Episode 92: Attitude of Gratitude with Dalai Cote

Dalai Cote was the number one Senior Account Executive prior to his recent departure from Loopio, Canada’s thirteenth fastest growing technology company. Since then, Dalai has been reflecting on his career and planning his next move, one he hopes leads to a larger organization with exceptional leadership. Dalai places a tremendous amount of value on finding the right leader for not only professional but personal development as well. He is an experienced sales professional with a consistent track record of exceeding the targets he sets. Prior to his time at Loopio, Dalai spent over five years selling and building go-to-market strategy in early-mid stage high growth SaaS companies.

In this episode, Dalai talks about his sales origin story and his journey to become one of the top sales professionals in his industry. Dalai recalls his favorite sales story, one that was extremely challenging yet ultimately rewarding. Dalai used his consistency, proactivity, and ingenuity to research the company he was selling to and made a vital discovery which helped him close the largest deal in Loopio history – a record that still stands to this day. Dalai realized that his client was looking for a partner rather than a vendor and understood their ultimate goals. Dalai continues the conversation by expounding on the three things that motivate and drive him. These include a sense of purpose, recognition, and compensation. Dalai subscribes to a very specific sales philosophy, he’s a challenger who firmly believes in creating meaningful partnerships.

Dalai describes a typical day in the life, from getting to the office early to focus on emails and other key communications that occurred after hours to blocking off his Friday afternoons in order to plan and set goals for the week ahead. Dalai is a routine-oriented person who values the importance of setting aside time for reading, consuming news, and exercising daily. The three things he attributes to his success include: having a system and following it consistently, partnering with clients both at a personal and organizational level, and making success part of his identity. Finally, Dalai provides an actionable challenge to the audience. He urges them to utilize the process of continuous improving by looking to become one percent better every day.

What We Covered:

00:24 – Scott takes a moment to thank today’s sponsor, the 2020 Sales Success Summit
00:34 – Scott Ingram welcomes today’s guest, Dalai Cote
00:57 – The top three things Dalai attributes to his sales success
01:45 – Number 1: Having a system and following it consistently
02:44 – Number 2: Partnering with clients both at a personal and at an organizational level
03:22 – Building up strong champions and organizational partnerships
05:49 – What delivering value actually means
07:05 – Number 3: Making success part of his identity
09:38 – Dalai’s experience with the MEDDPICC Process
13:14 – Scott takes a moment to promote the 2020 Sales Success Summit
15:15 – Scott plays the audio of David Weiss talks through the MEDDPICC Process
20:46 – Dalai quantifies his sales results and how he has applied MEDDPICC
23:59 – Dalai’s sales origin story
25:54 – What Dalai would do differently if given the opportunity
26:54 – Strategies for finding the right leader
28:57 – Dalai shares his next steps now that he’s left his former role at Loopio
30:05 – Dalai’s favorite sales story
33:03 – The process of organizational alignment and building extrinsic value
38:32 – What Dalai is most proud of in his career
39:52 – Challenges and obstacles Dalai had to overcome throughout his career
41:40 – Advice Dalai would give to those looking to switch from a predominantly prospecting to a predominantly full-cycle sales role
43:48 – Dalai provides his insights on how long SDRs should remain in their roles before pursuing full-cycle sales roles
45:42 – Habits and routines that are critical to Dalai’s success
47:27 – Dalai describes a typical day in the life
49:41 – Dalai’s morning and evening routines
50:19 – The books, news, podcasts, and trade information that Dalai consumes
53:04 – Dalai breaks down his Friday afternoon planning process
54:27 – The importance of maintaining a positive mindset
56:39 – Tools and apps that Dalai uses on a daily basis
58:24 – The specific sales philosophy that Dalai subscribes to
59:47 – Dalai’s sales style
1:01:28 – What drives and motivates Dalai and how Dalai values money vs. recognition
1:06:03 – One of Dalai’s beliefs that the average salesperson thinks is crazy
1:07:20 – The power of conversation over presentations
1:10:53 – An average salesperson’s belief that Dalai thinks is crazy
1:12:48 – Advice Dalai would give to an upstart salesperson
1:15:58 – Advice Dalai would give to a top salesperson who is searching for that next level
1:17:28 – What Dalai would want to know about top sellers in other organizations
1:20:13 – Dalai’s actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“I’m a believer that buyers today buy from partners, not from vendors. So, the approach that I take in building partnerships has allowed me to develop stronger champions, close bigger deals and deliver more value to my clients.” (01:21)

“One piece of advice though that I often give to people just starting out is don’t try to jump up too fast. It’s really easy to find another company that’s gonna give you more money or a better title. But, what matters most starting out is picking a good leader – finding the right leader, making sure that they’re going to invest in your success, they’re going to advocate for you and really help you grow and learn.” (26:08)

“I think, as a general rule, you want to spend at least one year [in an SDR role]. But I think up to a year and a half is probably the point where you’ve actually started to master that role.” (44:29)

“It’s actually really hard to be grateful all the time, but it’s so core, I think, to living a happy and successful life.” (47:20)

“Success happens over a really long period of time. But those small incremental wins are a really great way to prove to yourself that you’re actually a successful person.” (53:59)

“I’ve made it a goal of mine this year to start giving back as much as I can to the sales community. I think I’ve made so many withdrawals from the sales community and I want to start making some deposits.” (1:01:47)

Links Mentioned:

[email protected]
2019 Sales Success Summit Videos
2020 Sales Success Summit
368: The Executive Memo – Brandon Fluharty
Brandon Fluharty on Sales Success Stories Interview
Dalai Cote on LinkedIn

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