Pipeline Mastery: Process, Progress, Pruning, Prospecting with Alana Nicol

Sandler Worldwide
17 Jul 202459:18

Summary

TLDRIn this Sandler webinar, Mike Monu, Head Coach, introduces Alana, a top-award-winning trainer, who discusses 'Pipeline Mastery'. Alana presents strategies for accurately forecasting sales by leveraging the 'four Ps': process, data, progress, and pruning. She emphasizes the importance of a defined sales process, high-quality data, making consistent progress, and the necessity of disqualifying non-viable deals. The webinar aims to help sales professionals improve their sales forecasting accuracy and manage their sales pipeline more effectively.

Takeaways

  • 😀 **Webinar Introduction**: The webinar is a free educational event by Sandler, aimed at helping participants sell more effectively and understand the Sandler approach.
  • 🏆 **Special Guest**: Alana, a top award winner from the Sandler Summit, is the guest speaker, recognized for her valuable contributions as a Sandler trainer.
  • 📈 **Pipeline Mastery**: The focus is on mastering the sales pipeline and leveraging the 'four Ps' to drive revenue, based on Alana's award-winning presentation.
  • 🎟️ **Sandler Summit 2025**: Tickets for the next Sandler Summit in 2025 are available, offering an opportunity for further learning and networking.
  • 🌐 **Global Participation**: The webinar is attended by participants from various locations worldwide, emphasizing the global reach of Sandler's training.
  • 💬 **Engagement Encouraged**: Audience interaction is encouraged through chat, where participants can ask questions and share their thoughts throughout the session.
  • 🎯 **Forecasting Challenges**: Accurately forecasting sales is a universal challenge for salespeople and leaders, and the webinar aims to address this issue.
  • 🎲 **Sales as a Gamble**: The concept of sales being akin to gambling is introduced, highlighting the need for a more strategic and data-driven approach to improve odds.
  • 📊 **Data Quality**: The importance of high-quality data in the sales process is emphasized, as it directly impacts decision-making and the ability to forecast accurately.
  • 🛠️ **Sales Process**: Having a defined sales process with clear stages and criteria is crucial for managing deals effectively and improving the chances of closing them.
  • 🌳 **Spaghetti Model**: The buying journey is likened to a 'spaghetti model', indicating its complexity and nonlinear nature, which salespeople must navigate.
  • 🔍 **Evidence Over Emotion**: The need for salespeople to act like detectives, seeking evidence-based criteria rather than relying on emotions or assumptions, is stressed.
  • 🌱 **Pruning the Pipeline**: Regularly disqualifying and removing unrealistic deals from the pipeline is essential for maintaining a healthy and accurate sales forecast.

Q & A

  • What is the purpose of the Sandler webinar?

    -The Sandler webinar is a free, educational event held monthly to share knowledge, help participants sell more easily, and introduce them to the Sandler training approach.

  • Who is the special guest in this webinar?

    -The special guest is Alana, the top award winner from the last Sandler Summit, who presented on the topic of cleaning up your sales pipeline.

  • What is the David H. Sandler award?

    -The David H. Sandler award is the top award given by Sandler to a trainer who has delivered the most value, been the most giving, and exemplified what a Sandler trainer should be globally.

  • How can participants join the comments during the webinar?

    -Participants can join the comments by using the chat feature on YouTube anytime during the webinar.

  • What is the significance of the 'gambling' analogy in sales?

    -The 'gambling' analogy in sales refers to the inherent risks and uncertainties in predicting which deals will close and when. It emphasizes the need for a process and data-driven approach to improve the odds of success.

  • What is the 'spaghetti model' of the buying journey?

    -The 'spaghetti model' describes the complex, non-linear process that buyers go through when making decisions, which can involve multiple steps and require alignment and consensus among various stakeholders.

  • Why is it important for salespeople to have a defined sales process?

    -A defined sales process helps salespeople navigate the stages of a deal systematically, with clear criteria and expectations at each stage, ultimately improving the accuracy of sales forecasts and the likelihood of closing deals.

  • What are the four Ps that Alana discusses for driving revenue?

    -The four Ps discussed by Alana are Process, Pipeline, Progress, and Pruning. These elements are crucial for managing and optimizing the sales pipeline.

  • What is the role of a salesperson in the context of the 'spaghetti model'?

    -In the context of the 'spaghetti model', a salesperson's role is to act as a coach, guiding buyers and influencers through the complex buying process, helping them navigate the various steps and align on decisions.

  • How can salespeople improve their odds of closing deals?

    -Salespeople can improve their odds of closing deals by having a clear, defined sales process, using data to make informed decisions, regularly making progress on deals, and being disciplined about pruning or disqualifying deals that are not likely to close.

  • What is the significance of the 'close the file' method mentioned by Alana?

    -The 'close the file' method is a strategy for dealing with stagnant deals in the sales pipeline. It involves directly communicating with the prospect to determine if the deal is still a priority, and if not, closing the file to focus on more promising opportunities.

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Welcome to the Sandler Webinar

The script opens with a welcome message for a Sandler webinar, highlighting the educational nature of these free monthly events. Mike Monu, the head coach at Sandler, introduces the special guest, Alana, who recently won the top award at the Sandler Summit. The topic of her presentation was 'cleaning up your pipeline,' and she is celebrated for her contribution. The webinar aims to help participants sell more effectively and understand Sandler's approach. Mike also encourages audience interaction through the chat and mentions the availability of tickets for the 2025 Sandler Summit.

05:01

🚀 Pipeline Mastery and the Four Ps

Alana discusses the importance of accurately forecasting sales and the challenges salespeople face in predicting which deals will close. She emphasizes the need for a structured approach to navigating deals from identification to closure. The session aims to help participants improve their sales forecasting abilities. Alana engages the audience with a chat activity, asking if they have gambled in the past year, and uses this as a metaphor for the risks salespeople take in their daily work. She also introduces the concept of professional gamblers like Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu, who use data and process to make informed decisions, suggesting that salespeople can learn from their approach.

10:02

💰 Understanding the Current Sales Landscape

Alana delves into the complexities of the current sales environment, noting changes in cost, technology, decision-making speed, and the buyer's journey. She introduces the 'spaghetti model' to illustrate the non-linear and complex nature of the buying process today. The discussion highlights the challenges buyers face in aligning decisions and the role of salespeople in helping them navigate this process. Alana emphasizes the need for salespeople to understand the obstacles that buyers encounter and to improve their odds of success by adapting their sales strategies.

15:03

🤔 The Importance of a Defined Sales Process

Alana stresses the importance of having a clear and defined sales process, from identifying a potential opportunity to closing a deal. She engages the audience in a chat activity to gauge whether they have a formal sales process or if they are 'winging it.' The discussion clarifies the difference between a sales methodology and a process, with the former being a set of techniques and the latter being the specific steps taken to advance a sale. Alana encourages participants to think about how they can define and improve their sales process to increase their chances of success.

20:04

📊 Data Quality and Its Impact on Decision Making

The conversation turns to the quality of data in the sales process. Alana discusses how professional gamblers rely on high-quality data to make decisions, drawing a parallel to how salespeople should use data to guide their sales strategies. She asks participants to rate the quality of their data on a scale of one to ten, emphasizing the need for consistent and proven data. The discussion also touches on the use of CRM systems and the importance of having a high-quality data management system to support the sales process.

25:07

📈 Defining Stages and Criteria in the Sales Process

Alana explains the importance of defining stages and exit criteria in the sales process. She discusses how stages should be clearly defined with associated win rates, and how exit criteria help ensure that the necessary information is gathered at each stage before moving on. The conversation highlights the need for salespeople to avoid 'leapfrogging' or skipping stages and to ensure that they have a clear understanding of what constitutes a qualified deal. Alana also emphasizes the need for consistency in how criteria are applied across the organization.

30:08

🔍 Evidence-Based Selling and the Sandler Methodology

Alana introduces the Sandler methodology, which focuses on a consultative approach to selling. She discusses the importance of uncovering the problem, understanding the impact, and mapping the competitive landscape. The conversation emphasizes the need for salespeople to act like detectives, gathering evidence to support their sales pitches. Alana also discusses the importance of understanding buyer success criteria and the decision-making process, highlighting the need for salespeople to align their presentations with what buyers consider successful.

