Pipeline Mastery: Process, Progress, Pruning, Prospecting with Alana Nicol
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
🎉 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.
🚀 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.
💰 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.
🤔 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.
📊 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.
📈 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.
🔍 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.
🌳 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.
🌱 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.
🔄 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
💡David H. Sandler Award
💡Forecasting
💡Sales Process
💡Gamblers
💡Spaghetti Model
💡Exit Criteria
💡Progress
💡Pruning
💡Prospecting
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
welcome everybody it is time for another
Sandler webinar these are free
educational webinars that we do uh every
month or so to help uh share some
knowledge help everybody sell more sell
more easily and for you to get to know
Sandler a little bit better I'm Mike
monu head coach here at the home office
in Sandler and uh I'm really excited to
welcome a special guest this month it is
our top award winner from the last
Sandler Summit Alana
uh presented at the Sandler Summit this
topic about cleaning up your pipeline
and she won our top award it's called
the David H Sandler award after our
namesake and it's the top award uh out
of the entire network we give away once
a year for the trainer who has delivered
really the most value uh been the most
giving and the and the best example of
what a Sandler trainer should be uh
around the world and so Alana
congratulations and thanks again for
sharing your time and attention and and
thought leadership with the network
thanks for having me really
excited all right now we're talking
about your pipeline so pipeline Mastery
and leveraging the four Ps to drive
Revenue again this is a talk she gave at
the Sandler Summit if you want to attend
next year the tickets are available for
the 2025 Sandler Summit you can do that
now I'm going to pop up some comments
too you can join the comments in YouTube
anytime and say hi tell us where you're
from we got people from British Columbia
here uh Peters and Purgatory we've got
Omaha we've got Jersey City uh
Sacramento all around the world joining
us today so if you want to participate
you can pop them in the chat and we will
uh make sure we pay attention to those
answer any questions you have we'll try
to save some time for questions at the
end but we do want to hear from you and
we want you to participate Alana will
ask a few questions as we go uh along
the way there but tickets available
sandler.com Summit if you want to see
more cool information like this and hear
more about what we have going on for the
next year uh a ton of stuff planned
we're really excited for that let's jump
into it Alana tell us a little bit about
Pipeline and maybe where people mess
this up and how we can help them uh get
it more accurate
forecasts uh solve challenges in their
own life about what they're gonna make
and and whether they're GNA keep their
job or not or really know like what
deals are real and are going to close
and which ones are going to be maybe a
little bit further out last thing I'll
say is I got to repeat my joke uh I did
at the Sandler Summit which is how do
you uh what do weather forecasters and
salespeople have in
common any forecasts more than seven
days out are completely inaccurate U so
Alana is gonna help us fix that problem
at least from the sales side there you
go Alana awesome thanks so much Mike as
most most of you know whether you're a
salesperson or a sales leader being able
to accurately predict just like the
weather which they get a pass right I
mean weathermen can be wrong and it
doesn't matter but unfortunately in
sales it's not quite the case right but
being a accurately able to forecast
what's going to close when it's going to
close um and then being able to navigate
our deals effectively is really what
we're going to talk about today because
it is a universal Challenge and probably
one of the most common things we hear
over and over again from sales leaders
and sales people that you know I'm just
really frustrated in my inability to
accurately forecast my sales um which is
a direct relation to how you're setting
up your deals and how you're navigating
from opportunity identification to win
or loss so really that's what we're here
to talk about today um I wish it were
like when we were together in Orlando
and I could see all your smiling faces
smiling back at me but in this framework
I don't have that ability um so will be
asking everybody that's on today to
please participate me with me by chat
I'm going to ask for a lot of feedback
ask you to put a lot of things in chat
if there's like questions that are
really top of Mind as I'm kind of going
here go ahead and put those in the chat
and our hope is that we'll be able to
cover a couple of those at the end um
but please use the chat because I can't
see or hear you it's really important
that I know that you're getting out of
what you want to get out of the session
by using the chat so hopefully you're
willing to do that with me today I did
forget to jump in with one upfront
contract there Elana which is we the
recording will be instantly available on
YouTube so it's like a DVR it's already
recording you people can go in and start
from the beginning right now but as soon
as we're done it'll be up there live we
don't share the PowerPoint and there
shouldn't be any handouts that you need
today but if you want to check the
recording just come back to this exact
same link uh anytime after this it'll be
up there you can share with people that
you think need to hear it and all kinds
of good stuff uh so back to the back to
our Pres
all right so let's start with our first
chat activity as the group and I'd like
to hear from everyone put yes in the
chat window if you've done any form of
gambling in let's say the last 12 months
so you don't have to have gone to Vegas
