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Have you checked out Ascender yet? Our online platform to help reps with the daily grind of sales.
Don't miss our upcoming events:
Webinar: Selling to Experienced Buyers with Antonella O'Day
- Register here: https://hubs.la/Q02XTCl_0
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As we approach the end of 2024, many companies are in the process of setting their priorities for the new year. In today’s episode, John Kaplan talks about aligning your solution with the corporate priorities of your customers as opposed to simply a department. He discusses:
The need to talk to those with access to discretionary funds.Understanding the problems that you solve and the implications of those problems.Questions that will reveal the initiatives the Economic Buyer prioritizes.Obtaining a comprehensive view of the buying organization and being able to traverse it fluidly.Advice on selling to the CFO.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Getting to the Economic Buyer | Ascender CourseHow to Get Higher in Your Prospect’s Organization | Ascender ArticleEngaging the CFO | Ascender ArticleOur Best Content on Selling to the C-Suite | Ascender ArticleRise Above the Noise | Ascender VideoSelling to More Decision Makers | Force Management Article Broadening Your Sales Conversations | PodcastAscender Insights: Selling to the CFO w/ Jim Kelliher
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
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Maintaining contact with accounts provides many benefits for an organization, and salespeople play a huge role in setting the foundation for a long-term relationship between two companies. Today, Brian Walsh draws on his wealth of experience to explain what reps must do to keep their organization tethered to accounts. Topics of discussion include:
Having a mindset of long-term growth and lifetime value.Laying the necessary pre-sale groundwork to remain tethered to an account post-sale.Positioning yourself to be able to ask the buyer for access.Avoiding mistakes reps often make when trying to stay tethered to accounts.Additional strategies to stay in touch with customers.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Getting to the Economic Buyer | Ascender CourseHow to Add More Value to the Sales Process | Ascender ArticleBuilding Up Your Referral Business | Ascender VideoTime to Value | PodcastWhat the Best Salespeople Do | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Staying in control of a deal is all about qualification. Today, John Kaplan gives advice on being proactive, not reactive, in ensuring that the deal progresses in your favor and with urgency. He talks about:
Being prepared for and adjusting to unforeseen changes.Dealing with the entrance of a new competitor.Qualifying proactively with MEDDICC.The importance of meeting the buyer where they are.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Validating Champions | Ascender CourseAdapt and Deliver: Positioning Value During Changes | Ascender ArticleOur Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender ArticleBeing Audible-Ready to Change Tracks in Sales Conversations | Ascender ArticleKey Steps for Qualifying Your Deals | Ascender VideoWhen Leadership Changes in Your Prospect Account | PodcastMaking MEDDICC Work for You as a Rep | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
If you’re a seller, you already know that rejection is a way of life. Unfortunately, a negative mindset about rejection remains the barrier that prevents many salespeople from reaching their fullest potential. In this episode, John Kaplan explains how to handle rejection in a way that sets you up for success down the road. He discusses:
Viewing rejection as a learning opportunity instead of a failure.Taking yourself out of it and becoming unoffendable.Leaving the door open for conversations down the road.The importance of resilience in sales.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Objection Handling | Ascender CourseTraining the Seller’s Brain for Positivity | Ascender ArticleBuilding Your Pipeline | Ascender VideoBuilding a Rhythm Around Pipeline Generation | PodcastRoger Federer’s Commencement Address at Dartmouth
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Sellers must understand the more detail-oriented technical pains as well as the wider-ranging business pains of a customer’s organization. Elite salespeople are able to balance both worlds. You should be able to speak with those involved with the operational aspects of a company, learn their pain through effective discovery, and then move up and tie those technical pains with business issues that will catch the attention of C-level executives. In this episode, John Kaplan explains in depth the differences between technical and business pains, how elite sellers connect the two, and the importance of getting customers to put on their coat of pain.
