As 2024 comes to a close, and sights set on 2025, Andrew discusses major life updates including his introduction to fatherhood, his growing and evolving consulting business, and the conclusion of How the Deal was Done Podcast plus what is on the horizon.

Interested in developing business cases WITH your champions? Checkout Fluint to do just that. Grab a free download of their top performing sales frameworks and templates. And listen to a few How the Deal was Done eps by visiting:

https://www.fluint.io/dealpod

Timestamps:

02:57 Consulting & Professional Updates

06:10 Future Plans and New Podcast Concept for 2025

09:01 Gratitude and Acknowledgments

Shoutouts:

- OrgChartHub: Co-Founders Dan Currin and Austin Birch original supporter and sponsors of How the Deal was Done

- Fluint: Nate Nasralla and Ben Wordell current sponsors and partners of the podcast.

- Thousands of listeners including over 100+ who have How the Deal was Done as a top podcast

- Brett Muni for the support as editor and now Producer of the podcast

- Looking for more Sales Podcasts & Content? - checkout Scott Ingram's Sales Success Stories Podcast.

https://top1.fm/all-sales-podcast-episodes/

Another special guest host episode featuring Mitchell Kasprzyk.

In this episode, Dave Brock shares his unique journey into sales, highlighting the importance of understanding customer needs and building trust. He recounts memorable deal stories, particularly focusing on a young salesperson's success through effective coaching.

The conversation emphasizes the significance of continuous learning and adapting sales strategies to meet customer expectations, ultimately leading to successful outcomes.

00:00 Introduction to Sales Journey

03:57 Memorable Deal Stories

11:58 Understanding Customer Needs

20:09 Building Trust and Confidence

27:59 Continuous Learning and Adaptation

Resources:

David Brock on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebrock/

David’s blog: https://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/

David’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Manager-Survival-Guide-Lessons/dp/0997560207

Mitchell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-kasprzyk-3296b898/

In this episode of the Deal Stories podcast, Vince Beese, a seasoned sales leader with extensive background in sales, shares insights from his career, and focusing on a significant deal he closed with Yahoo.

The highlight of this deal is navigating the RFP process, the challenges faced during negotiations, and the importance of alignment and honesty in enterprise sales. Closing it out: Vince emphasizes the need for hustle, persistence, and a clear value prop when closing large deals.

Check out SalesHQ next time you are selling/visiting the Raleigh-Durham area!

Chas Puleo, Senior Sales Executive at Alkami, returns to in this follow-up episode to last week's conversation (Ep. 55) to discuss the closing of a 2-year, $5 million digital banking. He highlights the importance of aligning with the client’s business needs and the role of executive involvement in moving large deals forward.

Background:

Challenges:

Key learnings:

Timestamps:

Resources

Chas Puleo, a senior sales executive at Alkami, shares his experience in closing a transformative $5 million deal in the digital banking space. This episode covers the challenges of resetting a deal after a key decision-maker was promoted and the importance of business cases in complex sales cycles.

Background:

Challenges:

Key learnings:

Timestamps:

Quick episode here. Talking a bit behind the scenes of 'how' the new Leader Leverage Podcast came to be.

You can find link to the YouTube of Ep 1 of Leader Leverage Podcast below.

Also, you can checkout the new Substack newsletter that goes along with it.

Thanks for listening and your support!

Link to Leader Leverage Podcast ep 1 now available on YouTube

Starting by handing out flyers in grocery stores, Rob DeSantis worked his way to become a world-class seller, co-founder, and angel investor.

Check out the video version of this podcast on YouTube

Check out the Full Length Episode on YouTube where Rob shares the deal stories that standout from his illustrious career so far.

Questions, comments, ideas - reach out to ⁠⁠⁠Andrew Kappel on LinkedIn⁠

Mitchell Kaspryzk re-joins the podcast this time as a guest host featuring a discussion with renowned sales expert Andy Paul. Andy shares insights from his extensive career and delve into a challenging deal involving the development of real-time entertainment systems for commercial airplanes, highlighting the importance of trust and understanding in sales.

Background:

Andy Paul has had a long and diverse career in sales, authoring several books and hosting successful podcasts.

The deal involved selling a complex real-time entertainment system to a Fortune 500 media company, which required custom development and cost approximately $12 million.

Challenges:

The company made a critical pricing error, requiring them to double the cost at the last minute.

The deal involved creating a product that didn't yet exist, necessitating true collaboration with the buyer.

Key Learnings:

Building and maintaining trust is crucial, especially when unexpected challenges arise.

Sales success often hinges on deeply understanding the customer's needs and being adaptable in addressing them.

Timestamps:

(02:37) Andy Paul's entry into sales

(05:05) Initial connection with the big media company

(08:37) Technical challenges in developing the product

(12:21) Critical pricing error and how it was handled

(17:18) Importance of the buyer’s experience with the seller

(27:30) The value of deep understanding in sales

Resources:


Follow ⁠Mitchell Kasprzyk on LinkedIn⁠

Follow ⁠Andy Paul on LinkedIn⁠Thank you to ⁠Fluint⁠ for Sponsoring this episode. Fluint helps sellers build a business case that can sell for them when they aren’t in the room. 

Check out their solution here: ⁠fluint.io/dealpod

Questions, comments, ideas - reach out to ⁠⁠Andrew Kappel on LinkedIn⁠

Ian McDonald shares a large deal, where his company first landed the initial product sale, and the process of working hard to make them into a successful multi-product and platform customer .

Background:

Ian McDonald is currently an AE manager at Gong with prior sales experience, at LinkedIn and CEB

​Ian shares a past deal including the account management tactics used to expand a customer.

Background:

​Covers deal setup and the process and relationship development with the AE who won the new logo and the champion

Challenges:

• ​Aligning customer's needs with Gong's product roadmap

​Coordinating with internal leadership to build trust and relationships with the customer

• Key Learnings:
• ​Focus on being a trusted partner to help overcome speed bumps in the deal cycle

Know the skills that you need and work backwards to develop those skills

Timestamps:

(02:00) - Ian's career journey so far

(03:15) - Start of the deal

(05:40) - Main challenges in the deal

(08:15) - Expanding the deal

(10:30) - Strategies for getting better

(13:50) - Connect with Ian

Resources:

Connect with Ian on LinkedIn

Learn more about LeaderLev

Thank you to Fluint for Sponsoring this episode. Fluint helps sellers build a business case that can sell for them when they aren’t in the room. fluint.io/dealpod

Questions, comments, ideas - reach out to: ⁠Andrew Kappel