Tech Sales Insights

Randy welcomes us to another episode and today, he is joined by John McMahon, who will be sharing his background and his contributions to the development of the MEDDIC Sales Process. McMahon developed the sales process "Demo Close" during his time as VP of Sales at PTC. The MEDDIC Sales Process narrows the scope, identifies an ideal customer profile and decision criteria, and justifies the purchase through cost justification. 

McMahon's impact on the sales industry is significant, and he has been recognized for his leadership and strategic vision. He has spoken at industry conferences and authored articles on sales strategy. McMahon's innovative approach to sales has had a profound impact on the industry, and his legacy will endure for years to come. Learn more about John in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

JOHN: REASON FOR LEAVING HIS MANAGER JOB

“When I was in a meeting one time with all the second-line managers, third-line managers, and even the top VPs, they never talked about what's going on with the sales reps, like how do we make them more productive? What are the issues they're facing? Who's the competition? How do we get better?” 
 

“All they were doing was talking about these bureaucratic, inside-the-company wall-type things and I thought, I don't want to grow up to be like these guys. I don't admire any of the things that they're talking about. That's not what I want to do. And if I stay here longer, I'm gonna grow up and be just like them, so I gotta get out of here.”

Connect with John McMahon:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmcmahon1/
• The Qualified Sales Leader (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Convertiv: https://www.convertiv.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

People grow, teams evolve, and processes develop. In this episode, we have Epicor Leader Lisa Pope to share about her growth over the years, how the teams she handles evolved, and how sales took a more strategic turn. 

But that’s not all, stay tuned as Lisa also shares her advice for people breaking into tech sales, who is her favorite mentor, and her advice to her younger self. Find out all of these in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

LISA: HOW SALES HAS BECOME STRATEGIC

“For me, sales operations has turned into something a lot more strategic. So for us, as I mentioned our project for quote to cash, our sales operations team is really leading that charge and really looking at how we build best practices, and then the second piece of it for me is really providing me more insights into what's happening.”
 

LISA: ADVICE TO YOUNGER SELF

“Early in my career, I think I was really busy trying to prove myself and I just, I kind of separated my two lives to the point that it's just not healthy to do that. So I think for me, that would have been like, just loosen up, enjoy your job, and make sure that you're bringing your personality and what's important to you into your job as well, and I'm much happier now working that way.”

Don’t miss out on our previous episodes, and watch out for the next one!

• E116 Part 1 - THE POPE IS IN: GTM by Segmenting and Developing the Sales Team with Lisa Pope
• E116 Part 2 - EPIC TO THE CORE: Thriving in the Pandemic and Macroenvironment with Lisa Pope

Find out more about Lisa Pope in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapopeepicor/
• Epicor: https://www.epicor.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Sandler: https://www.sandler.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Epic Leader of Epicor, Lisa Pope, is back for Round 2 with Randy. In today’s episode, Lisa focuses on how her company performed in sales, what they have learned from the pandemic, how the macroenvironment impacted their sales productivity, and her advice for people who are breaking into tech sales. Take a deep dive into Lisa’s insights by tuning in to this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

LISA: LEARNING TO LEVERAGE IN TOOLS AT THE TIME OF COVID

“I think for us in terms of just our sales teams, they are busy, but I do think we did learn quite a bit during the pandemic, in terms of leveraging tools, like using video more often, and just all the qualification capabilities that we're doing, and then leveraging the ecosystem, I mentioned the selection consultants in private equity, but that's been a tremendous amount of lead generation for us that traditionally we would have to go and do ourselves, and so extending your ecosystem and really understanding how that can help drive your leads, and ultimately, your pipeline, I think is key.

LISA: DIVE DOWN AND LEARN

“My advice is to be really specific about your background and your skills, and if you don't feel that you know enough about a specific industry or a specific area, then take the time to really dive down and learn.”

Don’t miss out on our previous episode, and watch out for the next one!

