WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.559 You won't look like a pro if something does come up, and it'll prevent 2 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:12.800 the slows down of the sales cycle. You're listening to the Audible Ready podcast. 3 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:17.359 The show that helps you and your teams sell more faster. Will feature 4 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:21.039 sales leaders sharing their best insights on how to create a sales engine that helps 5 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:25.600 you fuel repeatable revenue growth. Presented by the team at Force Management, a 6 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.239 leader in B to B sales effectiveness. Let's get started. Hello and welcome 7 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:35.920 to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm Rachel klap Miller. Today we are 8 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:41.359 going to talk about ways to save time. If you're a quota carrying rep, 9 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:46.560 you know that you need to maximize the time that you spend selling, 10 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:50.240 and we're going to talk about that today. Joining me as our own Antonella 11 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:54.119 Odey Hi, ANTONELLAHI, Rachel, Thanks for having me again. Yes, 12 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:57.159 yes, I know that there's you know, there's not a rep out there 13 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.520 that doesn't want to save time. So this is I'm excited to go through 14 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.319 this topic. And you know, sometimes it's the little things that can really 15 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:07.959 make a difference when you're trying to maximize the time you spent selling. So 16 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:12.640 came up with a couple of areas that we're going to talk through today and 17 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:19.200 provide ways that we can help people be more efficient. I produce the Revenue 18 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:23.200 Builders podcast that Force Management also sponsors, and I often hear John McMahon, 19 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:29.159 who hosts that podcast, say go slow to move fast and talking about starting 20 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:34.799 early, asking the right questions early so you're not having to rewind the conversations 21 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:37.680 when you hear that. What does that mean to you, Antonella, And 22 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.079 what does that mean when we say go slow to move fast as a rep? 23 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:45.000 Yeah, that's definitely a popular saying when it comes to sales, and 24 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:48.719 it's interesting saying it. When I hear it, it always makes me kind 25 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.760 of think about construction, So stay with me on that definitely doesn't sound like 26 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:59.040 I'm going in the right direction. But when you think about good construction, 27 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.640 it's all about the foundation, right, And I find that anybody that's successful 28 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:07.879 in sales, it's the same type of thing. It's like building a sturdy 29 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.159 foundation for a house. If you take the time to lay a solid foundation, 30 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.159 if you make sure that it's leveling, you make sure that it's structurally 31 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:20.800 sound, the rest of the construction process tends to go much smoother and faster. 32 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.840 Right, so you know, but when a contractor skip steps in making 33 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:29.199 sure the foundation is right and they rush to finish the house, it actually 34 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.560 ends up elongating the process. The floors aren't level, walls don't meet in 35 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.360 the right place, so it causes a lot of problems. And similarly, 36 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:44.439 in sales, investing time upfront understand your prospect, your customer's needs actually speeds 37 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:49.599 up the process. Why you understand the customer beyond the surface, which increases 38 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.520 the chances of alignment. The new stakeholders. They feel understood, they feel 39 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.919 heard, So now you increase your likability with them, you align your solutions 40 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.280 to what matters most to them. Now there's cow into supporting you and what 41 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.280 you're bringing to the table, and all of a sudden, things progress really 42 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:08.319 quickly. And that's a very different experience than rushing to solve problems that often 43 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:14.960 we don't have fully defined or haven't fully validated, which actually slows down the 44 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:19.960 process because as additional people draft in, they're saying things like, you know, 45 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.840 this isn't align with what's most important to me or what I think is 46 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:27.919 most important to the organization, and ends up stalling or slowing things down in 47 00:03:27.960 --> 00:03:30.800 a significant way. Yeah, that's a great point. If you building that 48 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:35.919 foundation really makes it easier moving forward, and that's why we always talk about 49 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.840 it. You know, work early. How do you coach reps Antonella to 50 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.719 stay in discovery rather than rushing to move to the next stage. What are 51 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:47.439 your coaching techniques there? I would say probably focus on three big things here. 52 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:53.240 The first thing I would say the focus would be on is setting an 53 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:57.560 agenda that is all about discovery. I think as a seller you are given 54 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.400 an opportunity to set the rules of engagement. That means when you set up 55 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:04.280 a meeting, you should take the opportunity to say, Hey, our very 56 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.680 first meeting is going to be focused on you. My goal is to better 57 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.240 understand where