Episode 163: Relationships Over Transactions: How Fringe’s Carl Sajous is Changing the Game in Sales

Carl Sajous, until very recently, was the Lead Account Executive at Fringe. And, with the departure of our friend DeJuan Brown to an incredible opportunity, Carl is now leading the Sales team at Fringe. Preferring to care for others and help them in practical and tangible ways, Carl uses his quiet personal warmth to communicate this feeling to everyone he meets. Carl is a strategic and thoughtful sales professional who is both methodical and relaxed in his approach.

Today, Scott welcomes Carl to the show to discuss his sales origin story, what he attributes to his success, and his relationship-building approach to Sales. Carl speaks to three key concepts, extreme follow-up, playing from being, and being one hundred percent authentic, and why they are so critical to his success in Sales. Carl quantifies his sales results and expounds on how he is approaching leadership and leading a team for the first time. Carl shares his approach to sales and why he doesn’t necessarily subscribe to a particular sales philosophy. Carl speaks to his favorite sales story, how he is navigating challenging macroeconomic factors, and his thoughts on leadership.

Carl speaks to his proudest accomplishment, the biggest challenges that come with his role, and why he follows up relentlessly even after he’s closed the deal. Finally, Carl issues an actionable challenge to the audience. He urges listeners to look at your ‘Why.’ Why are you sitting in the seat you’re in currently? What are you trying to get out of the position you’re in? What is your end goal? Answering these questions will help you create a ‘true North’ for yourself. More practically, go back into your CRM and look at the last 30/60/90 days and create cadences to follow back up with those people. It’s something you can implement today that you can keep track of as well.

What We Covered:

00:00 – Scott thanks today’s sponsor, Vidyard
00:36 – Scott welcomes back to the show, Carl Sajous
01:10 – The top three things Carl attributes to his success today
01:29 – Number One: Extreme Follow Up
01:37 – Number Two: Playing from Behind
01:46 – Number Three: 100% Authenticity
02:00 – What ‘extreme follow-up’ looks like
04:06 – Scott takes a quick moment to thank today’s sponsor, Vidyard
04:52 – What it means to play from behind
05:59 – The power of authenticity
06:55 – Carl speaks to why he bought in to Fringe during the interview process
09:31 – Carl quantifies his sales results
10:52 – Carl’s sales origin story
15:38 – Carl’s approach and sales philosophy
21:34 – What Carl would do differently if given the chance
23:48 – Methodical and relaxed
24:59 – Carl’s favorite sales story
30:07 – Carl’s proudest accomplishment
30:56 – What Carl does after he closes a deal
32:44 – The biggest obstacles Carl faces in his day-to-day
35:19 – How to navigate challenging macroeconomic conditions
41:03 – Multithreading, explained
42:14 – Carl takes the audience through a typical day in the life
48:29 – Carl’s information diet
49:44 – Other habits and routines that are critical to Carl’s success
52:11 – Carl’s tech stack
55:00 – Carl’s competitive advantage in Sales
58:18 – Carl’s thoughts on leadership
1:01:59 – What motivates and drives Carl and his team
1:06:14 – One of Carl’s beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
1:12:08 – Front-end referrals
1:15:57 – The Follow Up is forever
1:20:57 – Advice Carl would give to upstart sales professionals
1:21:43 – Advice Carl would give to sales professionals looking to reach that next level
1:23:05 – What Carl wants to know about other top sellers
1:26:02 – How Carl and Fringe are being strategic in order to differentiate themselves
1:31:14 – Carl issues an actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“In my discovery is where I make the sale. I know that’s cliche in Sales, but really and truly I need to know what’s making them tick, what is the compelling event, what is the value this is going to bring, how can I sell this to the Executive Team?” (15:52)

“When it’s about the transaction from the very beginning, somebody is less likely to appeal to that and acquiesce to that ask. And so, I just rely heavily on relationships and pouring into something that’s true.” (20:21)

“People ask about competitors all the time and, rather than talking about them, really the biggest competitor is the status quo? ‘What is the cost of action? And what is the cost of inaction?’” (38:26)

“So I don’t necessarily subscribe to one particular Sales philosophy. I think it’s more so about building relationships and just truly solving a problem for a friend who just so happens to work for another company. At the end of the day, I’m just helping a friend out and hopefully, they feel that in the Sales process.” (56:02)

“The follow-up is forever. The follow-up is forever. Until you tell me flat out, ‘No,’ or ‘Go somewhere else,’ then I’m gonna continue to follow up because I truly believe in the solutions that we provide.” (1:15:57)

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