Last week's take on a Sales 3.0 Conference and excerpts taken from Sybill AI below:
Outcome: The meeting focused on the importance of investing in personal development and re-skilling sales teams to meet the evolving expectations of business buyers. The speaker emphasized the need for empathy, data fluency, customer research, virtual presence, and relationship building in sales. They also highlighted the importance of aligning internal systems and processes with customer needs and leveraging technology to improve efficiency. The speaker encouraged the audience to take action on what they learned from the meeting and to be bold in making changes. Sheevaun Thatcher introduces Tiffani Bova, whom she met at a sales enablement conference a few years ago. She praises Bova's work, mentioning her two bestsellers, "Growth IQ" and "The Experience Mindset." Thatcher also mentions Bova's professional background, including her time as a fellow at Gartner for growth, her role as a growth and innovation evangelist at Salesforce, and her experience running startups and divisions of Fortune 500 companies. Tiffani Bova shares that she started her career as a quota-bearing sales rep and worked her way up to leadership roles in sales, marketing, and customer service. She spent a decade at Gartner as a research fellow covering sales transformation and eight years at Salesforce helping customers understand that the conversation is not about technology, but about people and processes. She also mentions that she has spoken at the Selling Power event several times before. Key Takeaways: - Business to Everyone (BDE): Tiffani Bova introduced the concept of BDE, or Business to Everyone, which is a shift from the traditional B2B or B2C models. The idea is to focus on the experience of everyone involved in the business, from customers to employees.
- Experience Imperative: The experience of interacting with a brand has become as important as the products and services it offers. This applies to both customers and employees. Businesses need to ensure a seamless, frictionless, and easy experience for all.
- Connected Experience: Customers expect consistent interactions across departments. They want businesses to know their purchase history and anticipate their future needs. The next selling organization is customer success or customer service, which needs to be empowered with the right information and tools.
- Importance of Experience: The experience a customer has with a brand is remembered longer than the price they paid. This is evident in examples like Uber, where customers remember the experience of the ride more than the cost. Similarly, in a restaurant, good service can outweigh good food in terms of repeat business.
- Control in Sales: The one thing salespeople can control is the experience they deliver. They can control how they show up, how value-based they are, and the overall experience they provide to the customer.
- Sales Experience Today: The sales experience today is largely defined by the use of technology. Sellers who use technology better than their competitors are the ones who win deals. This includes using generative AI, tools for call analysis, and tools for writing better emails. The sales experience should be value-based and focused on the customer.
- Challenges in Sales: Despite the explosion of technology, 54% of sellers are still expected to miss quota. This is due to a lack of time spent selling, with only 28% of a seller's time actually spent on selling. The problem is not a lack of technology, but a people and process problem.
- Sales Leadership: High performing sellers often become sales managers, but this does not necessarily mean they are good at managing. The focus should be on coaching and mentoring, rather than administrative tasks. However, 54% of reps would not be willing to pay $1 for an hour of their manager's time, indicating a failure in providing value to the reps.
- Investing in Personal Development: Sellers need to invest in their own personal development to become trusted advisors. This includes listening to podcasts, reading books, attending events, and learning from high performers. Companies need to make investments in training their sellers to be trusted advisors.
- Re-skilling and Selling Skills: of B2B sales organizations rank re-skilling as a top priority. Re-skilling should focus on improving skills such as empathy, data fluency, customer research, virtual presence, building relationships, and coaching and mentoring.
- Aligning Internal Systems and Processes: Companies need to align their internal systems and processes with what customers want, not what they want to track. This involves balancing the need to hit numbers today while transforming for tomorrow.
- Leveraging Technology: Companies need to audit their day and find ways to leverage technology to get time back. Technology should not replace people, but help them do their jobs better.
Meeting Title: Building a Revenue Leadership Team to Meet Tomorrow's Buyers Today
Outcome:
The meeting concluded with Hang Black encouraging the attendees to rethink their approach towards building a more inclusive program for their talent. She emphasized the importance of understanding the communication preferences of different generations, promoting diversity within professional networks, setting clear rules of engagement, ensuring belonging and representation, and democratizing access. She also highlighted the significance of sourcing talent from diverse and unconventional sources and leveraging reverse ally-ship.
Small Talk:
Joe Sabatino introduced Hang Black, highlighting her achievements as a Wall Street Journal best-selling author for her book "Embrace Your Edge". He also mentioned her reputation as "Black Ops" for her innovative solutions in marketing, sales operations, and sales enablement. Hang Black is a global speaker, an advocate for women in the workplace, and holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas. Sabatino also mentioned Hang's inspiring personal journey from Vietnam to the United States.
