How to Train Teams on Discovery That Digs Deeper and Closes Bigger | Eleanor Dorfman | Ep. 281 (Lead)
Jan 23, 2025
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Eleanor Dorfman, a seasoned sales leader at companies like Retool and Segment, shares her expertise in value-based selling and team training. She emphasizes the importance of banning product lingo to foster deeper customer conversations and explores how to align incentives with certifications to boost team performance. Consistency in messaging throughout the sales process is a key focus, along with embedding new frameworks into daily practices. She advocates for ongoing training and structured methods to enhance discovery, ensuring that sales teams adapt and thrive.
Shifting from feature-focused selling to value-driven conversations allows for deeper client engagement and larger deal potential.
Implementing consistent training and shared language around value selling fosters collaboration across teams and improves overall sales effectiveness.
Deep dives
Transition from Feature Selling to Value Selling
Moving from feature selling to value selling is crucial for scaling sales efforts as a company matures. Initially, sales representatives may find success by focusing on specific features and technical requirements, closing deals with lower-level buyers. However, as businesses grow, it is essential to shift the conversation toward understanding the overall business problems and high-level objectives of potential clients. This reframing allows for engaging with key decision-makers and pursuing larger deals, thereby enhancing growth and revenue potential.
Effective Discovery Practices
Successful discovery calls should focus on avoiding self-referential language and instead concentrate on the client's needs and challenges. By enforcing rules, such as prohibiting the mention of the company or specific features, sales reps can dive deeper into understanding the client's pain points and strategic goals. Implementing a structured approach to discovery involves using a set framework to capture current states, negative consequences, future states, and positive outcomes, ultimately ensuring a comprehensive grasp of the client's business. This detailed understanding lays the foundation for developing compelling business cases and addressing specific client issues throughout the sales process.
Reinforcing Sales Methodology Through Internal Training
Reinforcement of new sales methodologies is essential for ensuring long-term success and improving sales effectiveness. This can be achieved through ongoing training sessions, where teams regularly practice and refine their discovery skills, enabling them to better recognize and articulate business challenges. Sharing successful discovery examples during all-hands meetings helps solidify this approach, while implementing new templates in deal reviews reinforces the desired language and questioning techniques. By embedding this methodology into the company culture and processes, organizations can improve team cohesion and drive better sales outcomes.
Creating a Common Language Across Teams
Developing a unified language around value selling fosters collaboration between sales and cross-functional teams, aligning their efforts towards the same goals. This shared framework ultimately simplifies communication when launching new products or crafting marketing materials, ensuring that all departments implement consistent messaging. Integrating this common language into training and onboarding processes enables new hires to grasp the company’s sales approach quickly. Consequently, this alignment not only enhances sales effectiveness but also leads to stronger organizational cohesion and a clearer understanding of customer needs.
Ban Product-Specific Language: Prohibit product-focused terms like "roles-based access" in deal reviews. Instead, prompt reps to explore the customer’s "why" behind their needs, driving better customer questioning and understanding.
Tie Incentives to Certifications: Require reps to complete critical certifications (e.g., discovery certification) to access desirable benefits, such as inbound leads, ensuring alignment between AE and leadership goals.
Consistency in Value Framework: Maintain your value selling framework across every sales stage—from discovery to demo to proposal—ensuring consistent messaging and alignment throughout the cycle.
Embed Framework into Processes: Update all sales processes, stages, and deal reviews to reflect new frameworks. Regularly reinforce these changes in weekly reviews to ensure training sticks and drives lasting behavior changes.
ELEANOR'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB:
Head of Sales @ Retool
Global Head of Commercial Retention & Regional Director of Commercial Sales @ Segment
Global Head of Commercial Renewals and Retention @ Segment
Head of Customer Success and Solutions engineering @ Clever Inc