WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:02.960 They have their own ideas, they're trying to set their own stamp, make 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:06.000 their own impact, and if they're not on board with what we're doing, 3 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:09.679 we're going to quickly get set to the side because they only have so much 4 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:17.399 time, money, and resources. You're listening to the Audible Ready Podcast. 5 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:22.280 The show that helps you and your teams sell more Faster. Will feature sales 6 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.760 leaders sharing their best insights on how to create a sales engine that helps you 7 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.600 fuel repeatable revenue growth. Presented by the team at Force Management, a leader 8 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.880 in B to B sales effectiveness. Let's get started. Hello and welcome to 9 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.039 the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm Rachel clapp Miller. Today we are going 10 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:44.840 to talk about what you do when you're selling into an account and their leadership 11 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:49.799 changes. Joining me for the conversation today is Force Management facilitator Diana Shelley. 12 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.320 Hi, Diana, Hey, Rachel. Great topic today. So tough when 13 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:57.520 leadership starts to change it accounts. I know, I've to experienced out myself. 14 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.359 Yeah, it's like you feel like you're in a good spot and then 15 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.679 so and so leads and you think, oh gosh, here we go. 16 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:08.319 So Diana, let's talk about this reality, how we can prepare for it 17 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:11.319 likely happening to us at some point in our career. Right, it's just 18 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:15.760 going to have or we can't avoid it. So what are the basic best 19 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:19.519 practices we're doing in advance that will lay the foundation to help us better deal 20 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:23.920 with the leadership change when it happens. Great question, Rachel. I think 21 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.599 for me, first, I just had to get to know all the leaders 22 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:33.079 at what I call the collective. Yes, anyone that might have influence, 23 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:37.280 not only as a decision maker, but someone who had heavy I'm going to 24 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:41.760 say political influence on the decision maker, maybe one foot outside. Because if 25 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:45.519 I really got to know all of those folks, there was less impact on 26 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.959 me when one of the people left, right, because I automatically had a 27 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.439 relationship with the others I could lean on that. I also think it's important 28 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.319 as onboarding when someone new comes in, right, having a strong point of 29 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:02.200 view on the current stay and knowing those positive business outcomes for each of those 30 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:07.959 leaders would help me so that I could easily educate a new leader and bring 31 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:10.520 more value to the table, because many times the other people might beet too 32 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.360 busy to do that, and so I was the conduit if you would. 33 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.639 The other thing that helped me is to cultivate multiple champions, so I had 34 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:24.120 multiple champions in the account and could lean on them when said leader would either 35 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:29.800 got promoted internally and vacated the position or left externally to take another position. 36 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.400 It granted, it's always a change, and none of us like change, 37 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:37.759 especially if that was our predominant leader. But if we've surrounded ourselves with strong 38 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.240 champions and other leaders that are still at the decision table and still a heavy 39 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:45.840 influence, I think it just understood the impact. So the more Linders said 40 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.919 that political landscape. The caution I'm going to throw in here too is we've 41 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.080 talked about who people leave, but something else, As I would say, 42 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:55.759 it is just as important to pay as much attention when someone new joins the 43 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:00.080 team someone knew and expected, not the replacement for that leader. That's a 44 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.159 good point. I think you know what you're kind of going through is really 45 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.360 just this mindset you should have as a salesperson to really build out the landscape 46 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:14.520 of the account. All the influencers understand what you need to do to get 47 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.400 the collective. Yes, so if one person goes away, you still have 48 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:22.879 a foundation in place there, but there's always those key people, whether it 49 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:27.199 be a champion or are a key person that would be making a purchasing decision 50 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:31.319 or a key influencer in the account that we're going after. When that person 51 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:37.000 leaves, and let's just say they bring in new people. So let's talk 52 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:39.639 in this situation. Let's say, Okay, we've had a leadership change, 53 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:46.159 there's new leadership coming in, and I'm not really having great success getting in 54 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:50.759 front of those people. What are my action steps that can help me get 55 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.240 credit for the work I've done so far and set me up for success. 