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Sales Discovery meetings – one approach

 Sales Discovery meetings – one approach 150 150 Intely Tech

I ran a poll last week about the usage of slide decks in sales discovery meetings. The results were 50-50 for a long time before ending up 60-40 in the favor of “no”. I voted no as well. Here’s a quick overview of one approach towards discovery meetings that I’ve seen work well. 1. Understand…

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Discovery meetings – a buyer’s perspective

 Discovery meetings – a buyer’s perspective 150 150 Intely Tech

I ran a poll on LinkedIn asking whether salespeople prefer to use slide decks in their discovery meetings. The whole purpose of a discovery meeting is to understand the prospective buyers’ pain, aspirations, obstacles and to book the next meeting where you can share how you can possibly help. Aren’t we the exact opposite of…

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Building connections while working remotely

 Building connections while working remotely 150 150 Intely Tech

For the past 3 months, I have been engaged with a company where I had to work from their office . This was a change for me as I have been WFx for the better part of the last 4 years where x has been Home, Cafes etc. The one thing that I had missed…

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Marketing – keeping it simple

 Marketing – keeping it simple 150 150 Intely Tech

Have you seen the recent article on ZDNet about Microsoft offering Starbucks rewards upon O365 renewals? The article poked fun at the way it was done and it got me thinking about how it would be received by Microsoft. Back in the day, one of Microsoft’s teams did a spoof video of what the packaging…

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Inbound leads – timely response

 Inbound leads – timely response 150 150 Intely Tech

Responsiveness, or lack of it. This is the most irritating part of initiating a purchase. It’s astounding how many inbound leads lay around unattended till it’s too late. I was having a conversation with someone in an Australia Post related company a couple of months ago and he was pleasantly surprised at our swift response.…

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Fired for closing the biggest deal ever!

 Fired for closing the biggest deal ever! 1024 572 Intely Tech

Have you heard the story about the sales guy who closed the biggest deal in his company’s history only to be fired the next week? Here’s how it goes. A sales guy at a major tech company is working on a single deal throughout the year. His management supports him throughout the lean quarters. Towards…

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Google trick

 Google trick 150 150 Intely Tech

Neat little Google hack to find just about anything. Startup tools, VC, Salaries, Influencers … Find these and other useful stuff by searching for anything in public spreadsheets. e.g. https://lnkd.in/e4Q9_SM Replace “ROI” with any other term like TCO, VC, Salaries etc. Credit to Steph Smith – her original tweet is here.

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LinkedIn Inbox

LinkedIn selling – a buyer’s perspective

 LinkedIn selling – a buyer’s perspective 1024 1024 Intely Tech

LinkedIn is a great platform to connect with others But most sales people use it for “automated cold calling” I’ve been that sales guy – and I’ve been a buyer – here’s my perspective. The general approach is to reach out to connect. & send a message detailing your service & ask for a meeting.…

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Sometimes, grit means giving up?

 Sometimes, grit means giving up? 150 150 Intely Tech

“Sometimes the best kind of grit is gritting your teeth & packing your bags.” Adam Grant Reads like one of those Monday Demotivational Posters. But it isn’t: “’Never give up’ doesn’t mean keep doing the thing that’s failing.” “It means don’t get locked down into one narrow path.” These and many other gems in a…

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Remote working – productivity hack

 Remote working – productivity hack 150 150 Intely Tech

Working remotely can be exhausting. Especially with back-to-back meetings. Here’s a hack that has helped me cope. At the start of every meeting – as soon as I join – I’ll crack a joke. Some people would giggle and some not – it’s slightly difficult to gauge the audience’s reaction when the cameras are turned…

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Perception > Reality

 Perception > Reality 150 150 Intely Tech

Some jobs are thankless. You get noticed only when you drop the ball. Sound familiar? In conversations with CIOs, I’d ask about what success means to them – and then their KPIs The CIOs aspirations would be about impacting business – e.g. adding more digital revenue streams. Their reporting metrics would be around budget &…

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CRM – change management

 CRM – change management 1024 576 Intely Tech

Cobras, British colonists, CRM & KPIs. The British colonists tried to reduce the snake population in India and offered bounties for dead cobras. The local population started to breed cobras to kill them & get the bounty. The colonists discovered this & scrapped the bounty forcing the breeders to release their now worthless cobras –…

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Client retention – a tricky situation

 Client retention – a tricky situation 150 150 Intely Tech

When costs need to be optimized, the first two things that get cut are training & consultancy. Guess how your service is treated internally for budgeting. One of my CIO clients shared the above with me as part of his views on cost-optimization – just a few months before the contract renewal! A global pandemic…

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Are salespeople becoming obsolete?

 Are salespeople becoming obsolete? 960 960 Intely Tech

Digital self-serve is here to stay and the product/service price isn’t that much of a factor anymore. “Despite the conventional wisdom that big ticket sales require in-person contact, 20 percent of B2B buyers said they would be willing to spend more than $500,000 in a fully remote/digital sales model. And 11 percent of all B2B…

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Cold calls – everyone hates them

Cold calls – everyone hates them

 Cold calls – everyone hates them 1024 572 Intely Tech

As a salesperson, what’re your thoughts about cold calling? Surely, no one loves cold calling people – right? I interviewed a number of salespeople the past couple of months in North America and I posed this question to understand what drives them. One and thankfully only one candidate said that he loves cold calling and…

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need for change

Sales – the need for change

 Sales – the need for change 1024 572 Intely Tech

How is the process of selling/business development different now compared to pre-pandemic times? Or is it the same? I spoke with a very experienced sales professional earlier this week to catch up. We had joined Microsoft in telesales at roughly the same time, ~15 years ago. One of his statements got me thinking about the…

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Selling doesn't have to be a dirty word

Selling doesn’t have to be a dirty word

 Selling doesn’t have to be a dirty word 1024 581 Intely Tech

This is the first of a short series of posts. I have a confession to make – I have probably made every mistake in the sales playbook that is to make and more. In 2017, the nature of my work changed from being a seller to a software consultant and more recently has involved buying…

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