obviously you see commercials on TV
non-stop for all those betting apps so
that counts if you're in a Fantasy
Football Fantasy Baseball you did
squares you've done a Bracketology
during March Madness whatever that looks
like there's different varieties and
there's some I'm willing to do and some
I are but for the purpose of discussion
today we're going to count any of those
as gambling so if you've gambled in the
last 12 months in any of those formats
go ahead and put it in chat look like we
I ate some gas station Sushi does does
that count
yes looks like most of the people are
saying yes we're getting about 90% yeses
here I can't throw them all up here but
uh yes yes uh
Diablo I is the game um absolutely so
we've got some convicted love to play
the odds I like it Tony Tony Orlando's
here uh and he says yes uh Tony Orlando
is in Vegas for sure H in the last 12
days 100% from Randy uh awesome oh and
Andy rich rich is living up to his last
name seven figure bets there I guess I
guess all right so we've got quite a few
and believe it or not the stat says that
like about 85% of the population has
gambled over their lifetime and about
60% of the US population have gambled in
the last 12 months so I don't know the
total number of people on and I'm not
very good at math but there you go
there's the stats for you um but what I
would argue is that if we are in sales
we are all gambling whether we realize
it or not but I'm going to go to my
gamblers first so any of you that put
yes into the chat I have a bet for you
so if you like to gamble I'm going to
give you an opportunity so what I want
you to do is if you would bet your
annual income that the deals in your
pipeline the ones that you have closable
in the next 30 days if you would bet
your annual income that those deals are
going to close for what and when you say
they are go ahead and type bet me into
the chat window so we like to gamble how
many of you are going to gamble that
everything you've got that says closable
in the next 30 days is going to close
for what and when you said it
would all right we're still waiting for
any comments in the chat we might be
waiting here for a while but I'll throw
up anybody that that says yes on this
one Kelly says not a chance
yeah I love it not a chance Kelly
appreciate your honesty and
amazing um how we we get a little
nervous when we put gambling in this can
context because some of us are bigger
Risk Takers than others but even the
biggest Risk Takers are going nope not
it um but I got to tell you whether you
realize it or not you are gambling every
single day you are in sales in the
decisions that you're making as you're
advancing deals you're gambling bets on
resources you're going to allocate money
that's going to come in decisions that
you're going to make um so our goal
today is really kind of help you improve
your odds and make you feel a little bit
more comfortable about feeling good
about what is closable in your pipeline
some of you might know who these folks
are but these are two of the most
well-known gamblers meaning professional
poker players uh on the left is Annie
Duke and on the right is Daniel nean
collectively they've won over $10
million um and they are Prof
professional gamblers it's what they do
for a living but my argument would be is
that these two are gambling a whole lot
less every time they play than we are
every day in sales because no decision
that they're making is being made
without a process without hard data to
allow them to make high quality
decisions over time now does that mean
they win every time they sit down at the
table no but they certainly know their
odds because they have a process and
data that they use to consistently help
them improve their odds and improve
their winnings so over the next I would
say 40 45 minutes today my goal is
really that you walk away with one thing
it's not really a high bar guys it
shouldn't be right one thing that will
help you improve your odds for being
able to predict the deals that are going
to close in your pipeline so we've got
to start with understanding what are
your Cent odds so back to the chat again
I'd like you to think again about those
opportunities that we said that no way
heck am I going to bet on right now but
what's your average win rate today what
are the current odds your current win
weight your current re conversion rate
between opportunities that you think are
closable and actually close what do we
think put in some percentages and we're
probably expect to be a fair number of
discrepancy here but be honest with
yourself if you're not sure take your
best guess we may or may not have the
data thank you Kelly for starting us off
at 8% uh we've got 8% we got 35% I would
expect we're going to see any uh a wide
range of percentages here 30ish we seem
to see like that 30ish percent seems to
be pretty um consistent here we've got
some lower numbers in 10% so any of you
that have numbers lower than 30% U
hopefully it shouldn't be hard to take
one thing to improve that number today
because you may end up as you go through
here going wow all right well maybe
that's why some of the reasons why I'm
having that data to make you feel better
a little bit one study I read recently
is that actually 80% of sales
organizations don't have a forecast
accuracy greater than 75% so if you're
somewhere in those below 75% you're with
the normal right so our goal today is
how do we improve it how do we get it up
a little bit from where it is and
there's some reasons why we're seeing
such low numbers today um and it really
starts with the challenges that we face
in today's environment the world has
changed right it's constantly changing
that's the only thing um that we can bet
on really is that it's going to keep
changing but there's been some
significant changes in all of these
areas and if you saw Dave's talk at
Summit or a prior webinar that did he
kind of went into detail Dave Matson did
went into detail detail in all of these
different areas but the cost of money
more than it used to be technology such
a huge player game changer being a
disruptor every single day um we've got
