Sales Success Stories

60 Stories from 20 Top 1% Sales Professionals

Scott Ingram

• Publisher: Top 1% Publishing
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780990605942
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Sales
• Index: Business

In the first of its kind, this book features real stories of success and failure exclusively from quota carrying sales professionals who were either #1 or at least in the top 1% of sellers at their respective companies. Every contributor has been featured on Scott Ingram's Sales Success Stories Podcast.

Read about how they manage their mindset to get to and stay at the top. Learn how they develop relationships that allow them to win again and again. Benefit from their insights on how they've successfully navigated their sales careers. The book wouldn't be complete without a deep dive into their sales processes from prospecting and discovery to territory and deal management.

These stories are relevant for anybody in sales, but especially for those in B2B sales from startup sellers to seasoned enterprise sales professionals

Contributors include:
AJ Brasel, Clover Imaging
Camille Clemons, SGG Group
David Weiss, ADP
Dayna Leaman, Wiley
Debe Rapson, Sprinklr
DeJuan Brown, Bloomberg BNA
Florin Tatulea, Loopio
George Penyak, Restaurant Technologies
Jacquelyn Nicholson, Percolate
Jelle den Dunnen, Bullhorn
John Hinkson, Dan Cummins Chevrolet
Justin Bridgemohan, Total Expert
Kevin Walkup, SalesLoft
Kyle Gutzler, Teradata
Mike Dudgeon, LinkedIn
Paul DiVincenzo, Cintas
Phil Terrill, Microsoft
Trey Simonton, Accruent
Trong Nguyen, ServiceNow

1.

Ditching the
“Salesman” Mentality

By AJ Brasel

When I first started a career in sales, I often found myself cringing a little bit whenever people asked what I did for a living. I never wanted to be considered a commission-hungry salesman that preyed on the weak to line my own pocketbook. A career in sales, in my mind, carried a “Used Car Salesmen” stigma that I found extremely unpalatable. A few months into my career, I decided to ditch the mentality of doing what was best for me and started to work on doing things that were in the best interest of my customers. Showing a true concern for the best interest of your customer’s well-being helps build a relationship that has a strong foundation of trust; your customers will stop being suspicious of your intentions and will look to you as more of an advisor. The result is the same – increased compensation – but you’ll end up enjoying a longer and more fulfilling career as a result. The key to gaining this mentality can be broken down into three solid fundamentals: fully understanding your customer’s needs, setting realistic customer expectations and knowing when to walk away from a prospect.

Trying to plug a product or solution into a situation that it doesn’t fit into might yield short-term success, but will end up causing issues in the long run. Whenever you first engage with a prospective customer, it’s extremely important to ask qualifying questions and spend most of your time listening. One of the biggest pitfalls salespeople get themselves into is thinking they need to go into a call and over communicate how life-changing their product is. Forcing your way into a prospect’s pocketbook by overselling does work and I’ve seen reps be successful doing it, but in the long run, you will kill your chances of repeat business and find yourself needing to work harder to bring in new leads. The best way to start to plant that seed of trust is to go into all calls without worrying what is going to make you the most money. Start the meeting by asking a few open-ended qualifying questions and letting your customer lead you to the sale by giving you information. If you spend your time listening to the prospect’s current pain points and needs, they will tell you everything you need to know to get the sale and look like a hero in the long run. Opening a dialog will allow your prospect to be part of the buying process and will give them confidence that by going with your product or solution, they are getting the best outcome. Over time, the customer will continue to come back to you and look to you for additional solutions when needed. This is going to minimize pricing pressure from other suppliers, as well as hard feelings if something ever did go wrong in the long run.

Setting unrealistic expectations to win a deal is another tendency I commonly see in sales representatives looking to line their pockets. So many people have issues with saying “no” or explaining the limitations of their product or service. There are always nuances in business that can cause problems with a client-vendor relationship. Whether the issue lies with the product or pitfalls in the supply chain, it is extremely important to set expectations up front. This way, whenever something does go wrong, it doesn’t send the entire deal into a spiral. The best sales representatives are honest with their customer and let them know of common pitfalls up front. Selling a deal with those in the open will create a longer-lasting customer relationship with that foundation being built on trust. If a customer expects flawless quality and execution, then whenever an issue arises, the representative that sold to them will undoubtedly lose all credibility in the future. Customers always appreciate honesty – if a rep sets realistic expectations, then the entire deal will be easier and the customer will feel confident communicating with the salesperson throughout the relationship.

