This week is the one year anniversary of SDR TV’s most popular video series, Sales Tips! We’re celebrating with recap playlists like how to craft personalized sales emails and the best ways to supercharge sales calls. And to close out the playlist celebration before tomorrow’s can’t-miss blooper reel, we’ve compiled a playlist featuring none other than the fearless AE leader, closer extraordinaire, and (M) VP of Sales Tips — DG!
To build up the sales development community and serve the needs of revenue generating teams around the world, an organization’s VP of Sales must be a fearless leader. Derek Grant joined our ranks last May as Salesloft’s VP of Sales and is a proving to be a power player in the Atlanta SaaS startup scene.
If you want to grow within your sales organization, you need to be consuming the constant stream of sales content every day. And how you consume content will highly impact your success as a sales leader. So first up, DG is here to talk you through his favorite sales books that have shaped the leader he is today.
Up next on the playlist, DG tackles two questions you should be asking your prospect early on in the sale:
1. Will you be my champion? The champion’s job is to take what you as the rep sell to them, and turn around and sell it to the decisionmaker. They fight for the budget. They scrap against other vendor options. They are your number one ally in the sale, and it’s crucial to know that the person you’re selling to is willing to do that for you.
2. Are you okay telling me no? The time may come where your champion needs to tell you no — and you need to know up front that they are going to be comfortable doing so. No sugar coating, no ghosting — just honesty. If you establish that level of trust and openness up front, the process is going to be more conducive to a mutual solution.
Then, Derek’s final piece of advice addresses a common closing objection — incentives. It’s normal during the negotiation phase of a close that a buyer ask for a discount. Account Executives need to be prepared with ways to give those closing incentives in a way that allows them to keep the balance in the transaction.
Is the buyer asking for a discount on the smallest pricing package? Offer them a discount if they go up a few seats. Leverage incentives in a way that will both show your negotiation skills, but still hold both parties accountable to their ends of the bargain.
Whether you’re on the frontline or the closing end of the sales process, it’s always helpful to show up to the party prepared for any and all buyer objections. Derek Grant is one of our favorite cameos on SDR TV for his VP of Sales tips for combating objections on both ends of the sales spectrum, and how to control the sale from start to finish.
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