Masters of MEDDICC - How to Build Sales Relationships with Jeff Miller - Episode #15
Jan 29, 2024
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Experienced revenue leader, Jeff Miller, current CRO of StarTree, shares his door-to-door selling experiences. They discuss sales approaches, using MEDDIC as a common language, the superpower of ADHD in sales, and understanding the decision process and paper process in closing deals.
Consistent messaging throughout an organization can educate the market effectively and drive awareness.
Building strong relationships with customers and becoming lifelong friends can establish trust and build long-lasting partnerships.
Deep dives
Jeff Miller's Sales Journey
Jeff Miller shares his journey into the world of sales, starting over 30 years ago after college graduation. He recognized his outgoing personality and ability to connect with people as assets for sales. He began with door-to-door selling of long-distance services for a company called LDS. This experience taught him valuable lessons about rejection and the importance of adapting to different situations. Jeff transitioned into the software world, facing the challenge of slowing down his sales process. He emphasizes the significance of understanding situational awareness, building relationships, and achieving mutual success with customers.
The Importance of a Common Language in Marketing and Sales
Jeff and the podcast host discuss the power of using a common language in marketing and sales to ensure consistent messaging throughout the organization. They highlight the value in having marketing, sales, and product managers deliver the same value proposition. By aligning everyone's messaging, a company can educate the market effectively, drive awareness, and facilitate smoother processes from zero to scaling revenue. They emphasize the need for consistency in messaging and understanding metrics that customers can relate to, even in complex industries like software sales.
The Role of Relationship Building in Sales
Jeff and the host agree on the importance of building strong relationships with customers, particularly finding and nurturing champions within organizations. They highlight that sales professionals should aim to become lifelong friends and resources for buyers. By focusing on customers' success and putting their needs first, salespeople can establish trust and build long-lasting partnerships. Jeff shares his joy in seeing customers he has worked with for over 20 years succeed and evolve from developers to C-level executives.
The Criticality of Understanding the Decision Process
The podcast explores the significance of understanding the decision process as a crucial element in closing deals successfully. They discuss the importance of mutual agreement on timelines, documentation, and processes to ensure alignment between the customer and sales team. By thoroughly understanding the customer's decision-making journey and mapping out a clear path, sales professionals can navigate complex sales cycles and avoid potential delays or bottlenecks. Jeff emphasizes the need for clear processes, especially in industries with lengthy compliance and security requirements.
Get ready for the latest episode of Masters of MEDDICC! Host Andy Whyte chats with experienced revenue leader, Jeff Miller, current CRO of StarTree. Listen and have a chuckle as the two talk about their shared history of selling door-to-door - and what they learned from it.
The way you communicate with your customer can make or break a deal or engagement. There are a lot of opinions out there about the best way to do it - product-led or open-source? Either way, Andy and Jeff look at how MEDDIC can underpin it all, and help you explain the value of your solution to your customers.
Andy and Jeff discuss how their ADHD acts as a superpower in sales. Jeff, as always, ties it back to the customer, comparing how he explained how his ADHD makes his brain work differently to understanding that every customer will think differently to you.
ABOUT JEFF:
Jeff Miller is the Chief Revenue Officer at StarTree, leading the company’s go-to-market strategy across its Sales, Revenue Operations, Solutions Engineering, Customer Success and Product-Led Growth teams.
Jeff brings more than two decades of experience leading, managing and growing successful sales teams and exponentially increasing revenue for high-growth tech companies. Prior to joining StarTree, Jeff served as the CRO of Cockroach Labs, where he helped lead the company to its Series F stage and a $5billion valuation with over 250 customers. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Sales at Hortonworks, leading the organization to become the fastest-growing software company ever to get $100million in ARR and a successful IPO.
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