The final and most important way to overcome the stigma of being a greedy salesperson is knowing when to walk away from a deal. If a representative follows the first two points mentioned earlier (listening to the prospect and setting realistic expectations) and the prospect’s needs don’t fit, it is always acceptable to walk away. Winning a deal that doesn’t fit might yield immediate payment, but will cause issues and headaches in the long run. I often see salespeople win opportunities that were not a good fit, and they either lose that deal (burning a bridge in the process) or spend countless prospecting hours cleaning up a mess. Whenever I am mentoring new sales reps – this is a point I always stress. Being completely honest and upfront with a prospect, and then walking away if necessary, might build confidence that could open doors with that customer down the line whenever a different need comes up. A deal that isn’t the right fit is doomed from the start and walking away from it will give you the time to focus on partnerships that are long-lasting and will yield long-term positive results.

AJ Brasel’s Bio

Differentiating Yourself Through Goal Setting

Overcoming the Price Objection

2.

Determination and Persistence

By Dayna Leaman

Some accounts make you wonder why you stayed in sales, let alone decided it was a good idea to start in the first place. I think many of us have these thoughts in our head at some point.

I know that more than one account brought me to this point. Maybe that’s because the model for Higher Education technology sales is quite… well…crazy. For starters, the sales cycle is typically long, similar to waiting at the DMV…but longer. Many customers demand constant change, while others demand none at all. Most of all, it includes several layers of decision-makers, all of whom could undermine the process at multiple points.

Let me explain. In selling technology in education, the sales rep rarely sees the actual buyer: the student who uses the platform to study for her courses. It’s an odd way to do business, but nearly every player in the market approaches it in this way. So, while the nature of the business is changing constantly, it’s mainly the professor that makes the final decision about which book is being used—and if the technology is being used at all. Once the professor makes the decision, the bookstore orders the package and posts the required course materials on their website. If the stars align or the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl (whichever happens first), the students buy it or they purchase it directly online from the publisher or bookstore. What’s more likely to happen? Students figure out how they will not use it, thereby not making the purchase and saving the money for some sort of social gathering that involves coins, plastic cups and a fermented substance made with wheat. A final alternative—the Hail Mary-- students figure out how much it’s worth towards their grade, and once again ask themselves: “Is this really worth it?”

Yes, this is my fate—along with never winning the door prize at any of these company functions. However, I manage the sales process. It’s a little odd, not selling directly to your customer, but there are others who do it, right? And they make money too, right? It’s always been my motto to begin with the end in mind. One of my great mentors at Wiley, Bonnie Liberman, used to tell me this a lot, especially when I was frustrated or confused by this rather oxymoronic process. Case in point? My ‘end’ was making sure that Christine Smith at Tulane University was going to use my Financial Accounting text and learning platform, WileyPLUS. Allow me to share this story with you.

I tried for years to have Christine use my products, but she was too busy with going to school while teaching, helping her students, and keeping up with all the demands of teaching and working at a university. She always had a line of students outside her door during her office hours (many of whom, no doubt, felt that their ‘C’ should be upgraded to a ‘B’); it was simply just hard to get to her. You’d have a better chance of meeting up with Aaron Judge after a game at Yankee Stadium. This happens a great deal in this business, but some people just don’t want to change their approach or mindset. This is where fortune favors the bold.

Christine taught Intermediate Accounting for years. While we had wonderful conversations where she promised to review my products, she just never made the time or showed any real willingness to change. I got tired of waiting, so I found other “fish to fry.” Nonetheless, I never forgot about Christine. I knew that whatever opportunity she might still be able to present, I had to make a number. Her business, at least for the present and immediate future, was not going to be in that number.

Then, as always in sales, something changes--something truly out of your control. Christine’s father, who taught the Financial Accounting course, suddenly passed away. She then decided to take over the course. Showing more perseverance than the coyote after falling off yet another cliff after chasing the roadrunner, I thought I saw a way in! However, there are many details I didn’t initially realize; for example, she was involved with another publisher and had an agreement with them that she would use the same text her father had used.