slower decisions being made because of
these factors and the buyer Journey
today is so different so that's the one
that we're going to really jump into but
all of these are playing factors in
challenges that you've got to be able to
un overcome in order to improve your
odds of success in closing a deal the
remote Workforce where we are in Talent
we've got a couple years away from
having a pretty big talent talent Gap we
got a lot of people retiring and those
people it takes time to replace that
level of expertise and believe it or not
there's more people leaving the
workforce and are actually entering the
workforce so we've got a lot of
challenges a lot of gaps but for the
focus of today's discussion I really
want to dive into the changes that have
happened in the buying Journey so you
could argue and this is Gartner data
that it used to be that it was a fairly
linear process meaning there were some
pretty clear steps most of the time
pretty linear on how to a buyer goes
about making a decision but now they
call it the spaghetti model which I just
love I call it a hot mess of like
jumbled things together um and I'll show
you exactly what that looks like so this
is the same jumbled spaghetti model but
with real things in it so if you look at
the blue navy boxes those are the the
steps really of the main steps that
buyers going to go through they've got
to identify they have a problem they
start looking for Solutions then they
start figuring out exactly what they
need as part of that solution and then
they're going to select well guess what
it is not a straight path look at all
the different things that have to go on
here all these different things that are
at play and my favorite part about this
graphic and it's a little hard to see on
the screen but anywhere where you see
anything in bold so that bold Blue Print
that's where there's buyin or alignment
needed on the buyer's end so they all
have to coordinate and agree at all
those different steps it's no wonder
that even if you have a champion
somebody that really wants to bring in
your solution or your product that
they've got kind of an uphill battle
right they've got all these people that
they've got to align on their side so so
it's no wonder that doing nothing
staying the same status quo is way
easier and we've got a lot of different
people on the call today so a lot of
different things that you sell but I
don't care where you are or what you
sell your number one competitor today is
status quo doing nothing staying the
same and it's no wonder that they're
going to stay the same because look at
the obstacles that they have to go
through in order to make a decision
pretty alarming I would love to see some
feedback on kind of your thoughts on
this as I kind of keep moving a little
bit but I want to jump in there and just
highlight that that I I heard a stat
that over 50% of deals are lost to no
decision especially Enterprise deals is
what that was from I think it was 53% of
Enterprise deals end in no decision so
when we're looking at that end of the
pipeline it's not that you lost it to a
competitor or anything it's just they
were like nah ran out of steam you know
somebody said it earlier decision makers
change you know um somebody replaced
somebody comes into the process late and
it slows the whole thing down and it
gets pushed out of of the data so it's
oh I like Dan's technical term Peta to
change that's a good one Dan I'm gonna
steal that one that's really good um but
it's no wonder right I mean it's and
sometimes you might lose like you said
to status quo it might come back two
years from now 18 months from now it
might not but this is reality folks this
is what those organizations are going
through in trying to make some decisions
so here's a few more stats for you
related to this so because of that
spaghetti hot mess like I like to call
it right there's and I would argue this
number seems low at least maybe in the
Detroit area that's where I am and we've
got a lot of large Automotive
manufacturers and some big complex
organizations I would say the
dysfunction is probably even higher than
55% but buying organizations are
experiencing dysfunction due to the hot
mess spaghetti model right that
dysfunction can be things like turnover
somebody mentioned it in the chat you
got people turning over all the time it
a big one that we see a lot are
conflicting priorities they're not
aligned internally on what they want to
go after what resources are needed
sometimes you've got an alignment issue
where the left hand's not talking to the
right hand um not to mention when you
start talking about global buying groups
trying to align all of those factors so
I want argue that the 55% might be even
a little bit low but dysfunction is
coming from all of these factors
turnover lack of alignment
prioritization and because of that that
it means that 74% of people that are
buying aren't making what I would call a
high quality deal that's what Gardner
calls it and you could argue what high
quality deal means it could be
indecision cause a non high quality deal
it could be change after they've decided
they're starting to pull things back or
they don't fully implement or they
change once they decided to go but it's
because of all of these factors make it
difficult today for buyers to buy that's
the reality so in order to combat that
our salese have to be much better at
creating value and I like to call a
salesperson's role today they have to
become really good at being a coach
you've got to coach your buyers and
different influencers through the
spaghetti you got to help them navigate
what's going to happen next and so Mike
and I like and I know Mike was in my
world back in the day before he went to
the other side and is working on the
home office side of things right but we
had the ability to you know sometimes we
ran into VPS of sales or directors of
sales so at least there salespeople who
have some skills and ability to
influence and Coach a buying decision
some of you might be calling on plant
managers or or all kinds of different
people Engineers that guess what they
have to sell internally so they need a
coach to help them be able to sell