Here are some additional resourcesEnable Your Salespeople to Help Buyers Stand in the Moment of Painhttps://bit.ly/2ZEoRgIFinding the Business Pain w/ John Kaplan | Podcasthttps://apple.co/3IjzrRb
Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. -
Your customer may raise an objection at any point during the sales process, and there is an infinite number of objections a customer may propose. In this episode, Antonella O’Day discusses the mindset salespeople need to handle objections, and she explains three tactics sellers can apply to successfully deal with them. These tactics are:
Showing the customer that you hear their objection.Understanding the customer’s why.Reframing the customer’s objection.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Objection Handling | Ascender CourseDeepen Your Discovery | Ascender CourseKey Ways to Prepare for Customer Anchors in Sales NegotiationsTurn Skepticism Into Opportunity | Ascender ArticleHesitant Buyers and Price Objections | Ascender Video
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
In today’s episode, Rachel and John discuss the ever-pertinent need for sellers to identify and attach to the customer’s biggest business problem. John shares the mindset and the steps necessary for reps to make the right connections and get the information they need to do so successfully. He talks about:
Tying technical requirements to business outcomes.Navigating the political landscape of the customer organization with savvy.The need to get the customer to stand in their moment of pain.Deepening your discovery to implicate the customer’s pain.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Navigating the Political Landscape | Ascender CourseDeepen Your Discovery | Ascender CourseObjection Handling | Ascender CourseThe Importance of Multi-Threaded Selling | Ascender ArticleThe Coat of Pain | Ascender Video
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Don’t miss these upcoming Force Management Webinars:
Your SKO: Common Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
Planning a hashtag is a big undertaking. Even more difficult is executing an event that focuses on execution. Force Management’s Tim Caito joins Rachel Clapp Miller for a discussion on how to get beyond the “event” of the SKO and make it a driver of your revenue goals.
Sign up here: https://hubs.li/Q02PdLJ10
Building Consensus with Metrics
If you’re struggling with how to talk metrics with your customer, this webinar is for you. If you’re a manager and your teams aren’t really grasping this skill, make sure to share it with them. We’ll dig into how you should be approaching these conversations with key buyer personas.
Sign up here: https://hubs.la/Q02PG1Cf0
If you can’t make it, register anyway! We’ll send you the recording. -
There is an abundance of tools and processes available to reps today, but it is incumbent on each seller to incorporate them into a cohesive strategy. In this episode, John Kaplan explains how to successfully pull these tools into a swift selling motion. Topics under discussion include:
Selling with an outside-in approach.The three buckets of information to fill during discovery.A golf takeaway and downswing analogy.Fitting the selling motion into a sales process.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Ascender’s Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender ArticleThe Single Selling Motion | Ascender ArticleDifferentiation in the Sales Process | Ascender VideoEarning the Right | Ascender Video
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
On Ascender’s Engage page, we receive tons of questions from sales professionals throughout the country, many of whom face similar challenges. We have compiled a few of the most common questions to answer in today’s episode. They are:
How do I handle a customer that is reluctant to proceed to the next steps?How can I open up customers who are close to the vest with positive business outcomes and metrics?How can I overcome a gatekeeper trying to prevent me from multithreading?
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Executing Your Discovery Strategy | Ascender CourseAscender’s Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender ArticleAscender Community Clip About AuthenticityWhen Customers Go Dark | PodcastOwn the Next Step in Your Sales Meetings | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
In today’s quick episode, John Kaplan gives encouragement to sellers who may find themselves down on their luck. He discusses the tried-and-true actions within every seller’s control that will set you back on track, including:
Assessing and attaching to the customer’s business issues (the what).Taking into account whom you are connected with in the deal (the who).Qualifying the deal early on and throughout the sales process.Staying on top of the foundational skills.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Getting to the Economic Buyer | Ascender CourseNegotiation Foundation & Mindset | Ascender CourseAscender’s Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender ArticleClose the Excuse Department | Ascender VideoDo You Really Have a Champion? | PodcastEnabling the Internal Sell | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Get back to the basic sales fundamentals that help ensure great sales conversations. John Kaplan provides five things you can practice before you jump into that next prospect call.
Here are some additional resources:Purpose Process Payoff [Article]https://bit.ly/3spMjgAImprove Your Active Listening Skills [Podcast]https://apple.co/3md3HUOMaximize the Effectiveness of Proof Points [Podcast]https://apple.co/2XAxEE5
Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. -
Though we often speak about the need to sell based on value, keeping the customer focused on value throughout the sales process is a challenging, elite skill. Joining Rachel in today’s episode to share his deep insights on this important topic is Force Management facilitator John Boney. He discusses:
The buyer-focused mindset necessary to successfully sell on value.The relevance of the customer’s Decision Criteria to how you build your value proposition.Handling changes in the customer’s priorities.Multithreading effectively in an opportunity.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Navigating the Political Landscape | Ascender CourseOvercoming Seller Deficit Disorder | Ascender VideoPreparing for Sales Conversations | Ascender VideoHow to Uncover Buyer Needs | PodcastCompeting With Other Priorities | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison
Check out this and other episodes of the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. -
We’ve all worked for someone who we didn’t think was that great as a manager. How do you, a seller, handle the scenario in which you’re working for a bad manager but aren’t quite ready to leave? John Kaplan shares some advice on how to improve your work experience when in such a situation and what to look for in your next company.
