Help inspire some of the next generation by passing along your wisdom.
Simply respond with the one thing you wish you knew before you got started in enterprise sales.
I wish I knew how many people it takes to get a deal over the line. I knew the sales cycles would be long but had no idea it would take getting so many people on the same page to drive a deal to closure.
1 Like
That you should have your finger on the disqualify trigger more often because discussions that won’t ever convert can go on much longer than they should, and that’s a time waster if you don’t catch the signs of indecision soon enough
1 Like
@Rupert Since you said that, I would definitely recommend you join Matt Dixon’s roundtable later this month — it’s all about compelling customers into making a decision.
Here are the details:
- Thursday, September 28, 2023
- 1pm EST / 12pm CT / 10am PST
1 Like
One hard lesson I learned early is title doesn’t always dictate that they are the decision maker. Get in the client’s door early, understand the politics, and don’t get attached to the figurehead.
For me, I wish I had known that it WASN’T about ME and MY products and MY solutions! I had to learn that in Enterprise Sales, that it isn’t about me. Customers don’t need another slick talkin salesperson.
It’s about the customer and their problems and their pain. How can I address their pain and be a trusted advisor to them? The key to Enterprise Sales is understanding the customer’s business, being empathetic with their pain, and offering them the answers to address very specific issues that the stakeholders have.
1 Like
How many touch points it can take to engage with a stakeholder, even after an initial call that went well can take many follow up touch points
To do even more research about customers, their pain points and their competitors than you think you have to.
To Will’s point I think it’s key to understand that it truly is all about helping your customers succeed and that goes for both, the organization they represent as well as the individuals you’re working with. If that’s your guiding principle you’ll set yourself up for a successful career in enterprise sales as you likely will run into the same people again over the course of your career. Helping them be successful will ensure they’ll be happy to partner with you again.