Decoding Sales

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📅 When to hire your first salesperson - and how to find them. 
❗ Mistakes technical founders make in hiring and evaluation. 
⚙ Why your first sales hire need to think like a technologist. 
🤝 What you should NEVER compromise on. 
🚀 How to sell them on your company before you've taken off. 
💰 And finally - how much to pay them. 

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To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

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Find out how CEOs blow their demos - while thinking the call went great.

How to prepare for a demo without sounding scripted.

How Peter handles curveball questions during a demo.

Why feature dumping doesn't work - and what to do instead.

How to handle a distracted prospect.

Getting meaningful feedback at the end of a demo.

When demos aren't the right tool, and what to do instead.

Enjoying Decoding Sales? Leave us a rating or review in your favorite podcasting app!

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Alex and Peter break down potential pricing models and how to think about conveying your price if you're a startup.  Topics covered include:

• Different pricing models to explore in SaaS
• Positioning your price and different negotiation levers you can employ to get a deal done
• How to think about discounting and the discounting boundaries based on company size & deal timelines

As always, feel free to email us at [email protected] with any feedback.  If you'd like to do some reading on price, visit Peter's blog post on "Conveying why the price is the price"

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Alex and Peter discuss how to structure effective proof of concepts to help get the deal done while keeping the prospect accountable to specific milestones. Topics include:

• The collaborative aspects of setting up a mutual proof of concept structure
• How to establish tangible success criteria for the evaluation period
• What milestones to track throughout the POC period
• How to determine which prospects need a formal POC structure 
• How to hold prospects accountable to meeting POC milestones

Share this episode on Twitter or LinkedIn and reach out to us at [email protected] for a copy of a real proof of concept template!

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Peter and Alex discuss how client dinners and meals outside of the regular cadence of emails & calls, can positively impact deal progress. Topics covered include:

• When to offer client dinners & meals 
• How to make these engagements productive and fun at the same time
• The importance of conveying your authentic self and culture during client meals

If you have feedback about this episode and any future episode topics you'd like to see covered, please email us at [email protected]!

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Peter and Alex discuss how to handle unexpected obstacles that come about during a high stakes negotiation.  Topics covered include:

• How to handle prospects asking for additional discounts when they've agreed to a floor already
• The ability to think aloud during a negotiation call while using common language to bridge differences
• Ways to ensure the deal does not get delayed and that you can still pin down a realistic close date, even when curveballs are thrown at you

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any feedback on this episode and future episode topics you'd like to see covered! 

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Peter & Alex discuss what it means to effectively lead business calls and conversations.  Key learnings include:

• How to start strong with a powerful intro
• How to give the floor to the other person on the call
• The importance of laying out a roadmap for the call
• Employing "bridge phrases" to naturally jump from topic to topic
• Setting up tangible next steps and ownership for those next steps

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any feedback on this episode and future episode topics you'd like to see covered! 

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this episode Alex and Peter discuss what it means to effectively find the right person to champion a business deal.  An org chart is oftentimes not enough to map out an impactful strategy to navigate stakeholders. Tune-in to this episode for some tips around how to mobilize your prospect and perhaps even more importantly, how to also cut your losses and move on from ineffective deal sponsors. 

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any feedback on this episode and future episode topics you'd like to see covered! 

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!

Send a text

In this pilot episode, co-hosts Alex Allain and Peter Ahn demystify sales and discuss what it means to facilitate authentic sales conversations and methodologies.  While Peter is a career salesperson, Alex's unique perspective as an engineer sheds light on how modern sales techniques can be broadly applicable to any human engagement.  

Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any feedback on this kickoff episode and future episode topics you'd like to see covered! 

Support the show

To get more sales advice from Peter, Subscribe to his YouTube Channel, check out Peter Ahn Sales School and purchase Peter's newly published book, Unlocking Authentic Sales!