Speaker 1: And I always ask people, Look, I can't change what's
Speaker 1: happened in the past, but I'm going to ask you
Speaker 1: to judge me what happens after this meeting with us.
Speaker 2: Today, you're listening to the audible Ready Podcast, the show
Speaker 2: that helps you and your teams sell more faster. It's
Speaker 2: brought to you by the team at Force Management, a
Speaker 2: leader in B to B sales effectiveness. The show features
Speaker 2: sales leaders sharing their best insights on how to create
Speaker 2: a sales engine that helps you fuel repeatable revenue growth.
Speaker 2: Let's get started.
Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm
Speaker 3: Rachel Kleadmiller, joined today by John Kaplan. Hi John, Hi, Rachel,
Speaker 3: how are you good? Good? So today John, we're going
Speaker 3: to talk about a common scenario that many salespeople find
Speaker 3: themselves in, and it's come up on our online platform,
Speaker 3: a center, a subscription platform. It can happen, particularly maybe
Speaker 3: when you're starting a new company and that is inheriting
Speaker 3: others accounts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is I think a really important topic to
Speaker 1: talk about because it can be it can be tricky
Speaker 1: regardless of the situation. You're either following somebody that did
Speaker 1: a really, really good job or following a following a
Speaker 1: scenario where we didn't do a very good job. And
Speaker 1: I know there's people listening out there like, well, hey,
Speaker 1: I wish I got some accounts to inherit. So regardless,
Speaker 1: hang in there with the conversation. You're going to have
Speaker 1: a scenario where you're going to receive an inherited account.
Speaker 1: If it's not happening now, it's going to happen in
Speaker 1: your career. So just listen to some of these topics
Speaker 1: that we talk about, regardless of where you are in
Speaker 1: your career, because I think these are some really really
Speaker 1: good points we're going to discuss today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and accounts can get moved around in your current role,
Speaker 3: you know, somebody can leave whatever. So let's talk of
Speaker 3: the first steps when we're presented with this scenario. What
Speaker 3: are our first steps?
Speaker 1: Well, like everything else we talk about, Rachel, we're always
Speaker 1: talking about prepper and preparedness and the difference between stress
Speaker 1: and pressure you've heard us say over and over again
Speaker 1: is preparedness. So you want to get as much fluency
Speaker 1: that you can about the account before your first meeting
Speaker 1: with them. If you can't talk to the previous seller,
Speaker 1: perhaps you might have replaced that individual, or then talk
Speaker 1: to people that are responsible for the product, or managers
Speaker 1: or pre sales or customer success, anyone who may have
Speaker 1: interfaced with that customer to learn as much as you
Speaker 1: can about that scenario. So the more that you come
Speaker 1: in with an educated point of view, the more your
Speaker 1: customer will trust that you are assuming a transition. I
Speaker 1: think where people do this badly. Rachel is there basically like, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm the new person, you know, tell me everything that
Speaker 1: you've told everybody else one hundred times, or I don't
Speaker 1: care what happened before here. I'm here now. It's just
Speaker 1: it's not a good look. Really takes it takes preparation,
Speaker 1: do your homework and figure out what's been going on
Speaker 1: before you speak to somebody.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's nothing more frustrating than if you then a
Speaker 3: vendor who comes to the table uninformed, especially if you've
Speaker 3: had a longer relationship with the vendor. I got a
Speaker 3: story for you, John, So, I was on a call,
Speaker 3: this was about a couple months ago with a vendor
Speaker 3: when we were talking about our content. You know, I
Speaker 3: produced a lot of the content. They were asking me
Speaker 3: about the content and they said they said, okay, so
Speaker 3: what kind of access do you have to John Kaplan like,
Speaker 3: are you able to you know, have him do content
Speaker 3: for you? And I was like, well, given he's the
Speaker 3: founder of the company, I think we got the access.
Speaker 1: It's like, what I couldn't.
Speaker 3: Hide my face on the zoom But anyway, I digress.
Speaker 1: But so your point is they didn't do their homework, right?
Speaker 3: No? No, I mean that is like a basic point, right.
Speaker 3: I mean, maybe you can forgive if they didn't know
Speaker 3: where some metrics or what certain software you're using or whatever,
Speaker 3: but a founder of a company who is a very
Speaker 3: visual founder should be kind of one of the first
Speaker 3: bullets I would get to know. But anyway, you bring
Speaker 3: up a good point, John, that you have to you
Speaker 3: really want to come in with that educated point of view,
Speaker 3: and that helps you build trust as the new rep,
Speaker 3: which you need, particularly if you have to grow the account.
Speaker 3: So shifting now from getting informed you got that first conversation, Hi,
Speaker 3: I'm a new person, YadA, YadA. How do I start
Speaker 3: to develop the relationships I need within them within the
Speaker 3: account so that I can can build it? What are
Speaker 3: my action steps there?
Speaker 1: Yeah, good question. I think you treat account transition you
Speaker 1: treat it like any other really sales call, where you're
Speaker 1: going to first make it all about them and then
Speaker 1: earn the right to make it about you. Start with
Speaker 1: a baseline of what you've heard I've had. I remember
Speaker 1: a wonderful example of a customer when we first started
Speaker 1: Force Management. I was traveling with a rep and it
Speaker 1: was a huge teleccount company. This company was in the
Speaker 1: services industry and they were there was an account transition.