Here are some additional resourcesHow to Ensure You're Selling For A Great CompanySigns You're Working for a Company That's Staged for Growth
Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. -
Today, Jim “Pouli” Pouliopoulos joins Rachel for a conversation on the uncertainties reps often face in trying to discuss metrics with prospects. Pouli’s advice provides clarity on when and how to discuss the finer details of the deal with the customer. He talks about:
Getting past the fear of disrupting the flow of a conversation.Remaining curious throughout a sales cycle.Coaching reps to embrace the uncomfortable conversations.Viewing different individuals in the prospect company as rungs of a ladder.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Negotiation Foundation & Mindset | Ascender CourseManaging Challenging Negotiation Tactics | Ascender CourseKey Questions to Ask in Your Sales Discovery Conversations | Ascender ArticleAsking the Tough Questions in Your Sales Conversations | Ascender Video
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
As we move into Q3, some of you may find yourselves struggling to get deals over the line. In today’s episode, John Kaplan gets you refocused on the fundamentals in order to reopen closed doors and get deals moving. He discusses:
Getting the buyer to understand how your solution increases revenue, decreases cost and mitigates risk.Connecting technical pain to business pain to create urgency.The importance of multi-threading.
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Achieving a Collective Yes | Ascender CourseHesitant Buyers? Aligning Your Solution to Corporate Initiatives | Ascender ArticleMoving Buyers to Action | Ascender ArticleThe Coat of Pain | Ascender VideoPodcast: How to Engage Other Departments in Your Sales Process | PodcastGetting Different Departments to Agree | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Do you have customers delaying their signature? Do you have deals that are moving forward, but then stall right before the finish line? Force Management’s Tim Caito walks through action steps to reignite the stalled deal, including:
What areas to assess to determine how you can reignite the dealThe people you should be using to help you drive urgencyHow to prevent the situation next quarter.
Other Assets with Tim CaitoMaking QBRs Valuable | PodcastAnchors and Give-Gets | PodcastThe Right Mindset for Sales Negotiations | PodcastShifting the Negotiation Away From Price | PodcastNegotiating Value – Presenting Multiple Options | PodcastHow to Use “Most Likely Alternatives” to Improve Sales Execution | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison
Check out this and other episodes of the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. -
Though we have many tools and strategies to help us qualify deals, sometimes the simple questions are enough to steer us in the right direction. Today, John Kaplan covers three key questions to ask yourself in every deal. They are:
“Do we belong in the deal?”“What are our strong and weak points in the deal?”“What are the necessary steps to move the deal forward more efficiently?”
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Watch: MEDDICC Maturity ModelProspecting Certification | Ascender Course SeriesKey Questions to Ask in Your Sales Discovery Conversations | Ascender ArticleThe Sales Conversations You Need for Great Qualification | Ascender ArticleAscender’s Best Content on Decision Criteria | Ascender ArticleUsing MEDDICC When Your Company Doesn’t | Ascender VideoAsking the Tough Questions in the Sales Process | Ascender VideoBuilding Your Pipeline | Ascender VideoBuilding a Rhythm Around Pipeline Generation | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison -
Understanding the needs of the buyer is the critical component of any sales process, and successfully doing so encompasses a wide spectrum of sales best practices. Joining us to shed light on this topic is Force Management Facilitator John Boney. In his first appearance on the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, John hammers home the strategies necessary to get to the root of a customer’s pain. He discusses:
The importance of active listening.Identifying patterns while refraining from assumption-making.Conducting a thorough needs assessment during a customer conversation.Dealing with a buyer’s resistance to questioning.The need for quantifiable metrics.The WAIT acronym: “Why Am I Talking?”
Here are some additional resources:
Get MEDDICC Certified on Ascender!Selling to the CPO (Chief People Officer) | Ascender Insights EventAttaching to the Biggest Business Problem | Ascender Insights EventSelling to the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) | Ascender Insights EventActive Listening | Ascender CourseExecuting Your Discovery Strategy | Ascender CourseOvercoming Seller Deficit Disorder | Ascender VideoPreparing for Sales Conversations | Ascender VideoImprove Your Active Listening Skills | PodcastSales Qualification Best Practices: How to Back up Your Deal | Podcast
Visit Ascender, a platform designed solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content every day with insights to help you level up in your sales career.
Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/
Subscribe here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/PlanComparison
Check out this and other episodes of the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. - Vis mere
