Chris Orlob’s Post

PSA for salespeople: Having your buyers think "you get me" is 10x more powerful than having your buyers think "I get it." Yet we spend 10% of our presentations on the former and 90% on the latter. Worth flipping that ratio upside down.

I've watched 3,000 discovery calls in the last six years. Here's what I learned about the highest paid salespeople: Top salespeople get to the "heart of the problem" FASTER. Speed to uncovering the 'real' business problem matters. Here's why: Avg salespeople don't uncover even the tip of the ice berg until late in the call. So they never get beyond the surface. They run out of time. Great salespeople get to the heart of the matter (without jumping in "too" quick) fast. That gives them TIME. Time to uncover the 'need behind the need.' Time to explore negative impact. Time to shape the root cause. Here are four questions (in order) that get to 'the heart of the deal' fast: 1. Tell me about your biggest challenges when it comes to X? Easy enough. Just enough to kickstart the conversation in the right direction. But not enough by itself. Customers will (almost) always give surface level answers to the first question. 2. What's going on in the business that's driving [what they shared] to be a priorty. Ask this, and your customers will CHUCKLE half the time. Why? Because you are striking a CHORD when you ask that. You're getting to the 'need behind the need.' That's where big money lives. Getting closer. 3. What metric is suffering most as a result of that? Avg sellers struggle to quantify pain. You walk into a different world when you go from expressed pain to quantified pain. Your customer's urgency ramps up. And spending money to solve the problem begins to look REAL good. 4. What's driving you to solve all this now rather than later? Ask this too early? And the answers will be weak. BUT... If you ask this AFTER those first three questions... Your customer now has the FULL CONTEXT of the problem top-of-mind. And now... their answers to THIS question will be far, FAR richer. Give those 4 questions (in order) a try. P.S. Tired of inconsistent, unpredictable, unrepeatable sales results? Here's a repeatable 5-step SaaS selling system: - uncover business pain that money follows - generate white hot urgency from thin air - sell in an economic meltdown Achieve repeatable sales success here: https://lnkd.in/gWVp_Vxd

Discovery with INBOUND vs. OUTBOUND buyers is completely different. Outbound buyers - coming in cold - need to be "thawed" - don't know who you are - not looking for solutions Inbound buyers - coming in warm - want to talk about solutions - eager to see a demonstrations - Usually don't want to talk about pain There's the challenge with "inbound" buyers: How do you unearth business pain even though they want to see product? Here's a simple technique to do it: The "let's go back in time" technique. Here's how it works. Step 1: Meet them where they stand. The worst thing you can do with an inbound buyer? Ask about pain right off the bat. That's how you get "can you just show me the demo?" Instead, ask what motivated them to reach out. Simple. Step 2: Ask about their desired state. Now that you're talking about solutions, ruminate on that for a few min. Ask this as your next question: "What do you hope to accomplish with something like this?" And: "What are you looking for in x-type product?" Now you've earned the right. Step 3: Go back in time. Now's where you find pain. But you do it smoothly: "Can I go back in time with you for a sec?" (notice the permission) "It sounds like you and your colleagues probably defined the problem you're trying to solve with this, which triggered you to explore solutions." "Mind if I ask what the original problem was that put you on this path?" Works like a charm. Because: You started by meeting them where they are. You 'hovered' with them for a few minutes. You gained their permission. Then you asked a non intrusive question. Give it a try. P.S. Here's 39 more questions (just like these) that help you sell more SaaS like crazy (free): https://go.pclub.io/list

Salespeople: 20 min of planning every Monday morning is one of your highest ROI tasks. If nothing else: Schedule a few 2+ hour time blocks you’ll dedicate to finding new pipeline in the week ahead. None of this 15 min here, 20 min there. Go for 2+ hour stretches. When you have a big pipeline, you can afford to make mistakes. When you don’t, no room for error. A stressful place to be.

7 examples of sales questions that sell: 1. “What are the biggest challenges you’re facing that you’d regret not solving 6-12 months from now?” Why it works: The “6-12 months” bit filters out 'nice to solves.' Buyers naturally talk about urgent problems. That's what you want. 2. “What’s going on in the business that’s driving that to be a priority?” Why this works: This uncovers the ‘need behind the need.’ Most buyers start with surface level pain. But when you ask this? It gets to the heart of what’s really going on. 3. “What business outcome or metric would be improved if you solved these challenges?” Why this works: In this economy, you have to quantify the pain. That’s how buyers justify a purchase. This question helps you do just that. 4. “What’s your opinion on why these challenges are happening?” Why this works: Products solve root causes. If you don't know the root cause? You can't align your solution to it. Products don’t solve problems. They address root causes. 5. “What are the ripple effects these challenges are having on the business?” It’s cheesy to ask “how does this impact you?” Language matters. A less ‘salesy’ way to explore impact: Explore the ‘ripple effects.’ Same question. Different language. Better results. 6. “Who else in the business is impacted by these challenges, and how?” Why this works: If a problem impacts ONE team? Not urgent. If a problem impacts SEVERAL teams? Very urgent. Plus, this sets you up to multi-thread. 7. “What do you think you need in a solution to solve these challenges?” Why this works: You'll get to know your buyer's criteria. Does it align with your product? No? Better to know that now while you can shape it. Tag a seller below if you liked this. If you're a SaaS seller and want to reach the next level of your financial success without burnout, boost your win rates with these 30 scripts: https://lnkd.in/gZcrmSWE

pclub.io individual members (and potential members): I routinely get feedback that we are 'way' underpriced. Our membership rates are currently: - $997/yr - $99/mo Keeping in mind that if you're a current member, your price will not change: Do you think we are underpriced? We are considering a change (for new members only) to: - $1,200/yr - $150/mo And possibly even getting rid of the monthly option: - $1,200/yr - $399/qtr What do you think? Context if you're not familiar with pclub: We have an online library of 36+ online courses for revenue professionals (SDRs, AEs, managers, etc) for each individual skill in revenue. That course library count grows every month. P.S. You can join and lock in existing rates here: https://lnkd.in/g5fsZNDk