Hang Black shared her personal journey as a Vietnamese immigrant who escaped Vietnam one day before Saigon fell. She described the harrowing experience of her family's escape and their eventual sponsorship by a Lithuanian family. She grew up in Louisiana and is proud that all eight children in her family became engineers and scientists. Professionally, she emphasized the importance of diversity in the sales community and the need to represent the buyers they are trying to serve. She also discussed the macroeconomic shifts due to COVID-19 and how these have affected the sales and buying experience.
Key Takeaways:
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Economic Shifts: COVID-19 has been a change accelerant, not a change agent. It has accelerated trends that were already happening, such as the shift towards e-commerce, home delivery, remote work, and increased government spending. These changes have created opportunities in various sectors like healthcare, education, consumer, and real estate.
- The Human Aspect of Sales and Consumerism: The speaker emphasized the importance of understanding the human aspect of sales and consumerism. The Great Resignation has led to a change in where talent is sourced from. The digitalization of the sales and buying experience has made it necessary for salespeople to be digitally savvy. There are four generations in the workforce with different digital competencies and communication preferences.
- Importance of Sales Experience: Sales experience is more important than product, service, and price combined in defining customer loyalty. The number of interactions has increased from 17 to 27 during COVID-19. The number of stakeholders involved in a complex sale can be anywhere from 11 to 26 or 27. These stakeholders are diverse and are looking to see who they are transacting with.
- The Role of Technology in Sales: Being technologically adept is one of the top qualities that CFOs look for in a sales rep. Sellers demand top tech and 92% of sellers will base their job decision on a company's tech stack. The average number of interactions in the sales funnel is now 66, highlighting the importance of a good segmentation process and clean communication styles.
- Promoting Diversity and Inclusion: The speaker emphasized the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She suggested exercises to ensure diversity in one's professional squad and to democratize access. She also highlighted the importance of setting clear rules of engagement and ensuring everyone has a voice at the table. The speaker also shared her personal journey as a Vietnamese immigrant, underscoring the value of diverse perspectives.
Meeting Title: Unlocking Growth: Transitioning From Sales Enablement to Revenue Enablement Outcome: The meeting focused on the transition from sales enablement to revenue enablement. Roderick Jefferson emphasized the importance of understanding the language and needs of different stakeholders within a business, from sales leaders to customer success teams. He highlighted the role of AI in improving efficiency and productivity, and the importance of aligning processes, programs, and platforms to the needs of the business. He also shared the five reasons to transition from sales to revenue enablement: improved communication, understanding internal customers, alignment across business lines, inclusion of customer success in go-to-market strategy, and tying everything back to revenue-generating metrics. Jefferson concluded by inviting feedback and offering further assistance through his LinkedIn. Small Talk: Roderick Jefferson shares that he started his career in sales, working as a BDR and an AE. He was successful and was offered a promotion to manager after going to the President's Club. However, he declined the promotion because he realized he loved the process of selling but didn't get excited about closing big deals. Instead, he proposed to his sales leader that he could use his processes to help onboard new people faster and potentially send more people to the President's Club than the budget allowed for. This led him to transition into training and eventually into sales enablement. Key Takeaways: - Transitioning from Sales Enablement to Revenue Enablement: Roderick Jefferson discussed the need to transition from sales enablement to revenue enablement. He emphasized that sales enablement has matured and needs to evolve to the next level. Revenue enablement is about connecting the dots across different departments like marketing, product marketing, HR, engineering, etc., to create a harmonious 'orchestra' that works towards the right thing for the customer.
