Prospects have egos too

Published: Wed, 08/30/23

August 30, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

We interrupt your second-to-last-day of the month panic to bring you this special message: refreshing your email over and over again won’t get your prospects to respond any faster (trust us, we’ve tried). For now, just try to relax, and enjoy this week’s issue of The Quota.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

57-70%

B2B buyers are 57%-70% through buying research before contacting sales.

Source: MarketSplash

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

If you’ve watched the famous movie The Big Short, which chronicles the 2008 financial crisis, then you’re probably familiar with Jared Vennett, the hard-charging, insult-spewing, financial products salesman from Deutsche Bank, played by Ryan Gosling. But does Jared Vennett actually exist? And if so, then what's he up to now? The Cinemaholic recently covered the real-life Vennett, and gave an update on his life. You can read the article here.
NetApp, the San Jose-based publicly traded data storage and management company was sued by its former VP of sales, alleging the company broke its promises about the comp plan. The former executive, Neil McGowan, accuses the company of offering discounts to prospects which would have reduced the sales amount and affected the promised commissions. The company allegedly acknowledged McGowan’s concerns but pressured him to sign the new comp plan anyway. You can read the full report here.

FEATURE

An interview with Jay Staler, a fly fishing instructor turned technology Account Executive

Jay Staler is a Channel Sales Account Manager at RingCentral. He’s also a former fly fishing instructor and former real estate agent, both of which have translated well to his current role. We talked to Jay about his background, about selling to salespeople, and what fly fishing can teach people about sales.

You’ve been selling your entire career (over a decade). How did you get your start in sales? When did you know it would be your career?

I’m a 3rd Generation Salesperson. Both of my grandfathers, as well as both of my parents were successful salespeople and are now small business owners. The sales-intangibles are very much ingrained in my blood, and I take a lot of pride in continuing that tradition! After seeing their success and my similarities to them, I knew before college that I would go into sales, which led to pursuing the study of things I was interested in, history and journalism, rather than something more “business” focused.

My foray into entry-level sales was as a recruiter for an IT Staffing firm. From there, I received my real estate license and worked for a large homebuilder. My mom was a broker/owner of a REMAX Office at the time, so she was a mentor for me and helped me navigate many complicated deals. Whatever success I’ve experienced later came from those first two jobs. I eventually grew tired of B2C, working nights and weekends, so the real estate experience and a connection at Zillow helped make the jump across the country to Colorado and into tech. Best decision I ever made.

You used to be a fly fishing instructor. Fishing (especially fly fishing) requires a lot of patience and trial and error. Are there any parallels from your time teaching fly fishing that carry over into sales?

There are a TON of parallels between Fly fishing and sales — landing more prospects/fish means putting more hooks/communication in the water; you’ll have good days and bad days, even when you do everything perfectly; losing that whale right before it gets to the net or gets marked closed/won. My favorite would be that sometimes the fish aren’t liking your presentation or type of fly — they just aren’t buying what you’re selling. The fisherman or salesperson who only has 2 or 3 ways to fish or to sell will hit a low ceiling quickly, and will likely stay there.

You sell sales tech, which means salespeople are your target market. What’s it like being a salesperson selling to other salespeople? Is it easier or harder? Do they tend to see through your sales tactics? How do you adapt?

We actually sell to all manner of buyers, from IT directors, customer service managers, executives, so it’s not exactly sales tech, but I do LOVE selling to salespeople. I find it refreshing because there’s no hiding behind your “Account Executive” title. We all know each other’s motivations. I love to connect with my buyers, and selling to salespeople makes that incredibly easy. We’re all in the same boat and there’s a mutual understanding. I believe they want to see that you’re prepared, competent, trustworthy, and have at least made an effort to establish rapport. Being genuinely curious about how their sales team is performing can open up a lot of doors for pain-points or areas that can be improved by my product. They want you to ask for the business and have a great reason why. Storytelling is a favorite method of mine, and I love to make value adds like “I wish I would have had this when I was selling real estate, or recruiting, or making a ton of cold calls every day - it would have made me better at my job.” Salespeople value a high-level of transparency and humanizing the conversation, and if you give them anything less, they’ll dump you quickly. I would.

What does a typical work day look like for you? Walk us through it.

My job is to sell UCaaS through a network of partners or resellers, and make sure they are happy and motivated to sell our solution. It’s essentially account management but for new business, if that makes sense. I handle product demos, quote and contract preparation, play “calendar Tetris” when trying to align with the many product specialists/engineers for more technical demos, run trial accounts/POC’s, discuss new products or training with partners, and do plenty of sales follow-up. If you manage your partner relationships properly, it’s a great feeling when it starts to pay off for everyone.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out and wants to be successful in sales?

Get-in-where-you-fit in! Your first, second, or even third sales job likely won’t be your forever gig, but it’s where you’ll find and develop your strengths, and you’ll need to lean into those strengths later. You don’t need THE sales job, you need A sales job. Some people are better farmers, some are better hunters, some aren’t cut out for it at all, but at least you’ll know. The best are the best at the basics, and you’ll want to master Sales 101 before moving on. Be a sponge for training, read every sales book and listen to every podcast possible. Talk to the veterans in your organization. Most of all, identify any mentor/mentee opportunities. Being pushed or encouraged by a mentor that can identify the gaps in your skillset and help you improve them is huge. Find someone that will help you get from a 5 to a 7, and then from a 7 to a 10. Lastly, be prepared to ride the wave. You’ll have good times and you’ll have bad times. I’ve experienced plenty of both and will continue to experience plenty of both. But being consistent and resetting your mindset daily will carry you through. Some of the best advice I ever received was “Ya just gotta close on somethin’, man!” Whether it’s closing on setting the appointment, receiving positive feedback on your demo, or having someone return your call. When the going gets tough, focusing on small wins will carry you through until you get that big order.