Time passed and, as we often see in sales, time can both help ...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1. Ditching the “Salesman” Mentality - AJ Brasel
• 2. Determination and Persistence - Dayna Leaman
• 3. The Mindset of a Champion - Kyle Gutzler
• 4. Don’t Take it Personally; They Just Didn’t Want to Buy From You - David Weiss
• 5. Creating Success with the Customer First - John Hinkson
• 6. Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable - Dayna Leaman
• 7. On Competitiveness - Justin Bridgemohan
• 8. On Confidence - Justin Bridgemohan
• 9. On Charisma - Justin Bridgemohan
• 10. Giving Back and Growing - John Hinkson
• 11. Courage Drives Positive Outcomes- Debe Rapson
• 12. Differentiating Yourself Through Goal Setting - AJ Brasel
• 13. Mindset Exists of Multiple Key Factors and Can Have a Massive Impact! - Jelle den Dunnen
• 14. I’m 6’4” and Devilishly Handsome - Trong Nguyen
• 15. Build Rapport - Jacquelyn Nicholson
• 16. My Dad was Right! - Dayna Leaman
• 17. People to People Sales - Paul DiVincenzo
• 18. The Playa - Trong Nguyen
• 19. Unprecedented, Impossible to Top - Camille Clemons
• 20. What Are You Scared of? - Trong Nguyen
• 21. Sell High - Jacquelyn Nicholson
• 22. Ask for Referrals Often and Always - Kevin Walkup
• 23. Make a Habit of Biting Your Tongue, so the Client has Time to Speak - Trey Simonton
• 24. Your Network is Everything - Kevin Walkup
• 25. Why Lunch Doesn’t Matter - Trong Nguyen
• 26. Avoid the Single Thread - Never Fail Alone - Jacquelyn Nicholson
• 27. Success from Relationships and Trust - Paul DiVincenzo
• 28. Choosing a New Path in Sales - John Hinkson
• 29. Just F@#$ing Kill Me - David Weiss
• 30. Love the Product You Sell - George Penyak
• 31. A Rapid Rise, an Epic Fall, and Getting “Fired-Up” - Scott Ingram
• 32. Momentum Selling - Kyle Gutzler
• 33. Career Momentum - Kyle Gutzler
• 34. Performance Enhancement Plan – Going from Underperforming to Overperforming - Mike Dudgeon
• 35. Getting Promoted in Tough Times - Paul DiVincenzo
• 36. Be Specific About What You Want - Scott Ingram
• 37. Don’t Forget to Add the Personal into Business Relationships - Jelle den Dunnen
• 38. Best Practices vs. ONLY Practices - Paul DiVincenzo
• 39. Run Your Sales Career Like a Franchise - Mike Dudgeon
• 40. Getting It Done & Doing It Right – Recipe for a Great Sales Culture - Scott Ingram
• 41. Why is Why Better than What? - DeJuan Brown
• 42. Set Your Goals at 2x to 3x Your Quota and Build a Daily Routine to Over Achieve - Trey Simonton
• 43. Differentiating Yourself From the Average Sales Development Rep (SDR) - Florin Tatulea
• 44. Creative Prospecting - Scott Ingram
• 45. The Art of Persistence and Knowing When to Quit - Florin Tatulea
• 46. The Janitor Knows More than You - DeJuan Brown
• 47. Always be A / B Testing - Florin Tatulea
• 48. F*@# the Status Quo - Do You - Phil Terrill
• 49. Over-delivering on Value - George Penyak
• 50. Who Knew selling Looked Like this? - Camille Clemons
• 51. Discovery Is Not Just One Step In The Process - Debe Rapson
• 52. Deal Qualification. How I Used to Lose ~40% of my Deals to a Single Competitor - Jelle den Dunnen
• 53. The Year I Doubled my Income - David Weiss
• 54. Well that Sucked - Camille Clemons
• 55. Take Time for Research and Always do a Dry Run - Trey Simonton
• 56. Understanding an Opportunity’s True Value - George Penyak
• 57. The Four “Fs” to Building the Right Momentum with Customers - Phil Terrill
• 58. Overcoming the Price Objection - AJ Brasel
• 59. Let Me Know if Anything Changes - DeJuan Brown
• 60. I Love S.A.L.E.S. - Phil Terrill
• Conclusion