you are, where you want to be, where it's what it's 58 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.360 going to take to get you there, so we can make a determination if 59 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.879 further conversations should be had. I know you were interested in hearing about us, 60 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:21.839 and I'm more than willing to share that with you, but I want 61 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:25.720 to ensure that anything I talk about is relevant to you. So we have 62 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.639 forty five minutes. I'd like to focus the first thirty minutes on you and 63 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:32.839 that we can discuss and answer questions around our organization, our solution. How 64 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:38.160 does that sound right? So very simple, getting them in the habit of 65 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:43.439 setting the agenda so that they're holding themselves accountable to This is going to be 66 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:48.199 a discovery session, so it really benefits both parties in effective way. The 67 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:53.839 second thing that I coach on is role play. And I'm a big believer 68 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:58.720 that the best performances require rehearsals and frot. When I was a sales leader, 69 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:00.959 this was a non negotiable form me. It didn't matter if you thought 70 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.519 it felt inauthentic to you or if you felt uncomfortable. Can you imagine like 71 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:11.680 if a Broadway actor said I can't attend a rehearsal because an actual audience isn't 72 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.279 going to be there. That doesn't make sense right? So in our world, 73 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.279 you know, who could play a better customer than a manager or a 74 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.240 peer who understands the customers you work with day in and day out. How 75 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:27.160 something plays out very often in our mind and in a real interaction can be 76 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:30.639 different. So you know, why did I want my people to role play? 77 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:34.839 Because it minimized the risk of losing a valid opportunity So if you're a 78 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:39.160 seller out there, my best advice to you is seek out your manager, 79 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:43.199 seek out a pear, and practice. I have never heard a seller say 80 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:46.879 I practiced in practice and for an upcoming conversation and it actually made it worse. 81 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:51.519 That's because it actually allows you to capture your thoughts, think about where 82 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:56.040 the conversation may go, and you have an extra set of eyes and ears 83 00:05:56.040 --> 00:06:00.639 to point out some blind spots. The third thing that I will typically coach 84 00:06:00.680 --> 00:06:03.759 on is and it's not really coaching, it is coaching, but it's that 85 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:08.800 number one, demonstrate myself, you know what I'm asking them to do, 86 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.240 and then coach on that. So this whole idea of demonstration. As a 87 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.879 leader, if you're asking people to execute on something, it's your job to 88 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.079 be able to execute on it yourself. And for many people like me, 89 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.240 I learned best when I can see what good looks like. So don't miss 90 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.000 out an opportunity to say, hey, I'm asking you to spend more time 91 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.199 on discovery. I'm asking you to ask for follow up questions. I'm asking 92 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.079 you to go deeper to quantify pains and outcomes. Let me show you what 93 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:39.079 I'm asking for and as a leader, I felt like demonstrating what I was 94 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.120 asking them kept me very sharp in what I was doing as well. The 95 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:46.319 one thing you just need to be cautious of as a leader is not making 96 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:50.160 this something that your team members become dependent on you for to find line there 97 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:56.480 and I speak from experience unfortunately, but demonstrating what you're asking them is, 98 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:00.040 you know, a great way to show the how how do I conduct a 99 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:04.079 good discovery session? And then once you demonstrate it, it's now your seller's 100 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:09.680 turn to deliver, right, So it's your turn to coach, be candid, 101 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.680 be constructive in terms of feedback so that you can give them an opportunity 102 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:16.399 to continuously get better. So those are my big three. Those are great, 103 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:20.680 great, And I guess the other point I wanted to talk about when 104 00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:27.160 we talk about go slow to move fast is gathering the right information early, 105 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.360 which we talked about, but it's almost like you gather it before you need 106 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.639 it right. You might use it later in the sales cycle, but it's 107 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:39.079 easier to ask for it early, if that makes sense. Totally makes sense, 108 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.959 and I think that's there should be a level of expectation in terms of 109 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.519 how much data you should be gathering early for a number of different reasons. 