What are your long term career goals? Early retirement or future CRO?

I think we’re taught to be enterprising, especially in sales, and that the only measure of success is seeing the development from BDR to AE, Manager, Director, VP, SVP, and so forth. This is all valid, but you never know who’ll you meet along the way and what doors will open for you. For now, I’m focused on being the best AE I can possibly be in good times or bad, and will be ready to make a change when that time comes. I love being a salesperson and I know I’ll want to be connected to the profession forever, in whatever form or fashion. I’ve considered sales training or enablement, but I think I’d miss the thrill of the chase and that feeling when that big order that you’ve spent so much time on comes in. With that being said, it only takes one order, connection, or account to get that early retirement!

What is your favorite sales movie?

You see this watch? This watch cost more than your CAR!!! Always. Be. Closing. As a former real estate agent, I was always able to connect with Glengarry Glen Ross and it’s a favorite of mine as well as both of my parents.

ATTEND AN EXCLUSIVE AMA SESSION WITH SAM WERBOFF

Software sales has changed.

The spray and approach no longer works (if it ever did).

To win in this market, sellers need to understand and use product data to their advantage.

Leaning on product data can help sales teams:

Prioritize, land, and close the right accounts
Craft compelling narratives
Go from the middle of the pack to top performers
Secure pipeline consistently (aka scale revenue efficiently)!

Enter Sam Werboff, Head of Large Accounts at Airtable, a seasoned and ops minded sales leader with 10+ years of SaaS sales experience. His superpower? Training his team to be athletic nerds — using data to make decisions and leveraging the product through the sales motion.

On Tuesday, September 12th, during an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session hosted by Pocus, Sam will be answering all of your questions about this new way of selling — from coaching and best practices, to the secret sauce behind Airtable’s all-star sales team.

If you’re wondering...

“How can I expand accounts consistently or predict which ones to go after?”

“What mix of sales channels are the most effective based on my ICP and market?”

“Should I prioritize self-serve or outbound? How do best-in-class companies manage this split?”

Then you won’t want to miss this chance to hear Sam’s insights.

Spots are limited, save yours here. We’ll see you there!

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which other actor was considered for the role of Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross?

A. Harrison Ford
B. Michael Douglas
C. Alec Baldwin
D. Jim Carrey

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

This happened to me back when I saw an SDR. I did a lot of cold calling, and I got a response from a prospect who was a middle manager. I had a discovery call with him to better understand his company's problems and to see if we would be a good fit. It went well; the guy was nice but something seemed off about him. He kept talking about himself and all his accomplishments during the meeting. It seemed like he had a chip on his shoulder for no reason. I let him keep talking about himself anyway.

At the end of the call, he said had to bring in his CFO who was the decision maker. I was pumped. He added his CFO to the email thread and we exchanged a few more messages and set up another meeting. I was mostly addressing the CFO in the emails, answering a few of his questions over email. We finally had the call, and it seemed to go well. The CFO was impressed, but the manager who I had connected with originally just sat there on the video call quietly with a pissed off look on his face.

Anyway, I followed up with more info on pricing structure and next steps. I heard back from the middle manager directly, without the CFO cc'd. He said not to include the CFO on future email communications, which I thought was really weird. I responded to him directly, but then the line went cold for a week after that. The manager finally emailed me back and said they weren't going to move forward. He gave me no additional info.

To this day, I still don't know what happened with the deal. But my theory is that the middle manager blew the deal up because I was addressing my emails to the CFO first and because I spent the second call pitching directly to the CFO. I don't know if he felt disrespected, but that's my theory. I guess I'll never know.

Anonymous Location Withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- August 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Motivational quotes posted on pictures of lions are a bit strange, but sometimes motivational quotes really are helpful. Close put together a loooong list of motivational quotes for sales teams, so there’s bound to be one or two that will resonate with you. Check out the full list here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team

I’m semi-new to sales, and have only been in the role for just over nine months. Compared to some of the other jobs I’ve worked in my life, this one ranks as one of the best. Basically, I do not want to lose this opportunity, and want to make it work.

But I have a problem, and it’s interfering with my job quite a bit. There are some family issues I’m dealing with, including a parent’s chronic illness, as well as a sibling of mine who is severely addicted to alcohol. These aren’t necessarily new problems, but in some ways, they have been getting worse.

Technically, these problems have nothing to do with my job, but they make me depressed, anxious, and distracted, which makes it difficult to give all of my energy to my job. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m on sales calls, I can focus. But when it comes to motivating myself to prospect and pushing myself everyday, it gets difficult a lot of the time because my mind is somewhere else and I'm worrying about all these other things. Do you have any tips?

Distracted in The South

Dear Distracted,

Life can be incredibly stressful, and for salespeople, it can be doubly so. The job requires a huge commitment, and since it’s at least partly commission-based, any distractions can literally cost us income and potential for advancement.

Our advice is to get in touch with a therapist who can help you work through some of these issues. Any advice beyond that won’t do justice to the seriousness of your concerns. But we do encourage you to go that route, because taking care of yourself is important, especially when you’re tasked with taking care of those around you.

Good luck and we wish you the best.