- Key Components of Revenue Enablement: Jefferson outlined six key components of revenue enablement: acquisition assessment, onboarding, continuous learning, content management, coaching and reinforcement, and metrics and measurements. He stressed the importance of role-specific training, continuous sharpening of skills, and the need for hard-line measurable outcomes. - The Role of Customer Success Management (CSM) in Revenue Enablement: Jefferson highlighted the importance of CSMs in revenue enablement. He suggested that CSMs should be involved early in the sales process to build relationships and trust with customers. He also emphasized that CSMs should be taught to help customers rather than sell to them. - The Importance of the Buyer's Journey: Jefferson stressed the importance of understanding and prioritizing the buyer's journey. He suggested that companies should focus on how their customers buy, why they buy, and when they buy, and then build their sales processes around these insights. - Recalibrating the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Jefferson recommended companies to reassess their ICP based on current market conditions and company direction. He pointed out that the ICP should be updated regularly to ensure it remains relevant and accurate. - Building a Culture of Learning: Jefferson emphasized the need to build a culture of learning within organizations. He suggested that this should start from the first day of an employee's onboarding and continue throughout their tenure at the company. - Transitioning from Sales Enablement to Revenue Enablement: The speakers discussed the importance of transitioning from sales enablement to revenue enablement. This involves improving communication, collaboration, and orchestration, understanding internal customers, aligning with all lines of business, incorporating customer success into the go-to-market strategy, and tying everything back to revenue-generating metrics. - The Importance of Nurturing Relationships: The speakers emphasized the importance of nurturing relationships with customers and internal stakeholders. This involves understanding their needs, speaking their language, and continually providing value even after the initial sale. The speakers compared this to maintaining a long-term friendship or romantic relationship. - The Role of AI in Sales Enablement: The speakers discussed the growing role of AI in sales enablement. AI can help with lead scoring, automating mundane tasks, providing real-time analytics, personalizing sales coaching, automating parts of the sales process, and giving salespeople more time to focus on their core tasks. However, the speakers cautioned against adopting AI tools simply because they are trendy, and stressed the importance of choosing tools that are right for the company's specific needs. - The Importance of Metrics: The speakers discussed the importance of metrics in sales enablement. They differentiated between metrics that sales enablement teams can control and those that they can only influence. They also discussed the importance of understanding the metrics that matter to different stakeholders, such as sales leaders, sales engineers, and customer success teams. - The Role of Playbooks: The speakers discussed the role of playbooks in sales enablement. They argued that playbooks should be seen not just as assets, but as guided learning processes that include both the 'what' and 'how' of sales, as well as the rules of engagement for different stages of the sales process. Meeting Title: Converting LinkedIn Connections to Conversations Outcome: The meeting focused on strategies for converting LinkedIn connections into meaningful conversations. Brynne Tillman shared various techniques such as nurturing existing network, engaging with content, creating personalized eBooks, and leveraging social proximity for referrals. She emphasized the importance of treating connections as human beings, not leads, and focusing on the value one can bring to them rather than what they are worth as prospects. She also shared resources for further learning and encouraged attendees to download her presentation deck. Next Steps: - The text does not provide specific next steps or action items for the speakers. Small Talk: The speakers did not share any personal or professional details during their small talk. They immediately jumped into the topic of the meeting, which is about converting LinkedIn connections into conversations. Key Takeaways: - Understanding Social Selling: Brynne Tillman defined social selling as building rapport, providing real value, developing trust and credibility by being a resource, and understanding that sales will come when the time is right. She emphasized that real value is in the eyes of the consumer, not just what you want to tell them. - Common Mistakes in LinkedIn Outreach: Tillman highlighted common mistakes made on LinkedIn, including self-centered profiles, cold calling, connect and pitch approach, and not leveraging referrals and permission to name drop. She advised against these practices as they can harm your reputation and are generally ineffective. - Five Social Selling Tenets: Tillman shared five tenets for successful social selling: detaching from what the prospect is worth to you and attaching to what you are worth to the prospect, treating the person on the other side of the message as a human being, slowing down your outreach to speed up your outcome, leveraging your social proximity to gain access to your targeted buyers, and caring about the outcome, not just the sale. - Content for Engagement and Social Selling: Tillman discussed the importance of creating content that provides value, builds trust and credibility, and leads to conversation. She suggested using tools like Chat GPT to create content such as blog posts and ebooks, and Canva for visual content. She also recommended using LinkedIn's schedule later tool to plan posts. - Nurturing Existing Network: Tillman emphasized the importance of nurturing your existing network on LinkedIn. She suggested exporting your connections to identify who you've been ignoring and reaching out to them. She also recommended 'ringing the bell' of people you want content from so that their posts come into your notifications. - Leveraging Referrals and Permission to Name Drop: Tillman discussed the power of referrals and permission to name drop in LinkedIn outreach. She suggested changing the dynamic of asking for referrals by searching a connection's network before asking for their thoughts on certain individuals. This approach can lead to more successful connections and conversations. Meeting Title: The One Up Formula for Growing Sales Outcome: The meeting was a discussion led by Anthony Iannarino on strategies for growing sales. He emphasized the importance of understanding clients' problems without having to ask them directly, the value of asking insightful questions that make clients think, and the need to provide clients with a sense of certainty. He also introduced the concept of triangulation strategy, which involves saying something positive about competitors before