The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons From a Five-Time CRO - Unknown  ## Metadata - Author: **Unknown** - Full Title: The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons From a Five-Time CRO - Category: #articles - URL: https://readwise.io/reader/document_raw_content/261599665 ## Highlights - Some sales reps exaggerate and embellish deal scenarios and potential closing outcomes. Others may have had confirmation bias, or “happy ears,” when they called on accounts. They heard what they wanted to hear and saw things through rose-colored glasses, believing certain accounts will close in the quarter, when in actuality they won’t. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jksnz5hzxxj1tr8as7s1a847)) - They grilled him more, but Carlos seemed in control of his deals. He knew the customer environment, described their pains, understood the quantification of those pains, and knew how not solving the pain would have a negative effect on the customer’s business. He’d clearly helped the customer develop the buying criteria in every deal. He even knew what he didn’t know—the signature process at the large techservices institution. This was one rep I admired. He dug in his heels. He wouldn’t be peer-pressured into forecasting a higher number. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkspj2w7aw4g0yp59nc8ws99)) - “Why does the customer have to buy so quickly?” Jim asked. “They raved so much about the latest feature release that we ended up having an hour-long discussion, which revealed their eagerness. I’m confident it can close in this quarter.” Kathleen had keenly avoided the question by discussing a random product feature set, but Jim didn’t seem to notice. He moved on to the next account, McCormick. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jksprmddpfmbmevj191bepm2)) ## New highlights added February 11, 2025 at 6:59 PM - could articulate the exact stage of every deal, the exact status, nor the logical next step. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkvz8v38s56bm03m5883ndwy)) - I had several questions in mind: Did they have a coach or a Champion? What information did they lack? Why did the customer have to buy? Who had final budget approval? Who controlled the deal? What is the urgency to buy? How will the customer justify the purchase? What is the customer’s evaluation process? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkvz9zycd5fms3eh9e2vc709)) - the end, each manager committed to a number. Then their directors and VPs’ committed to a number. The forecast rolled up to the CRO, who put his own spin on the forecast to the CEO, who committed the final number to the board of directors. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkvzjeg9gbbpkspsr02hxpt1)) - “I’ll never understand the art involved in a sale, but I know everything is a process. And there’s a science to every process. And every step can be measured in order to understand and control a process. My sales leaders lack an understanding of process and measurement, which means they can’t control their accounts.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkvztx6c3e5qtm370qx1ge4w)) ## New highlights added February 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM - If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkw77xczj6ghhep9y9vvmjs2)) - He laughed. “Well, first of all, we’ve never targeted the perfect customers for Forego. And we’re poor qualifiers, so every account looks like a great prospect. Since we haven’t identified our ideal targets and we can’t qualify, we hang onto accounts that will never buy. That wastes time and lowers sales productivity.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkw7qafqm765an30cv2v77fz)) - Forego’s customer churn was high because they sold too low in companies for small dollars. Selling small deals at low levels in a company, without the customer understanding the tangible business value of the product, causes a high degree of customer churn. If a customer doesn’t understand the business value of a subscription product, the customer won’t renew their annual subscription. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jkw7sv55jntt0wya6a5zmzsv)) ## New highlights added February 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM - I’m constantly surprised to learn that sales teams don’t have a common vocabulary. The leader asks questions, the rep answers, but they aren’t really communicating. They believe they’re communicating, but they’re not understanding each other, because they use different definitions for the same words. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm1c73rc0e7gby53eyt3bye6)) - “Did you know that people can listen and comprehend 250 words per minute?” I asked. A few heads shook, and low mumbles followed. “But most people speak at only 150 words per minute. What does that create? Impatience. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm1c9y2r846ne8va70eya5xp)) - Most people are in a constant state of partial attention. Silence the phone, close the laptop, forget about what just happened, what you did last weekend, what you’re going to say next, or what you’re going to do later. Be HERE. Force yourself into a deep listening experience. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm1ch1sr0r7n3a3tar13nt43)) - In that moment, I recognized that Carlo had been carrying me all day. My not speaking Italian had been a hindrance to his ability to perform. As I stood there, I also realized something more important: The character trait that separated Carlo from his peers wasn’t his intelligence, his keen sense of human behavior, his street smarts, or his amazing intuition. I’d hired many sales reps with all of those traits. It was curiosity that separated Carlo. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm1d9erve0ws13b6faqr5c2m)) ## New highlights added February 14, 2025 at 9:41 PM - “A sales process should be a map for a sales rep to follow. It should have directions and steps that a rep should perform, from start to finish, to close a deal. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm410hqgvjeq9hdd7cawfjpt)) - Champions have influence in accounts, which gives them access to the Economic Buyer. