The Audible-Ready Sales Podcast Moving Up and Down in Organizations
Oct 21, 2025
In this engaging discussion, John Kaplan, a seasoned sales and go-to-market expert, shares strategies for navigating organizational hierarchies. He introduces the powerful 'mantra' concept, emphasizing its six components that help tailor value propositions for different decision makers. Kaplan discusses the importance of using lower-level contacts as allies and offers practical advice on building business cases through effective conversations. He reveals how teaching champions their unique mantras can improve internal sales and generate urgency around solutions.
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Mantra Connects Tech To Business Outcomes
- The mantra links customer outcomes, required capabilities, and metrics into a single, repeatable framework.
- Elite sellers use it to connect technical features to business impact and drive conversations.
Always Takeaway Then Deliver
- Capture three customer inputs: positive business outcomes, required capabilities, and metrics before pitching your solution.
- Then present how you do it, how you're different, and where you've proven it.
Use An M/W Pattern To Navigate Accounts
- Use an M or W pattern to move up and down in accounts gathering required information at each level.
- Enter high or low but ensure you collect user, manager, and executive perspectives.