highlighting their shortcomings. The outcome of the meeting was to equip the attendees with new strategies and tactics to improve their sales performance. Next Steps: - The text does not provide information on the next steps or action items for each speaker. Small Talk: Mark Hunter introduces Anthony Iannarino as a thought leader in sales who travels the world helping organizations grow their sales. He mentions that Anthony is going to talk about the one formula for driving profitable sales. Anthony Iannarino shares a personal story about his experience at Mount Everest in 2010. He explains how he had to rely on the advice of a Sherpa, despite the Sherpa's lack of formal education, because the Sherpa had practical experience and knowledge that Anthony and his doctor did not have. Anthony also shares his professional background as a speaker, author, trainer, and blogger. He states that his main focus is helping salespeople succeed in an evolving landscape. Key Takeaways: - The One Up Formula: Anthony Iannarino introduced the concept of 'one up', which refers to the position of having more knowledge or information in a conversation. In sales, this means the salesperson should have a set of value creation strategies that allow them to teach the client what they need to know, and help them be successful. - Changing Buyer Behavior: Iannarino highlighted that 75% of buyers now want a salesperson-free buying experience, and 68% have already made a complex decision without a salesperson. This shift in buyer behavior is due to accelerating disruptive, constant change (ACDC), which is causing stress and uncertainty for buyers. - Information Disparity: The key to successful sales in this changing landscape is information disparity. Salespeople need to know something that the client doesn't know, and be able to transfer that knowledge in a way that the client finds valuable. This can help the client make a better decision and improve their results. - Consultative Selling: Iannarino emphasized the importance of consultative selling, where salespeople give good counsel, recommendations, and advice to clients. This approach can help salespeople lead the client, rather than the client leading the sales process. - Demographic Shifts and Their Impact: Anthony Iannarino highlighted the demographic shifts happening in the United States, with baby boomers retiring and a shortage of younger people to replace them in the workforce. This is expected to have significant impacts on various sectors, including healthcare and sales. - The Importance of Creating Value: Iannarino emphasized the importance of creating value in sales conversations. He argued that salespeople often fail to differentiate themselves, leading to commoditization. To stand out, salespeople must provide valuable insights and information that clients can't get elsewhere. - The Executive Briefing Approach: Iannarino shared his approach of using executive briefings to provide value to clients. This involves presenting data and insights relevant to the client's industry and challenges, which positions the salesperson as an expert and authority. This approach can help build trust and rapport with clients. - The Role of Salespeople in Helping Clients Succeed: Iannarino stressed that salespeople's primary job is to help their clients succeed. This involves understanding the client's problems and needs, providing insights and solutions, and helping the client navigate complex decisions. - The Triangulation Strategy: Iannarino introduced the 'triangulation strategy' for positioning against competitors. This involves saying something positive about the competitor, highlighting their weaknesses, and then confessing your own weaknesses while emphasizing your strengths. This approach allows the salesperson to critique competitors without appearing negative. Meeting Title: The Sales Victory Plan: Driving Cross-Functional Alignment Outcome: The meeting concluded with John Turner sharing his strategies for building a successful sales organization, including creating a clear plan for sales reps, implementing a standardized management process, focusing on diversity and talent acquisition, and continuously learning and adopting new technologies. He emphasized the importance of a positive culture, consistent performance, and leadership development in creating a championship sales organization. Next Steps: - The text does not provide specific next steps or action items for each speaker. Small Talk: Joe Sabatino introduced John Turner, who he mistakenly referred to as the CEO of Sir tinea, but John corrected him, stating that he is actually the Chief Revenue Officer. John, also known as JT, has authored the victory plan playbook for breakthrough results and coaches future leaders with his Lighthouse training program. He was involved in one of the largest software mergers in history. John has been at Sir tinea for just under a year and leads a 250-person sales organization. He has implemented his victory plan at Sir tinea and has seen good results. Key Takeaways: - Introduction and Background: John Turner, the Chief Revenue Officer of Sir tinea, shared his experience and approach to leading and building organizations. He discussed his victory plan playbook for breakthrough results and his Lighthouse training program for future leaders.
- The Victory Plan: The victory plan is a one-page business plan that includes 13 to 15 goals in four key areas: business results, customer engagement, employee satisfaction, and operational excellence. The plan is built by the leadership team and cascades throughout the organization. It is measured and managed regularly, with actions taken when goals are not being met.
- Implementation of the Victory Plan: The victory plan was implemented at Sir tinea, with each employee knowing their role and how it connects to the company's revenue. The plan was created with cross-functional input and is visible and accountable. The plan includes goals such as increasing net new logos, cross-selling products, and improving the Net Promoter Score.
- Actions Taken as a Result of the Victory Plan: As a result of the victory plan, every sales representative was given their quota, compensation plan, territory, terms and conditions, resources available, and marketing information on the first day of the fiscal year. The company also launched a sales leader playbook, a management process for all managers.
- Focus on People and Culture: John emphasized the importance of people and culture in achieving business results. He discussed the company's focus on diversity and talent, and the creation of a women's group to make the organization better for women and to recruit more diverse talent. He also mentioned the implementation of a high potential development program for future leaders.
- Characteristics of a Championship Sales Organization: John outlined three characteristics of a championship sales organization: winning year after year, having a positive culture, and growing leaders to do other great things either inside or outside the organization. More here on all of the sessions:
https://www.sybill.ai/sales30conf