35:11

🌳 Mapping Influencers and the Importance of Team Selling

The discussion moves to the importance of mapping influencers in the sales process. Alana notes the increase in the number of influencers involved in deals and the complexity of understanding their influence. She emphasizes the need for sales teams to map out who these influencers are, their level of advocacy, and their influence. The conversation also touches on the importance of team selling, especially in complex sales environments, and the need for salespeople to understand how their team aligns with the buying team.

40:12

🌱 Pruning the Sales Pipeline

Alana discusses the concept of 'pruning' the sales pipeline, which involves disqualifying deals that are not moving forward. She emphasizes the importance of making regular progress on deals and the need for salespeople to be disciplined in evaluating the reality of each opportunity. The conversation includes a technique for determining whether a deal is still viable, involving a communication strategy to gauge the buyer's interest. Alana encourages salespeople to be honest with themselves about the viability of deals and to focus on proactive prospecting to fill their pipelines.

45:13

🔄 The CARE Model and Prospecting Strategies

The final paragraph focuses on the CARE model, which stands for Keep, Expand, Attain, and Recapture. Alana explains the importance of understanding the proportion of business that should come from existing customers versus new ones. She discusses the need for a balanced prospecting strategy that includes asking for introductions, networking, and targeted prospecting. The conversation concludes with a reminder of the importance of having a strong pipeline and the role of prospecting in achieving sales success.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Pipeline Mastery

Pipeline Mastery refers to the ability to effectively manage and forecast sales opportunities within a sales pipeline. In the video's context, it is about leveraging the four Ps to drive revenue and accurately predict which deals will close. The script discusses the importance of understanding where deals are in the pipeline and how to navigate them to a successful close, which is central to the theme of improving sales forecasting and accuracy.

💡David H. Sandler Award

The David H. Sandler Award is a top honor given to a Sandler trainer who has delivered the most value and serves as an exemplary representative of the Sandler training philosophy. In the script, Alana is congratulated for winning this award at the Sandler Summit, highlighting her expertise in the field of sales training and her contribution to the sales community.

💡Forecasting

Forecasting in the sales context is the process of predicting future sales outcomes based on current data and trends. The video emphasizes the challenge of accurately forecasting sales, likening it to a gamble due to the unpredictability involved. The script uses the concept of weather forecasting as a humorous comparison to illustrate the difficulty of making accurate predictions more than seven days out, a challenge that salespeople must overcome to improve their sales processes.

💡Sales Process

A sales process is a series of steps or stages that a sales team follows to move a potential customer from prospect to close. The script discusses the importance of having a clearly defined sales process with stages and exit criteria to ensure that sales are advanced systematically and that the quality of data captured is high. This process is crucial for improving the odds of closing deals and is a central concept in the video's message about sales effectiveness.

💡Gamblers

In the script, professional gamblers like Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu are mentioned as examples of individuals who make decisions based on process and data. Their approach to gambling is contrasted with the everyday decision-making in sales, where the script suggests that salespeople are 'gambling' without the same level of data-driven process. The use of gamblers in the script serves to illustrate the importance of having a structured approach to increasing the likelihood of success in sales.

💡Spaghetti Model

The 'spaghetti model' is a term used in the script to describe the complex and nonlinear nature of the modern buying journey. It contrasts with the traditional linear approach to decision-making, highlighting the many variables and stakeholders involved in today's business purchases. The script uses this concept to explain the challenges faced by salespeople in navigating the buying process and the need for a structured sales approach to overcome these challenges.

💡Exit Criteria

Exit criteria in a sales process are the specific conditions or milestones that must be met before a sales opportunity can move from one stage to the next. The script emphasizes the importance of clearly defining these criteria to ensure that deals are advanced based on objective measures rather than optimism or guesswork. This concept is integral to the video's theme of improving the accuracy and effectiveness of sales forecasting.

💡Progress

Progress in the sales context refers to the forward movement of a deal through the sales stages. The script discusses the need for consistent progress in deals and the importance of setting clear future commitments to ensure that progress is being made. The concept of progress is tied to the video's theme of improving the management of sales pipelines and the ability to forecast with greater accuracy.

💡Pruning

Pruning, in the context of the script, refers to the practice of disqualifying or removing deals from the sales pipeline that are not moving forward or do not meet the defined criteria for progression. The script suggests that effective pruning is essential for maintaining a healthy pipeline and focusing sales efforts on the most promising opportunities. This concept is part of the video's overall message on optimizing the sales process for better forecasting and revenue generation.

💡Prospecting

Prospecting is the process of searching for new sales opportunities and potential customers. The script discusses the importance of consistent prospecting to feed the sales pipeline with a sufficient number of quality leads. It suggests that the strength of a salesperson's conviction in their ability to close deals is directly related to the strength of their pipeline, which is fueled by effective prospecting. This concept is key to the video's theme of enhancing sales performance and forecast accuracy.

Highlights

Introduction to Sandler webinars and the guest speaker Alana, a top award winner at the Sandler Summit.

Alana's presentation on 'Cleaning up your pipeline' and its significance in winning the David H. Sandler award.

The importance of accurately forecasting sales and the challenges faced by salespeople in doing so.

The analogy between weather forecasts and sales forecasts, highlighting the inaccuracy of long-term predictions.

The concept of 'gambling' in sales and the need to improve the odds of successful deals.

The use of the 'Four Ps' framework for driving revenue and mastering pipeline management.

A chat-based interactive session to gauge participants' experience with gambling and its relation to sales.

The need for a defined sales process and the role of process, data, and coaching in improving sales outcomes.

The impact of the changing world on the sales process, including remote workforces and talent gaps.

The 'spaghetti model' of the buying journey and its implications for sales strategies.

The importance of understanding and navigating the buyer's decision-making process as a salesperson.

The role of salespeople as coaches, guiding buyers through the complex buying journey.

The significance of having a clear, defined sales process with stages and exit criteria for each stage.

The challenge of maintaining progress in sales deals and the need for regular movement towards closure.

The concept of 'pruning' in sales, which involves disqualifying and removing non-viable deals from the pipeline.

The necessity of a robust prospecting strategy to ensure a strong pipeline and sales success.

The CARE method for evaluating business opportunities: Keep, Expand, Attain, and Recapture.

The Sandler Summit invitation and details for the 2025 event.

