Masters of MEDDICC - Andy Sadler: 2x CRO, Built 4x revenue teams to over $10bn in exits - Episode #9

Jan 6, 2022

In this episode of Masters of MEDDICC, Andy Sadler, EMEA hyper-growth specialist and GM of EMEA at Imply, discusses his epic career in B2B sales, the importance of effective strategies in a complex competition landscape, and the qualities he looks for when hiring to create successful teams. He also explores the concept of distributed companies and the art of understanding and leveraging competitor strengths. Additionally, Andy emphasizes the significance of champion building in sales, the importance of believing in your product, and the relevance of diverse skills and personalities in recruitment. Finally, he discusses the role of metrics, decision criteria, and champions in the sales process, and shares his experience teaching a subject to non-business background students.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Career Pathway in the Tech Industry: US vs Europe and the Changing Landscape of Software Companies

02:14 • 3min

Distributed Companies, Battle Cards, and the Art of War

05:19 • 4min

Champion Building in Sales

09:04 • 16min

The Importance of Believing in Your Product and the Football Analogy

24:58 • 3min

Qualities in Potential Hires and Analogies from Sports

28:17 • 3min

Understanding Metrics, Decision Criteria, and Champions in the Sales Process

31:04 • 2min

Teaching a Subject to Non-Business Background Students

33:28 • 21min

We are extremely excited to get our latest episode of Masters of MEDDICC live, with the EMEA hyper-growth specialist Andy Sadler, GM of EMEA at the mega Imply! 🙌

In this episode, we dig into Andy's epic career in B2B sales that spans over 20 years and includes 16 quarters at PTC and being part of John McMahon's legendary Bladelogic team.

Andy's association with the GOAT's of our industry doesn't stop with John, as he has also worked with revenue leadership titan Mark Cranney

A two-time CRO, who has been a part of 4x successful exits that have amassed more than $10bn it is no wonder Andy is the person on Andreessen Horowitz's speed dial when they need a leader to launch EMEA operations for one of their portfolio companies.

Andy is a believer in "value-based social selling" and his mantra to success is crystal clear: "focus on the development of staff" and then the results will follow for all, not the other way around!

Andy's go-to-market processes have helped boost revenue for his clients and he's left no stone unturned to show up as a great leader driving growth at every company he's built or worked at.

In this episode, Andy shares how he believes MEDDIC is a personal phenomenon rather than a company ethos, how over time competition has become more complex so effective strategies are key to surviving and how he hires in order to create successful teams.

“…Pick a leader, not a role. If you're going to go into battle you need to pick the right team to be with”

Timestamps:
[00:06] Introduction to Andy Sadler
[00:35] Background on Andy Sadler
[04:00] Software startups, distributed teams, and changing locations represent the second C in MEDDIC
[05:36] The art of War and evolving strategies
[10:11] Human behavior aligns to personal wins
[12:38] Understanding Fear and Intelligence in Sales
[15:50] The psychology, science, and stigma in Sales
[27:30] Why just hire the Sevens & the Nines? [35:20] Frameworks over time and the dynamics of The EB & Influence Line
[43:58] Developing and building Champions
[45:28] Enabling teams to go to market
[47:37] Recruitment and legacy

Key Points:
- Transparency is key. Establishing yourself as a salesperson earns you the right to continue a conversation openly.
- Be confident in yourself, your proposition, and the value that you bring to the table.
- While selling, strategy building, and having your facts in place is imperative. You need to have the mentality of stop, learn and then go forward. If you're looking to learn more about the MEDDIC framework and how you can implement it to drive more growth, check out our other videos on the channel.