Saad Arshed, COO of Xgrid, hosts Jeff Kirchik, VP of Sales at allwhere, diving deep into the crucial role of authenticity in sales strategies.
Jeff discussed the premise of the book he wrote “Authentic Selling” advocating for human authenticity as essential for adapting to evolving customer dynamics and personal success.
How top salespeople go beyond merely identifying pain points. They create compelling visions for their customers and offer valuable advice and support that extends beyond the product itself.
Some strategies they discussed include:
– Finding the tipping point: Uncover the critical event motivating the customer to seek a solution.
– Exploring consequences of inaction: Highlighting what happens if problems aren’t addressed.
– Contrasting ideal vs. future state: Creating a clear picture of the desired future vs. the current state.
– Quantifying impact: Translating differences into measurable metrics.
Connecting solutions to outcomes: Showing how solving issues leads to significant benefits.
He talked about the “Getting the Yes Before the Yes” technique to make customers realize their pain points organically. The emphasis is on genuine understanding and aligning with the buyer’s experiences.
For hiring, Jeff looks for specific core competencies depending on the role. SDRs should love winning due to frequent rejection, while Account Executives should hate losing to foster competitiveness.
Jeff shared his management style, emphasizing autonomy. He publicly praises good work and privately addresses critiques, coaching broadly on team trends.
For outbound sales, in his opinion, email remains the most effective despite deliverability challenges, while face-to-face meetings are crucial for enterprise sales. A multi-channel approach, starting with emails and using LinkedIn and cold calling, is key, often requiring 17-20 touches to get a reply.