Transcripts

play00:00

welcome everybody it is time for another

play00:03

Sandler webinar these are free

play00:05

educational webinars that we do uh every

play00:07

month or so to help uh share some

play00:10

knowledge help everybody sell more sell

play00:12

more easily and for you to get to know

play00:14

Sandler a little bit better I'm Mike

play00:16

monu head coach here at the home office

play00:19

in Sandler and uh I'm really excited to

play00:23

welcome a special guest this month it is

play00:26

our top award winner from the last

play00:28

Sandler Summit Alana

play00:30

uh presented at the Sandler Summit this

play00:33

topic about cleaning up your pipeline

play00:35

and she won our top award it's called

play00:37

the David H Sandler award after our

play00:40

namesake and it's the top award uh out

play00:43

of the entire network we give away once

play00:44

a year for the trainer who has delivered

play00:47

really the most value uh been the most

play00:49

giving and the and the best example of

play00:51

what a Sandler trainer should be uh

play00:54

around the world and so Alana

play00:56

congratulations and thanks again for

play00:58

sharing your time and attention and and

play01:00

thought leadership with the network

play01:03

thanks for having me really

play01:05

excited all right now we're talking

play01:08

about your pipeline so pipeline Mastery

play01:12

and leveraging the four Ps to drive

play01:15

Revenue again this is a talk she gave at

play01:17

the Sandler Summit if you want to attend

play01:19

next year the tickets are available for

play01:21

the 2025 Sandler Summit you can do that

play01:24

now I'm going to pop up some comments

play01:25

too you can join the comments in YouTube

play01:28

anytime and say hi tell us where you're

play01:30

from we got people from British Columbia

play01:32

here uh Peters and Purgatory we've got

play01:36

Omaha we've got Jersey City uh

play01:38

Sacramento all around the world joining

play01:40

us today so if you want to participate

play01:43

you can pop them in the chat and we will

play01:46

uh make sure we pay attention to those

play01:47

answer any questions you have we'll try

play01:49

to save some time for questions at the

play01:51

end but we do want to hear from you and

play01:54

we want you to participate Alana will

play01:55

ask a few questions as we go uh along

play01:58

the way there but tickets available

play02:00

sandler.com Summit if you want to see

play02:03

more cool information like this and hear

play02:06

more about what we have going on for the

play02:08

next year uh a ton of stuff planned

play02:10

we're really excited for that let's jump

play02:13

into it Alana tell us a little bit about

play02:15

Pipeline and maybe where people mess

play02:18

this up and how we can help them uh get

play02:21

it more accurate

play02:22

forecasts uh solve challenges in their

play02:25

own life about what they're gonna make

play02:27

and and whether they're GNA keep their

play02:29

job or not or really know like what

play02:31

deals are real and are going to close

play02:33

and which ones are going to be maybe a

play02:35

little bit further out last thing I'll

play02:36

say is I got to repeat my joke uh I did

play02:39

at the Sandler Summit which is how do

play02:42

you uh what do weather forecasters and

play02:45

salespeople have in

play02:46

common any forecasts more than seven

play02:49

days out are completely inaccurate U so

play02:52

Alana is gonna help us fix that problem

play02:55

at least from the sales side there you

play02:56

go Alana awesome thanks so much Mike as

play02:59

most most of you know whether you're a

play03:01

salesperson or a sales leader being able

play03:03

to accurately predict just like the

play03:05

weather which they get a pass right I

play03:07

mean weathermen can be wrong and it

play03:09

doesn't matter but unfortunately in

play03:10

sales it's not quite the case right but

play03:13

being a accurately able to forecast

play03:16

what's going to close when it's going to

play03:18

close um and then being able to navigate

play03:21

our deals effectively is really what

play03:23

we're going to talk about today because

play03:25

it is a universal Challenge and probably

play03:27

one of the most common things we hear

play03:30

over and over again from sales leaders

play03:32

and sales people that you know I'm just

play03:34

really frustrated in my inability to

play03:37

accurately forecast my sales um which is

play03:39

a direct relation to how you're setting

play03:42

up your deals and how you're navigating

play03:44

from opportunity identification to win

play03:46

or loss so really that's what we're here

play03:49

to talk about today um I wish it were

play03:51

like when we were together in Orlando

play03:53

and I could see all your smiling faces

play03:55

smiling back at me but in this framework

play03:57

I don't have that ability um so will be

play04:00

asking everybody that's on today to

play04:02

please participate me with me by chat

play04:04

I'm going to ask for a lot of feedback

play04:07

ask you to put a lot of things in chat

play04:09

if there's like questions that are

play04:11

really top of Mind as I'm kind of going

play04:13

here go ahead and put those in the chat

play04:14

and our hope is that we'll be able to

play04:16

cover a couple of those at the end um

play04:19

but please use the chat because I can't

play04:21

see or hear you it's really important

play04:24

that I know that you're getting out of

play04:25

what you want to get out of the session

play04:27

by using the chat so hopefully you're

play04:29

willing to do that with me today I did

play04:31

forget to jump in with one upfront

play04:33

contract there Elana which is we the

play04:35

recording will be instantly available on

play04:37

YouTube so it's like a DVR it's already

play04:39

recording you people can go in and start

play04:40

from the beginning right now but as soon

play04:42

as we're done it'll be up there live we

play04:44

don't share the PowerPoint and there

play04:45

shouldn't be any handouts that you need

play04:47

today but if you want to check the

play04:48

recording just come back to this exact

play04:50

same link uh anytime after this it'll be

play04:53

up there you can share with people that

play04:54

you think need to hear it and all kinds

play04:56

of good stuff uh so back to the back to

play04:59

our Pres

play05:00

all right so let's start with our first

play05:03

chat activity as the group and I'd like

play05:06

to hear from everyone put yes in the

play05:09

chat window if you've done any form of

play05:12

gambling in let's say the last 12 months

play05:15

so you don't have to have gone to Vegas

play05:17

obviously you see commercials on TV

play05:19

non-stop for all those betting apps so

play05:22

that counts if you're in a Fantasy

play05:24

Football Fantasy Baseball you did

play05:26

squares you've done a Bracketology

play05:29

during March Madness whatever that looks

play05:31

like there's different varieties and

play05:33

there's some I'm willing to do and some

play05:35

I are but for the purpose of discussion

play05:36

today we're going to count any of those

play05:39

as gambling so if you've gambled in the

play05:42

last 12 months in any of those formats

play05:44

go ahead and put it in chat look like we

play05:46

I ate some gas station Sushi does does

play05:48

that count

play05:50

yes looks like most of the people are

play05:52

saying yes we're getting about 90% yeses

play05:54

here I can't throw them all up here but

play05:56

uh yes yes uh

play05:59

Diablo I is the game um absolutely so

play06:03

we've got some convicted love to play

play06:06

the odds I like it Tony Tony Orlando's

play06:09

here uh and he says yes uh Tony Orlando

play06:12

is in Vegas for sure H in the last 12

play06:15

days 100% from Randy uh awesome oh and

play06:19

Andy rich rich is living up to his last

play06:21

name seven figure bets there I guess I

play06:25

guess all right so we've got quite a few

play06:27

and believe it or not the stat says that

play06:29

like about 85% of the population has

play06:32

gambled over their lifetime and about

play06:34

60% of the US population have gambled in

play06:38

the last 12 months so I don't know the

play06:40

total number of people on and I'm not

play06:42

very good at math but there you go

play06:43

there's the stats for you um but what I

play06:47

would argue is that if we are in sales

play06:50

we are all gambling whether we realize

play06:53

it or not but I'm going to go to my

play06:55

gamblers first so any of you that put

play06:58

yes into the chat I have a bet for you

play07:02

so if you like to gamble I'm going to

play07:03

give you an opportunity so what I want

play07:05

you to do is if you would bet your

play07:08

annual income that the deals in your

play07:12

pipeline the ones that you have closable

play07:14

in the next 30 days if you would bet

play07:18

your annual income that those deals are

play07:21

going to close for what and when you say

play07:24

they are go ahead and type bet me into

play07:27

the chat window so we like to gamble how

play07:29

many of you are going to gamble that

play07:31

everything you've got that says closable

play07:33

in the next 30 days is going to close

play07:36

for what and when you said it

play07:39

would all right we're still waiting for

play07:42

any comments in the chat we might be

play07:43

waiting here for a while but I'll throw

play07:44

up anybody that that says yes on this

play07:47

one Kelly says not a chance

play07:50

yeah I love it not a chance Kelly

play07:53

appreciate your honesty and

play07:56

amazing um how we we get a little

play07:59

nervous when we put gambling in this can

play08:01

context because some of us are bigger

play08:04

Risk Takers than others but even the

play08:06

biggest Risk Takers are going nope not

play08:09

it um but I got to tell you whether you

play08:12

realize it or not you are gambling every

play08:16

single day you are in sales in the

play08:18

decisions that you're making as you're

play08:20

advancing deals you're gambling bets on

play08:24

resources you're going to allocate money

play08:26

that's going to come in decisions that

