demos and trials and hoping something 92 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:12.079 sticks. These are things you really need to understand. You're probably not going 93 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:15.600 to have leads from a robust marketing engine, you don't have brand awareness. 94 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:21.000 You need to think hard about how you're going to build your pipeline. You 95 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:26.480 know, have you done that before? How long has it been since you've 96 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:31.319 done it that way? Will the type of pipeline generation give you energy or 97 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:34.560 take your energy away from you? And I have a lot of people when 98 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:38.360 I'm asking them these questions, they say, Yeah, you know, that's 99 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.120 no problem. I know how to do that. I've done that lots of 100 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:46.360 times before. And typically what I'm saying is, I'm not asking you if 101 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.199 you can do it. I'm asking you if you're willing to do it. 102 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.600 Now. What I mean by that is is that motion going to give you 103 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:58.160 energy? Or is it going to take energy away from you? That's why 104 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.480 I say, Rachel, you have to be really, really honest with your 105 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.279 assessment. Yeah, and what you're looking for. The other thing I mentioned 106 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:09.120 at the top, John, is to think about is enablement. Right, 107 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.399 you might have to be enabling yourself and there aren't going to be those same 108 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:18.720 avenues you're accustomed to helping you when you're in such a small company. Yeah. 109 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.360 I think it's a great point. So you need to have the mindset 110 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:26.240 of I need development, so I just have to figure out how and where 111 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:30.439 I'm going to get it from. And you own that. I don't care 112 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.720 if you're in a big company or a startup. You should always hold yourself 113 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:37.960 accountable for your own development. So let's talk about how you could do that. 114 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.360 You know, in a startup, Let's say you go find the answers 115 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:48.080 to the four essential questions. Typically it's with somebody that's more technically focused, 116 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.399 but the beginning of the answers to those four essential questions or the answers those 117 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:58.159 four essential questions typically are inside the company. You just have to get them 118 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.799 into your langguage, into the customer's language, and have it show up in 119 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:05.840 the moment of truth in front of a customer. She got to go find 120 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.440 out what it is first, learn how to attach yourself to biggest business issues 121 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:15.639 facing your customers. Learn how to influence the decision criteria with your differentiation. 122 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:20.759 And you always have to be a voracious qualifier. So everyone listening should be 123 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:26.360 a student of medic or medpic. That's just kind of table stakes today. 124 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:28.000 No matter whether you're in a big company or a small company, you should 125 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.879 be a student of qualification. Don't be afraid to go to a customer and 126 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.480 ask them, if I'm new with a company, I have done this before 127 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.960 I go to a customer and I say, why did you buy? Why 128 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:43.399 did you buy then? Or why did you buy now? What was the 129 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:48.279 urgency? And why did you buy our stuff? Why did you buy my 130 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.799 company stuff? I also like to ask customers, you know, things like 131 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:58.799 where are we better than we actually think we are? And where are we 132 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.360 not as good? Is where we need to be? And what you'll find 133 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:07.639 is when companies have made a bed on your company in the early stages, 134 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:13.799 purchased your technology, they need you to be successful. So they're going to 135 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:18.279 respect number one that you're asking on those questions, and number two, since 136 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.399 they need you to be successful, they're going to give you a very very 137 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:28.840 honest, typically a very very honest response to those questions. So again to 138 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:33.480 summarize that, don't be afraid to go out and ask customers that are using 139 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.720 the product why they're using it, how they're using it, how they purchased 140 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:41.799 it, what they're doing with it, what problems it solved to validate kind 141 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:48.159 of your value proposition. That is a fundamental development point for you to go 142 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:54.399 out and be successful in the marketplace. Yeah, and I would also I'm 143 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.000 going to take a little moment here and give a little a cender plug. 144 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:01.159 We have a lot of reps who had made that journey right sold for big 145 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.960 companies move to the startup, don't have enablement and are using that platform to 146 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.840 enable themselves to apply medic concepts. These customer concepts you're talking about, John, 147 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.480 to their current environment. Right, Things change, the point of view 148 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:20.240 might change because you're selling a new product. You have to kind of brush 149 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.919 up on those fundamentals that you have been using your entire career. The other 150 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.240 thing I want to talk about, John, is the funding, right, 151 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:33.639 And depending on the startup, you might want to consider their funding. How 152 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:37.879 much time do you have to be successful? Do you have a good runway? 