navigate this spaghetti and help their
team get to a quality buying decision
but it starts with our ability to help
coach them through that process so how
do we do this how do we deal with all
this it kind of starts with my first P
which is really all about process so
when I say process I mean your sales
process so how many of you have a
defined process from how you advance oh
like identify a deal so let's skip the
prospecting stuff but you have a live
person that you're talking to so you've
identified a potential opportunity and
then all the way to closed one closed
loss how many of you have a
process defined meaning you know what
the steps are or you've got to process a
playbook for it um so I want you to chat
yes I have a process it could be uh it's
informal like we have a process like we
kind of talk about it we know but it's
it's informal um or they're really
brutally honest people on the call today
I want you to type wing it because maybe
I'm just winging it right it it never
happens but maybe you are so I do see
some people saying gate selling which is
fantastic we're going to show you how to
do that a little bit today we've got
some informals we've got no we do not so
we do have some wingits but if you're
not comfortable saying that that's okay
um but this is the very first step is
having that clearly defined and some
call it a gated process um so that we
know ideally what should the process be
so back to our gamblers here Daniel here
if you have a subscription to master
class and have any interest in gambling
at all honestly I'm not a huge gambler
but I was super fascinated when I
watched this um he teaches a master
class on how to be a better poker player
and so his six million plus in winnings
is certainly not coming for luck in this
class he shares all kinds of process and
data on how he reads opponents the
complex math and statistics of every
possible combo that could come up but
it's a very highly defined process
process that he uses to guide his
decision making so you're gambling a lot
less if you have a highly defined
process with good data to guide your
decision making but highly recommend you
check it out if you never had it's
really quite fascinating have you ever
seen it Mike or um any well oh the this
the math and the gambling is amazing and
how fast they can do it in their heads
where they just see like what an
opponent is or what's there and they
know whether they have the best hand the
second best hand the probabilities of
their losses and wins it's it's crazy uh
I wanted to clarify one thing that I I
think some people have mentioned which
is like the Sandler selling system is a
methodology and not a process we should
probably talk a little bit about that
there's things that we want to do and
there are qualification things that
we're looking for but a process is like
do you do a demo is there a trial like
how many is there a First decision how
long is the S cycle typically are we
getting other decision makers is there a
presentation to a board that's more the
process the Sandler methodology can
apply to any process of how you
absolutely absolutely you're going to
see that a little bit more when we get
to some of the things a little bit later
but the methodology can overlay any
process and some of you are in a very
transactional sale if you're selling B
Toc maybe um very transactional others
of you may be in longer complex sales
where you've got tons and tons of
stakeholders and a very ex could take 18
months to close a deal well that's a
different process and you're applying
that methodology through that process
and you apply the methodology in a
different way in a shorter process but
you're absolutely right that's the kind
of the fuel for your process right that
helps us get through the process but it
starts with defining how should a deal
go right what are the major steps that
we need to go through in order to clear
uh close that deal way to go Mike thanks
for clarifying that all right so some
more chat activity and I love all the
feedback in the chat thank you thank you
so much so the quality of our data
directly impacts our decision-making and
the reason why the master class exists
and all those stats and numbers that
they know is that's high quality data if
you watch any professional sporting
event right baseball season right now so
the Tigers I'll just bring them up right
they have stats on everything they know
their numbers on everything which helps
them be able to coach be able to adjust
be able to make decisions because they
have that data on everything so it
starts with having really good data
about what's going on in your process so
some of you might be kind of low Tech
which is totally fine maybe your sales
process is typed in Excel still works
great I mean it's functional you can do
it right so you might have it hopefully
at least Excel and not like a piece of
paper written somewhere in a file drawer
but you got Excel and then more
sophisticated could be your obviously
using some version of a CRM whether it's
a really sophisticated one like cpot
that combines your marketing your sales
Al together so you got all that data
analytics or it could be something like
a pipe drive that's more geared just
towards managing your opportunities um
but whatever system you use low Tech
high-tech I want you to think a minute
about how high is your quality data
scale of one to 10 so one means what
data there is no data 10 means very
predictable very consistent it's been
proven it's been adjusted based on real
life that's a 10 so one is what data I
don't have any data 10 is very
consistent it's been proven and adjusted
over time go ahead and put in the
quality of some numbers to represent how
you feel about the quality of your data
so I see four and a half I see a
two because this is really the key and
we're going to kind of focus on how to
improve the quality of data based what
you're looking for in a minute but the
reason why the poker players are so
successful is they've got lots andot .85
I like it that's very umic his data was
poor uh but the his personal evaluation
spot on nailed
it I love it all right so we've got I