play08:28

you're going to make um so our goal

play08:30

today is really kind of help you improve

play08:32

your odds and make you feel a little bit

play08:35

more comfortable about feeling good

play08:37

about what is closable in your pipeline

play08:41

some of you might know who these folks

play08:43

are but these are two of the most

play08:45

well-known gamblers meaning professional

play08:48

poker players uh on the left is Annie

play08:51

Duke and on the right is Daniel nean

play08:53

collectively they've won over $10

play08:56

million um and they are Prof

play08:59

professional gamblers it's what they do

play09:01

for a living but my argument would be is

play09:04

that these two are gambling a whole lot

play09:07

less every time they play than we are

play09:10

every day in sales because no decision

play09:13

that they're making is being made

play09:16

without a process without hard data to

play09:20

allow them to make high quality

play09:21

decisions over time now does that mean

play09:23

they win every time they sit down at the

play09:25

table no but they certainly know their

play09:28

odds because they have a process and

play09:30

data that they use to consistently help

play09:34

them improve their odds and improve

play09:36

their winnings so over the next I would

play09:38

say 40 45 minutes today my goal is

play09:41

really that you walk away with one thing

play09:44

it's not really a high bar guys it

play09:46

shouldn't be right one thing that will

play09:48

help you improve your odds for being

play09:51

able to predict the deals that are going

play09:53

to close in your pipeline so we've got

play09:56

to start with understanding what are

play09:58

your Cent odds so back to the chat again

play10:02

I'd like you to think again about those

play10:03

opportunities that we said that no way

play10:05

heck am I going to bet on right now but

play10:08

what's your average win rate today what

play10:10

are the current odds your current win

play10:13

weight your current re conversion rate

play10:15

between opportunities that you think are

play10:18

closable and actually close what do we

play10:20

think put in some percentages and we're

play10:23

probably expect to be a fair number of

play10:25

discrepancy here but be honest with

play10:28

yourself if you're not sure take your

play10:30

best guess we may or may not have the

play10:32

data thank you Kelly for starting us off

play10:34

at 8% uh we've got 8% we got 35% I would

play10:39

expect we're going to see any uh a wide

play10:42

range of percentages here 30ish we seem

play10:45

to see like that 30ish percent seems to

play10:47

be pretty um consistent here we've got

play10:50

some lower numbers in 10% so any of you

play10:53

that have numbers lower than 30% U

play10:57

hopefully it shouldn't be hard to take

play10:58

one thing to improve that number today

play11:00

because you may end up as you go through

play11:02

here going wow all right well maybe

play11:05

that's why some of the reasons why I'm

play11:07

having that data to make you feel better

play11:10

a little bit one study I read recently

play11:12

is that actually 80% of sales

play11:15

organizations don't have a forecast

play11:17

accuracy greater than 75% so if you're

play11:20

somewhere in those below 75% you're with

play11:24

the normal right so our goal today is

play11:27

how do we improve it how do we get it up

play11:30

a little bit from where it is and

play11:32

there's some reasons why we're seeing

play11:34

such low numbers today um and it really

play11:37

starts with the challenges that we face

play11:39

in today's environment the world has

play11:42

changed right it's constantly changing

play11:44

that's the only thing um that we can bet

play11:46

on really is that it's going to keep

play11:48

changing but there's been some

play11:50

significant changes in all of these

play11:52

areas and if you saw Dave's talk at

play11:54

Summit or a prior webinar that did he

play11:56

kind of went into detail Dave Matson did

play11:58

went into detail detail in all of these

play12:00

different areas but the cost of money

play12:02

more than it used to be technology such

play12:05

a huge player game changer being a

play12:07

disruptor every single day um we've got

play12:11

slower decisions being made because of

play12:14

these factors and the buyer Journey

play12:16

today is so different so that's the one

play12:18

that we're going to really jump into but

play12:20

all of these are playing factors in

play12:23

challenges that you've got to be able to

play12:25

un overcome in order to improve your

play12:28

odds of success in closing a deal the

play12:30

remote Workforce where we are in Talent

play12:33

we've got a couple years away from

play12:34

having a pretty big talent talent Gap we

play12:37

got a lot of people retiring and those

play12:39

people it takes time to replace that

play12:42

level of expertise and believe it or not

play12:44

there's more people leaving the

play12:45

workforce and are actually entering the

play12:47

workforce so we've got a lot of

play12:49

challenges a lot of gaps but for the

play12:51

focus of today's discussion I really

play12:54

want to dive into the changes that have

play12:56

happened in the buying Journey so you

play13:00

could argue and this is Gartner data

play13:02

that it used to be that it was a fairly

play13:04

linear process meaning there were some

play13:07

pretty clear steps most of the time

play13:10

pretty linear on how to a buyer goes

play13:13

about making a decision but now they

play13:16

call it the spaghetti model which I just

play13:18

love I call it a hot mess of like

play13:21

jumbled things together um and I'll show

play13:24

you exactly what that looks like so this

play13:26

is the same jumbled spaghetti model but

play13:28

with real things in it so if you look at

play13:31

the blue navy boxes those are the the

play13:34

steps really of the main steps that

play13:36

buyers going to go through they've got

play13:38

to identify they have a problem they

play13:40

start looking for Solutions then they

play13:42

start figuring out exactly what they

play13:43

need as part of that solution and then

play13:45

they're going to select well guess what

play13:47

it is not a straight path look at all

play13:50

the different things that have to go on

play13:52

here all these different things that are

play13:54

at play and my favorite part about this

play13:56

graphic and it's a little hard to see on

play13:57

the screen but anywhere where you see

play14:00

anything in bold so that bold Blue Print

play14:05

that's where there's buyin or alignment

play14:07

needed on the buyer's end so they all

play14:10

have to coordinate and agree at all

play14:12

those different steps it's no wonder

play14:16

that even if you have a champion

play14:18

somebody that really wants to bring in

play14:20

your solution or your product that

play14:22

they've got kind of an uphill battle

play14:24

right they've got all these people that

play14:26

they've got to align on their side so so

play14:29

it's no wonder that doing nothing

play14:32

staying the same status quo is way

play14:36

easier and we've got a lot of different

play14:38

people on the call today so a lot of

play14:39

different things that you sell but I

play14:41

don't care where you are or what you

play14:43

sell your number one competitor today is

play14:47

status quo doing nothing staying the

play14:51

same and it's no wonder that they're

play14:54

going to stay the same because look at

play14:56

the obstacles that they have to go

play14:58

through in order to make a decision

play15:00

pretty alarming I would love to see some

play15:02

feedback on kind of your thoughts on

play15:04

this as I kind of keep moving a little

play15:06

bit but I want to jump in there and just

play15:09

highlight that that I I heard a stat

play15:10

that over 50% of deals are lost to no

play15:14

decision especially Enterprise deals is

play15:16

what that was from I think it was 53% of

play15:18

Enterprise deals end in no decision so

play15:20

when we're looking at that end of the

play15:21

pipeline it's not that you lost it to a

play15:24

competitor or anything it's just they

play15:26

were like nah ran out of steam you know

play15:28

somebody said it earlier decision makers

play15:30

change you know um somebody replaced

play15:33

somebody comes into the process late and

play15:35

it slows the whole thing down and it

play15:37

gets pushed out of of the data so it's

play15:40

oh I like Dan's technical term Peta to

play15:43

change that's a good one Dan I'm gonna

play15:45

steal that one that's really good um but

play15:47

it's no wonder right I mean it's and

play15:49

sometimes you might lose like you said

play15:51

to status quo it might come back two

play15:53

years from now 18 months from now it

play15:54

might not but this is reality folks this

play15:57

is what those organizations are going

play15:59

through in trying to make some decisions

play16:02

so here's a few more stats for you

play16:03

related to this so because of that

play16:06

spaghetti hot mess like I like to call

play16:09

it right there's and I would argue this

play16:11

number seems low at least maybe in the

play16:13

Detroit area that's where I am and we've

play16:15

got a lot of large Automotive

play16:17

manufacturers and some big complex

play16:19

organizations I would say the

play16:21

dysfunction is probably even higher than

play16:23

55% but buying organizations are

play16:26

experiencing dysfunction due to the hot

play16:29

mess spaghetti model right that

play16:31

dysfunction can be things like turnover

play16:33

somebody mentioned it in the chat you

play16:35

got people turning over all the time it

play16:37

a big one that we see a lot are

play16:39

conflicting priorities they're not

play16:41

aligned internally on what they want to

play16:44

go after what resources are needed

play16:47

sometimes you've got an alignment issue

play16:49

where the left hand's not talking to the

play16:51

right hand um not to mention when you

play16:53

start talking about global buying groups

play16:56

trying to align all of those factors so

play16:58

I want argue that the 55% might be even

