Episode 150: There’s Always One Last Chance with IBISWorld’s Sebastian Amaya

Sebastian Amaya is the top seller at IBISWorld, an organization that provides trusted industry research on thousands of industries worldwide. In his role, Sebastian leverages his experience and acumen to provide businesses with market insights and strategic outcomes. Sebastian is an incredibly thorough and intentional sales professional. It may sound cliché, but Sebastian prides himself on being the hardest working rep in the room. This dedication and tenacity has been a major reason Sebastian has enjoyed so much success in his role. An avid listener and member of the Sales Success Community, Sebastian is thrilled to share some of his own insights in today’s episode.

Today, Sebastian joins Scott to talk about the competitive advantage that comes from selling ‘human to human.’ By forming a connection with a prospect on a level outside of work, Sebastian has found that that is a key to building strong relationships. Sebastian provides the top three things he attributes most to his success, including striving to be the hardest working rep on the team, having a good grasp of the services his company offers, and always seeking continual improvement. Sebastian continues by providing some insights into his daily habits and routines. He details his journaling process, how he prepares for each day, and how he seeks out opportunities each week to see what he needs to do to exceed targets and keep that momentum going.

Sebastian speaks to the importance of treating sales as a craft, just as a doctor or a professional athlete would. He understands that it isn’t what you do in the 9 to 5 every day that matters. It’s about the effort you put in when you’re not ‘on the clock’ that propels you to greater heights. Sebastian talks about the concept of ‘There’s Always One Last Chance,’ a saying he picked up while watching soccer and one that he has applied to his professional career. For Sebastian, there’s always one last chance to make a sale, to help a client, to be a better professional, and to be a better person. Finally, Sebastian issues an actionable challenge to the audience. He encourages listeners to pick one or two things that could potentially make a big impact and put it on your task list for the next two weeks. Once it’s over, look back and see if that habit yielded better results or made you better. If it did, stick with it and find another one. Small, incremental changes can really make a big difference in the long run.

What We Covered:

00:01 – Scott thanks today’s sponsors, Outreach & Gong
00:36 – Scott introduces today’s guest, Sebastian Amaya
01:02 – The top three things Sebastian attributes to his success
01:10 – Number One: Being the hardest working Rep on the team
01:26 – Number Two: Having a good grasp of the services his company offers
02:01 – Number Three: Always seeking continual improvement
02:20 – The importance of fully understanding your prospect and the industry they’re in
03:47 – Sebastian talks about his role at IBISWorld and quantifies his sales results
05:18 – How confidence aided in Sebastian’s success
05:47 – How Sebastian maintains a positive mindset
06:43 – Focusing on core verticals
08:24 – Sebastian’s curious sales origin story
12:20 – What Sebastian would do differently if given the chance
13:29 – Sebastian’s favorite sales story
16:21 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Outreach
16:44 – Sebastian’s proudest accomplishment
18:30 – The most challenging aspect of Sebastian’s role
21:26 – Sebastian takes the audience through a typical day in the life
23:53 – The books, news, podcasts, and trade information that Sebastian consumes
27:23 – Sebastian’s tech stack
29:01 – Sebastian’s sales philosophy and style
33:17 – What motivates and drives Sebastian
35:49 – One of Sebastian’s beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
37:17 – An average sales professional’s belief that Sebastian thinks is crazy
38:12 – The most important lesson that Sebastian learned throughout his career
40:32 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Gong
40:43 – Advice Sebastian would give to an upstart sales professional
41:25 – Advice Sebastian would give to a sales professional looking to reach that next level
42:14 – Sebastian shares his incredible experience attending previous Sales Success Summits
43:24 – Final words of wisdom from Sebastian
45:05 – Sebastian issues an actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“The key thing is staying motivated and staying organized. So, I have five plus years of experience within my belt with this org and so I know what works and the types of accounts and how to sell to them.” (06:10)

“A beautiful lesson that comes from the book, The Giver, is just to help people out, especially in a moment of need. Remember that and they’ll get you back for it.” (20:29)

“Another thing that I’ve learned about and I think I’ve tried to become better at is being your true, authentic self. And this is useful for forming deeper relationships with your contacts. Like what vacation you’re going on, stuff like planning my wedding and the birth of my daughter. Sharing these awesome things going on outside of my work life that people can relate to just amplifies the connection that you form with your clients.” (32:26)

“I believe working 9-5 Monday to Friday is not gonna get you to where you want to be if that means out-performing others. After you’ve been in the role for several years, you get an idea of where your time is best spent and you can leverage that 80-20 principle. But, in the meantime, when you’re starting off, you need to put in the hours, you have to get the reps in to start seeing the results come in and figure out what your style is and what works for you.” (36:09)

“If you’re focused on improving your skills faster than normal by listening to experts or networking with the top salespeople within or outside of your organization, you’re gonna be able to progress much faster than otherwise.” (41:08)

What We Covered:

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