Customer Conversations (Part 4): "A COO Shares Best Practices For Selling To Him, Setting Executive Meetings, and Getting Deals More Done", with Sean Burke COO of Prometric

In this podcast episode, I interview Sean Burke, the COO of Prometric, a global provider of secure test development and delivery solutions. Sean discusses the initiatives he is working on to impact the business positively, his approach to purchasing new technology, and how to increase a sales rep's likelihood of booking a meeting with him. 

You can access the full transcript here. 

Time Stamps

Initiatives Impacting Business [00:01:00] Sean Burke discusses the initiatives that he is working on to positively impact Prometric's business.

Attracting New Clients with Technology [00:01:00] J Webb asks Sean Burke about how technology is enabling Prometric's sales team to attract new clients.

Buying Process [00:01:00] J Webb asks Sean Burke to walk him through Prometric's buying process and where potential clients begin their journey.

Efficient Sales Play [00:09:30] Sean Burke talks about how technology is enabling the sales team to run an efficient sales play, helping clients walk through the decision-making process as efficiently as possible.

Sales Campaign [00:10:32] Burke discusses how technology is used to run an effective sales campaign, either winning or getting a fast note.

Revenue Prediction [00:12:36] Burke talks about the gap in technology today, specifically in the area of being able to call the shot for an entire year in advance of that year happening, and how he manually puts together formulas and spreadsheets to feed their revenue output.

Auditing Sales Technology [00:17:29] Sean Burke explains how Prometric audits their sales technology every year to assess their spend, usage, and impact on the business. He also shares a tip for sales technology companies to not assume that their customers know where their product is today.

Making Decisions on Sales Technology [00:20:58] J Webb asks Sean Burke about his role in making decisions on sales technology. Burke emphasizes the importance of technology delivering business value and having high usage across the team. He also shares his approach to working with vendors and building personal relationships with executives.

Executive Level Alignment [00:24:59] In the evaluation stage of considering new vendors, Sean Burke highlights the importance of having executive level alignment with the vendor's team. He explains that having a personal relationship with an executive can help him understand how other amazing executives are deploying their technology and running their teams for the betterment of the outcome of the business.

Escalation and Sales Opportunity [00:26:18] Sean Burke talks about how escalation is not always about complaints, but rather about knowledge sharing and best practices. He also discusses the sales opportunity that vendors miss out on by not providing dashboarding and insights to their clients.

Optimizing Investment and Facilitating Meetings [00:28:40] Burke explains that he gets involved in meetings with vendors after the decision to go with them has been made. He also talks about the importance of understanding the nuances of the technology and how it is being used in the vendor's business.

Challenges of Sales and Getting Attention [00:31:17] Burke discusses the challenges of getting attention as a salesperson and how most of the messages he receives go straight to his junk mail. He suggests that salespeople should gather data and insights from the buying team and deliver a powerful impact statement to get his attention.

Initiating contact [00:35:13] Sean Burke discusses the challenges of initiating contact with executives and how to involve decision-makers in the buying process.

Crafting a compelling story [00:37:27] J Webb and Sean Burke discuss the importance of crafting a compelling story for potential clients and how to involve the CEO or highest-ranking official in the buying process.

Standing out in outreach [00:39:47] Sean Burke shares his thoughts on how to stand out in outreach and the importance of understanding a company's unique commercial challenges.

Sales Methodology [00:47:39] Prometric does not subscribe to a specific sales methodology, but instead focuses on learning from win-loss analysis and talking to buyers to understand their decision-making process.

Learning from Lost Deals [00:48:46] Prometric conducts win-loss analysis on all sales and uses feedback from lost deals to inform their sales process and improve their approach.

Past Buyers Helping Future Buyers [00:50:35] Prometric gets past buyers to work with future buyers to help them avoid pitfalls in the sales process and improve their experience.

Procurement Process [00:51:11] Sean Burke explains the procurement process at Prometric, involving financial and procurement teams, sales leadership, revenue ops team, and users of the product.

Finding New Technology [00:54:35] Burke shares his approach to finding new technology, including reading, going to G2 Crowd, and googling to solve problems.

Importance of Calendar [00:55:21] Burke emphasizes the importance of his calendar and how it is the most important tool in his tech stack, as it is where he makes investments in the business. He also highlights the importance of reps being on their sales leader's calendar.