Open Source Selling -- A Thoughtful Exchange of Ideas in the Art and Science of B2B Selling

On today's episode of Open Source Selling, Jason and I continue our conversation and discuss 'how to effectively work with and sell to the CIO'. Jason shares what he does to prepare to make initial contact and how he secures a first meeting. This includes his research on the CIO's initiative's, connecting with the CIO's extended team to gather specific information, build relationships and support, as well as over-coming objectives from the 'blockers' in an account who don't initially support you. He also discusses what generally has to happen during a first meeting to secure a follow up because too often an account executive only gets one opportunity to meet with and make an impression on the CIO.

Join me as we ask, listen, and learn together!

On this week’s episode of Open Source Selling, I sit down with Jason Wagner. Jason helped me get into the business 25 years ago and has himself been in B2B Sales for close to 30 years. He has worked for both large and small companies including Microsoft and Oracle.

Our conversation this week revolves around how to work with and sell to the CIO, the importance of building strong relationships with your customers throughout the sales process, and rebounding from a layoff.

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Mike Harding is diligent, thoughtful, and has earned the status of trusted advisor in the eyes of his clients. He has learned from some of the best in the business. Join me in this complete conversation as we discuss lessons he learned from his mentors, what it means to be a trusted advisor and how to lead your team to similar status, identifying the signal and the noise in account management, asking tough questions, and how all of this has helped him go from a good rep to becoming a top performer!

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On this final segment of my conversation with Mike, we discuss the signal and the noise of account management, fear and the importance of asking tough questions, what he thinks about the art and science of selling, and what his experience has taught him about what it takes to become a top performer.

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On today’s episode of Open Source Selling, Mike and I discuss the value of elevating your team to the status of trusted advisor, because in enterprise selling, real success depends on the sum total of your team. There are too many moving parts for any one person. In enterprise sales, what may start with early alignment to an individual quickly moves through a department and then across an entire organization. As Mike puts it, “it’s not about selling the software, its about selling implementation, adoption, and return on investment!”

So, how do you successfully align a team? Is it vision? YES! Goals? Of course! But also clarity in roles and responsibilities, accountability, and a leaders philosophy.

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This week, on Open Source Selling, I sit down with Mike Harding, Enterprise Account Executive at Google Cloud. Our conversation is centered around account management, customer retention and growth. Mike shares the early influence of mentors in shaping his thinking and lessons learned from many of them. He discusses what it means to become a trusted advisor for his clients and elevating his team to equal status. We also touch on his personal sales philosophy, the central role of successful implementations for customer growth, asking tough questions, and what else has guided him in becoming a top performer.

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This episode of Open Source Selling is my conversation with Kathleen Hartmann is its entirety, with minimal commentary and without interruption. Kathleen is a true sales professional and when it comes to business development she is in a league of her own. What makes her so good? She is genuine, sincere, and authentic. She is disciplined, persistent, and patient! She prepares so she is confident.

In our conversation she shares how each of these attributes has contributed to her success over 30 years and made her a consistent top performer. But it hasn’t come easy! She provides real life examples from her career that demonstrate the art of selling in action: how she deals with rejection and failure; disciplining herself to prospect each day and what that looks like for her; consistently filling up her calendar each week; honoring the clients time by making sure she is prepared; how she approaches preparation; and making sure her outreach is relevant and timely!

Kathleen will be the first to tell you that none of this has come easy. All of it has required sacrifice, discipline, and consistency (with a little laughter on the side!). She will also be the first to tell you when you approach your work with authenticity it makes everything more enjoyable and will make you much more successful!

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On this final segment of my conversation with Kathleen, we answer some of my favorite questions like, is selling more of an art or science and what it takes to become a top performer today!

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On today's episode of Open Source Selling, Kathleen shares more prospecting tips including how to prepare, getting in the right mindset, and being confident with who you are and what you offer as an Account Executive!

Join me as we ask, listen, and learn together!

Today, Kathleen and I continue our conversation and discuss both practical principles and real life examples of prospecting by talking about discipline, consistency, and dealing with rejection. Kathleen also emphasizes the importance of relevant and timely outreach to drive more meetings with prospects and shares personal examples of both what and how she approaches prospecting.