Customer Conversations (Part 1): The Buying Process and Decision Criteria of a VP of Sales with Jeff Oh

This episode, with Jeff Oh, VP of Sales at DMI, is part of a series of interviews I called "Customer Conversations", where I explore the buying process of revenue leaders. Jeff explains the meticulous decision-making process they employ when selecting software vendors to integrate into their tech stack. He also emphasizes the significance of knowing the long-term strategy of your prospects when trying to win their business.

Time stamp below:

DMI's Value Proposition [00:00:18] Jeff explains DMI's two-sided value proposition of digital and project excellence, and the company's global team of consultants.

DMI's Tech Stack [00:02:01] Jeff discusses DMI's tech stack, including Salesforce, SalesLoft, HubSpot, Bombora, and Guru, and the recent rip and replace of their old Microsoft Dynamics system.

Choosing Vendors [00:07:40] Jeff talks about DMI's decision criteria for choosing vendors, including relationships, vendor reviews, and pricing, and the importance of not letting architecture decide strategy.

Long-term strategy [00:10:18] Jeff O discusses the importance of building a long-term strategy for a company's growth and aligning solutions with that path.

Sales approach for startups [00:16:58] Jeff O shares two successful methods for startups to approach sales: having a razor-sharp spin and challenger approach, or finding gaps in existing products and building into them.

Product leaching [00:17:59] Jeff O explains how startups can find success by offering a module or solution that can sit next to a big solution and demonstrate its effectiveness.

Product Leaching [00:19:05] Jeff O explains the concept of product leaching, a strategy to gain credibility within a product set by building a product that performs well against existing KPIs.

Buying Process [00:21:14] Jeff O discusses the buying process for sales tools, including the use of email blasting and name aggregation, and how he reached out to his network to work things out.

Effective Email Strategies [00:23:49] Jeff O shares his insights on how to stand out in the inbox, including the importance of subject lines, personalization, and humor in emails.

First Call [00:27:38] Jeff O talks about the importance of making a call to engage with potential clients and how it helps him assess their subject matter expertise.

Making the Case [00:30:01] Jeff O explains the process of making a case to the committee of economic buyers and how they align it with their strategic vision.

Decision Criteria [00:34:47] Jeff O advises account executives to wait until they are one of the finalists before asking about the decision criteria and not to be too assumptive.

Navigating the Decision Process [00:35:47] Jeff O discusses the importance of understanding the decision process and criteria, and how to navigate it effectively.

Subject Line Optimization [00:38:22] Jeff O recommends using subject line optimization tools to improve open rates and avoid spam filters.

Learning about New Technology [00:42:00] Jeff O shares that he learns about new technology through podcasts and YouTube, and finds them to be valuable resources.

Email response rates and intent [00:43:33] The speakers discuss how email response rates drop with spam and how intent matters when reaching out to potential buyers.

Personalization and measuring intent [00:44:26] The speakers talk about how they use personalization and long-term education campaigns to measure intent and engagement.

Wolverine and reaching out to Jeff O [00:46:16] Jeff O talks about how the wolverine is the perfect animal to represent new business buyers and gives out his phone number for people to reach out to him.