play17:01

a little bit low but dysfunction is

play17:03

coming from all of these factors

play17:06

turnover lack of alignment

play17:09

prioritization and because of that that

play17:12

it means that 74% of people that are

play17:15

buying aren't making what I would call a

play17:18

high quality deal that's what Gardner

play17:19

calls it and you could argue what high

play17:21

quality deal means it could be

play17:23

indecision cause a non high quality deal

play17:25

it could be change after they've decided

play17:29

they're starting to pull things back or

play17:30

they don't fully implement or they

play17:32

change once they decided to go but it's

play17:35

because of all of these factors make it

play17:38

difficult today for buyers to buy that's

play17:41

the reality so in order to combat that

play17:46

our salese have to be much better at

play17:49

creating value and I like to call a

play17:52

salesperson's role today they have to

play17:54

become really good at being a coach

play17:57

you've got to coach your buyers and

play17:59

different influencers through the

play18:01

spaghetti you got to help them navigate

play18:04

what's going to happen next and so Mike

play18:06

and I like and I know Mike was in my

play18:08

world back in the day before he went to

play18:10

the other side and is working on the

play18:12

home office side of things right but we

play18:14

had the ability to you know sometimes we

play18:16

ran into VPS of sales or directors of

play18:19

sales so at least there salespeople who

play18:20

have some skills and ability to

play18:22

influence and Coach a buying decision

play18:25

some of you might be calling on plant

play18:27

managers or or all kinds of different

play18:29

people Engineers that guess what they

play18:33

have to sell internally so they need a

play18:35

coach to help them be able to sell

play18:39

navigate this spaghetti and help their

play18:42

team get to a quality buying decision

play18:44

but it starts with our ability to help

play18:46

coach them through that process so how

play18:50

do we do this how do we deal with all

play18:52

this it kind of starts with my first P

play18:55

which is really all about process so

play18:59

when I say process I mean your sales

play19:03

process so how many of you have a

play19:05

defined process from how you advance oh

play19:09

like identify a deal so let's skip the

play19:12

prospecting stuff but you have a live

play19:13

person that you're talking to so you've

play19:16

identified a potential opportunity and

play19:19

then all the way to closed one closed

play19:22

loss how many of you have a

play19:25

process defined meaning you know what

play19:27

the steps are or you've got to process a

play19:30

playbook for it um so I want you to chat

play19:34

yes I have a process it could be uh it's

play19:37

informal like we have a process like we

play19:40

kind of talk about it we know but it's

play19:42

it's informal um or they're really

play19:44

brutally honest people on the call today

play19:46

I want you to type wing it because maybe

play19:49

I'm just winging it right it it never

play19:52

happens but maybe you are so I do see

play19:54

some people saying gate selling which is

play19:56

fantastic we're going to show you how to

play19:58

do that a little bit today we've got

play20:00

some informals we've got no we do not so

play20:03

we do have some wingits but if you're

play20:05

not comfortable saying that that's okay

play20:08

um but this is the very first step is

play20:11

having that clearly defined and some

play20:13

call it a gated process um so that we

play20:16

know ideally what should the process be

play20:20

so back to our gamblers here Daniel here

play20:23

if you have a subscription to master

play20:25

class and have any interest in gambling

play20:28

at all honestly I'm not a huge gambler

play20:30

but I was super fascinated when I

play20:32

watched this um he teaches a master

play20:35

class on how to be a better poker player

play20:38

and so his six million plus in winnings

play20:41

is certainly not coming for luck in this

play20:44

class he shares all kinds of process and

play20:47

data on how he reads opponents the

play20:51

complex math and statistics of every

play20:53

possible combo that could come up but

play20:55

it's a very highly defined process

play20:58

process that he uses to guide his

play21:00

decision making so you're gambling a lot

play21:03

less if you have a highly defined

play21:06

process with good data to guide your

play21:09

decision making but highly recommend you

play21:11

check it out if you never had it's

play21:12

really quite fascinating have you ever

play21:14

seen it Mike or um any well oh the this

play21:17

the math and the gambling is amazing and

play21:20

how fast they can do it in their heads

play21:21

where they just see like what an

play21:23

opponent is or what's there and they

play21:24

know whether they have the best hand the

play21:25

second best hand the probabilities of

play21:27

their losses and wins it's it's crazy uh

play21:30

I wanted to clarify one thing that I I

play21:33

think some people have mentioned which

play21:34

is like the Sandler selling system is a

play21:37

methodology and not a process we should

play21:39

probably talk a little bit about that

play21:42

there's things that we want to do and

play21:44

there are qualification things that

play21:45

we're looking for but a process is like

play21:47

do you do a demo is there a trial like

play21:49

how many is there a First decision how

play21:51

long is the S cycle typically are we

play21:54

getting other decision makers is there a

play21:55

presentation to a board that's more the

play21:58

process the Sandler methodology can

play22:00

apply to any process of how you

play22:02

absolutely absolutely you're going to

play22:04

see that a little bit more when we get

play22:05

to some of the things a little bit later

play22:08

but the methodology can overlay any

play22:10

process and some of you are in a very

play22:12

transactional sale if you're selling B

play22:14

Toc maybe um very transactional others

play22:17

of you may be in longer complex sales

play22:19

where you've got tons and tons of

play22:21

stakeholders and a very ex could take 18

play22:24

months to close a deal well that's a

play22:26

different process and you're applying

play22:28

that methodology through that process

play22:31

and you apply the methodology in a

play22:33

different way in a shorter process but

play22:34

you're absolutely right that's the kind

play22:37

of the fuel for your process right that

play22:39

helps us get through the process but it

play22:41

starts with defining how should a deal

play22:43

go right what are the major steps that

play22:46

we need to go through in order to clear

play22:48

uh close that deal way to go Mike thanks

play22:50

for clarifying that all right so some

play22:52

more chat activity and I love all the

play22:54

feedback in the chat thank you thank you

play22:56

so much so the quality of our data

play22:59

directly impacts our decision-making and

play23:03

the reason why the master class exists

play23:05

and all those stats and numbers that

play23:07

they know is that's high quality data if

play23:09

you watch any professional sporting

play23:11

event right baseball season right now so

play23:13

the Tigers I'll just bring them up right

play23:16

they have stats on everything they know

play23:18

their numbers on everything which helps

play23:21

them be able to coach be able to adjust

play23:24

be able to make decisions because they

play23:25

have that data on everything so it

play23:28

starts with having really good data

play23:31

about what's going on in your process so

play23:34

some of you might be kind of low Tech

play23:35

which is totally fine maybe your sales

play23:37

process is typed in Excel still works

play23:40

great I mean it's functional you can do

play23:42

it right so you might have it hopefully

play23:44

at least Excel and not like a piece of

play23:46

paper written somewhere in a file drawer

play23:48

but you got Excel and then more

play23:50

sophisticated could be your obviously

play23:52

using some version of a CRM whether it's

play23:54

a really sophisticated one like cpot

play23:57

that combines your marketing your sales

play23:59

Al together so you got all that data

play24:00

analytics or it could be something like

play24:02

a pipe drive that's more geared just

play24:05

towards managing your opportunities um

play24:07

but whatever system you use low Tech

play24:10

high-tech I want you to think a minute

play24:12

about how high is your quality data

play24:15

scale of one to 10 so one means what

play24:18

data there is no data 10 means very

play24:21

predictable very consistent it's been

play24:24

proven it's been adjusted based on real

play24:27

life that's a 10 so one is what data I

play24:30

don't have any data 10 is very

play24:32

consistent it's been proven and adjusted

play24:34

over time go ahead and put in the

play24:36

quality of some numbers to represent how

play24:39

you feel about the quality of your data

play24:42

so I see four and a half I see a

play24:44

two because this is really the key and

play24:47

we're going to kind of focus on how to

play24:49

improve the quality of data based what

play24:51

you're looking for in a minute but the

play24:53

reason why the poker players are so

play24:55

successful is they've got lots andot .85

play24:59

I like it that's very umic his data was

play25:02

poor uh but the his personal evaluation

play25:07

spot on nailed

play25:08

it I love it all right so we've got I

play25:11

think the highest number I've seen so

play25:13

far is what a six or a seven yeah

play25:16

something like that all right so keep

play25:18

that number in mind because our goal is

play25:20

to help you improve the quality and what

play25:22

it is that you're capturing so we're

play25:24

going to go back to process for a minute

play25:26

so the way that we would Define a

play25:29

process for your sales is in three areas

play25:32

first is it's staged so those of you

play25:34

that put gate selling same thing we're

play25:37

talking about the main stages steps of