think the highest number I've seen so
far is what a six or a seven yeah
something like that all right so keep
that number in mind because our goal is
to help you improve the quality and what
it is that you're capturing so we're
going to go back to process for a minute
so the way that we would Define a
process for your sales is in three areas
first is it's staged so those of you
that put gate selling same thing we're
talking about the main stages steps of
an opportunity okay so once we know the
major steps some of you might have two
or three if it's more of a transactional
business some of you might have six
seven I've got a client that has seven
that's probably the longest that I've
seen but they sell software packet
custom software Integrations to large
companies um so they've got a lot that
they have to go through but you know the
major steps think a b c so maybe it's
Discovery maybe it's qualification and
then maybe it's close I don't know but
you'll have some dedicated steps or
stages from there you want to apply
waiting to those stages and the waiting
should be
relatively representative of your real
close ratio at that stage and the
earlier in a deal the less probability
that we're going to win right if I'm
still in the the prospect stage I might
have a
10% uh ability to close that so I might
set that at 10% but anything we have in
those late stage deals that we were
talking about a minute ago right should
be 70 80% probably we think those are
going to close so the further along we
get in our process the higher the
possibility for closing it so they
should be waiting
most CRM systems come with out of the
box waiting that may or may not be the
right waiting for you so really making
sure that over time we're challenging
ourselves and going is that really
accurate for us because if I've got it
set at 25% but it's more like 10% well
then I have a problem so we get use the
data and adjust over time but most
importantly once we know the stages with
waiting we've kind of defined with some
clarity in criteria what each stage
means and if you think about it we call
it exit criteria meanings here's the
things that we have to uncover discover
before we get to progress on to the next
one and I'll give you some more
information on that in a minute so
here's a super simple very generic you
probably have a demo phase or a trial
phase the client I was referencing a few
minutes ago they have a workshop stage
um so these these aren't necessarily
going to be what you call them um but at
a suspect means it's a live person I I I
know I'm talking to Mike but I don't
really know yet if Mike actually needs
what it is I do so my exit criteria for
Mike might be trying to confirm like
does he even need what I do and is he in
my wheelhouse of what I could
potentially help him with then a
prospect is like well he's in the
Wheelhouse but is there anything that he
got going on that's gonna really compel
them to do something or not and then
qualification we'll come back to that
one in a minute is really truly
understanding everything at played
qualifying opportunity and then once
we've done all that you could be in your
proposal stage your quote stage whatever
that looks like that closable is
typically they've seen the full scope of
work whatever that looks like and we're
looking to kind of make a decision um
and what happens here is is without
criteria which I'm going to give you
some examples in a minute we see a lot
of this going on so we call it leap
frogging I had a client who called out
his head of Mexico team in the best way
it was the best because we were going
through a group of leaders six leaders
on a call and we're talking about their
stages because they had a new early imp
uh newly put in a CRM and we were kind
of confirming each of the criteria for
the stages and the head of Mexico says
well we keep everything at
10% and then once we you know know
everything then we push it forward to
the there's are like 70% is their next
stage so he's like 70% it's so you got
to love the president he goes
you know what we call that
sandbagging so it can be very difficult
to really coach and plan resources and
inventory levels and things like that if
it's really more than 10% it should be
showing progress we should be moving it
along the way the other thing we see
really really commonly is salespeople
with high optimism oh yeah that's
definitely closable but really there
isn't any criteria it's more of the well
hope to win I want to win it's I need to
win it might be one of those that we
we've got it overstaged but it's
overstaged because we haven't really
defined what the criteria is um that
we're looking for at each stage so to
keep the chat opportunity going I'm kind
of curious just go ahead and type in how
many steps or gates are in your stages
the example up here is four some of you
might have more some of you might have
less and happy ear syndrome Jose we
absolutely we're
gonna so real yeah it's probably one of
the most common sales weaknesses that we
see honestly um all right so go ahead
type in how many stages are there in
your process I see someone else with
four also just keep typing all right so
what I mean by exit
criteria is really all about the
criteria and again this is very generic
there's some
um uh like abbreviations in here that
you may or may not know what they mean
but in a like big picture format when
we're talking about a suspect we want
oops we want to at least say that you
know we've identified that they um fall
into what it is that we do when we get
to that Prospect stage we call it pain
at Sandler so I've confirmed the initial
problem that they say they have and I've
started digging a little bit deeper I
probably want to ask even at this
Prospect stage for who else they're
talking to or who else they're
considering
UFC is a Sandler term that stands for
upfront contract but I've set a very
firm upfront contract around what's
going to happen going into my Discovery
meeting and Discovery meeting is nothing
more than starting this qualification
phase you could call it a lot of
different things the qualified bucket
there's a lot of things under here right