Speaker 1: This just gives chills to my spine because it was
Speaker 1: so profound. So they were talking to a vice president
Speaker 1: there and there was a new there was a new seller.
Speaker 1: I was actually traveling with that new seller that day,
Speaker 1: and they the customer looked at the individual and said, hey,
Speaker 1: nice to meet you. Before we get started, why don't
Speaker 1: you tell me what you've learned about us? And you
Speaker 1: could have heard a pin drop in the room, And
Speaker 1: it was so profound for me, and the customer was
Speaker 1: doing it on purpose. The customer had a high expectation
Speaker 1: that there had been a transfer of knowledge, a transfer
Speaker 1: of information, and so they just had a high expectation.
Speaker 1: The rep actually did a pretty good job, but that's
Speaker 1: not what they were expecting to start with. They were
Speaker 1: expecting to start more was small talk and blah blah blah,
Speaker 1: and the customer just hit them and talk about being
Speaker 1: audible ready.
Speaker 3: It is you.
Speaker 1: Know, why don't you start by telling me what you
Speaker 1: know about me and my company? And I think that
Speaker 1: we should go into every new uh transition of an account,
Speaker 1: every new customer, every new relationship with being audible ready
Speaker 1: to speak to that, be audible, ready to speak to
Speaker 1: what do you know about us? And there's an old
Speaker 1: saying that says, if it's been in print, let's say
Speaker 1: we don't have we've never done business with this customer,
Speaker 1: and the customer or this prospect, and they say, tell
Speaker 1: me what you know about us in our industry? If
Speaker 1: it's been in print, you should have read it. And
Speaker 1: so what they're basically gauging is like what kind of
Speaker 1: game you got? Do you have an A game? Do
Speaker 1: you have a C game? What are we working with here?
Speaker 1: So I think it's really really important to be to
Speaker 1: be audible ready in that regard. So, but I'm also
Speaker 1: prepared to once I talk about what I've learned about them?
Speaker 1: What have you? Now, it's time for you and I
Speaker 1: to me and the customer to establish our own operating rhythm,
Speaker 1: and you'll hear me things. You'll hear me talk about
Speaker 1: things like you know, what do you like most about
Speaker 1: your experience with us? And what causes you pause about
Speaker 1: your relationship with us. I like to be very very vulnerable.
Speaker 1: I like to be very very open, and I like
Speaker 1: to ask those questions in a way that invites really
Speaker 1: good feedback. Where are we better than we think we are?
Speaker 1: When sometimes when I talk about our products or solutions,
Speaker 1: I'll say, where are we better than we think we are?
Speaker 1: And then where are we not good as you know
Speaker 1: as we probably think we are. Those are two really
Speaker 1: good questions to bring vulnerability, to bring openness, to bring
Speaker 1: great feedback in to the conversation in a very safe
Speaker 1: way for the customer. I like to also, Rachel set
Speaker 1: the ground rules and expectations for operating rhythms, like if
Speaker 1: it's appropriate, how do you like to be interacted with
Speaker 1: when we have information we need to get with you?
Speaker 1: Do you ever do quarterly reviews? You know what works
Speaker 1: best for you? Think about an ideal relationship that you
Speaker 1: have with a vendor? What makes that an ideal relationship?
Speaker 1: And I'm trying to establish the ground rules going forward.
Speaker 1: I acknowledge and I'm aware of what's happened in the past.
Speaker 1: Now it's my responsibility to establish how you'd like to
Speaker 1: interact going forward in the future. So I know that
Speaker 1: was a lot of content there, but I'm I'm audible
Speaker 1: ready for that.
Speaker 3: That's great. I think those questions are good, good takeaways
Speaker 3: for people to remember. You mentioned the in the story
Speaker 3: that you told the customer needed wanted to see who
Speaker 3: they were, who they were dealing with, what kind of
Speaker 3: game that person was bringing, and you know you might
Speaker 3: encounter skepticism. So what do you do if there's a
Speaker 3: lot of skepticism and your inheriting account, you're coming in
Speaker 3: new to it, but and your customer isn't as happy
Speaker 3: as they should be with that current contract. How do
Speaker 3: you deal with that situation that you've inherited.
Speaker 1: Well, let's just talk about reality. This will be your
Speaker 1: scenario more times than anything else. You're very rarely going
Speaker 1: to inherit account. That's great. You know you're inheriting an account.
Speaker 1: If it's a great account, you're not inheriting it. If
Speaker 1: you're new, you're not inheriting it. Right you with me?
Speaker 1: So people are going to hang on to those accounts
Speaker 1: that are that are you know, running really really well.
Speaker 1: So this is a really really appropriate conversation. I think
Speaker 1: more often than not, what you're inheriting is probably not
Speaker 1: in a great state. So the first thing I do
Speaker 1: is I tell myself, do not be defensive. I didn't
Speaker 1: create this problem. I'm willing to help them with their problem.
