Sarah Dick’s Post

SDR's making sure their last meeting of the quarter sits.

Sales reps in EOQ pipeline reviews: "It's definitely coming in this week. I've built a really strong relationship with my champion & we're in constant communication" The reality:

Thanks Mark Ackers for nominating me for Tom Boston's #OneTakeChallenge 'good idea Tom'... Seriously though, this is my first video on Linkedin and I probably wouldn't have ever posted a video without this. I admire people like Tom, Nia Woodhouse & Lucy Obertelli who consistently post video's which always brighten up my day, but I didn't expect my first video to be on the spot, looking like sh*t. But here we are. Oh well. The benefits? - Pushed my out of my comfort zone - Prevented getting grief from Mark for not doing it - Nominating those who doubted I'd do it cough HENRY - Pushing 3 other people outside of their comfort zone So... Henry Clayton Lucy Owen Chris Fry You're up! P.s. Dont EVER watch your own video back. P.P.S. How about that MySalesCoach session, Tom? 

Your biggest competitor in an RFP is hardly ever the other vendors competing. It's the incumbent. Instead of getting happy ears when they reel off all the things they hate about their current vendor, ask these... ❓Have you made the decision you’re 100% moving or are you just seeing if there’s anything better out there? ❓Have you discussed your issues with your CSM? What have they done about it? ❓When’s your renewal date and have you given notice? ❓What happens if they tell you they can solve all these challenges and offer a very competitive renewal proposal? ❓I'm guessing you're gonna have a battle with your CFO if they offer a cheap renewal to keep your business... ❓Transitioning takes a lot of time, effort and money - surely its easier just to stay put? (shoutout to George Donovan for this one!) ❓Who in the business is gonna be upset if you tell them you’re making the move? Why? 

This time last year, my commission was 3x less than what it is now, yet i'm not closing 3x more deals. Instead, I focussed on these things... 💰 Deal Value 💰 - I stopped selling one product and started selling a suite. - I stopped negotiating against myself. - I got confident in providing pricing and then shutting up. - I started to understand when pricing really was the blocker, and only then negotiated. 📆 Multi-year Deals 📆 - Every proposal was based on a multi-year deal. - Rather than discounting for extra commitment, I started with the extra commitment, and the price increased for less. - I got rid of the head trash that people didn't want multi-years - I recognised that the price doesn't necessarily need to change for multi-year commitment, simply holding that pricing for a longer period of time meant that buyers appreciated no uplift. ⏱️ I stopped wasting time ⏱️ - I got rid of any pipeline that simply wasn't 'pipeline' so that I could free up more time on the deals likely to close. - I spent less time on smaller deals, that typically took as much effort as the larger deals. - Instead, I spent more time strategising on more creative proposals, creating mutual action plans & supporting on business cases for larger deals. - I focussed my efforts on working out how to engage additional stakeholders in larger deals which typically had a larger buying committee.

3 reasons it took me 3 years to make Presidents Club... 1️⃣ I was shit at maintaining relationships. My biggest source of quota last year came from hoop opportunities I'd previously lost who I'd kept in touch with. Previously I had a short-term view of 'if it's not immediate pipeline, I don't want it'. 2️⃣ I wasted soooo much time on shit opportunities. Last year, I ruthlessly qualified out. Our data shows I qualified out more discovery calls than anyone on the team. If I genuinely didn't believe I could win it, I'd get rid. 3️⃣ I wanted to be liked. It took 3 years of coaching and listening to other reps calls to figure out that nothing bad happens when you ask difficult questions. Now I ask whatever I want to know, and shockingly, I'm still alive. Find your champions who will buy from you at some point < You can only do this by asking tough questions. Build and maintain those relationships by gaining credibility < You can only do this by asking tough questions. Even if your sales cycle is short, sales is a long game.

Yesterday I woke up and put my gym clothes on with all intentions of going to the gym after my morning meetings. 1️⃣ Now, firstly, my morning was ruined by the fact that my fave gym clothes were still in the suitcase from Mexico (yes, im that kinda person that doesnt unpack). Then came allll the other reasons for not going to the gym. 2️⃣ My sister called me and asked if I could pick her up after her GCSE at midday 3️⃣ My Apple watch alerted me to say it was nearly dead (if you don't track it, it doesn't count, right?) 4️⃣ When I finally left the house, a car had parked across my driveway 🙃 (This was the moment I thought God was telling me not to go 🤣) 5️⃣ After knocking on neighbours doors to find the culprit & eventually getting in the car, the fuel light came on, meaning I'd need to go fuel up first And finally, to top it off... 6️⃣ I got a notification from Dominoes asking if I fancied a 'cheeky little pizza for £4' 😭 After messaging several friends, my PT and Google asking for motivation, I finally made it. But as great as my friends were at telling me 'you got this' (& they really were great!), it wasn't their motivation that did the trick. I always have 2 photo's to hand; One of me at my slimmest with a big smile on my face, and one of me looking really fat and miserable. The point? Motivation does not, should not, and cannot come from external factors. YOU are the only person who can motivate yourself. If I was ever in a position of hiring a sales rep, this is the no.1 thing I'd look for. Everything else can be taught. But no-one's gonna help you get out of bed, pick up the phone, go to the gym, or make money for you.

Those who know me, know that one of my top 3 motivators is holidays. After 3 years, I finally made it to Allego's Presidents Club and thoroughly enjoyed sunning it up in Mexico last week ☀️ Presidents Club is intended to be a reward and an incentive - motivation to make it to next years club. Whilst thats true (& I intend to be there next year!), the biggest motivation it gave me was to holiday like that every year. Pay for it myself. Go wherever I want to go. Take whoever I want to. So, congrats to all my fellow P-Clubbers, and if anyone's looking for a Revenue Enablement Platform, I'd appreciate you funding my future lavish holiday lifestyle so I don't have to wait another 12 months 😎

What does incredible coaching lead to? Yesterday, I jumped in the back of a 500bhp Merc with Lucy Obertelli at the wheel 😬 She told the Mercedes driving coach 'I've never driven an auto, so I will be going 30mph' 😴 The coach gave Lucy advice on where to hold the steering wheel for best control and handling, when to break vs when to put your foot down and when to take the outer corners vs when to pull back to the right. He gave her reassurance that he wouldn't let her do anything he didn't think she was capable of, and then told her to go for it. Anyway, here's us 15 minutes later drifting round the wet circle after hitting double digits on the circuit 🏎️ Shoutout to the Allego & MySalesCoach teams for an incredible event - interesting conversations, great speakers, and my personal highlight... the opportunity to finally meet some customers in person! P.S. Lucy, I hope your little Polo can handle a bit of drifting now 😆