Insight-Led Selling: Adopting an Executive Mindset to Learn How Buyers Think | Dr. Stephen Timme & Melody Astley - 1508

The Sales Evangelist

How can you interact with potential buyers (especially enterprise clients) that encourage a dialogue? After all, landing the sale isn’t the only part of the equation; you first have to get their attention! In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Dr. Stephen Timme and Melody Astley to discuss their recent book Insight-Led Selling, which details how to learn how buyers think.

But first, why did they write a book?

• Ultimately, Stephen and Melody wanted to create a resource their clients and community could utilize.
• It’s harder than ever to sell to enterprise sellers (yes, people say that every year. But it’s true!) And COVID-aside, the subscription-based economy is growing.
• There are more stakeholders than ever before in traditional buying processes. At the same time, implementation costs for platforms are lower, making it easier to switch between service providers.

They interviewed many executives to see how they felt about sales.

• From AT&T, Coca-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and even Honey-Baked Hams, Stephen and Melody interviewed executives to learn firsthand how they felt about salespeople. (If you were curious, Honey-Baked Hams didn’t even give them coupons. We’re just as disappointed as you are.)
• They asked one simple question: what could sellers do better? Below were the three overwhelming responses:
• First, tell me something I don’t know.
• Second, how does what you’re selling align with my goals and strategies.
• Third, make my life easy (and don’t give me a 30-page proposal.)

Personalization is more than inserting the name of each person in an email blast.

• It’s developing a point of view that is interesting to the person you’re talking to.
• Hold on, let’s say that again for those who missed it: spend a moment to develop a point of view interesting to the person you’re talking to.
• As a sales leader, we expect output from our BDRs. But we can’t do this and expect results from a spray-and-pray method. The game has changed.

How can you implement these sales techniques?

• For publicly-traded companies, you have access to specific financial figures; use that to align your selling proposition with their capabilities.
• Explain the “how” you can help them before you can get into the “how much.”
• For sales leaders, equip your salespeople with the specialized knowledge they might need.
• You can self-learn if you feel unsupported by your organization, or (and an even better strategy), ask your organization for support.

Their final takeaway? Understanding the language of how a customer speaks (and relating that to financial objectives) is a skill that will last the rest of your career. Insight-Led Selling is available for purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. To contact Melody and Stephen, reach out at [e-mail] or connect on their business’s LinkedIn page. (Or connect directly with Stephen and Melody.)

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.

Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.

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This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master sales fundamentals and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call [phone] for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.