• E116 Part 1 - THE POPE IS IN: GTM by Segmenting and Developing the Sales Team with Lisa Pope

Find out more about Lisa Pope in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapopeepicor/
• Epicor: https://www.epicor.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Sandler: https://www.sandler.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another episode series of Tech Sales Insights. In today’s episode, Randy welcomes Lisa Pope, President of Epicor. We will be starting this series with an overview of Lisa’s sales career, which according to her “has gone full circle." She also talks about her company’s priorities when it comes to the transition to the cloud, its GTM strategy, how the company segments its sales team, and how they develop them to the next level. Stay tuned to get more of Lisa’s insights in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

LISA: TRANSITIONING TO THE CLOUD

“I think the cloud is still key, if you think about our industries, again, especially global manufacturing they were slower to move to the cloud, they still were heavy on premise, still had a lot of specialized plants, and being on one big global instance, in a lot of cases was not the approach they wanted. So I think we still have an opportunity to continue to move a lot of our customers that still are on premise, into a cloud environment, and that will still continue to be a priority”

Find out more about Lisa Pope in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapopeepicor/
• Epicor: https://www.epicor.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Sandler: https://www.sandler.com/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mark Stephenson is back for one last round with Randy in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights. In today’s discussion, Mark talks about different ICPs in different industries, tips for sales leaders looking to hire new talent, the flag method of candidates, and finding the best customers by looking at who needs your product the most. Stay tuned until the end to learn the best from Mark.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

MARK: A SALES LEADER’S ROLE IN HIRING

“The key is not HR, but the sales leader should define what the spec is for an AE or a BDR. Anybody who's a sales leader anywhere in their role, not HR, you need to define the spec that you're going for. If you don't do it in granular detail, then you're gonna get hornswoggled by somebody that's a fast talker that you like that is outside of your spec, classic blunder in hiring.”

MARK: HIGHEST NEED, BEST CUSTOMER

“You want to focus on customers that have the highest need for what you have, that they're going to be able to adopt and expand with you, and you could build a great business around it.”

Don’t miss out on our previous episodes and watch out for the next ones!

• E115 Part 1 - THE BASICS OF ICP: Getting to Know Your Buyer with Mark Stephenson
• E115 Part 2 - THE “C” IN ICP: How to Approach C-Level Buyers Differently with Mark Stephenson

Find out more about Mark Stephenson in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-s-2b28054/
• Evisort: https://www.evisort.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Trender.ai: https://www.trender.ai/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s another round for Randy and Evisort leader Mark Stephenson, and in this episode, the two discuss further the ins and outs of selling to the ICP. Mark first explains the best way to communicate with CEOs or CFOs, especially with elevator pitches, and later talks about how you can differentiate yourself from others by focusing on the impact of your product instead of its usage. Find out more in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

MARK: HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM EVERYBODY ELSE

“You need to peer up the use case, to think behind what's the business case for why they would invest, and even if you're selling infrastructure, if you have a business focus around metrics of improvement, and why they will buy the solution your way differentiated from everybody else.”
 

Don’t miss out on our previous episode and watch out for the next ones!

• E115 Part 1 - THE BASICS OF ICP: Getting to Know Your Buyer with Mark Stephenson

Find out more about Mark Stephenson in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-s-2b28054/
• Evisort: https://www.evisort.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Trender.ai: https://www.trender.ai/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One of the most fundamental factors in being successful with your sales process is knowing your customer, buyer, or prospect, whatever you call them. In this new episode of Tech Sales Insights, Randy welcomes Evisort leader Mark Stephenson, and they will be diving into the world of ICP. 

Mark starts off by giving his takeaway for the younger generation right off the bat.  He then proceeds with defining what an ICP is and what factors you should consider when identifying and analyzing them. Find out more in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

MARK: TAKEAWAY FOR THE NEW SELLERS

“The harder you work, the luckier you get. The cold calling is foundational.”
 

JOE: ADVICE FOR LAID-OFF PEOPLE

“Company size is usually the only thing people are focused on around ICP, you got to look at these other factors, and the reason you focus on ICP is to be more efficient and effective in your marketing campaigns and get higher conversion rates. How spot on is that?”