153 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.879 And if you do, that would make you feel better about jumping from 154 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.879 a company that might have a stronger foundation. Oh right, So you're bringing 155 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.360 up such a great point about funding, and we didn't even really scratch the 156 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.399 surface on that part for this topic today, So we might have to come 157 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:56.200 back and specifically talk about that on another episode, but let's just kind of 158 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.559 at the high level. In general, it's important for you to understand what 159 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:05.399 stage a startup is in. And there's people called different stages, but they 160 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.600 go anywhere from like a preced environment all the way to an exit. So 161 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:15.600 it's important to understand where they are and where they are and their funding along 162 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:20.080 those stages. This is going to have a major impact on what you will 163 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:24.240 be selling, how you will be selling, who you will be selling to, 164 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:30.440 and very importantly, how you will be compensated. From an ote perspective 165 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:35.240 and an equity perspective. So the equity equation and startups is a major major 166 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:41.600 component of your decision making and that's not always fully understood, and it really 167 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:43.279 really matters. So we might have come back on another one, Rach and 168 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.080 talk about funding specifically. Yeah, as I brought that up, John, 169 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:50.720 I was like, oh, this is probably more than just a little mentioned. 170 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.000 What bottom line is you want me to take up money if you're going 171 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:58.320 to work from them? Really good topic here Again. I hope some of 172 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:03.360 you who are thinking about making this take heed John's tips. Feel free to 173 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.879 reach out if you have any additional questions. But as we wrap here, 174 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.480 John give us a bottom line for the reps out there who are considering making 175 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:13.840 the jump to the startup. Sure, just like in selling, you must 176 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.440 always qualify the opportunity and be honest with yourself on your capabilities and your desire 177 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:22.639 to do what's required for that company at the time. So we're going to 178 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:28.679 do some concepts like market fit, MVP, and ICP. You want to 179 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:33.559 understand what those are and where they are and their progression through the stages of 180 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.519 a company. You want to understand problems you'll solve, how you solve them, 181 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:41.279 how you solve them differently or better than anybody else, because that will 182 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.919 be the beginning of your sales conversations. And are we talking about a growth 183 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:50.360 market or a shrinking market? A lot of times people it's so simple. 184 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:52.080 It's like, you know, how big is the problem, how much of 185 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:56.039 people willing to spend on the problem, and is there a big market for 186 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:01.879 that problem for people that have that problem. Sometimes people don't even consider that, 187 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.720 and you just got to step away and look at it. Is it 188 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:09.000 clearly defined what I'm going to be asked to do and how I will do 189 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.559 it? And does that give me energy on what I'm being asked to do 190 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:18.320 or will it take energy away from me? Don't get caught in the trap 191 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.639 that says I've done that before, I can do it again. It's not 192 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:24.200 whether you've done it before, do you want to do it again? It's 193 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:31.759 an incredibly important conversation. So, no matter where you are, you own 194 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.759 your own development, whether you're in a big company or a small company, 195 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:37.159 and these are some things that you can do no matter where you are. 196 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:41.480 Appreciate it, John, my pleasure. All right, thank you to all 197 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:45.799 of you for listening to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. At Force Management, 198 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:50.799 we're focused on transforming sales organizations into elite teams. Are proven methodologies, deliver 199 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:56.600 programs that build company alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth. Give your teams the 200 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.200 ability to execute the growth strategy at the point of sale. Our strength is 201 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:05.919 our experience. The proof is in our results. Let's get started. Visit 202 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.879 us at forestmanagement dot com. You've been listening to the Audible Ready podcast. 203 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.120 To not miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player 204 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:16.159 until next time.