01 Feb 2023

No one in Sales is perfect. No one has a 100% close ratio.
Just like in Sports where the best teams & atheletes in the world do not win all the time.
Being the best means only losing less.
To lose less, it's about learning, improving & adapting, no matter how far in your career & how many successes lay behind.
Especially in Sales, as the landscape (internal & external) shifts constantly.

17 Apr 2023

Sales is like chess or billiard.
You can be OK at it with basic moves, but to be great you need to learn and execute great moves.
The difference though is that it's harder to just stay on top of your game because the lanscape is constantly changing.

This applies to other things - programming for example also in my experience.

Sales

15 May 2023

Sales Pitch.

When getting in a new Sales-focused role, the Sales pitch comes naturally over time.

A factor of everyone's ability to learn and gaining company & product-specific experience.

How much time it takes depends on the context and person.

But in any case, the über experience is that no matter what, it's never as good as if you proactively work on it.

Taking a step back, carving out time & reflecting deeply about what works and what doesn't. What resonates and what leaves cold.

From there, plotting a new course entirely (in early stage startups) or defining simple tweaks.

But even once the foundation is there, as we evolve in a (fast) moving environment - the motions of internal developments, the competitive landscape, the economy - this means a constant work in progress & regular updates.

Even in a company who already operates with a playbook & some Sales training, this needs to be done at individual level. Helping reshape the playbook & the training curriculum, rather than just following it if it does not work as well as expected.

Reminder to self.

15 May 2023

Always add your full signature + company promo/tagline in meeting invites - if invite is forwarded, it helps with getting the message to the right people ahead of the call.

23 May 2023

When I am due to follow-up with a prospect about "something" but struggle to provide what's expected, I find that sharing transparently is usually the best way. Versus just providing "anything". Asking for help and establishing a working relationship - "help me help you" - instead of just trying to get the task done and sticking to a provider relationship.