56 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.599 Well, I think the first thing I need to understand is the dynamics that 57 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:00.479 may be at play because anytime a new leader comes in, they were hired 58 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.639 for a reason, especially at the executive level, and they were usually hired 59 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.759 and may get what I call as a huntingmoon period for about nine to ten 60 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:12.240 months of carte blanche because they were hired for that specific reason, and we 61 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:15.279 can underestimate if we can't get them on board quickly with the initiative that we 62 00:04:15.279 --> 00:04:19.240 were working with the previous leader, or that we're working in general with their 63 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:23.920 company, the risk is they have their own ideas. They're trying to set 64 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.800 their own stamp, make their own impact, and if they're not on board 65 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:30.560 with what we're doing, we're going to quickly get set to the side because 66 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:32.759 they only have so much time, money, and resources. So one of 67 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.160 the things that you mentioned is the political landscape. But the more we can 68 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:41.720 level set the new leadership on what we've heard so far, because what they 69 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:45.319 don't know is what's happened prior to them coming in, and some of the 70 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.319 other leaders may not be taking the time to do that. So more I 71 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:53.160 can educate them on what I've heard so far according to the other leadership and 72 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:57.920 tie them back to the team and again the collective yes, the positive business 73 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.800 outcomes that they're going for to because now I've become more of a subject matter 74 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:05.519 expert helping get them there instead of that. One of the tools I used 75 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:08.680 to use was a heat map, and I had a heat map for each 76 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.439 initiative, for each of the outcomes and that each initiative was trying to do. 77 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.560 And I might share that document because some people are more visual than they 78 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:18.920 are auditory, so that would be important. I would also mention how we 79 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:24.399 were looking to measure success. I might not mention the previous leader's name as 80 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.439 much depending on what are the dynamics why they led, So it's less about 81 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.040 that but more about the collective. These are some of the outcomes we were 82 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.040 looking to do as a team, So I'm not really pointing anyone out, 83 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:39.560 and here's how we were going to measure for success. And the main thing 84 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.720 I think is make sure this new leader understands the why. You know, 85 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.399 why is this important? Why is it important for their business, their team, 86 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:50.199 or their department to take this on, because that's going to help us 87 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:55.160 with the urgency against not now because it's a fire hose for them coming in 88 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:59.560 to be new. So how can we help mitigate some of that information that's 89 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.040 coming out them in a clean way. Yeah, you mentioned being a subject 90 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.839 matter expert, and that's really a role you can play because, as you 91 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:09.000 say, you know, when you come to a new job, you're hit 92 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.399 with so much stuff and you're looking for some clarity, and by focusing that 93 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:17.879 conversation on the outcomes and the reasons why from a business perspective, that this 94 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:23.680 initiative has moved up until this point, gets the who out of it right, 95 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:28.519 Because you're focused on the what and also hopefully to how aligned with your 96 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:31.920 solution to get the company there. Let's assume you still got a champion, 97 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.040 right, you said having multiple champions, how do I use that champion to 98 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:41.720 help me navigate this new landscape that might be there with the new leadership. 99 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.759 No. I love that you said that because it's so important because a lot 100 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.360 of times we have a great champion, but we're not using them, either 101 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.040 effectively or as much as we should be. They have a day job, 102 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:55.199 We're busy doing our thing. We don't want to be running in separate lanes 103 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:57.519 for the race. Really, it's one race, and we want to be 104 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.399 running in tandem. So the first thing I'm going to say, we've got 105 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.480 to still test them and make sure our champion is a champion and not a 106 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:06.199 coach, because that still tends to be the biggest mistake we make. We 107 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:10.600 get a leadership change at the top, we go to that person that we 108 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.399 think is a champion and we find out they're a coach and they may be 109 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.680 uncomfortable having the harder conversation with a new leader for whatever reason. So I 110 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:23.160 think it's first of all important that preferably to test them all along the way 111 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:25.959 not wait until we get a leadership change and all of a sudden we're testing 112 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.000 them and finding out there's a coach. Now we're scrambling to find a champion. 