110 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:53.199 I think the first one that should be most obvious to everyone is is there 111 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:57.279 a deal to be hat Like, our time is valuable. Spending time on 112 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:01.399 the front end can help us qualify an opportunity in and out, you know, 113 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.560 in or out earlier, which potentially can save us time and resources and 114 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.519 all of the things that come along with that. So that's definitely a huge 115 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.959 benefit of doing it early. I would also say like it provides us with 116 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.199 the real understanding of the customer's needs. And the caveat here is as long 117 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.879 as your intentions come across as being about them. So what I mean by 118 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:28.319 that is there is there a genuine interest in getting to know and understand your 119 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:33.000 buyer. If there is, they're more likely going to want to share information 120 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:37.759 with you. If your discovery is self serving, if it's leading in, 121 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:41.440 you know, in terms of the types of questions that you ask, they're 122 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:45.399 going to see that and they're going to avoid giving too much information. So 123 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:48.440 it needs to come from a place of service, genuine interests, you know, 124 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:54.759 genuine curiosity. It also can speed up the sales cycle when it becomes 125 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.759 apparent that they want or need what you have to offer, and that's really 126 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:03.279 I think the big take away from a really good discovery session and doing a 127 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.480 lot of that early is that by articulating what they want or need, it 128 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.480 starts becoming really apparent to them that they may want and need you, and 129 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:16.399 so that very often can feed things up and create a really compelling case for 130 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.399 them to move forward with you. And I'll also wrap it up with saying 131 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:26.039 getting that information early also allows you to present your solutions in a way they 132 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:31.200 actually care about. Right, So you're going to have to give them some 133 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.279 information about you along the way, and you don't want to do it in 134 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:39.919 this haphazard sort of way where you're like just throwing things at them seeing if 135 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:45.519 something sticks or not. If you have a good understanding of what your customer 136 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:50.480 wants or needs, it provides you with the basis to connect your solutions specifically 137 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:54.159 back to those wants or needs, and therefore, you know, creates this 138 00:09:54.279 --> 00:10:00.519 whole idea that what you bring to the table is really valuable. So all 139 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:05.000 those things in combination or some of the benefits that you really can get out 140 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:11.840 of getting information earlier in the process. Yeah, taking those steps to save 141 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:15.399 you time, and you mentioned role play, which also goes into the next 142 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.360 point, to just take the time to prep because even though you're spending the 143 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:26.120 more time you spend prepping, probably the better execution you will have when it 144 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:30.480 comes to your conversation. So talk a little bit how the prepping saves us 145 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:35.200 time. My experience has shown me that every single interaction there should be some 146 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:41.240 sort of focus and direction, and preparation really allows you to establish what that 147 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.919 focus and direction is in terms of where that conversation may be going. And 148 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.840 I think one of the most valuable things we can do as sellers is really 149 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.879 think through how something might play out. What questions we want to ask, 150 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:58.159 how might a customer respond, Who's doing what? Now? We know full 151 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.960 well that it may not play out that way, and we have to make 152 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.519 adjustments, you know, based on what's happening in the moment. But at 153 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:09.080 least that provides us with a level of confidence as we enter into these conversations. 154 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:13.519 It very often results in a more efficient and purposeful conversation that the customer 155 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:18.799 appreciates. I'll also add this, prepare for what the next steps are if 156 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:24.279 the meeting is successful, and articulate that to your customer. It could sound 157 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.120 something like this, but at the end of this meeting, we both feel 158 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:33.480 it's worth our time to continue this conversation. I'm going to ask you to 159 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:37.919 include the project doner, or the economic buyer, or a key stakeholder in 160 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.080 the next meeting. It eliminates that awkward what do we do now moment at 161 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:46.240 the end of a meeting that sometimes transpires, and it moves things along quicker. 162 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.240 I think also, you know, in terms of prep it provides us 163 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:54.559 with some options if something unexpected should happen. So one of the most valuable 164 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.159 things that we can do for ourselves is challenge ourselves to think through what might 165 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:03.080 happen that we aren't expecting. It could be an objection, it could be 166 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.759 additional stakeholders that might be involved. It could be someone saying, you know, 167 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.120 I'm not aligning with what we're all talking about here. If you think 168 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.960 that through ahead of time and how you might handle it, you will look 169 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.240 like a pro if something does come up, and it'll prevent the slows down 170 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.919 of the sales cycle. And then at the end of the day, it 171 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.120 all leads to a higher likelihood of success. That takes time, but I 172 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:31.440 find that the time spent the front reduces the risk of elongating the timeliness of 173 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:35.879 closing the opportunity, and very often increases the chances of success. Right. 