“Sales is all about relationships.” – Lynn Powers in today’s Tip 1246
How do you turn your losses into wins?
Join the conversation below and check out the full interview with Lynn!
Clari
Lynn Powers on LinkedIn
Lynn Powers on Sales Success Stories Interview
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. This tip is a clip from my most recent interview on the Sales Success Stories Podcast with Lynn Powers who is Clari’s Top AE. Listen to this:
Lynn Powers: The interesting part, I think, with that too, Scott, is there’s a very very unique window that sellers have, right between when a deal closes, it gets handed off to implementation, and then that implementation hands off to the customer success. I think those two key points when you’re thinking of a competitive deal are really important if you had lost. Right?
Scott Ingram: Because how often does the ball get dropped, right?
Lynn Powers: Exactly. And at that point of the deal cycle, if your competitor isn’t fulfilling what they were saying they were going to fulfill during implementation, how much easier is it for you to say, “We’re not even going to implement this anymore. Let’s just implement what we wanted to implement.” And that’s exactly what happened in this deal, was I got them right at the tip of implementation, and that’s when I was hammering them even harder. They told me no. I said, “Perfect, let’s keep chatting through implementation.” Some of these unique characteristics that you and I have identified, I really want to make sure that you can get this done with them and held them to that.
So, again, holding your buyers accountable for some of the things that they’re going to deliver on, even if it’s like, we’re going to deliver this with a different solution, “Great. How can I help impact that?” And again, the implementation window to customer success is another unique one because Clari has an amazing customer success team. It’s one of the main reasons why our customers come back to us every single time is because we are strategic in a way that helps them grow, help their reps become more predictable and productive.
And if we’re able to influence what’s happening right when they’re handed over the keys to drive the car, what happens if the car doesn’t even start? Or what happens when adoption doesn’t take off the way that you intended it to? And that’s where I find those wins with competitors, is in those two moments.
Scott Ingram: Okay, hang on. We’re going to go back because here’s what I just heard you say. You are holding your lost accounts accountable to getting the results they contracted with somebody else on, so that if they don’t get that, you’re like, well, how about we actually deliver that for you?
Lynn Powers: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s like a key part because, again, as I mentioned, at the top of this is sales is all about relationships. It’s not about a deal. So whether I lost the deal, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t lose a person. And so if I’m able to nurture that. And again, from an authenticity perspective, isn’t that what we were solving to begin with. Like, regardless of a solution that you choose, that’s still your mission. So I think taking that stigma out of it is another thing. But again, from a rep perspective, you do need to prioritize your time. So whether that’s a playbook you have for that or whether there’s a few plays that you can at least lay out and get groundwork for or at least like a timeline around, that’s going to be impactful and that’s going to be really important for the long term success of the company that you’re working with from their technology stack as well.
Scott Ingram: You are blowing my mind here because we’ve been talking about this a lot and I’m going to use this as a pivot point for us. So we’ve been talking about how the average typical reps set the bar low for us. And what I’m imagining here is the typical buyer experience after a customer signs off is they pretty much don’t hear from that sales rep again. So imagine their experience when you, as the alternative solution provider who lost, stay in touch with them better than the winning sales rep. Like, what does that do psychologically for that buyer in terms of building trust and going, okay, wait a minute, this isn’t doing what we thought we would do, and look what this other company is doing. This is next level.
Lynn Powers: Yeah, and that’s where I press the gas, right? That’s when I fill my tank up. You told me I lost. I don’t lose. I don’t ever lose. I’m very inigo attitude type of person. I’m like, “Okay, who made the decision?” Like, who did I not talk to? Who did I not do that with? And how do I make the person that I am championing with make that person feel more comfortable about the decision that they made and that I wasn’t the right choice. If you feel very confident that that was the right decision, okay, what happens if I go talk to all these other people that you’re implementing to in the field and they’re not getting the results that you’re mentioning, and then I showcase that to them. That feedback is incredibly important.
Scott Ingram: For more gold nuggets from Lynn, check out episode 147 on the Sales Success Stories podcast. Of course, we’ll have links to that and for you to connect with Lynn on LinkedIn at DailySales.Tips/1246. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!