113 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:33.399 But once we have identified that they are a champion, to immediately schedule 114 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:38.360 something with them and find out why the change, what the dynamics are around 115 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.680 the things that they're willing to share with us, because as a champion, 116 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.519 they will be things that they might share with us. And here's what we're 117 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:47.959 seeing behind the scenes, here's what's driving this, here's some of the warnings 118 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.920 that may be at play. And so we're just giving them a chance to 119 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:56.079 give us that three hundred and sixty degree view. And then Lassie, I 120 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:00.279 would say, I want to always make sure that my champion understand all the 121 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:03.480 components of the outcomes and can articulate them when I'm not there, because most 122 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:07.920 of the time the decisions are made behind closed doors. Are they selling the 123 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.399 way I think they are for me? And are they speaking that economic buyer's 124 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.319 language, especially the new leader. Do they understand the political dynamics at play 125 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:20.000 for this new person? And while they have those hard conversations, roll up 126 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.360 their sleeves and start to solve for the roadblocks that we're seeing because we have 127 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.000 to pay a lot of attention dain not just when someone leaves, but when 128 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.440 someone new comes. The dynamics always shift and there's only so much wallet share. 129 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:35.879 So someone new has come, we don't think anything about it, but 130 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.159 if we don't get in there and find out who they are, they actually 131 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:43.559 because they're in that honeymoon period to take the money from our economic buyer for 132 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.399 our project that we weren't aware of. So I almost look at I look 133 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:50.600 at any kind of change in tandem, right, and because they may not 134 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:56.600 even know understand the solution that you're offering. And a lot of times the 135 00:08:56.679 --> 00:09:01.440 new leadership might have worked for the competitor before, like a competing solution. 136 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.559 And this is really we mentioned like making sure you're champion or the new coach 137 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:09.360 or whoever is selling on your behalf in a way that aligns to the business 138 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.440 outcomes. And this is also where you need to make sure that the customer 139 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:18.440 understands your differentiation, particularly if you think there's some new alliances with a competitor. 140 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:22.080 Yeah, I think that's important because, like you said, first of 141 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.879 all, the champions should tell you if the leader likes a competing situation or 142 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:30.120 a solution, because that happens all the time. They come in with their 143 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.879 flavor of the day and they think they know something. So if it's not 144 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:35.960 us, and we know that and the champion knows it, how can we 145 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.159 have those harder conversations. How can we align and help that new leader know 146 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:46.960 why we're aligned to the decision criteria that had been established. Do those need 147 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.519 to change a little bit and adjust to incorporate the new leader's perspective, how 148 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:56.840 we're aligned to the outcomes of the organization, and then reaffirm that decision criteria. 149 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:00.600 I can't assume that that decision criteria is going to stay the same with 150 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:05.840 the new leader. So am I reaffirming that and expanding the mindset and the 151 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.039 new leader. If I can't expand the mindset of the new leader, then 152 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:11.159 I'm at risk for that deal because again, they came in thinking they knew 153 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:15.000 what they wanted. So I have to quickly, with the help with the 154 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.799 champion running in tandem, expand the mindset of the leader as to why our 155 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.799 perspective matters, why our point of view matters. Best way to do that, 156 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.639 in my opinion, is just a strong proof of strong story. Can 157 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.840 I tell the story in a compelling way? Is it clear, crisp and 158 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.759 impactful? Did I tell it to the champion? Can the champion tell it? 159 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:37.279 And is it going to make it's going to make a difference to that 160 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:41.600 new person. That's great, And you know you could also work to find 161 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:45.720 new people to build relationships with you you talked about that at the beginning. 162 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:50.519 When you start in an account, it's really building out that three hundred sixty 163 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.279 degree view of the deal, but then also the people around the account, 164 00:10:54.519 --> 00:11:00.000 and if leadership changes, that might present an opportunity to find some new relationship 165 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.480 and ships in the account. What strategies have you seen work well when it 166 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.960 comes to finding new decision makers or new influencers in the organization. I think 167 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.879 first is just a lot of discovery, right, asking a lot of questions 168 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.080 from the beginning to and you mentioned this earlier, Rachel, mapping out the 169 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:20.440 political landscape, knowing who is in play, where who's impacted by what pain 170 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:24.399 or who's excited about what outcome, and who's an influencer so that I can 171 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.679 see that collective yes, where I see this really come into play with a 172 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:33.320 