I put in some of the ones that I see
over and over get missed and we
overstaged a deal um because maybe we
didn't fully understand what the comp
itive offering was or situation uh we
missed some influencers or
decision-making we're going to talk
about that in a bit um we have confirmed
commitment for Action meaning they
actually said they want to do something
about this instead of just explore it
for future purposes um we've done a
little bit of alignment on about what to
expect and budget lots of things that we
see here that get missed and so if I
miss any of these things it shouldn't be
enclosable because I have't truly
qualified it yet um and you're going to
see that play out as a theme here um
over your organization so I'm going to
ask you this I would like you to think
about how well in your companies is this
documented do we have criteria the one
I'd love to know the most about is how
many of you truly have documented the
criteria necessary to truly say it's a
qualified deal which means typically our
win percentage is more than 50 50% our
confidence is more than 50% at this
point um and we've got kind of
consistency across our organization so
tell me if you've got criteria say yes
well- defined criteria um but then
another thing I want you to think about
is if I were to ask everyone on your
sales team for their criteria is it
consistent or are we all kind of winging
it and then I see a lot of not
documented right and if it's not
documented guess what it's open to
interpretation and everybody's going to
have different criteria so this might be
your single biggest action item coming
out of today is to go back and do this
with your team if you're already in
Sandler go back to your Sandler coach
and say hey you know what can we do me
do us a favor and let's kind of review
our criteria maybe it's out to date this
doesn't this changes this is a fluid
discussion here often times so this
might be your single biggest um takeaway
is trying to Define this Mike yeah I
wanted to jump in on this one because I
think especially with qualified and
closable objective criteria is important
like have we sent the proposal like it's
not closable because the salesperson
goes yeah it's closable I mean it could
happen right it's closable because the
proposal has been sent and if you're
using sophisticated CRM some people
mentioned Salesforce or hpot you could
actually include those in there so they
have marked you have typed in what those
pains are in order to become qualified
not just like yeah they got a pain uh
you know like we're taking the
salesperson's word for it and they're
saying it's about 85% so that must be in
the closable range no we want like
specific defin and measurable criteria
that are objective the and one that I
like the most is the other side has
taken an action so it's not that I did
something I sent over the proposal well
did they ask for a proposal or have they
responded to it what did the buyer do
that qualified them to move to the next
step I think is a big key there
absolutely and that objective real
tangible stuff is going to come back
here in a couple slides and I want to
really quickly point out Jose said yes
but sellers don't apply it um so that's
a very very common thing that we see
Jose and you're not going to like my
response to this but that means you as a
leader need to change the way we're
running pipeline meetings and change the
way we're doing deal coaching with our
people because we should be running our
pipeline meetings to this criteria and
coaching our sellers using this to help
really flush out any overstaging any
lack of missing objective information
Etc so it can be written down but it's
my belief that the leadership team owns
the implementation of this because it's
not just that the sellers do it but the
leaders are leading and coaching using
the criteria as well great comments here
great great comments I could keep on
this all day this I'm really kind of
passionate about this but I'm looking at
the time going you better keep moving
Alana so so I'm going to keep moving so
the next step which happens to be kind
of funny is keeping moving is all about
progress right are we really making
progress
consistently on our deals I coach a lot
of clients where you're looking at their
Pipeline and there's stuff that's 120
days old that hasn't moved right so
we're not making progress we have to
make regular progress consistently to
move or reject kick out which we're
going to talk about in a minute as well
so progress starts with what I'm going
to call a clear future commitment and
sometimes we take what our salespeople
say to us and think it's a clear future
commitment but I'm reaching out next
week or I'm supposed to hear back for
them in a week or so is not a clear
future commitment right we have to get
really good at defining those clear
future commitments getting that
commitment ahead of time so if I'm
trying to book a next meeting well then
I want to make sure that meeting is
booked before I leave but I've coached a
lot of salespeople over the years that
oh well I'm reaching out next
week that that's not a clear future step
I should hear something soon not a clear
future commitment um so we've really got
to get the the actually what are we
looking for by when with who that
Clarity needs to come on at every
interaction to be able to really make
regular progress I saw something about
an anniversary cake which just makes me
laugh for for old opportunities Jose
nailed it I think we should
celebrate also gonna chime in because
you hit a great hot button issue there
which is also in these scorings is you
can demote people so you can move
actually it can happen sales managers
and stuff is you can we do this in
marketing too with lead scoring is like
if they haven't taken action in 120 days
they reset they get minus 50 points on
their scores uh for that that's
definitely it's a regular coaching
conversation with clients and
occasionally even with my Sandler guys
right um help me understand why you have
the stages here and I'm not hearing this
or this so I think you need to push it
back right that that should be part of