play25:40

an opportunity okay so once we know the

play25:43

major steps some of you might have two

play25:44

or three if it's more of a transactional

play25:46

business some of you might have six

play25:48

seven I've got a client that has seven

play25:51

that's probably the longest that I've

play25:53

seen but they sell software packet

play25:56

custom software Integrations to large

play25:58

companies um so they've got a lot that

play26:00

they have to go through but you know the

play26:02

major steps think a b c so maybe it's

play26:06

Discovery maybe it's qualification and

play26:10

then maybe it's close I don't know but

play26:12

you'll have some dedicated steps or

play26:15

stages from there you want to apply

play26:18

waiting to those stages and the waiting

play26:21

should be

play26:23

relatively representative of your real

play26:26

close ratio at that stage and the

play26:29

earlier in a deal the less probability

play26:33

that we're going to win right if I'm

play26:34

still in the the prospect stage I might

play26:37

have a

play26:38

10% uh ability to close that so I might

play26:41

set that at 10% but anything we have in

play26:44

those late stage deals that we were

play26:46

talking about a minute ago right should

play26:48

be 70 80% probably we think those are

play26:50

going to close so the further along we

play26:53

get in our process the higher the

play26:55

possibility for closing it so they

play26:57

should be waiting

play26:58

most CRM systems come with out of the

play27:01

box waiting that may or may not be the

play27:03

right waiting for you so really making

play27:05

sure that over time we're challenging

play27:07

ourselves and going is that really

play27:08

accurate for us because if I've got it

play27:10

set at 25% but it's more like 10% well

play27:14

then I have a problem so we get use the

play27:16

data and adjust over time but most

play27:19

importantly once we know the stages with

play27:22

waiting we've kind of defined with some

play27:25

clarity in criteria what each stage

play27:28

means and if you think about it we call

play27:31

it exit criteria meanings here's the

play27:33

things that we have to uncover discover

play27:36

before we get to progress on to the next

play27:39

one and I'll give you some more

play27:40

information on that in a minute so

play27:42

here's a super simple very generic you

play27:45

probably have a demo phase or a trial

play27:48

phase the client I was referencing a few

play27:50

minutes ago they have a workshop stage

play27:52

um so these these aren't necessarily

play27:54

going to be what you call them um but at

play27:56

a suspect means it's a live person I I I

play27:59

know I'm talking to Mike but I don't

play28:01

really know yet if Mike actually needs

play28:03

what it is I do so my exit criteria for

play28:05

Mike might be trying to confirm like

play28:07

does he even need what I do and is he in

play28:10

my wheelhouse of what I could

play28:12

potentially help him with then a

play28:14

prospect is like well he's in the

play28:15

Wheelhouse but is there anything that he

play28:17

got going on that's gonna really compel

play28:20

them to do something or not and then

play28:22

qualification we'll come back to that

play28:24

one in a minute is really truly

play28:26

understanding everything at played

play28:28

qualifying opportunity and then once

play28:30

we've done all that you could be in your

play28:31

proposal stage your quote stage whatever

play28:34

that looks like that closable is

play28:35

typically they've seen the full scope of

play28:37

work whatever that looks like and we're

play28:39

looking to kind of make a decision um

play28:41

and what happens here is is without

play28:43

criteria which I'm going to give you

play28:45

some examples in a minute we see a lot

play28:48

of this going on so we call it leap

play28:52

frogging I had a client who called out

play28:55

his head of Mexico team in the best way

play28:57

it was the best because we were going

play29:00

through a group of leaders six leaders

play29:01

on a call and we're talking about their

play29:04

stages because they had a new early imp

play29:06

uh newly put in a CRM and we were kind

play29:08

of confirming each of the criteria for

play29:10

the stages and the head of Mexico says

play29:13

well we keep everything at

play29:15

10% and then once we you know know

play29:18

everything then we push it forward to

play29:20

the there's are like 70% is their next

play29:23

stage so he's like 70% it's so you got

play29:26

to love the president he goes

play29:28

you know what we call that

play29:31

sandbagging so it can be very difficult

play29:34

to really coach and plan resources and

play29:36

inventory levels and things like that if

play29:39

it's really more than 10% it should be

play29:41

showing progress we should be moving it

play29:44

along the way the other thing we see

play29:46

really really commonly is salespeople

play29:49

with high optimism oh yeah that's

play29:52

definitely closable but really there

play29:54

isn't any criteria it's more of the well

play29:58

hope to win I want to win it's I need to

play30:00

win it might be one of those that we

play30:02

we've got it overstaged but it's

play30:04

overstaged because we haven't really

play30:07

defined what the criteria is um that

play30:11

we're looking for at each stage so to

play30:14

keep the chat opportunity going I'm kind

play30:16

of curious just go ahead and type in how

play30:18

many steps or gates are in your stages

play30:21

the example up here is four some of you

play30:23

might have more some of you might have

play30:25

less and happy ear syndrome Jose we

play30:28

absolutely we're

play30:29

gonna so real yeah it's probably one of

play30:33

the most common sales weaknesses that we

play30:34

see honestly um all right so go ahead

play30:37

type in how many stages are there in

play30:39

your process I see someone else with

play30:41

four also just keep typing all right so

play30:43

what I mean by exit

play30:46

criteria is really all about the

play30:49

criteria and again this is very generic

play30:52

there's some

play30:54

um uh like abbreviations in here that

play30:57

you may or may not know what they mean

play30:59

but in a like big picture format when

play31:01

we're talking about a suspect we want

play31:03

oops we want to at least say that you

play31:05

know we've identified that they um fall

play31:08

into what it is that we do when we get

play31:10

to that Prospect stage we call it pain

play31:13

at Sandler so I've confirmed the initial

play31:17

problem that they say they have and I've

play31:19

started digging a little bit deeper I

play31:22

probably want to ask even at this

play31:23

Prospect stage for who else they're

play31:25

talking to or who else they're

play31:27

considering

play31:28

UFC is a Sandler term that stands for

play31:31

upfront contract but I've set a very

play31:33

firm upfront contract around what's

play31:36

going to happen going into my Discovery

play31:38

meeting and Discovery meeting is nothing

play31:40

more than starting this qualification

play31:42

phase you could call it a lot of

play31:43

different things the qualified bucket

play31:46

there's a lot of things under here right

play31:48

I put in some of the ones that I see

play31:50

over and over get missed and we

play31:53

overstaged a deal um because maybe we

play31:55

didn't fully understand what the comp

play31:57

itive offering was or situation uh we

play32:00

missed some influencers or

play32:02

decision-making we're going to talk

play32:03

about that in a bit um we have confirmed

play32:07

commitment for Action meaning they

play32:09

actually said they want to do something

play32:10

about this instead of just explore it

play32:13

for future purposes um we've done a

play32:16

little bit of alignment on about what to

play32:18

expect and budget lots of things that we

play32:20

see here that get missed and so if I

play32:23

miss any of these things it shouldn't be

play32:26

enclosable because I have't truly

play32:28

qualified it yet um and you're going to

play32:30

see that play out as a theme here um

play32:33

over your organization so I'm going to

play32:35

ask you this I would like you to think

play32:38

about how well in your companies is this

play32:42

documented do we have criteria the one

play32:44

I'd love to know the most about is how

play32:47

many of you truly have documented the

play32:50

criteria necessary to truly say it's a

play32:54

qualified deal which means typically our

play32:56

win percentage is more than 50 50% our

play32:58

confidence is more than 50% at this

play33:00

point um and we've got kind of

play33:02

consistency across our organization so

play33:06

tell me if you've got criteria say yes

play33:08

well- defined criteria um but then

play33:11

another thing I want you to think about

play33:13

is if I were to ask everyone on your

play33:15

sales team for their criteria is it

play33:19

consistent or are we all kind of winging

play33:21

it and then I see a lot of not

play33:23

documented right and if it's not

play33:26

documented guess what it's open to

play33:29

interpretation and everybody's going to

play33:31

have different criteria so this might be

play33:34

your single biggest action item coming

play33:36

out of today is to go back and do this

play33:39

with your team if you're already in

play33:41

Sandler go back to your Sandler coach

play33:43

and say hey you know what can we do me

play33:45

do us a favor and let's kind of review

play33:47

our criteria maybe it's out to date this

play33:49

doesn't this changes this is a fluid

play33:52

discussion here often times so this

play33:54

might be your single biggest um takeaway

play33:57

is trying to Define this Mike yeah I

play33:59

wanted to jump in on this one because I

play34:01

think especially with qualified and

play34:03

closable objective criteria is important

play34:06

like have we sent the proposal like it's

play34:08

not closable because the salesperson

play34:10

goes yeah it's closable I mean it could

play34:13

happen right it's closable because the

play34:14

proposal has been sent and if you're

play34:17