new leader is on existing accounts because with an existing account, we may have 173 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:37.639 had them for years, and we assume that why they signed is why they're 174 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.960 going to resign. And the problem is, so if you and I formed 175 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:43.159 a relationship and you're at my customer, I know what you're doing. We 176 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:48.159 have a great relationship. Every year we work together really effectively. You get 177 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:52.480 promoted, you leave either within the order to another org, and the problem 178 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:56.200 is you were the only person I've connected to. I have a huge gap 179 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.360 and risk because I don't know who's coming in and if they favor someone else. 180 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:01.919 So I think on it's easier for us, I think in a new 181 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.799 deal to pay attention with the leadership change, But in an existing deal we 182 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:11.879 have to develop and find those people prior to the change. So mapping it 183 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:15.320 out is going to be important. Asking a lot of questions, how are 184 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:18.759 decisions made in the organization? Who else is it impacting? So if I'm 185 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.480 working with one team, I might say, is security also dealing with that? 186 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.960 Is such and such department? Also is the risk department also do and 187 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.679 that opens it up. I read a stat recently that ninety three percent of 188 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:37.879 customers or clients say they give referrals, and only eleven percent of client facing 189 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.000 our salespeople ask for the referral. So the greatest way to build that relationship, 190 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:45.120 they're saying, ninety three percent of the time they'll give me the referral. 191 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.679 The best way to connect is to have them send the email and connect 192 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.399 me than me just trying to reach out in a cold connection. But only 193 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.559 eleven percent of the time we're asking. So we have to start asking for 194 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.799 those connections asked early before the change, math that I'll develop those relationships before 195 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:03.440 the change, and then when the change happens, because it's going to happen, 196 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.000 it's going to rock the boat a lot less for us, and we're 197 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.360 still in some sure footing. Yeah, those are some great points. I 198 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.159 love that the reason they sign may not be the reason they re sign. 199 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.840 So things are changing all the time, and good account executives account managers are 200 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.480 ready for them when they do right. They've seen the movie before, they've 201 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:28.399 sold in a way that gives them a foundation for success no matter what happens. 202 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.320 So as we close, I'd love for you to leave us the listeners 203 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:35.720 here with a great bottom line on this topic. Diana, I would just 204 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.200 say always be prepared because change is inevitable. I think every organization experiences it. 205 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:43.759 People are moving in and out of positions faster and faster than ever before, 206 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:46.720 and if we're prepared, we won't get god off guard when it happens. 207 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.559 And also you can pivot faster in the moment. And then lastly, 208 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:56.000 I say never single thread, no, multiple people. The accounts know what 209 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.720 they're solving for in their outcomes, and that way you can remind them of 210 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.879 the outcomes they said they needed to achieve and how they were going to get 211 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:05.639 there because it's more about them and less about us, and remind the new 212 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:09.440 leader because they may not be taking into account those outcomes. So you become 213 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:16.039 almost on their side helping them get up to speed instead of it becoming this 214 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.000 who are you and where are we coming in? So that's what I went 215 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:22.159 in with was just the more prepared we are, the more we've done our 216 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.600 work upfront, the lust of a ripple will have when we're following the wake 217 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:30.159 behind the boat. All right, great bout online, and when it happens, 218 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:33.639 you're going to be real happy that you took those steps and did the 219 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.919 work before the leadership changed to make sure that you're successful when it happens. 220 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:41.519 Thank you so much for your time today, Diana, Sure, thanks Rachel, 221 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.360 thanks for having me all right, and thank you to all of you 222 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.879 for listening to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. At Force Management, we're focused 223 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:54.000 on transforming sales organizations into elite teams. Are proven methodologies, deliver programs that 224 00:14:54.080 --> 00:15:00.519 build company alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth. Give your teams the ability to 225 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:05.519 execute the growth strategy at the point of sale. Our strength is our experience. 226 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:09.679 The proof is in our results. Let's get started. Visit us at 227 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.879 forestmanagement dot com. You've been listening to the Audible Ready podcast. To not 228 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:18.559 miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player Until next time.