how we're running sales meeting is is
we're Poss you know we're moving stuff
backwards instead of forwards definitely
and that might be somebody else's huge
takeaway today they're going to go back
and go through their Pipeline and
readjust where everything is sitting and
buy some anniversary
C keeping deals in there for 365 days I
love it Jose is killing it I love it all
right um so I'm gonna go back to the
gamblers again Annie's written a lot of
books thinking in bets is a really cool
book that she wrote if you're interested
on how to guide really good decision
making and I'm not going to read it
exactly on the screen you can read it
but it's 100% dependent on the quality
quality of the information that we're
using so back to that data again um is
really the the key here and this is
where happy years comes in guys this is
evidence over emotions I really want us
to start thinking that we need to be
looking for evidence like a detective
like an investigator I'm looking for
evidence but what we normally hear is
hey Mike how'd that sales call go what
are you gonna say went great I heard
this morning uh by a peer said rrg
really really good okay what the heck
does that mean right um so we have to
get really good at being detectives or
investigators looking for evidence of
that criteria so this next screen if
you're familiar with Sandler will look
familiar this is our methodology right
so on the right hand side this is our
methodology if you're new to Sandler all
I really need you to know is that our
methodology is what we call a consult
ative approach meaning it's a dialogue
it's a discovery it's a continual
process with heavy heavy focus on
qualifying you notice that qualifying
section there all that dark blue that's
where a lot of the evidence is that
we're looking for we're looking for
evidence around the actual problem so
just because they say that they have bad
quality or bad service or whatever
doesn't mean they're actually going to
do anything about it so it's all about
taking what that issue or opportunity is
that they bring you figure out why it's
happening so the what the why it's
happening but then at the end of the day
it's all about impact and I teach my
salespeople it's the what the why and
the so what impact is fully def defined
by the so what if it really doesn't
impact their day their comp their bottom
line their job their customer
then they probably aren't going to do
anything about it because look at the
spaghetti hot mess that they have to go
through in order to get something done
so really being able to truly uncover
and quantify the impact you can tell me
how much it's costing them to live with
it so what is the cost of doing nothing
how have I Quantified the impact in time
dollars Etc that's true evidence the
yeah they're really frustrated so so
what so just keep asking yourself so
what all right competitive landscape I
got to tell you I see a lot of deals
lost because we missed a lot in the
competitive landscape who else is
involved why might they win versus why
might we win I've got a client situation
where they were down to two people but
one of their solution they couldn't do
everything the other provider could do
everything well that really changes how
I'm going to go about that deal if I if
I know that they're looking for somebody
that can build a building and do all
that stuff but I can't do all of that
well then I better be talking about that
to see how important that really is but
we see a lot of gaps in truly
understanding the competitive
landscape um I love this one I could
spend all day on this one but I don't
have time which is buyer success
criteria what does success look like to
them how are they defining success
what's their
criteria obviously they have to be
willing and able to change willing and
able to invest and then the
decision-making process is quite
complicated today there's six factors
that probably have 16 plus on each one
of them which is all the who what when
where why and how they're going to go
about making that decision and unless I
understand and have evidence of these
things then when I get to this
presenting of the solution I've got to
be presenting it in a way that's in
alignment with everything that I know
but what we see a lot is quick to quote
quick to propose responding to rfqs and
rfps without really understanding and
having evidence of what's going on here
and those of you that are Sandler
clients know that this is the heart of
what you learn in the methodology and
how do I apply that to my own sales
process let's talk about influencers for
a minute some of you if you're in super
transactional you might not have 14 but
I promise you have more than a couple
right the number of influencers involved
on deals today has skyrocketed because
of that spaghetti mess look at all those
people that we have to have aligned and
guess what you're not getting access to
all of them so I just want you to think
about a current deal in your pipeline I
want you to type in some real numbers
for you how many influencers do you
think are involved in one of your
opportunities that you're currently
going after let's just get some real
numbers while we keep going here so the
other challenge we see today is the
ability to map the influence so it used
to be you could just look at an or chart
and that would be indicative of how the
decisions being made well I got to tell
you just because Mike's at the top of
the Orit chart doesn't mean he has the
most amount of influence so it's
absolutely critical today that your
sales teams are mapping out influencers
who they are what their advocacy is
which is are they Pro you are they kind
of neutral are they a detractor meaning
they're Pro your competition what's
their advocacy score for you and what's
their amount of influence and the
reality is is the org chart doesn't tell
you everything it's it's often deceiving
your ultimate decision maker may not be
at the top of the or chart so you've got
to flush this out through conversations
with lots of people and I see a lot of
sellers missing opportunities to gain
relationships with some I would say bit
players or people in the organization at
