The Art of Storytelling in B2B Sales

There are more people than ever involved in deals on both the vendor side and customer side, and it’s having a massively negative impact on B2B growth.

Nick Toman is the Chief Product and Transformation Officer at SBI (Sales Benchmark Index) and is the third and final co-author of The Challenger Sale we’ve had on the show. Nick brings some amazing new sales and business research to dive into with co-hosts Matt Amundson and Craig Rosenberg. Nick unveils the effect that having more sellers involved has on win rates, the three behaviors of B2B salespeople that lead to the best commercial relationships, and why actions that seem like they would slow down deals are actually the key to closing them faster. Matt sparks an interesting discussion around sales compensation and the impact it has on both the behaviors of B2B sellers and the growth of the company on the whole. Toward the end, Nick teases his new concept of 'Headway Selling,' which focuses on actually helping customers reach their goals rather than simply selling them as much useless crap as possible.

Also, Craig recounts his childhood trauma of growing up a Dodgers fan in San Fransisco, Matt practices to be a court stenographer, and Sam the Producer confesses to an affinity for gnomes (?).

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Critical Takeaways

• Not only have buying groups grown immensely, but the number of people working on deals with those buying groups has also exploded. There are now an average of 12 people in buying groups and 5 people involved with the sale from the vendor side. This has led to a spike in confusion for buyers and a sharp decline in win rates for salespeople.
• The role of CSMs (Customer Success Managers) has devolved to have an extremely broad remit that is too big for them to actually deliver on effectively. In an ideal world, the CSM role should be to use very clear signals to identify customers who are struggling with adoption or retention issues and help them solve those issues. As it stands, many CSMs provide ongoing services and end up competing with account managers to land expansion and renewal opportunities. The competition on its own is one thing, but once the business is compensating both the CSM and the AM, there’s an issue with cost and efficiency.
• B2B sales reps need to focus on deeply understanding and aligning with customer initiatives. Sellers should be thinking about how they can help customers grow in their own businesses and avoid roadblocks. Gaining this deeper understanding of customer needs drastically shortens sales cycles and increases deal sizes.
• There are 4 main archetypes of behavior for people in commercial roles: 1. Narrowing- Closing early, Closing often. 2. Provoking - Provocative insights to redirect customer thinking (AKA: Challenger). 3. Translating - Detail & data-oriented to help customers understand impact. 4. Anticipating - Help customers think through the process and future challenges. 
• Of those 4 archetypes, the two that perform best in sales are Translating and Anticipating. The research showed that sellers exhibiting those behaviors actually closed deals more quickly and for more money than sellers using the Narrowing or Provoking behaviors. 

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Chapters

00:00 Coming Up in this Episode...

00:40 Will the Real Nick Toman Please Stand Up

01:53 Introducing Nick Toman, Co-Author of The Challenger Sale

03:09 The Impact of The Challenger Sale in B2B Sales

13:55 Commercial Efficiency is Crippling B2B SaaS Growth

21:22 Is Sales Commision Getting out of hand for B2B Companies?

28:22 Why Don't Buyers Want to Talk to Sellers Anymore?

31:05 Key Behaviors for Successful Commercial Relationships

33:53 Why Starting Fast Is So Critical for Sales Success All Year Long

36:27 Strategies for Effective Sales Execution to Start the Fiscal Year Strong

41:08 Understanding The Four Commercial Role Archetypes & Their Impact on Deal Velocity

48:54 Customer-Centric Selling and Trust Building

53:56 Headway Selling & Delivering Real Customer Success

Epic Quotes

• “ You’ve got to help the customer make headway and you don't want to make headwinds.” - Nick Toman
• “ Commercial efficiency- the yield on dollars spent in sales and marketing- has gone down 50 plus percent.” - Nick Toman
• “ Those who really do situate themselves in a path of helping the customer evolve their business and get things right do much better than those who are like ‘Buy this thing.’” - Nick Toman

Connect with Nick Toman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicktoman/ 
• SBI Website: https://sbigrowth.com/ 
• Latest Research - How a Fast Start to the Year Defines Your Growth Outcomes: https://sbigrowth.com/tools-and-solutions/how_a_fast_start_defines_your_growth_outcomes 

Shoutouts

• Matt Dixon: https://thetransaction.substack.com/p/decoding-sales-indecision-with-matt?r=3iae7z 
• Brent Adamson: https://thetransaction.substack.com/p/reframing-b2b-sales-to-drive-buyer?r=3iae7z 
• The End of Solution Sales - HBR Article: https://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales 
• Dave Brock: https://thetransaction.substack.com/p/really-knowing-your-customer-with?r=3iae7z 
• Mike Bosworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebosworth/ 
• Neil Rackham
• Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ 
• Karen Freeman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenefreeman/ 
• Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers - HBR Article: https://hbr.org/2010/07/stop-trying-to-delight-your-customers 
• AJ Gandhi: https://thetransaction.substack.com/p/navigating-market-success-with-aj?r=3iae7z 
• Vantage: https://www.vantage.sh/ 
• Ben Schaechter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensign/ 
• Marlin Equity Partners: https://www.marlinequity.com/ 
• Gartne...