The podcast features Cian Mcloughlin, CEO of Trinity Perspectives, Andrew Barry, founder of Curious Lion, and Nick Lawrence, curriculum design manager at Snowflake. They talk about conducting introspective client surveys, customer discovery, shifting mentality from selling to helping, and the importance of sales manager training.
Conducting introspective client surveys and reviews provides a concrete understanding of the buyers' journey and identifies strategic themes for campaign initiatives.
Customer discovery and gathering insights greatly influence win rates.
Allocating a larger portion of the budget towards training sales managers can lead to better performance and improved sales outcomes.
Deep dives
The Importance of Listening and Understanding in Sales
In this episode of the Win Rate Podcast, the importance of listening and understanding in sales is emphasized. Customers are looking for sellers who approach interactions with curiosity and a willingness to listen rather than focusing solely on sales agendas. The value of conducting in-depth discovery sessions to truly understand customer needs and goals is highlighted. The discussion emphasizes the need for a shift in mindset from selling to helping, as well as the importance of adapting to buyer preferences and being trustworthy. The idea of adaptive intelligence and the ability to learn and adapt in sales is also explored. Training managers and investing in coaching is identified as a key strategy to improve sales performance. Overall, the episode emphasizes the need for sales teams to create a learning culture, focus on high-leverage interventions, and make adaptability a core skill in order to improve win rates and drive success in sales.
The Value of Win Loss Reviews
The podcast delves into the value of conducting win loss reviews to gain insights from customers. Rather than relying solely on internal debriefs after lost deals, the importance of speaking directly to customers to understand their perspective and learn from their feedback is highlighted. The conversation emphasizes the benefits of gathering honest and genuine feedback from customers to identify areas for improvement and drive performance. The episode discusses the need for a learning organization that can capture and act upon customer insights, and the role of leaders in facilitating discussions and embracing customer feedback. The impact of win loss reviews on sales strategy, including pricing policies and the quality of discovery conversations, is also explored in the context of improving win rates.
Shifting Focus from Pain Points to Achieving Goals
The podcast challenges the traditional notion of focusing solely on pain points and highlights the importance of shifting the focus to helping buyers achieve their goals instead. The episode emphasizes that buyers are seeking solutions and guidance to achieve desired outcomes that go beyond solving specific pain points. The conversation encourages sellers to adopt a mindset of curiosity and understanding, looking for opportunities to help buyers rather than simply making sales pitches. The idea of adaptive intelligence is introduced as a key skill for sellers, allowing them to adapt to buyers' changing needs and navigate uncertain situations. The importance of coaching and training managers to enable adaptive intelligence and improve overall sales performance is also discussed.
Investing in Sales Management Training
The podcast highlights the need to invest in sales management training and coaching to drive sales performance. The discussion challenges the current imbalance in training budgets, where a small fraction is typically allocated to training managers. The importance of teaching managers adaptive intelligence and providing them with the skills to effectively coach their teams is emphasized. The episode suggests that allocating a larger portion of sales training budgets to training managers could have a significant impact on sales performance. The idea of agitating managers to encourage growth and improvement is also explored. The conversation emphasizes the need to create a learning culture and prioritize high-leverage interventions to achieve better sales outcomes.
Fostering Curiosity and Conversation in Sales
The episode emphasizes the value of fostering curiosity and conversation in sales interactions. The importance of active listening and understanding customer needs is highlighted as key to building trust and making successful sales. The conversation focuses on the need for sellers to shift their mindset from solely selling to helping buyers achieve their goals. The benefits of in-depth discovery sessions and engaging in meaningful conversations with customers are discussed as strategies to gather valuable insights and build strong relationships. The episode also explores the benefits of agitating sales leadership and creating a learning environment that promotes growth and adaptability. Overall, the discussion emphasizes the importance of curiosity, active listening, and adaptation in driving successful sales outcomes.
Today's esteemed panel includes. Cian Mcloughlin, CEO of Trinity Perspectives, Andrew Barry, founder of Curious Lion, and Nick Lawrence, a curriculum design manager at Snowflake. They kick off the discussion, talking about the importance of conducting introspective client surveys and reviews to provide a more concrete understanding of the buyers' journey and allows the identification of strategic themes to further campaign initiatives. They also stress the importance of customer discovery and how the insights gathered can significantly influence win rates. The group also discusses shifting mentality from selling to helping for salespeople mindset. The episode wraps up by advocating for a larger portion of the budget to be allocated towards training sales managers in order to achieve better performance.
Host Andy Paul is the expert on modern B2B selling and author of three best-selling, award-winning sales books, including his latest Sell Without Selling Out. Visit andypaul.com to subscribe to his newsletter for even more strategies and tips to accelerate your win rate!