the operational level that can help you
understand how these things go together
um and then there's software tools and
extra things that you can do to really
map this out in today's seller but it's
a huge gap in salespeople we don't we're
not in front of enough people we don't
know how the influence works and when
we're selling in teams so those of you
that sell in teams maybe your program
managers or your engineers or your
marketing or your product whatever it
looks like are selling together this is
even more important and Dave talked a
lot about it in previous sessions the
ability to map our sell team against
their buying team it's critical today to
order to successfully win deals looks
like we've got quite a few I've got six
to 158 to 10 so lots of decision makers
so one opportunity for you might really
be around better mapping better
understanding the influence and better
team selling because it's the reality
and it's not going away it's just G to
get
worse all right let's move on to my
favorite which is pruning so tuning
means disqualifying deals kicking them
out so when is the last time you
actually said to a prospect you know I
really don't think that this is a
priority right now totally okay I'm GNA
go ahead and like call this one good for
now right or we've just looked at that
anniversary cake opportunity at 120 and
gone yeah this really isn't real this
just needs to Flat thin taken out
because it's cluttering everything else
so pruning is all about if we take it
back to to the gambling stage right
knowing when to fold them the Ultimate
Gambler right you got to know when to
hold them and know when to fold them if
you're not a Kenny Rogers fan I'm sorry
but that's a classic and it will now be
stuck in your head for the rest of the
day um so we have to get disciplined as
an organization and as sellers really
challenging what's real and a good way
to know that you've got this problem is
you've got some stalled or stuck
opportunities in your funnel so if I
were to take your opportunity Pipeline
and turn it in a funnel it's getting
stuck somewhere sometimes it's getting
stuck at the top meaning we got a lot of
early stage stuff but nothing's really
moving through sometimes it's more Stuck
in the Middle everything's sitting there
at about 50% and it just hasn't moved or
the most common I really see is we've
got the things really in that late stage
but they're not really closable because
uh we really couldn't win something that
isn't closable and that's really the big
lesson here it's impossible to close
something that's not quality qualified
so you've really got to take a look at
those opportunities clear out what's you
know is not real and then we have a
little technique that I'm going to do
real quick on how to decide is it real
or not get some feedback from your buyer
so if I'm selling to Mike um I might
have tried to attempt and he's like
ghosting me you know I haven't heard
from him in a while and it's still
sitting there and my boss keeps asking
me what's the deal with the Sandler gig
like is it going to happen is it not
going to happen so here's how I'm going
to handle this with Mike I'm going to
send a communication to Mike that sounds
something like this Mike my last couple
of attempts to uh connect have gone
unanswered I get the sense that this is
probably no longer a priority for you at
this time totally okay I'm GNA go ahead
and just close it out for now if by some
chance I might have misread the
situation let me know but I'm going to
go ahead and close it out thanks any
version of that I promise you you will
know immediately where you stand if Mike
responds because his response is going
to sound something like go for it Mike
give me a response what if you were
still interested what would it sound
like no no no not not yet uh we've got
this on the budget there's a board
meeting next uh Wednesday yes or this
came up or I've been sick or I've been
traveling you're gonna hear some version
of something right that's gonna come up
um that'll tell you okay it's still
something here it's not dead if I hear
crickets back from Mike guess what it's
over guys you got to move on that's not
your sign to try again in two weeks
unfortunately but a proven method we
call it the close the file method go
ahead and try it I promise you you will
know where you're stand if it's still
real but we we've got to get better at
kicking out the junk the stuff that's
not real stop hoping as a strategy that
maybe maybe it's going to be different
now and I get it guys it doesn't mean
it's dead forever but it means it's dead
for now now right and we got to move on
so that I can go find through
prospecting what is real so our ability
to really disqualify deals or prune them
out is um directly proportionate to how
much prospecting we're doing and there's
a Sandler longtime rule that's this the
strength of your conviction is directly
proportionate to the strength of your
pipeline I'll say it one more time the
strength of your conviction is directly
proportionate to the strength of your
pipeline it's really hard to close the
file and disqualify a deal when you only
have three and you really really need a
sale so for majority of companies
sometimes what happens is I've got to
increase my prospecting and today's day
and age we can't just call somebody one
time we can't just rely on our existing
customers you have to have a prospecting
strategy you need to know how much of my
business needs to be coming from
existing customers because how much
should I be spending time trying to grow
that business versus new business uh we
see a lot of sellers hanging out in
maintenance land which they Define as
account management um but it's really
maintaining we're not really proactive
prospecting looking for those
opportunities on a consistent basis I
would tell you that in today's day and
age you've got to have a minimum of
three probably more like five different
prospecting activities that you're doing
on a consistent basis asking for
introductions is the number one
overlooked prospecting activity because
we get introductions but you get a whole
lot more if you ask for them um