Find out more about Mark Stephenson in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-s-2b28054/
• Evisort: https://www.evisort.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Trender.ai: https://www.trender.ai/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joe Koenig is back to discuss more about persevering at work and home. In his last round with Randy, Joe shares his advice for new ISRs (Inside Sales Representatives), best practices and diversity initiatives, wisdom for people breaking into tech sales, and many more. Get a load of Joe's amazing insights in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

JOE: ADVICE FOR PEOPLE BREAKING INTO TECH SALES

“You have to have the passion to learn, because you may all know here on the hall, technology is ever-changing, ever-evolving, and someone needs to understand, and take the time, and had that passion, not during work. You can do that all day but on your own too.”

JOE: ADVICE FOR LAID-OFF PEOPLE

“Be resilient, because I do think that good people will find good homes. This is a circle, there will always be layoffs, the hiring boom, and so forth. But continue to work hard, network with your people, and I guarantee you'll find a good spot that makes sense for you.”

Don’t miss out on our previous episodes and watch out for the next ones!

• E114 Part 1 - POWERING THROUGH: Practicing Perseverance at Work and at Home with Joe Koenig
• E114 Part 2 - PERSEVERANCE PREVAILS: Joe Koenig on Overcoming Challenges at Work and Home
   

Find out more about Joe Koenig in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekoenig-wwt/
• WWT Website: https://www.wwt.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Gong: https://www.gong.io/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another episode of Tech Sales Insights, where Randy and Joe are up for round 2 of their conversation. In this episode, Joe talks about how leveraging the best and most disruptive technologies from partners help provide real outcomes for customers. The two discuss how data and feedback can be used to improve customer experience and how partnering with the right companies can create an ecosystem that drives innovation. Stay tuned for more in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

RANDY: HOW TECH SALES HAVE CHANGED

“Back in the old days, it was, you’re selling in any of those platforms, and that was the sale. Now, you've got your intellectual property, your secret sauce, around the methodologies and service providers, and business outcomes. You're slotting in, obviously, all these different technologies that help with the outcome, but kind of this other layer in terms of the differentiation, so you're just not reselling.”

JOE: HOW LEADERS PLAY A ROLE IN GETTING PEOPLE TOGETHER

“I think we have to be more intentional about bringing people together at the right times for the right reason, understanding that people have cost challenges. But what can we do to help enhance and drive this culture in a different way, some people are a little bit more remote now, and it's up to our leaders and managers to help provide feedback and an additional perspective on the best ways you can accomplish that, knowing that we have to have some face-to-face with them.”

Don’t miss out on our previous episode and watch out for the next ones!

• E114 Part 1 - POWERING THROUGH: Practicing Perseverance at Work and at Home with Joe Koenig

Find out more about Joe Koenig in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekoenig-wwt/
• WWT Website: https://www.wwt.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Gong: https://www.gong.io/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s another episode series here at Tech Sales Insights, and today, Randy welcomes a long-time friend, Joe Koenig, President at World Wide Technology. Joe will be talking about perseverance at work and at home, and in this first installment, he focuses on his first job, the challenges he went through, and his key takeaways after. Stay tuned for more as Joe talks about the evolution of tech in sales in this latest episode of Tech Sales Insights.

INSIGHTS OF THE DAY

JOE: DRIVING TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS OUTCOMES

“We're very careful about prescribing whether it's cloud and cyber and data, and infrastructure modernization is still a play that's out there that we spend a lot of time on, and really ultimately driving technology and business outcomes. And so that's what we have to do. You know, we have to understand our customers care about what's important, their measures of success, and then tailor what our business is all about to create those outcomes, and that's where we spend a lot of focus.”
 

JOE: ALWAYS HAVE THE PASSION TO LEARN

“I always really promote to our sales team, you have to have a passion for learning. If you don't have that passion to learn, then that's a problem because things are moving fast, and you need to move fast, and then stay ahead of that curve.”

Find out more about Joe Koenig in the links below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joekoenig-wwt/
• WWT Website: https://www.wwt.com/

This episode of Tech Sales Insights is brought to you by: 

• Sales Community: https://www.salescommunity.com/
• Gong: https://www.gong.io/

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.