The man who changed the entire world of software sales.
John has been the CRO of 5 public enterprise software companies. With his best-selling book The Qualified Sales Leader, John has become a true icon for many CEOs and revenue leaders.
He is also one of the featured experts in our newly released "The CEO's Playbook to Complex Sales". Here are his top three takeaways from his contribution.
1 / Character Makes You a World-class Rep, not Experience
John spends the first 40 minutes of every interview evaluating the characteristics of a person before diving into the experience.
These are the six traits he values the most: Intelligence, Competitiveness, Integrity, Coachability, Adaptability and Curiosity.
2 / Let those who gravitate towards larger deals do the initial work
There are always a few reps that naturally gravitate towards larger deals. Give them your high-value accounts while letting them keep a small territory with a fair chance of making money on smaller accounts.
Then, once they've learnt to sell your product, get them to share their knowledge and experience with the whole team.
3 / Coaches are not champions
One of the most common mistakes John sees when it comes to MEDDIC is salespeople mixing up coaches with champions.
"A coach wants you to win and loves your product. The coach even provides you with inside information. However, the coach lacks the power within the organisation to influence buying decisions.
They can't control the criteria and the decision processes, and, more importantly, they can't arrange a meeting with the economic buyer. If you don't have a reliable champion, things will change every time you enter the account."