8 ways to build more urgency as an account executive: 1. Ask a filtering question. “What challenge are you facing that you’d regret not solving in 6-12 mos?” Filters out “nice to solve” answers. “Must solves” only. 2. Quantify the value. After your buyer shares a problem, ask: “What metric would improve most from solving that?” That helps you quantify value. Which helps justify spend. 3. Ask better-phrased impact questions. Stop asking, “How does that impact you?” Instead ask: “What are the ripple effects that challenge has on the business?” Lands MUCH better. Try it. 4. Loss aversion. Realize people are twice as motivated to avoid loss than to gain something. Phrase your messaging accordingly. “Stop losing X” instead of “start gaining Y.” 5. Quantify the cost of inaction. Uncover what it costs your buyer every month they delay solving. Don’t shove it down their throat. Get them on your side of the table. But make sure you spell it out. 6. Stop using discounts to drive urgency. In complex B2B sales, it never works. And it crushes your credibility. 7. Find a ‘compelling event.’ Find a time-bound event driving them to act. When you have enough trust, ask: “What’s driving you to solve this now rather than later?” 8. Ask a well-timed "closing question" When you feel the time is right, ask your buyer: “Under what circumstances could we execute a commercial agreement by X-date?” Then shut up and listen. You’d be shocked at what you hear. If you made it this far, drop a 💯in the comments. P.S. Tired of inconsistent, unpredictable, unrepeatable sales results? Here's a repeatable 5-step SaaS selling system: - uncover business pain that money follows - generate white hot urgency from thin air - sell in an economic meltdown Achieve repeatable sales success here: https://lnkd.in/gWVp_Vxd

7 cold email hacks for SaaS sellers to boost reply rates: 1. Make the CTA easy to say YES to 2. Add a PS to every cold email 3. Keep subject line to 3-4 words 4. Make it seem like an internal email 5. Write the email in an "F-shape." 6. Describe their problem better than they can 7. Leave your product out of it completely What would you add? P.S. If you're a SaaS seller and want to reach the next level of your financial success without burnout, boost your win rates with these 30 scripts: https://lnkd.in/gZcrmSWE

9 Life Hacks for Salespeople: 1. Write a P.S. on every email 2. Plan every day in advance 3. Work in 90 minute sprints 4. Stop preparing for cold calls 5. Make 30 new 'touches' a day 6. Write cold emails in an "F" shape 7. Don't start calls w/out a planned next step 8. Build your skills relentlessly like a crazy person 9. Realize that 'consistency' is the ultimate hack P.S. If you're a SaaS seller and want to reach the next level of your financial success without burnout, boost your win rates with these 30 scripts: https://lnkd.in/gZcrmSWE

14 years ago I had $40 to my name. My dream was to become a pro drummer. After practicing 6 hours a day for years, I got tendinitis in both elbows and permanent scar tissue. A "career-ending injury," in drummer-speak. Had no idea what to do next. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) bought me dinner most nights. I couldn't afford more than Top Ramen (and she had a job). Then one day (after my car battery died and I couldn't afford a new one) I made a vow: I was going to become a millionaire by age 30. I was DONE with living a life of financial scarcity. I saw that rip apart my parent's marriage, and I was committed to leaving that in my past. Didn't know how I was going to do it. But didn't care. I just needed a new "life dream" to shoot for. When I told my roommate (now my co-founder) about my new goal, he said something that changed my life: "If you want to do well for yourself economically, spend your time getting really, really good at selling." Those words etched a bike path on my brain. I took them to heart (and I still do). I went to Barnes and Noble. Bought a book called "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success In Selling." Tore through it in three days. Mind-spinning with possibility. And soon became obsessed with mastering this thing called "Sales." Fast forward, and a few things happened. I went from: - selling door to door coupon books, to - selling home security over the phone, to - becoming an SDR at a local tech company, to - becoming an AE then RSM at that company, to - starting my first ( real) company (and failing), to - helping grow Gong from $200k to $200M, to - making my first $1,000,000 before age 30, to - growing pclub to multi-7 figure ARR in 1 year - read 500 books on business in a decade What's the point of me sharing this? Simple: Focus on relentless skill acquisition, and your dream life follows. Everyone thinks it takes several decades to achieve huge things. And sure, a long-term focus is important. But the REAL distance between where you are now and where you want to be is not measured in time. It's measured in skills. Your dream life demands that you acquire certain skills. Acquire those skills faster, and you compress the time it takes to reach your goal. Tony Robbins has a story he tells often: He 'mastered' public speaking in a year where it takes others decades. How? At the beginning of his career, instead of speaking once a week, he'd speak 3x a day to anyone who would listen. So he'd get a "year's" worth of experience in less than a month. He uses that story to make a point: Mastery takes as long as you want it to take. The faster your rate of mastery, the shorter the time between you and what you want. I hope this helps inspires you to realize: You're closer than you think.