Multi-Pronged Outbound

What worked just a few years ago is now far less effective. Successful pipeline generation now requires a more strategic, situational approach.

Deep Discovery

Not just discovery, but deep discovery. The entire sales process–especially on complex deals–hinges on thorough discovery. It’s about knowing as much as or more than the client knows about themselves. Read More

Complex Sales vs. Transactional

The complex and usually large sales motion requires an additional set of skills that transactional sellers just don’t have, including Champion Building, MAPs, developing a written business case, and multi-threading.

Business Case

Most (90%?) discussion happens without the AE. A business case is a one-page narrative explaining what the project is and what it will do for them, created with the champion.

Demos

I’ve seen transactional AEs simply walk through their product in an almost instructional way, hoping the potential buyer will discover some way to use it. Better demos are constructed based on the customer’s unique problems. Read More

Product Expertise

Someone once told me you don’t have to be an expert in the product to sell it. Maybe. However, deep product knowledge (software, process, whatever) equips the AE to better solve whatever business problem they uncover. It’s not knowing the product, but knowing how to solve the problem. Business acumen is powerful.