E168 - GTM Learnings From a Football Official? Yes! Featuring Scott Wood

In this episode of Tech Sales Insights, Randy Seidl is joined by Scott Wood, VP and GM of Compute for North America at HPE. Scott shares unique go-to-market strategies inspired by his experiences as a football official. From structured pregame preparations to rigorous post-game reviews, Scott draws fascinating parallels between sports officiating and high-performance sales teams.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Structured Preparation: Learn the importance of detailed pre-meeting preparations, akin to pregame routines in football officiating.
• Post-Game Review: Understand the value of reviewing sales calls using technology to identify areas for improvement, similar to how officials review game footage.
• Ongoing Certification and Practice: Emphasize the need for continuous learning and practice in sales, paralleling the rigorous certification processes in sports officiating.
• Effective Communication: Explore strategies for maintaining clear and effective communication within sales teams and how it relates to the teamwork required among football officials.
• Handling High-Pressure Situations: Gain insights into managing high-pressure scenarios with clients, drawing from Scott's experience handling intense moments with football coaches.

QUOTES

• "If they do that at a high school level for football, why are we not doing the same disciplined preparations for multi-million dollar deals?"
• "You need a culture of practice, not just one-off training sessions. Practice builds confidence, and confidence attracts customers."
• "The technology we have now for reviewing sales calls is a game-changer. If you're not rigorously using them, you're missing opportunities to have a world-class sales team."

Find out more about Scott Wood through the links below:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-wood-9828986/

This episode is sponsored by AuctusIQ, the Sales Performance Assessment sponsor of the Sales Community. AuctusIQ is a sales data and science software company, with the mission of providing the right data to solve your three biggest challenges: selecting and retaining exceptional talent, coaching to ensure readiness to meet or beat quota, and winning more deals.