Chris Orlob, CEO of pclub.io and a B2B sales expert, dives into the pressing skills crisis facing sales teams today. He highlights the importance of mastering specific skills before moving on, advocating for a skill transformation loop in training. The conversation covers the shifting dynamics of B2B sales, emphasizing emotional intelligence and effective discovery techniques. With sales becoming increasingly competitive, Orlob stresses continuous learning as essential for success in this tech-driven landscape.
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insights INSIGHT
Skill Capacity Is The Missing Lever
Sales teams are drowning in tech but starving for real selling skill capacity.
Skill capacity equals what to do, why to do it, and how to build judgment in reps.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Apology Email Won The Deal
Chris lost a near-six-figure deal when procurement offered $40k against a ~$100k ask and he refused to concede.
After his SVP insisted, Chris wrote an apology email and the deal closed within days.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The Bloody Eyeball Play Worked
Craig presented with a burst blood vessel in his eye and candidly addressed it as the "elephant in the room."
Calling attention to the issue relaxed the room and he ultimately won the deal.
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B2B sellers and sales leaders find themselves in the midst of an unprecedented Go-To-Market skills crisis at a time when budgets are shrinking and selling is getting harder. Joining the show once again is the inimitable Chris Orlob, CEO at pclub.io, the #1 Skill Transformation Platform for Revenue Teams. Chris joins Co-Hosts Matt Amundson and Craig Rosenberg to dig into where the current sales skills crisis came from, what sales leaders can do to help improve their sales reps’ skill capacity, and why sales reps should start with getting a concrete understanding of a proper discovery process. Plus, Chris discusses why B2B sales leaders should implement a skill transformation loop into how they train their sales teams. Also, Craig addresses an elephant in the room, Matt bemoans the illegality of ‘hacking darts’ in Foster City, and Sam the Producer laughs at Craig.
Critical Takeaways
Investing only in Sales Process is not enough to help sellers hit their targets, because process only covers what to do. Whereas, Skill capacity doesn't stop at what to do. Skill capacity is what to do, why to do it, and how to do it so that you're building judgment. This way, reps can have audible-ready, rich business conversations that create value for both buyers and customers.
When training sales reps on new skills, it’s best to make sure they master one skill before they move on to learning another. This builds skill depth, rather than very shallow skill breadth. Without ensuring competency in one skill before moving on, all you achieve is motion without accomplishment.
The first, foundational skill that reps should train on is sales discovery. Having a strong grasp on discovery will help sales reps build stronger additional skillsets. It’s harder to build the other sales skills without having a solid understanding of sales discovery.
As companies’ go-to-market motions become increasingly complex, if they don’t address the low skill capacity of their sales team, they incur a growing ‘skill deficit’, which if left unchecked will lead to catastrophic results down the line.
Chapters
00:00 - Episode Preview
02:21 - Introducing Chris Orlob, CEO of pclub.io
03:33 - An Instructive B2B Sales Story: How to Interact with Procurement Leaders
08:06 - Craig & The Case of The Bloody-Eyed Business Meeting
12:19 - The State of the B2B Sales Skills Crisis in Go-To-Market Today
25:40 - Discovery is the Fundamental Sales Skills Reps Need to Learn
33:24 - How B2B Companies Should be Approaching Discovery and the Buying Process in Today's Market
44:25 - Why B2B Sales Leaders Need to Implement a Skill Transformation Loop Into Their Teams' Training
The Transaction