Today, Scott welcomes a recurring guest back to the show, Brad Harmon. Brad is a top performing industry Sales Executive at Oracle. Brad is a dedicated sales professional who takes a highly customer-centric approach to sales. He is a results-oriented leader who will do whatever it takes to help a customer succeed.
Brad begins by taking Scott through the three things he does every year to ensure he gets off to a hot start to the Fiscal Year. These include having solid transitional plans in place for taking over any business left by a former rep, getting your data aligned, and profiling your accounts and categorizing them by priority (i.e. A, B, C, & D accounts). Brad breaks down ‘The Transition Plan,’ shares his advice on what to do when a previous rep is no longer with the company, and the dynamics of The Partner Ecosystem. Brad and Scott talk about the power of a strong start, Brad’s favorite sales success story, and how Brad was able to learn a new industry so quickly.
Finally, Brad issues an actionable challenge to the audience. He urges sellers to become excited. This is the year that could be a career year for you. When the opportunity presents itself, dive right in and get your hands dirty. We work in a ‘what have you done for me lately’ industry. If you do the heavy work upfront, like territory planning and account profiling, it will only make your life easier in the back end of the year.
What We Covered:
00:00 – Scott thanks today’s sponsor, The Sales Collective
01:01 – Scott welcomes back to the show Brad Harmon
02:07 – The top three things that Brad attributes to his ability to get off to a great start to the Fiscal Year
02:56 – Number One: Having solid transitional plans in place
03:33 – Number Two: Get your data aligned
03:49 – Number Three: Profile your accounts
05:40 – Where Brad currently stands with his number
08:39 – Brad breaks down ‘The Transition Plan’
14:38 – What happens when the previous rep is no longer with the company
17:19 – Brad talks about one of his favorite sales success stories
20:29 – The Partner Ecosystem
26:41 – Brad’s account profiling process
38:38 – How Brad learned a new industry so that he could establish himself
46:38 – Advice Brad would give to other sellers looking to get off to their best start ever
48:27 – Scott thanks Brad for joining the show and Brad encourages listeners to reach out to him to have a conversation
Read the full transcript & show notes →
Tweetables:
“We all know that we’re not in the same starting spot each year and each time. But if you have a plan to put yourself in position to be successful, I do think it helps.” (07:55)
“I think one of the best things that you can do when you’re first starting with a new territory is go through the closed opportunities that fall within your product set within your company. I think closed opportunities are a great way to outreach and present yourself from a new perspective .” (15:30)
“Partners are critical to success when you’re working within the enterprise space.” (20:37)
“I think that’s critical when you’re doing your relationship maps or your influence maps, or something like that. Understanding where you have relationships and where your partner has relationships can really help streamline and multi-thread when trying to drive a transaction across the finish line.” (25:07)
“‘A’ [accounts] are traditionally where you want to spend the majority of your time upfront because some of that could be relationship building or continuing other opportunities. ‘A’s’ are where you think your money is going to be, not only in the near term but in the long term as well.” (33:14)
“There’s no better new customer than a past customer, in my opinion.” (45:26)
Links Mentioned:
[email protected]
ALL Enterprise Sales Episodes
ALL SDR Episodes
Brad Harmon on LinkedIn
Brad’s Peloton Username – BHarmon44