With a 20+ year tenure in the technology industry, our guest is a seasoned seller who understands the ins and outs of the sales cycle. As a buyer herself, she blends her knowledge of both sides of the process to equip teams to sell like never before. Here to help you simplify your sales process by starting with the customer is the VP of Global Revenue Operations & Enablement at Optimove, Cassandra Anderson. Host Tim Harris and Cassandra are partners in pipeline and they dive into the difference between outcome and intention, how terminology can assist alignment, and how to teach soft skills.

Takeaways:

• The most important soft skills in B2B sales are communication and understanding. Active listening is a crucial part of understanding as you need to listen to understand the problems your clients are facing, before you can provide solutions.
• In today’s market, buyers are more educated, know the problem they are facing, and are actively looking for a solution. Sellers need to step up and hear past what customers are saying to identify the pain, to apply the right solution.
• Sales relationships revolve around intention, expectations, and communication. You need to understand the intention your buyer has for a product, meet their expectations for the selling process, and communicate the expectations of your own intentions.
• You need to balance both group outcome and individual intentions. The primary outcome for a buying group is to fix a problem, but the marketing team and design team will have different intentions. Good reps can speak to both the needs of the group and individual.
• Aligning with prospects can come down to something as simple as terminology. When they say ‘lead’, does their definition line up with yours? Discussing important terminology is a vital first step to understanding the nuances of the client.
• EQ can be taught, but it needs to be handled with care. The most effective way to coach soft skills is to allow individuals to have the initial realization of the problem come from within. Once they feel ownership of the problem, then you can begin coaching.
• In B2C sales, companies put effort into understanding their buyers' shopping habits. B2B sales should be no different. Understand what your buyers’ habits are and pursue methods along those lines.

Quote of the Show:

• “We believe brands that start with the customer build loyalty for life.” - Cassandra Anderson

Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cass8775
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecassandraexperience/
• Website: https://www.optimove.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b2b-eq/id1672326834
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1T2zlqNsSYATzXFPH1DquY
• Google Podcast - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mYXN0Lndpc3RpYS5jb20vY2hhbm5lbHMvajRuNnNjYmc2Ni9yc3M