using sophisticated CRM some people

play34:18

mentioned Salesforce or hpot you could

play34:21

actually include those in there so they

play34:22

have marked you have typed in what those

play34:24

pains are in order to become qualified

play34:27

not just like yeah they got a pain uh

play34:30

you know like we're taking the

play34:31

salesperson's word for it and they're

play34:32

saying it's about 85% so that must be in

play34:35

the closable range no we want like

play34:37

specific defin and measurable criteria

play34:40

that are objective the and one that I

play34:43

like the most is the other side has

play34:45

taken an action so it's not that I did

play34:48

something I sent over the proposal well

play34:50

did they ask for a proposal or have they

play34:52

responded to it what did the buyer do

play34:55

that qualified them to move to the next

play34:58

step I think is a big key there

play34:59

absolutely and that objective real

play35:02

tangible stuff is going to come back

play35:03

here in a couple slides and I want to

play35:05

really quickly point out Jose said yes

play35:07

but sellers don't apply it um so that's

play35:10

a very very common thing that we see

play35:12

Jose and you're not going to like my

play35:14

response to this but that means you as a

play35:17

leader need to change the way we're

play35:19

running pipeline meetings and change the

play35:21

way we're doing deal coaching with our

play35:22

people because we should be running our

play35:24

pipeline meetings to this criteria and

play35:27

coaching our sellers using this to help

play35:30

really flush out any overstaging any

play35:34

lack of missing objective information

play35:36

Etc so it can be written down but it's

play35:38

my belief that the leadership team owns

play35:41

the implementation of this because it's

play35:43

not just that the sellers do it but the

play35:44

leaders are leading and coaching using

play35:47

the criteria as well great comments here

play35:50

great great comments I could keep on

play35:52

this all day this I'm really kind of

play35:54

passionate about this but I'm looking at

play35:55

the time going you better keep moving

play35:57

Alana so so I'm going to keep moving so

play35:59

the next step which happens to be kind

play36:01

of funny is keeping moving is all about

play36:04

progress right are we really making

play36:07

progress

play36:09

consistently on our deals I coach a lot

play36:12

of clients where you're looking at their

play36:14

Pipeline and there's stuff that's 120

play36:16

days old that hasn't moved right so

play36:19

we're not making progress we have to

play36:22

make regular progress consistently to

play36:25

move or reject kick out which we're

play36:29

going to talk about in a minute as well

play36:31

so progress starts with what I'm going

play36:33

to call a clear future commitment and

play36:36

sometimes we take what our salespeople

play36:38

say to us and think it's a clear future

play36:41

commitment but I'm reaching out next

play36:43

week or I'm supposed to hear back for

play36:46

them in a week or so is not a clear

play36:49

future commitment right we have to get

play36:52

really good at defining those clear

play36:54

future commitments getting that

play36:56

commitment ahead of time so if I'm

play36:59

trying to book a next meeting well then

play37:01

I want to make sure that meeting is

play37:02

booked before I leave but I've coached a

play37:05

lot of salespeople over the years that

play37:08

oh well I'm reaching out next

play37:09

week that that's not a clear future step

play37:12

I should hear something soon not a clear

play37:15

future commitment um so we've really got

play37:17

to get the the actually what are we

play37:20

looking for by when with who that

play37:24

Clarity needs to come on at every

play37:28

interaction to be able to really make

play37:30

regular progress I saw something about

play37:32

an anniversary cake which just makes me

play37:35

laugh for for old opportunities Jose

play37:38

nailed it I think we should

play37:41

celebrate also gonna chime in because

play37:43

you hit a great hot button issue there

play37:45

which is also in these scorings is you

play37:47

can demote people so you can move

play37:49

actually it can happen sales managers

play37:53

and stuff is you can we do this in

play37:54

marketing too with lead scoring is like

play37:56

if they haven't taken action in 120 days

play37:58

they reset they get minus 50 points on

play38:01

their scores uh for that that's

play38:03

definitely it's a regular coaching

play38:05

conversation with clients and

play38:07

occasionally even with my Sandler guys

play38:09

right um help me understand why you have

play38:12

the stages here and I'm not hearing this

play38:14

or this so I think you need to push it

play38:16

back right that that should be part of

play38:18

how we're running sales meeting is is

play38:20

we're Poss you know we're moving stuff

play38:23

backwards instead of forwards definitely

play38:25

and that might be somebody else's huge

play38:27

takeaway today they're going to go back

play38:28

and go through their Pipeline and

play38:30

readjust where everything is sitting and

play38:32

buy some anniversary

play38:33

C keeping deals in there for 365 days I

play38:38

love it Jose is killing it I love it all

play38:40

right um so I'm gonna go back to the

play38:42

gamblers again Annie's written a lot of

play38:45

books thinking in bets is a really cool

play38:47

book that she wrote if you're interested

play38:49

on how to guide really good decision

play38:51

making and I'm not going to read it

play38:53

exactly on the screen you can read it

play38:54

but it's 100% dependent on the quality

play38:57

quality of the information that we're

play38:59

using so back to that data again um is

play39:02

really the the key here and this is

play39:04

where happy years comes in guys this is

play39:07

evidence over emotions I really want us

play39:11

to start thinking that we need to be

play39:13

looking for evidence like a detective

play39:16

like an investigator I'm looking for

play39:19

evidence but what we normally hear is

play39:22

hey Mike how'd that sales call go what

play39:24

are you gonna say went great I heard

play39:27

this morning uh by a peer said rrg

play39:30

really really good okay what the heck

play39:33

does that mean right um so we have to

play39:36

get really good at being detectives or

play39:39

investigators looking for evidence of

play39:42

that criteria so this next screen if

play39:45

you're familiar with Sandler will look

play39:47

familiar this is our methodology right

play39:49

so on the right hand side this is our

play39:51

methodology if you're new to Sandler all

play39:53

I really need you to know is that our

play39:55

methodology is what we call a consult

play39:57

ative approach meaning it's a dialogue

play40:00

it's a discovery it's a continual

play40:02

process with heavy heavy focus on

play40:05

qualifying you notice that qualifying

play40:08

section there all that dark blue that's

play40:11

where a lot of the evidence is that

play40:13

we're looking for we're looking for

play40:15

evidence around the actual problem so

play40:18

just because they say that they have bad

play40:21

quality or bad service or whatever

play40:25

doesn't mean they're actually going to

play40:26

do anything about it so it's all about

play40:29

taking what that issue or opportunity is

play40:31

that they bring you figure out why it's

play40:34

happening so the what the why it's

play40:36

happening but then at the end of the day

play40:39

it's all about impact and I teach my

play40:42

salespeople it's the what the why and

play40:44

the so what impact is fully def defined

play40:48

by the so what if it really doesn't

play40:50

impact their day their comp their bottom

play40:54

line their job their customer

play40:57

then they probably aren't going to do

play40:59

anything about it because look at the

play41:00

spaghetti hot mess that they have to go

play41:02

through in order to get something done

play41:04

so really being able to truly uncover

play41:07

and quantify the impact you can tell me

play41:11

how much it's costing them to live with

play41:15

it so what is the cost of doing nothing

play41:17

how have I Quantified the impact in time

play41:21

dollars Etc that's true evidence the

play41:25

yeah they're really frustrated so so

play41:27

what so just keep asking yourself so

play41:30

what all right competitive landscape I

play41:33

got to tell you I see a lot of deals

play41:35

lost because we missed a lot in the

play41:37

competitive landscape who else is

play41:41

involved why might they win versus why

play41:44

might we win I've got a client situation

play41:46

where they were down to two people but

play41:48

one of their solution they couldn't do

play41:51

everything the other provider could do

play41:54

everything well that really changes how

play41:57

I'm going to go about that deal if I if

play41:59

I know that they're looking for somebody

play42:01

that can build a building and do all

play42:03

that stuff but I can't do all of that

play42:05

well then I better be talking about that

play42:07

to see how important that really is but

play42:09

we see a lot of gaps in truly

play42:12

understanding the competitive

play42:14

landscape um I love this one I could

play42:17

spend all day on this one but I don't

play42:18

have time which is buyer success

play42:21

criteria what does success look like to

play42:24

them how are they defining success

play42:27

what's their

play42:28

criteria obviously they have to be

play42:30

willing and able to change willing and

play42:32

able to invest and then the

play42:35

decision-making process is quite

play42:37

complicated today there's six factors

play42:39

that probably have 16 plus on each one

play42:42

of them which is all the who what when

play42:44

where why and how they're going to go

play42:45

about making that decision and unless I

play42:49

understand and have evidence of these

play42:51

things then when I get to this

play42:53

presenting of the solution I've got to

play42:55

be presenting it in a way that's in

play42:57

alignment with everything that I know