174 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.559 That's a great point because the sales cycles they can be short, they can 175 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:43.600 be quick, and they can go on and on and on. I love 176 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.840 the tip about preparing for how you want to end the meeting. We actually 177 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.039 have a great podcast called Owning the Next Step, and I will link that 178 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:54.440 in the show notes. That's a great listen for those of you we're interested 179 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.840 in that particular tip. The third way to save time that we're going to 180 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:03.360 talk about today is really building a cadence around the muss does. We all 181 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:07.840 have things that we know we need to do but we don't like to do. 182 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:11.320 For me, it often has to do with putting stuff into salesforce or 183 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:16.519 some expense report or something. But what's your best advice, Antonella for building 184 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:22.000 a rhythm around things like pipeline, gen referral, salesforce tasks, et cetera. 185 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.919 I'll leave you with three tips here. Number one, I must leave 186 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.720 to my calendar, you know, and there's definitely things that I don't like 187 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:33.320 doing, and the way I typically tackle those is by scheduling time on my 188 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:35.559 calendar. If it's not in my calendar, I tend to push it off. 189 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.879 But because it's on my calendar, I consider it a must do. 190 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:45.559 So I always schedule time kind of in the same vein you know, breaking 191 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:50.080 things up. So don't say the tasks you hate until a deadline or allow 192 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.720 them to pile up. It don't feel like you're climbing a mountain where you 193 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:56.519 just can't see the peak and you don't know where it is. You just 194 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:01.879 keep climbing. It's important to break things up and make them consumable. And 195 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.879 I want to emphasize the word consumable, small bite sized chunks of time that 196 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.320 don't make me feel like my life is passing me by, And I'll spread 197 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:15.200 it out and I'll lock in thirty minute blocks on my calendar throughout the week, 198 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.960 so I'm doing what I need to do, but in timeframes that don't 199 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.600 feel super tedious to me. And the last step I'll give is there are 200 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:28.639 tons of tools and apps out there that you can that can help you simplify 201 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:33.759 what you enjoy leaves. Maybe it's an apper tool that simplifies outreach to customers. 202 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:37.840 Maybe it's a proposal tool, or maybe it's an AI powered assistant. 203 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:43.679 I often find the benefit of those types of things outweigh the cost and both 204 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:48.759 time and sometimes sanity as well. So don't be shy about leveraging tools and 205 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:52.759 applications that are out there in addition to maybe the ones that your company provides 206 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.480 you to help you save you time and take things off your plate that you 207 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.679 tend to not light so much. Right, I love that. I love 208 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.879 that, And you know, the calendar tip people always say that, and 209 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.919 it really does help because when that notification pops up, you know, you're 210 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.600 like, oh, whoops, I gotta do this. But you know, 211 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.799 sometimes where I find it helps me is not necessarily getting going on a task, 212 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:18.759 but knowing when to end it because I could spend six hours writing something, 213 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.720 or I could spend you know, hours writing LinkedIn posts or publishing, 214 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:26.679 but I shouldn't be spending my whole day doing that. So it's almost like 215 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.000 it gets me going, but it says, Okay, after the sixty minutes 216 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:31.919 it's done, I'm moving on to the next time to stop. And that's 217 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.919 that consumable piece of it. Right. So making sure that it's just nice 218 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.480 little bite sized chunks, so it doesn't feel like you're in the midst of 219 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.679 doing something for an extended amount of time that you just totally dislike. Amen, 220 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.320 amen antonello Ode, thank you so much, Thanks so much for having 221 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.000 me, Rachel right, and thank you to all of you for listening to 222 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:56.320 the Audible Ready Sales podcast. At Force Management, we're focused on transforming sales 223 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:02.039 organizations into elite teams. Are proven methodology. These deliver programs that build company 224 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:07.440 alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth. Give your teams the ability to execute the 225 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.120 growth strategy at the point of sale. Our strength is our experience. The 226 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:17.159 proof is in our results. Let's get started. Visit us at forcemanagement dot 227 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.600 com. You've been listening to the Audible Ready podcast. To not miss an 228 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:25.840 episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player until next time.