In this short segment of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan sit down with John Donnelly to discuss the critical intersection of value, technical expertise, and business outcomes in enterprise sales. They explore why many sales professionals struggle with discovery, how to shift from feature-based selling to value-based selling, and the role of champion building in complex deals. If you're in B2B sales or SaaS, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you close bigger deals and drive long-term customer success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:00:52] The importance of active listening in sales conversations.
[00:01:24] Why enterprise sales still leans on feature-selling despite the focus on value.
[00:02:57] Answering the fundamental customer question: "Why do I care?"
[00:04:07] The most common mistake salespeople make in the discovery phase.
[00:06:08] The power of balancing technical expertise with business outcomes.

QUOTES

[00:00:52] "If the person you're speaking with doesn’t feel heard, you're not going to get very far."
[00:02:57] "Customers don’t care about your features unless they understand how it affects them."
[00:04:07] "Sales is not a box-checking process. Rushing through discovery leads to missed opportunities."
[00:06:08] "The best salespeople stand at the intersection of technical expertise and business outcomes." – John McMahon

Listen to the full conversation through the link below.
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/no-shortcuts-accelerate-your-sales-process-with-john-donnelly

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Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results. 
 

This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. 
 

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