play42:59

but what we see a lot is quick to quote

play43:02

quick to propose responding to rfqs and

play43:05

rfps without really understanding and

play43:07

having evidence of what's going on here

play43:09

and those of you that are Sandler

play43:10

clients know that this is the heart of

play43:12

what you learn in the methodology and

play43:14

how do I apply that to my own sales

play43:17

process let's talk about influencers for

play43:20

a minute some of you if you're in super

play43:22

transactional you might not have 14 but

play43:24

I promise you have more than a couple

play43:26

right the number of influencers involved

play43:29

on deals today has skyrocketed because

play43:32

of that spaghetti mess look at all those

play43:34

people that we have to have aligned and

play43:36

guess what you're not getting access to

play43:38

all of them so I just want you to think

play43:40

about a current deal in your pipeline I

play43:43

want you to type in some real numbers

play43:45

for you how many influencers do you

play43:48

think are involved in one of your

play43:50

opportunities that you're currently

play43:51

going after let's just get some real

play43:53

numbers while we keep going here so the

play43:55

other challenge we see today is the

play43:57

ability to map the influence so it used

play44:01

to be you could just look at an or chart

play44:03

and that would be indicative of how the

play44:05

decisions being made well I got to tell

play44:07

you just because Mike's at the top of

play44:09

the Orit chart doesn't mean he has the

play44:10

most amount of influence so it's

play44:12

absolutely critical today that your

play44:14

sales teams are mapping out influencers

play44:18

who they are what their advocacy is

play44:21

which is are they Pro you are they kind

play44:23

of neutral are they a detractor meaning

play44:25

they're Pro your competition what's

play44:27

their advocacy score for you and what's

play44:29

their amount of influence and the

play44:31

reality is is the org chart doesn't tell

play44:34

you everything it's it's often deceiving

play44:37

your ultimate decision maker may not be

play44:39

at the top of the or chart so you've got

play44:41

to flush this out through conversations

play44:43

with lots of people and I see a lot of

play44:45

sellers missing opportunities to gain

play44:48

relationships with some I would say bit

play44:51

players or people in the organization at

play44:54

the operational level that can help you

play44:56

understand how these things go together

play44:59

um and then there's software tools and

play45:01

extra things that you can do to really

play45:02

map this out in today's seller but it's

play45:05

a huge gap in salespeople we don't we're

play45:07

not in front of enough people we don't

play45:09

know how the influence works and when

play45:11

we're selling in teams so those of you

play45:13

that sell in teams maybe your program

play45:15

managers or your engineers or your

play45:17

marketing or your product whatever it

play45:18

looks like are selling together this is

play45:21

even more important and Dave talked a

play45:22

lot about it in previous sessions the

play45:25

ability to map our sell team against

play45:27

their buying team it's critical today to

play45:29

order to successfully win deals looks

play45:32

like we've got quite a few I've got six

play45:34

to 158 to 10 so lots of decision makers

play45:37

so one opportunity for you might really

play45:39

be around better mapping better

play45:43

understanding the influence and better

play45:44

team selling because it's the reality

play45:47

and it's not going away it's just G to

play45:49

get

play45:50

worse all right let's move on to my

play45:53

favorite which is pruning so tuning

play45:57

means disqualifying deals kicking them

play46:00

out so when is the last time you

play46:03

actually said to a prospect you know I

play46:06

really don't think that this is a

play46:07

priority right now totally okay I'm GNA

play46:10

go ahead and like call this one good for

play46:12

now right or we've just looked at that

play46:15

anniversary cake opportunity at 120 and

play46:18

gone yeah this really isn't real this

play46:19

just needs to Flat thin taken out

play46:22

because it's cluttering everything else

play46:24

so pruning is all about if we take it

play46:26

back to to the gambling stage right

play46:28

knowing when to fold them the Ultimate

play46:31

Gambler right you got to know when to

play46:32

hold them and know when to fold them if

play46:35

you're not a Kenny Rogers fan I'm sorry

play46:37

but that's a classic and it will now be

play46:38

stuck in your head for the rest of the

play46:39

day um so we have to get disciplined as

play46:43

an organization and as sellers really

play46:46

challenging what's real and a good way

play46:48

to know that you've got this problem is

play46:51

you've got some stalled or stuck

play46:54

opportunities in your funnel so if I

play46:56

were to take your opportunity Pipeline

play46:58

and turn it in a funnel it's getting

play46:59

stuck somewhere sometimes it's getting

play47:01

stuck at the top meaning we got a lot of

play47:03

early stage stuff but nothing's really

play47:05

moving through sometimes it's more Stuck

play47:07

in the Middle everything's sitting there

play47:09

at about 50% and it just hasn't moved or

play47:13

the most common I really see is we've

play47:15

got the things really in that late stage

play47:17

but they're not really closable because

play47:19

uh we really couldn't win something that

play47:21

isn't closable and that's really the big

play47:23

lesson here it's impossible to close

play47:25

something that's not quality qualified

play47:27

so you've really got to take a look at

play47:29

those opportunities clear out what's you

play47:32

know is not real and then we have a

play47:34

little technique that I'm going to do

play47:36

real quick on how to decide is it real

play47:39

or not get some feedback from your buyer

play47:41

so if I'm selling to Mike um I might

play47:44

have tried to attempt and he's like

play47:46

ghosting me you know I haven't heard

play47:48

from him in a while and it's still

play47:49

sitting there and my boss keeps asking

play47:50

me what's the deal with the Sandler gig

play47:53

like is it going to happen is it not

play47:54

going to happen so here's how I'm going

play47:56

to handle this with Mike I'm going to

play47:57

send a communication to Mike that sounds

play47:59

something like this Mike my last couple

play48:03

of attempts to uh connect have gone

play48:06

unanswered I get the sense that this is

play48:09

probably no longer a priority for you at

play48:12

this time totally okay I'm GNA go ahead

play48:15

and just close it out for now if by some

play48:18

chance I might have misread the

play48:20

situation let me know but I'm going to

play48:22

go ahead and close it out thanks any

play48:25

version of that I promise you you will

play48:27

know immediately where you stand if Mike

play48:30

responds because his response is going

play48:32

to sound something like go for it Mike

play48:34

give me a response what if you were

play48:35

still interested what would it sound

play48:37

like no no no not not yet uh we've got

play48:40

this on the budget there's a board

play48:41

meeting next uh Wednesday yes or this

play48:44

came up or I've been sick or I've been

play48:45

traveling you're gonna hear some version

play48:47

of something right that's gonna come up

play48:50

um that'll tell you okay it's still

play48:52

something here it's not dead if I hear

play48:54

crickets back from Mike guess what it's

play48:57

over guys you got to move on that's not

play49:00

your sign to try again in two weeks

play49:02

unfortunately but a proven method we

play49:05

call it the close the file method go

play49:07

ahead and try it I promise you you will

play49:09

know where you're stand if it's still

play49:11

real but we we've got to get better at

play49:14

kicking out the junk the stuff that's

play49:16

not real stop hoping as a strategy that

play49:19

maybe maybe it's going to be different

play49:22

now and I get it guys it doesn't mean

play49:23

it's dead forever but it means it's dead

play49:26

for now now right and we got to move on

play49:28

so that I can go find through

play49:31

prospecting what is real so our ability

play49:34

to really disqualify deals or prune them

play49:36

out is um directly proportionate to how

play49:40

much prospecting we're doing and there's

play49:41

a Sandler longtime rule that's this the

play49:45

strength of your conviction is directly

play49:49

proportionate to the strength of your

play49:51

pipeline I'll say it one more time the

play49:54

strength of your conviction is directly

play49:57

proportionate to the strength of your

play49:59

pipeline it's really hard to close the

play50:01

file and disqualify a deal when you only

play50:03

have three and you really really need a

play50:05

sale so for majority of companies

play50:09

sometimes what happens is I've got to

play50:11

increase my prospecting and today's day

play50:14

and age we can't just call somebody one

play50:17

time we can't just rely on our existing

play50:20

customers you have to have a prospecting

play50:22

strategy you need to know how much of my

play50:25

business needs to be coming from

play50:26

existing customers because how much

play50:28

should I be spending time trying to grow

play50:30

that business versus new business uh we

play50:33

see a lot of sellers hanging out in

play50:36

maintenance land which they Define as

play50:38

account management um but it's really

play50:41

maintaining we're not really proactive

play50:43

prospecting looking for those

play50:46

opportunities on a consistent basis I

play50:48

would tell you that in today's day and

play50:50

age you've got to have a minimum of

play50:52

three probably more like five different

play50:54

prospecting activities that you're doing

play50:57

on a consistent basis asking for

play50:59

introductions is the number one

play51:02

overlooked prospecting activity because

play51:04

we get introductions but you get a whole

play51:06

lot more if you ask for them um

play51:09