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm41rwbm2fy0je7cgfvdyd86)) - A rep’s ability to find a Champion starts with the rep finding and quantifying mission-critical business pain during Discovery ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm41sbddt4pgz0bx9nwzpwxf)) - Champions want to attach themselves to the solution of a major business pain. Reps need Champions to get them to the Economic Buyer, or the person within the company who has discretionary use of fund ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm41t339w20kehkndwmmxkeb)) - Pain finds Champions Champions get you to the Economic Buyer The Economic Buyer has access to major funds ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm41v3kfhbb2q1y5fmtnxve0)) ## New highlights added February 14, 2025 at 10:40 PM - Take the time and space they give you to get as much information as possible but be acutely aware of when to give them some information about your product or customer success stories ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm420gz9frqwtyge1v4ah0p7)) ## New highlights added February 15, 2025 at 5:59 PM - Reps need to be immersed in the customer conversation during Discovery. Immersing in the customer conversation can only occur if reps are totally prepared with the base product and customer knowledge. For example, reps need to know base knowledge items below, without thinkin ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm65egex3y4bef6x1gr2z9y4)) - Reps need to be immersed in the customer conversation during Discovery. Immersing in the customer conversation can only occur if reps are totally prepared with the base product and customer knowledge. For example, reps need to know base knowledge items below, without thinking: The customer’s use case Typical pains in the use case Open-ended discovery questions Their unique product differentiators How their product differentiators solve pain Typical quantifiable value of their solution ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm65fsn7cwgztrb1nqrx0q9y)) ## New highlights added February 16, 2025 at 6:59 AM - Many reps believe customers buy products based on price. What they need to learn is that customers buy products based on the value they perceive they will receive, not price. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6jnj3fehz6zf27g7vch41d)) - business issues, they never gain access to people high in the account, who are oriented toward operating the business. If, by chance, they try selling features and functions high in an organization, they quickly get relegated to lower levels of the account to people who deal with low level issues. Anyone with experience knows, “you get relegated to whom they sound like” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6js59qvwafafqywvtv55cc)) - “It’s time to teach the reps to slow down to go fast,” I said. “Have them slow down during the first two stages of the sales process. That ensures an understanding of the magnitude of the customer’s pains and environment, which in turn can translate to a potential match to your product.” From near the back, Kathleen raised her hand. “Many times, customers push us to go faster,” she said. “They make demands. They push us for a POC, either to respond to an RFP or to just give them a price quote.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6k3c1qtypecqc14zxj0jjc)) - “Right. Most of the time, it’s a lower-level person. And in the majority of cases, the person demanding the POC is no more prepared to articulate the magnitude of their pains than any person you happen to cold-call. Do they fully comprehend why the company has to buy?” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6k21mvyxzta6d6pqzw4qtx)) - hannon and I had gone on a call to a company named First Data and had come out with a beautiful example of how high-level buyers focus on solving major business issues. It was the perfect reason to show why Forego needed to discover big business pains. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6k4b9t3yk257q2r4j53f2n)) - “He said, ‘We deal with thousands of vendors selling thousands of products, especially in the security world where there is a plethora of choices. We have hundreds of issues to solve, but only the vendors who focus on solving the largest problems our company faces obtain our business. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6k5hbkwv0gsc8t8w8vnx5a)) -  ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm6k9wa9t05w68rbg6g0rt6g)) ## New highlights added February 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM - If sales managers hire C-grade players and do everything else perfectly— onboarding, training, developing, and maintaining a great sales process—that team will still have a difficult time becoming the number one sales force. However, if you hire only grade A players and do everything else average, the A players will help you find a way to win. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmbnx0vtf2yr10zskmes10rx)) ## New highlights added February 20, 2025 at 9:45 PM - Intelligence ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdcawrvppqxkbtakvqwppg)) - PHD Coachability and Adaptability Integrity Curiosity ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdceq5e33dgy8dyd23xzw0)) - Intelligence A rep needs to have the intelligence to gain the knowledge required to succeed. An intelligent rep will quickly learn your product, competition, processes, methodologies, and customer persona use-case issues. And as companies grow, selling situations change due to new products, new services, new messaging, changing competition, and evolving customer pains. Every reps’ knowledge needs to be constantly updated. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdderr09xx80yhxcmzq1zw)) - Persistence, Heart, and Desire (PHD) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdem3m44bp9kx8z1hzs27c)) - They take a considerable amount of persistence and desire to master. A national billiards Champion was once asked to explain the difference between winners and losers. He said, "The loser’s practice until they get it right, and the winner’s practice until they never get it wrong." Persistence is paramount in skill development. It doesn't matter how intelligent someone is if they also don't possess the heart and desire to continually master new sales skills. As the sales process evolves, reps need to master new skills to execute new steps in the sales process. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdfzeps1e5waqbm8vxkky4)) - Coachability and Adaptability ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdg70dh19axraznfer65mt)) - Multiple times, I've seen reps who are either too insecure to admit that they cannot perform a new function or too fearful of change. They won’t let anyone coach them. If you're not coachable, you won't learn. If you won’t learn, you won’t adapt. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdh8a3zesc9c39fdbeg3zn)) - Adaptability is a critical trait in any rapidly growing company. As your product, market, competition, and company changes, you'll need people who are flexible enough to adapt to the changing environment. They'll need to perform new tasks, learn new products, and develop new skills. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdhmy95x59rdxr9k1m4xbb)) - Integrity According to the Oxford Language Dictionary, the definition of integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness.” It’s challenging to make the number every quarter without having to worry if everyone on your team is being honest and transacting deals with integrity. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jmkdjd8ffzcgyfm0bv1wbe33))