Speaker 1: I need to be a problem solver. So I listen.
Speaker 1: And sometimes it's hard to hear how your company sucks
Speaker 1: or how your product sucks, or what have you. But
Speaker 1: you have to be prepared to not only listen to that,
Speaker 1: but to be open to that and don't minimize anything
Speaker 1: you know. At the same time, I also I don't
Speaker 1: go native. This is what happens to some immature sellers.
Speaker 1: They go native with the customer and they start to
Speaker 1: agree with the customer. Yeah, that's a problem for us everywhere,
Speaker 1: and we need to do better at that or what
Speaker 1: have you. That you know, nobody is expecting you to
Speaker 1: throw your own company under the bus. So the main
Speaker 1: point is to listen and understand the problems that it causes.
Speaker 1: Understand and acknowledge you know, a previous reps, bad behavior,
Speaker 1: or a product not working.
Speaker 2: Or what have you.
Speaker 1: Everybody needs to be heard. It's a it's a common
Speaker 1: human behavior. We all have the need to be heard,
Speaker 1: and this is where you need to really demonstrate that
Speaker 1: skill set. So then you establish that you care and
Speaker 1: you're committed to changing the relationship, changing the experience. And
Speaker 1: I always ask people, look, I can't change what's happened
Speaker 1: in the past, but I'm going to ask you to
Speaker 1: judge me on what happens after this meeting with us today.
Speaker 1: I think it's really important for me to establish that
Speaker 1: I can't. I'll do the best I can to go
Speaker 1: back and figure things out. But what I'm asking this
Speaker 1: customer to do is allow me to prove myself, is
Speaker 1: allow me to and it's important for the customer to
Speaker 1: actually say that not only to you, but to themselves.
Speaker 1: So like, Okay, this person is I need to judge
Speaker 1: this person on what happens going forward. But oftentimes there
Speaker 1: are going to be open items and issues, and I
Speaker 1: think one of the I call them kind of like
Speaker 1: easy wins, And it's not so much that you'll have
Speaker 1: the solution, but the way you follow up from these
Speaker 1: conversations and how fast you do it and how in
Speaker 1: a quality way and being able to tell and reiterate
Speaker 1: their side of the story and to get your company
Speaker 1: to respond in some way and then follow up quickly.
Speaker 1: So I think timing is really really important from a
Speaker 1: meeting like that. So again, more often than not, your
Speaker 1: experience is going to be you're going to be inheriting
Speaker 1: something that's not ideal. Listen to what makes the situation
Speaker 1: not ideal, ask for the ability to be judged going forward,
Speaker 1: and if there are follow up items from that conversation,
Speaker 1: follow up immediately, even if they're small things, follow up
Speaker 1: immediately and with urgency. And I think that's a pretty
Speaker 1: pretty good way to think about it.
Speaker 3: That's so that's such a good way to end it, John.
Speaker 3: I think if you do nothing else, if you are
Speaker 3: responsive and your customer's urgency is your urgency, that goes
Speaker 3: a long way.
Speaker 1: It does.
Speaker 3: Those are some great points, John, And I think there's
Speaker 3: one more point here that I want to bring up
Speaker 3: that if you're new and you've inherited the account, it's
Speaker 3: not always guaranteed business.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the flip side that we just talked about.
Speaker 1: It's like, okay, let's say you do get an account
Speaker 1: that has been doing fairly well. I never underestimate how
Speaker 1: challenging it is to continue that success, and how important
Speaker 1: salespeople and continuity are. And sometimes relationships are fractured just
Speaker 1: by the very nature of a seller leaving. I think,
Speaker 1: if I'm a seller, I never want that scenario to happen.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be. It's not a badge of
Speaker 1: honor or courage to say, oh, look that account fell
Speaker 1: apart after I left. It should be you should be very,
Speaker 1: very proud five years from now to see that account
Speaker 1: just crushing it and that you did such a great
Speaker 1: job of serving them, including transitioning it to others. But
Speaker 1: don't assume that everything's great when you take over a
Speaker 1: supposed great account that you'll always have the business. Always
Speaker 1: establish that baseline for where you're at right now, and
Speaker 1: then establish your relationship with that customer going forward, doing
Speaker 1: the things that I talked about earlier, like setting your
Speaker 1: own operating rhythm, judging the success and the measurement of
Speaker 1: success on where we are kind of going forward. It's
Speaker 1: the old adage don't rest on your laurels, especially if
Speaker 1: those laurels aren't yours.
Speaker 3: That's great, Thank you, John, You're welcome.
Speaker 1: Go Get Them, Go, Get Them.
Speaker 3: Thank you to all of you who continue to listen
Speaker 3: to the audible Ready Sales podcasts, and don't forget to
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Speaker 3: dot co. Thank you. At Force Management, we're focused on
Speaker 3: transforming sales organizations into elite teams. Our proven methodologies deliver
Speaker 3: programs that build company alignment and fuel repeatable revenue growth.
Speaker 3: Give your teams the ability to execute the growth strategy
Speaker 3: at the point of sale. Our strength is our experience.
Speaker 3: The proof is in our results. Let's get started. Visit
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